It's awesome today that God does not want us to die. and paid for our sins. But the Bible does say that we're all sinners. It says there's none righteous, no not one. It says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It's only by the grace of God, by the mercy of God, by the power of God that we can be forgiven and have God's gift of everlasting life. Because you know God has that power today to take you from sin to righteousness, to take you from darkness to light. to take you from the power of the devil to the power of God. You know, a lot of people think, you know, then there's nothing in my life that I can't overcome. Well, there's a lot of things in our life that we can't overcome. And sin is one of those things. The Bible says, when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin. Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And it warns us not to go down that path, but there's a lot of people today that are on that path of sin. And they say, well, I like the drink, I like the drugs, I like the immorality. But truth be told, that thing is their God. It is their master, and they are bowing down to it. It hurts them emotionally, physically, and financially. It hurts their health. But you know, God today wants that person to have victory. God does not want you to be in bondage to your sin. God desires very much that you have His gift of everlasting life. Christ is you, the hope of glory. Jesus Christ, the Bible says, is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. There's not many ways to go to heaven today. There's only one way, and that way is Jesus Christ. Friend, God loves you so much that he took his son, his only son, his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, and he put him on a cross for you. Again, it's amazing to think about that. The Bible says we're scarcely for a righteous man when one dies, but God committed his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ went to the cross of sin and of pain and of suffering, and Jesus Christ did that because he had you on his heart. You know, I may not know you today, My friend, I may not know anything about your life, but there's a God in heaven that knows you intimately. In fact, God's Word tells us that He knows every thought that you have, every sin you've ever committed, and everything there is to know about your life. You can't get away from it in this life. The Bible says, though you go to the lowest hell, you can't escape God in this life. But in eternal hell, somebody is separated from God eternally. God does not want you to go to that place. You know, there on the cross, Jesus Christ cried out those words. He said, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Jesus Christ suffered separation from God the Father because Jesus Christ was taking the punishment for our sin as he died on the cross for us. Friend, it's amazing again to stop and think about Jesus. Think about His love. Think about His mercy. Think about His grace. Think about the fact today that God has you on His heart. And He's thinking about you. A lot of people today will tell me, Ben, there is no God. I don't believe in God. I don't think about God. Well, I'll tell you this. God thinks about you. God believes in you. You ought to believe in God. The Bible says about Jesus that He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our feet. is upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. And yet, the Bible says about us, all we like to do is go on a streak. We have turned everyone to His own way, and the Lord has laid on Him, on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. Friends, Jesus Christ did that, suffered for us, laid down His life for us, because He loves us. People say to me today, that, you know, if I went into a church, lightning would strike, or God is against me, God is not for me. You know, I'll tell you today, God is absolutely for you. So much for you that He took His Son, His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and put Him on a cross so that Jesus could die for you. You might wonder today, who is Jesus? Jesus is God's incarnate, God in flesh. The Bible says about Jesus, He is Emmanuel, that is God with us. Jesus Christ came and he died for us and paid the price for our sin so that we could be born again, so that we could be forgiven, so that we could receive God's gift of everlasting life. Friend, has there ever been a time in your life where you humbled your heart, you looked at the cross, and you recognized that Jesus Christ on that cross died for you, that he paid the price so that you could be forgiven? Friend, the gospel is about you. It's not about other people. It's about you. There's only one thing that matters in your life, and that is do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. The Bible says, He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have been written unto you, that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life. There's a lot of religious people today. That if I were to ask them, do you know for sure that when you die, you're going to heaven? They would say, I hope I'm going to heaven, or I want to go to heaven. But they cannot say, I know that I'm going to heaven. Jesus Christ did not come and die on the cross so that we could hope or think or feel like we're going to heaven. Jesus Christ came and died so that we could know beyond a shadow of a doubt That when we die, we'll spend eternity with God in glory. Friend, that's what God desires to do. He wants to say to you today, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also. God desires to give you His gift of everlasting life. God desires to take you from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God, from eternity in hell to eternity in heaven. But friend, it doesn't happen by accident. Every single