I hope David will bear with me in saying that what I appreciated about it was that it was not pitched as a revivalist type message or embroidered or embellished with what might just appeal to sentiment or emotion. It set out, very clearly the facts of the Gospel under the title "How do I know I am saved?"

But I found myself very moved, more than ever before, and it made my heart sing. I found Gods word, reacting with his work within me quickening me, living in me and I am so thankful to God for that.

So what did we hear? Among other things we heard that:

To be a Christian we must believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Not just a prophet as recognised by most religions, not just a good man but the actual incarnation of God and that…….of necessity immediately requires a response. A decision from every human soul.

We heard about the perfection and efficacy of what Jesus did as seen by God raising him from among the dead and that this great transaction between God and Jesus in respect of sin and sins was accomplished without any help from us, in fact despite us, while we were still sinners, disfigured morally and even physically by sin.

We heard that to try and bring some good works of our own to negotiate or secure our salvation is an affront to God and is like saying that what Jesus did was not quite good enough.

We were reminded that "If we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths Jesus as Lord and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from among the dead, we will be saved" and the importance of making that confession was emphasised.

We heard about the witness of the Spirit and the Water and the Blood,

How the true Christian finds it harder to sin and turns away from those sinful things that characterised them before and also now recognises other things as sin which didn’t seem particularly sinful before.

How a Christian seeks out and feels comfortable in the company of other Christians and as scripture tells us "Know they have passed from death to life because they love their brethren in Christ"

These and many other wonderful truths which cannot be repeated too often.

I was particularly pleased because the folk staying with us rarely go to Church and although I cannot be sure, I suspect that that may well have been the first time that they would have heard such a clear statement of truth. Actually they were off to the races at Wincanton straight from the preaching and I really hoped God might have spoken to them (here I mean, not at the races)

As it was, the lady rang in the week and during the conversation she said "We really enjoyed Sunday". My heart missed a beat. "Here it comes I thought. Thank you Lord". "Did you I said?" "Yes" she said, "We both had two winners!"

So you see, I listened last week and so did many here this morning as did this man Agrippa listen to Paul. Paul couldn’t have been clearer. He presented the facts in a way that was indisputable and unlike Felix who was corrupt and hoping to bribe Paul and Festus who was a politicians politician, Agrippa seemed an intelligent, reasonable and balanced kind of guy. He asked to hear Paul and seemed genuinely interested in what Paul had to say and I think Paul sensed that as he appealed directly to him in verse 26.

But Agrippa was not persuaded. Depending upon which translation you read he seemed to be almost persuaded. In this translation he says to Paul "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to become a Christian?" In my translation he says" In a little thou persuadest me to become a Christian", not so much a question as a statement of fact. Perhaps some cynicism there but undoubtedly some interest too.

What a scene this was. Agrippa had entered the hall with great pomp and ceremony and taken his place. Every dignitary was there, Bernice was there looking lovely in her best dress and finery and in front of them stood this man Paul, probably bedraggled, unkempt, in chains, possibly holding one end of the chain in his hand …….but what a preaching, When rebuked by Festus, Paul, as always, answers respectfully. He acknowledges Agrippa’s knowledge of history and events leading up to this point. It is all quite civilised.

I offer this as a personal opinion but I have found that the people who are often the most difficult people to persuade of their need of Jesus are NICE civilised people and really nice people are really difficult to persuade.

Folk who appear Christian in their manner of life, their mannerisms, their social skills, even their kindness, generosity, hospitality, good works, dress etc and you think they must be Christians surely yet when you begin to approach the ground of salvation, and bring the Lord into the conversation, there might as well be a great gulf between you and it saddens you doesn’t it. It actually really upsets me a lot.

They may speak about God, about religion, even Church, but as sinners needing a Saviour or Jesus as Lord? All a step too far.

You see, we can understand crooks, rapists, murderers, adulterers, thieves, being lost can’t we (and yet there is hope for all such persons if they turn to the Lord for it was not the righteous but sinners that Jesus came to save). We see the perfect example of that with the thief on the cross don’t we.

When Paul speaks of himself as the ‘Chief of Sinners' that was not some kind of mock humility. He had been a persecutor, had dragged people off to prison, ripped families apart and he stood and watched Steven die as those stones hit him. Saul consented to Steven’s death and watched him suffer and slowly die. How often he must have re-lived that moment. Forgiven yes but "I was there" he says later. "I was there"

I can tell you, from personal experience, that no one is too bad to be saved but equally no one is too good or too nice to be saved. The work of Jesus encompassed all mankind and mankind at its worst. Not the best of mankind but the worst. Thank God for that. Some may not yet have yet felt that need for salvation but I am afraid we have to accept that "We have all sinned (nice or ‘orrible) and come short of the glory of God". In that way there is no difference and if, as the Pharisee did, I get any comfort in thanking God that I am not as bad as others, I am still in great danger.