person has to take the time to stop, look and listen, begin to consider the truth of the word God, what Jesus Christ did as he died on the cross for you. Friend, do you know the love of God today? Do you know the mercy of God in Christ Jesus? Has there ever been a time in your life where you have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, where you don't go, I think there's a God, but you go, I know there's a God because I have a personal relationship with God. Friend, it's not about a religion. I'm a Baptist. I'm a Baptist minister. But it's not about religion. It's about having Jesus Christ as your Savior. A lot of people today think, well, Ben, I'm okay, because, you know, when I was little, I was christened, or this or that, and I had this religious rite done to me. I'll tell you this, the Bible says, by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in are in my sight. There is nothing that you can do, whether baptism or christening, that will change your eternity. It's only what Jesus Christ did as he went to the cross and as he died for you. Again, friend, John 3.16 is that precious verse, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Friend, God does not desire to cast anybody into hell. The Bible says He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God desires you to stop looking, looking at life and half step by step walking towards hell. God wants you to stop, look and listen and consider that there is a God in heaven, that there is a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ that died on the cross for the sin. Friend, I don't wonder if there's a creator. I know there's a creator. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 verse 1, in the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. You're not an accident. You're not a process, a random chance. You are somebody that has been made by Jesus Christ. He loves us all, except we condemn sin, because our sin separates us from God. While we were sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ had to go to the cross because of our sin. Yes, God does love us, but God does not love that which separates us from Him. God does not love that sin that is in the life of somebody. And I'll tell you this, the Bible says these six things that the Lord hates, and number one is a proud love. You know, in our generation, we have a generation that is very proud. They take their banner of their pride flag, they put it over their sin, they wave it in the face of a holy God, and they act as if God says that their sin is okay. Friend, people can try to justify themselves through social media, through government, through educators, but that justification means nothing when you stand before God. When you stand before God, Keir Starmer or John Sweeney, they do not have your back. When you stand before God, their base do not have your back. When you stand before God, your ideology does not have your back. The only thing that matters on that day is, do you have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? The Bible says, He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Our sin separates us from God. Somebody could say, well, you know, why is God against me? Why isn't God, you know, doing more in my life for me? Well, friends, you cannot come to God on your own terms. You can't make the law. You can't make the rules and say, God, you've got to accept me with my sexual perversion. God, you've got to accept me with my lies and my deceit and my immorality and my adultery and my fornication. You cannot say to God, God, you've got to accept my sin. You cannot say that. Why? Because there's only been one One thing God can do with our sins, and that's with us, cast it into eternity in a lake of fire. God is a just God. God is a holy God. The Bible says about God, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. For there's not a little bit of deceit in God. There is no deceit in God. God is perfectly holy. And if you're going to come to God, you've got to come with the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's only the blood that can cleanse us. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. And yet God in love reaches out to us and he says, come now and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. God looks at you today and says, look, you've got sin in your life. It's separated me and you. But look, I can take care of it through the blood of my son, Jesus, that died on the cross for your sin. As he was born this day 2,000 years ago in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the place that the Bible said 450 years before it's birth, that thou Bethlehem, Judah, out of thee shall he come, that's to be ruler of my people. The Bible said that 450 years before he came, it says they pierced his hands and his feet. It says that a thousand years before Jesus Christ was crucified, it says they cast locks upon his vesture. You can read it for yourself in Psalm 22 in the scriptures. People say to me, Ben, why do you believe the Bible? Because the Bible has prophecy in it that says what's going to happen before it ever took place. Friend, all of that is there. So again, we would stop, look, and listen and say, why has the Bible been translated into more languages than any other book? Why has it outsold every book every year? Why have mankind accepted it as the Word of God? Why does it speak about the most famous person in human history, Jesus Christ? It's because this book is an eternal book that God gave. Friend, God didn't give it to us to be mean. God didn't give it to us in time. He didn't give us His law to try to keep us from fun or things like that. What God did, He gave us His law to keep us from that which destroys life, destroys family, destroys health, destroys finance, breaks our relationship with God. Friend, Jesus Christ came so that we could be forgiven. Jesus Christ came to pay the price for our sin. The Son of God, the perfect and holy Jesus Christ went to the cross so that you and I could be forgiven. Friend, about Jesus, Jesus Christ is God. You might say, well, I've been listening to the Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Jehovah's Witnesses say Jesus isn't God. I've been listening to Islam, and Islam says Jesus isn't God. I've been listening to Mormons, And Mormons say Jesus isn't God, but I'll tell you this, the Bible says that Jesus Christ is God. It says about Jesus that he's worshipped. Only God can be worshipped. It says about Jesus that he forgives sins on this earth. Only God can forgive sins. It says about Jesus that he's the judge. Listen, God is the judge before whom every man is going to give an account. Jesus is Creator. The Bible says without Him was not anything made that was made. That Savior, that God came to this earth, died on the cross for our sins. He humbled Himself, entered into His creation. He didn't care if people laughed at Him. He didn't care if people mocked Him. He didn't care if people cursed Him. Jesus Christ came so that you could be forgiven. Again, the Bible says while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Hey, scarcely for a righteous man would one die. Well, there's some great men that have laid down their life for others and for the cause of freedom and things like that, but there's only one man that came, that died for every man, a righteous man, a man that should not have died. If you wonder today, then where does death come from? The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That's different than God's creation. Not because God created it, it's because man sinned against the Holy God. God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, He said, The day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Hey friend, Adam and Eve did exactly what you've done so many times. You looked at it, you thought, oh that looks good, I think it'll feel good, I want that, that'll make me better. You take that, it's sin, it's destructive, it destroys. That's what Eve did, in death, soul, sickness, and heartache, she drew it into God's creation. But Jesus Christ, the righteous man, he was not worthy of death. Pilate said about this man, he is a just man, he is innocent, I find no fault in him. They looked at that righteous man, that good man that healed people, that helped people, that fed people, that cared for people, they took him. And they put him on a cross of shame. They put him on a cross of suffering. And they put him on a cross where he would die crying out, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? They did that to Jesus because Jesus loves you. Jesus Christ was hung on that cross, not by nails. Jesus Christ was hung on that cross by love. Jesus Christ loved you so much that He went to the cross and He died for you. He made a way for you to be reconciled to God, redeemed to God, brought back, given life through Christ through what Jesus did. He made a way for you to be forgiven. Oh, friend, do you know the love of God today in Christ Jesus? Has there ever been a time when you humbled your heart, confessed yourself as a sinner that you are in the eyes of a holy God, and said, Dear God, please forgive me of my sin. I repent of my sin. I need your Savior, Jesus Christ. And you put your faith in the Son of God that died on the cross for your sin. Friend, that's all that's necessary for salvation. The Bible says in Romans 5 8, but God commended his love toward us Do that while we're that sinner Christ died for us Jesus Christ died for the truth of Romans 10 9 and 10 that they thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead thou shalt be saved and Friend, Jesus Christ made a way for you to have righteousness so that you could go to heaven. There's one thing keeping you out of heaven, and that is your sin. But it's the one thing that people hold on to. Friend, have you ever wondered why people drink, and they get drunk, and they're immoral, and they're abusive, and it destroys their life, and it gives them cancer, and it hurts their relationships, and it costs them money, but they act as if that alcohol is the best thing, and they bow down to it, and they worship it. You ever think about the person that's buying that gambler ticket, they're enslaved to that, maybe stealing even to keep their habit going, and they're in debt, and in debt, and in debt, all in the dream that someday they'll get money, money that cannot satisfy them or meet their needs. You got somebody that's wealthy. Does that satisfy you? Does that make you happy? You know, they'll tell you again and again, money does not bring happiness, but there is a God in heaven that can give you peace with Him, through the Lord Jesus Christ, that can give you purpose in your life. The Bible says it this way, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Behold, old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. Jesus Christ wants to give you a fresh start. Listen, there's people today passing this point, they're looking at the dark winter coming, they're looking at the short daylight hours, and they're saying there is no hope, and they are suicidal, they're thinking about taking their life, and they may even have the instrument of death. in their home already. And I'm just saying, if anybody liked that book, there is hope. But it's not in psychology. There is hope. It's not in vaping. It's not in cigarettes. It's not in drugs. It's not in drink. It's not in immorality. It's not in a better job or a better relationship. That hope is found in Jesus Christ. The Bible says about Jesus that He is the Prince of Peace. If you want peace, real peace, you need a peace that is not of this world. A peace that