If I will not accept Gods solution, God’s man Jesus, if I cannot accept that I need to be clothed in his righteousness and not my own, if I will not believe that he is the only mediator between myself and God, I cannot be saved, however nice I am. These facts too, however unpalatable have to be spelt out.

Some will joke and tell you that there will be plenty of others unsaved, plenty of company in hell……but supposing it is not like that….Suppose it is, as scripture seems to suggest…. an eternity of unimaginable loneliness, personal isolation with no companionship, full of regrets and remorse, separated for ever from God the source of everything good, from light and from love.

So let us be persuaded today. It is good to make confession you know. It is not easy. When I was a kid I could cope with the idea of believing but I didn’t like the preachers talking about confessing Jesus as Lord. It seemed to suggest crossing a line I could never retreat from and I put it off for ages, but when I did, I can remember it was such a relief and you will feel God’s embrace personally. You will begin to feel the warmth and comfort that the Holy Spirit brings and he will also bring to you the assurance of your eternal salvation.

Now, I just want, in closing to turn to this scripture in Revelation to bring out the strength of Gods love that lies behind every appeal he makes to our consciences. It may seem an odd scripture to use to speak of Gods love but we will see why it is relevant in a moment

Firstly, we need to understand that salvation is an intensely individual thing. We are saved one by one and by name.

Our names are important. The names of our brethren are important. We all ought to know everyone’s name. John exhorts us to "Greet the friends by name" I am at fault there because I generally say "Hi" but I should say "Hello Jean, Hello Len etc etc". Perhaps we should try greeting one another in that way by name.

We are told of the Good Shepherd, Jesus, that he calls his own sheep by name.
When the disciples returned from performing miracles at one point, they were full of excitement about being able to cast out demons etc and Jesus said, "Rejoice not in that but that your names are written in heaven".
There are many other similar examples

Now whether our names in the Book of Life are the same as our parents gave us (including some weird middle names, some hyphenated names) is an interesting study. If we have been born again we are a new creation and it may be that our names in this new order of things relate more to the work of God in us and the stamp that God has put upon us. You remember that the Lord changed Peters name to Cephas and Saul’s to Paul but whatever the truth, it is still you and it is still me.

In this scripture in Revelation we have reference to books that are opened. Remember that this is the second resurrection. It is the resurrection of those who have rejected God’s overtures and for us, in this period of time between the Lords first and second coming, it is the rejection of the Gospel as presented primarily by the Apostle Paul.

We do not know how God will deal with those who lived before this period in which we are or those who will come after this period, but whichever the dispensation you can be sure that God will be infinitely fair and only those who have rejected his message of salvation relevant to each dispensation will appear here before the Great White Throne.

As I say, this is the second resurrection. There are no books referred to in the first resurrection. There we read of the "Dead in Christ being raised first, then we the living who remain caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air and thus we shall be ever with the Lord". No books of works opened there. The believer is viewed by God as already "In Christ" and any record of sin or sins has been expunged.

Paul does speak of the ‘Judgement Seat of Christ’ in respect of the believer, saying that we shall all appear there, but that is not in connection with punishment but more to do with a review of all God’s loving ways with us as the hymn says "There to look back on all the way to see the meaning at his hand of every deed in every day" The context of that scripture has to do with what we as Christians may have done to please him during our lives or displease him. It is a review and there is no sense of condemnation, rather of blessing.

Here in Revelation the books are opened. It is the most solemn moment. Here, having rejected Gods overtures, those who appear are about to be judged by their works. Records have been kept and if people insist on rejecting God’s appeals and insist upon being judged upon their own works, then they will be. So be it. Their works are all on record, all remembered. How stupid I would be to take such a risk in the presence of a holy and righteous God when instead, by believing, I have his promise that "Our sins and our iniquities he will never remember any more" Talk about gambling. Even from a human perspective, what a gamble, hoping the balance will tip in my favour.

But one other book was opened also. The Book of life.
Now then, why would the book of life be opened at this late stage?
Aren’t these poor souls eternally lost?
What’s the point of looking through the book of life again?

Let me ask you, could it be to see if just possibly, the name of one of those poor lost souls about to be cast out forever, might be in that book of life after all, might have been overlooked?. It seems that the book of life is searched again name by name, line by line even at this late stage to see if anyone’s name might be there after all.

Amazing love. Amazing Grace. What a reliable, faithful God we have.

Such is God’s love and his unwillingness that any should perish, but that all should come to a knowledge of the Truth

Scripture tells us "He does not will the death of a sinner" He wants us to be fully persuaded today.

Why do people gamble with their eternal destiny?. "If we confess with our mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in our heart that God has raised him from among the dead………………WE WILL BE SAVED"