you don't have to escape to the countryside to find. A peace that you don't have to be on something to find. There is a peace that passive understanding is a peace that is God-given. It's found in Jesus Christ. It's called the peace of God. Friend, only God can do that. But God can do that. You might say, Ben, you don't understand. I've got guilt. I've got anxiety. I've got problems in my life. I cannot get behind. Listen, God is the God that is able to give you victory. God is the God that is able to take that which is hurting you away. And I'll tell you that. It's a three-letter word, and the word is sin. Sin is the thing that is destroying your life. Friend, if you stop and think about it, the things that you defend, the drugs, the drink, the immorality, pornography, things like that. Listen, it hurts your relationship. It hurts your health. It hurts your kids. It hurts your family. It's hurting you. It hurts your finance. Listen, get rid of that stuff and find God. Anybody can. Pick up a Bible. Begin to read it. The Bible says, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Friend, the thing that you need is to begin to take in God's message and listen to what God says in His Word. Again, anybody can come to faith. There's a man in the Bible, he's called the Apostle Paul. But before he got saved, what Saul of Tarsus did is he killed Christians. He gave his voice to them, said, casting men and women into prison. But I'll tell you this about Saul. Saul of Tarsus was confronted by Christ. Saul of Tarsus put his faith in Jesus Christ. He received life. He became a preacher of the Gospel. He became the human author of the majority of the New Testament, and he says this, he says, I got saved by the grace of God for a pattern to them, for Shakir after believed on Jesus Christ, and it's this truth today. If Saul of Tarsus could get saved, anybody could get saved. Somebody could be Osama bin Laden or Saddam Hussein or some other wicked person in this life But they can repent their sin and put their faith in Jesus Christ and be forgiven by God Because Jesus Christ on the cross paid the price for their sin. He paid the price for my sin He prayed paid the price for our sin Oh friend, do you know the mercy of God? Has there ever been a time in your life when you looked at the cross, understood what Jesus Christ did as he died for you, that he made a way through the blood that he shed for you to be forgiven? The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sins. It's only through the righteousness of God, only through the mercy of God, only through the grace of God. Again, 650 years before the cross in the book of Isaiah, it says He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The punishment of our peace is upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. And yet it says, all we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned to everyone to his own way, and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Jesus Christ took our sin. He took our wrath. Why? So that you and I could be forgiven. But God does not want you stepping towards hell. But the Bible does say, wide is the way that leads to destruction. Many there be that go in there at. Narrow is the way that leads to life everlasting. Few there be that find it. Well, friends, you gotta take the time to pause in life and begin to think about God and not say, well, you know, I'm too busy. Look, you're not too busy for the internet. You're not too busy for social media. You're not too busy for your family. You're not too busy for sport. You're not too busy for the things that you desire in your life. But it's time to look at your life and say, when I die, am I gonna say it was great? I live my life for sport. I live my life for work. I live my life for family. I live my life for education. I live my life for those things. Listen, friend, when you die, that is all vain. It means nothing in eternity. But what matters in eternity is do I know God as my Savior? Do I have Jesus Christ as the great defender of mankind, going to stand before me in eternity in the lake of fire? Friend, if you don't have Jesus, you don't have life. The Bible says about Jesus, he that hath the Son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life. God does not want you to think that you have eternal life. He does not want you to hope that you have eternal life. He wants you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you died, you'd go to heaven. Friend, there is a way. That way is Christ. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Listen, it's not in idolatry. It's not in Islam, it's not in Jehovah's Witnesses, it's not in Catholicism, it is not in any other religion but the religion that teaches that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sin and he paid the price so that you and I could be forgiven. Fred, we live in a very wicked day. We live in a day of perversion like no other day. A day where men justify their wickedness and defend their ungodliness. And I'll just tell you today, have the courage to look in the Word of God and see what the Scripture says about your life. God gave us this year for a reason. Listen, the Word of God is there to reflect in our life the adultery, the fornication, the lies, the deceit, the ungodliness that is there. to show us how wicked we are in the sight of our holy God. So many people today would say, Ben, well, I'm an atheist, but if there is a God, God knows that I'm a good person. Well, friends, have you ever taken God's name in vain? Have you just honored God in the Lord's name? Have you disobeyed your parents? Have you lied? Have you hated someone so much that you wanted to murder them? Have you taken the life of a baby in the womb? Have you mustered after a woman and committed adultery with her in your heart or committed actual adultery? Are you living with somebody that is not your spouse? Because the Bible says that is fornication. The Bible says marriage is honorable in all, in the bed undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. I'll tell you this, friend, anybody that thinks that when they stand before God, God's gonna let them into heaven because they're a good person, is sadly mistaken. They might be a nice person, they might be a friendly person, they might be a helpful person, but the Bible says there is none good, no, not one. The Bible says for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible says all our righteousnesses are at Skokie Ranch. There's nothing in us that is good. What is in us is unrighteous and ungodly. And so what we need is the mercy of God. What we need is the grace of God. What we need is the forgiveness of God. Again, the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. But you've got to go to God on God's terms. You cannot justify your sin, hold on to it, harbor it, and think God's going to say that's okay. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. And so if I grab hold of my sin and say, I'm going to hold on to my sexual sin, or my drinking, or my drugs, or my profanity, or my ungodliness, I'm going to embrace it, and God's going to accept it. Because I say God's going to accept it. Listen, friend, it doesn't work. It doesn't matter today that the government says your sin is okay. It doesn't matter today that educators say it's okay. It doesn't matter today If your family or your mates say it's okay, what matters today is God says it's sin, therefore you've got to repent of it and put your faith in Jesus. The Bible says, except you repent, you'll in all you'll all likewise perish. Every single person today that passes this point that just goes, hey, you know, I hear the preaching. I want nothing to do with it. I want nothing to do with God. Listen, God in his mercy is reaching out. He's trying to knock at your heart's door and get you to begin in your life to think about him and take the time to pick up a Bible and begin to read it, begin to understand who God is and the love of God in Christ Jesus. Again, you said here today, Ben, you don't understand. I have no idea, no concept who God is. Listen, friends, pick up a Bible, begin to read that book of John. It says in the book of John that these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. Listen, God wants to give you life. If there was a million pounds that was buried down in Princes Street Gardens, you'd be down there with a shovel, a spade at night trying to dig up the million pounds. If you knew it was there, listen, There's more value in this book than a million pounds. There's more value in this book than rubies and diamonds and gold and silver and things like that. Jesus Christ in this book offers you life. Friend, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? What is it going to cost you today if you gain the whole world but you die and you go to hell? It doesn't matter if you're Donald Trump or you're Elon Musk or some other wealthy person. There's nothing that you can give for your soul to buy your soul out of hell. Friend, there's only one chance that you've got, and that is to go to God by faith, trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. What He did is He died on the cross for you, that He paid the price for your sins so that you could be forgiven. Friend, has there ever been a point in your life where you recognized that? where you looked at the cross and there was a brokenness that was there in your heart. It was a brokenness that God gave. The Spirit of God convicted your heart. You know, I've rejoiced today as a preacher of the Word of God that the Spirit of God is the convictor of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. See, God has the power today to work in men's hearts. Sadly today, the Spirit of God begins to connect and begins to work. And rather than somebody going, look, that's right, I need God, and I'm going to seek God, and I'm going to find God. They tune God out with their earbuds. They tune God out with their drink. They tune God out with their drugs and their immorality and things like that. Listen, friend, it's time to tune God in. It's time to get back to the Bible. You know, today, of all people, we ought to be people that are looking up and saying, God's word has to be true. This book said that Israel would be back in the land. It said it from 3,000 years ago to 2,000 years ago. It said that they would be there. You can read the book of Revelation. It speaks about Israel being back in the land. Again, 2,000 years ago, God said that if people would be displaced, they would be dispersed. They would keep their national identity. they would come back to their homeland, and listen, no other nation has done that. No other nation has their foot off their land, kept their national identity, and come back to their land. Listen, this book said that would take place. This book says about a generation that rejects God and turns itself to humanism and idolatry, that the sin that is going to be magnified by that nation is the sin of homosexuality. You can read it for yourself in Romans chapter 1. It speaks about men with men doing that which is unseemly, women with women, and receiving in themselves the recognition of their error, which was meek. God said that 2,000 years ago. That is the main sin that is being bantered and raved. And we've got Pride Month and things like that. Listen, God said exactly what would happen 2,000 years ago. Friend, so many things like that in the Bible ought to make you pause and step back and begin to think about God and say, you know, there's got to be a God. There has to be a God. And friend, I'll just tell you, when the economy is in shambles and there's a threat of war and it looks like there's pestilence and all these things that are happening, it's time to get back to God. It's time to recognize that there is a Creator that's trying to knock on our heart's door and wake us up. Jesus said, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him and he with me. God desires to give you life. God desires to give you hope. God desires to give you peace. You know, God is a great God, a gracious God, a loving God. He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. He sent Him to come and to give us His gift. But it's only by the grace of God and by the power of God that we can receive Jesus. Oh friend, has there ever been a time in your life when you looked at the cross, recognized that the Son of God, Jesus, died on the cross through sin, paid the price for you to be forgiven? Oh, God desires to give you his mercy. God desires you to have his grace, to have his strength, to have his help. But friend, you gotta go to God. And the best way to God is begin to pick up a Bible, begin to read it. And then find a church, but not just any church. There's so many churches today that blaspheme this book, mock this book by the positions that they take that are contrary to God. Find a church that stands with what the Bible says about marriage. on the church with what the bible says about life and about purity and about holiness are very concerned today There are many Scots today that are beginning to wake up and beginning to look at the educators that are teaching perversion to their children. And they look at that and they think, my, what kind of a world have we come to, where sexual immorality is being indoctrinated into the hearts of our kids, where they're saying to our little boys, you could be a girl. They're saying to our little girls, you could be a boy. And yet the word of God says, male and female create and teach them. God gave us our gender. God gave us our identity. They teach that to our kids and then they go, we got an identity crisis that's taking place and we don't understand why there's an identity crisis. It's because the hearts of our children are being perverted from their youth. Friend, it's time to give back to God. It's time to pick up a Bible, begin to read it, begin to understand that God makes the rules. It's not men that can say this is okay. It's not men that can say sexual immorality is okay, and are saying that's going to be fine, we're going to legislate it and say that it's fine, we're going to take it into our streets, we're going to parade it and say that's fine. The Bible says, though the wicked join hand to hand, yet their iniquity will not be unpunished. In fact, the Bible says that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Friend, are you ready for that day? The Bible says it's appointed to men once to die, but after that to judgment. Nobody gets to come back and say, you know, right, I'd really like to do this again, you know, the whole find God thing in my life. But listen, when you die, it's too late. No corpse gets out of that coffin on that day of that funeral and says, hey, you know, I messed up. I forgot to find God in my life. So I'm going to step back. And now I'm going to find Jesus. Listen, that's not how it works. You've got one chance. It's in this life. And nobody knows the appointed hour of their death any more than you have anything to do with the day of your birth. And friend, you've got to be ready for that day. You've got to be ready to stand before God and to give an account for your life. And it's a great thing on that day to have the Advocate Jesus Christ there defending you before God as a blood-bought child of God. Oh, friend, do you have Jesus in your heart? Do you have Jesus in your life? Is there ever been a time where you've repented of your sin and put your faith in the Son of God, Jesus, that died on the cross for your sin? Oh, I love the verse, while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus didn't die for religious people or good people or moral people or something like that. Jesus Christ died for sinners. You might say to me today, Ben, if I'm really honest about my life, I am lost. I'm lost. I don't know where to turn. I don't know where to go. I just feel like overwhelmed by life. I feel so guilty for the decisions that I've made. I'll just tell you, Jesus Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost. Jesus is out there actively seeking. It's not that he doesn't know where to find you. It just means that he's reaching out and that he's trying to knock on your heart's door and get you to begin to think about what he did as you died on the cross for you that he paid the price for you. You might say, Ben, I'm not that bad of a person. I'm just an atheist. I don't Believe in God. Well, listen, the atheist is somebody that never thanks God for their food, never thanks God for their life, never thanks God for their family, never thanks God for the Son of God, Jesus, that died on the cross for them, that Jesus made a way for us to be forgiven. Jesus made a way in his mercy for us to receive God's gift of everlasting life. He died for us. He made a way for us to have His gift that is free. His gift that is eternal. And friend, I'll tell you this again. If you don't have Jesus, you don't have life. The Bible says about Jesus, I am the way, the truth, and the life. Friend, everything else is a lie. Anything that rejects Jesus and what Jesus did is He died. on the cross for our sin. It's a lie. It's a lie that's going to take people to hell. It's a lie that is hurting you in this life because you don't have peace with God. You don't have the help of God. You don't have a relationship with God as your father and all the things that God desires you to have in this life you don't have if you don't have Jesus. Frank, don't continue in life like that. I encourage you to pick up a Bible, begin to read it, begin to think about God, begin to think about the love of God, begin to think about the mercy of God and the grace that God made when he sent his son, Jesus, to die on the cross for your sin, that you could be forgiven, that your sin could be taken away, that you could have God's gift of everlasting life. Well friend, won't you take him today at his word and stop walking through life never looking at the manual. Our church is right behind Costco and Ikea. And you know there at Ikea they got all the flat pack things and I would just say this, never take a flat pack Ikea package and try to put it together without the instructions. But there are a lot of people today, they're trying to put their life together without the manual. They're trying to act as if they can live their life and do their thing without looking at what the Creator said and the Creator's design and what He put into this creation. And when He said, you know, not to go down that path of immorality, not to say the profanity, not to have the ungodliness that is there in our hearts, not to reject Him, but to honor Him and to worship God and all those things that God commanded in His law, in His precious Word. Listen, this is the law book. This is the manual for life, and if you're living your life outside of this, it's no wonder you shake your head and go, what is life all about? It's no wonder you're in despair. It's no wonder that you drink, and it's empty. You do drugs, and it's empty. You're immoral, and it's empty. There is no satisfaction to be found outside of Christ. I pray that we have Jesus as your Savior. Has there ever been a time in your life when you took the Son of God, Jesus, into your heart as your personal friend, as your personal Lord and Master? Friend, He desires to be everything to you. He desires you to have life. He desires you, in fact, the Bible says to have an abundant life. God wants you to have a good family. God wants you to have a strong marriage. God wants you to raise kids in the fear of God that are respectful and that understand truth. But listen, you cannot do it without God. The Bible says about God that, again, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Him. Friend, life does not work without God. And you might be going through life and you're going, man, it's life. It doesn't work. It's not satisfying. I work all week to go to the pub on the weekends. I waste my living. I waste what I've got. I get a hangover. I get guilt. I get immorality in my life. It makes me a wicked person. And look, it's destroying my life. It's destroying my health. I'm potentially going to get cancer in the future. Listen, stop the cycle of wickedness. Stop the path. of unbelief, and arrogance, and conceit against God. Friend, I encourage you, just come to God. Begin to seek God. The Bible says, if you seek me, you shall find me if you search with all your heart. If you seek me, you shall find me. If you search with all your heart. You know, the thing is today, we've got to begin to seek God. There are people today, they're giving everything to find happiness in drugs. They're giving everything to find happiness in relationships. They're giving everything to find happiness in sin. And it's empty, and it's empty, and it's empty. But friend, take that same energy that you're pursuing your sin with and begin to use that energy to seek God. The Bible again says, if you seek me, you shall find me if you search with all your heart. Friend, it is worth picking up a Bible and beginning to read it. And if you can't read, downloading it to your phone and beginning to listen to the scripture and let your mind be filled with the truth of God. Friend, this book is an eternal book. It has a power beyond the spoken word. It has a power beyond the written word because it's got the divine hand of God upon it. And God is able to take the scriptures and bring you to faith. Faith will not come by you someday falling into something. It doesn't come that way. It comes by hearing. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It's only those that sought after Jesus that could find this truth. It's only those that would take the time to go out into the wilderness where he was preaching and teaching and healing and doing other things that have opportunity to come to faith. You're not going to find faith at the pub. You're not going to find faith at the sports stadium. You're not going to find faith at all the places that so many people are going today. But you can find faith in God where God is. Friend, find the places like that. Find a good church, a church that believes the Bible, a church that says marriage is between one man and one woman, and a covenant relationship for life, a church that says Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the light, a church that stands with the book, the Bible, and firmly stands upon that truth, because Jesus Christ taught that every word of God is pure. Jesus Christ taught that marriages between a man and a woman in a covenant relationship provide. Jesus Christ taught that not one jot or one tittle, the smallest diacritical markings in the Hebrew Old Testament, not one of those in God's law would fall away until the end of time. Jesus Christ did not diminish the law. Jesus Christ lifted up the law. Do you know what the law is? The law is that which condemns us. It shows us our need for a savior. It shows us our need for one that would die for us, that would pay the price for our sins, so that judicially God could forgive us. A lot of religions today say, if you say to God, God, I'm sorry that God says, OK, I take your sin away. It doesn't work that way. It can't work that way. That would be like somebody committing a crime, standing before the judge, saying, Judge, I'm really sorry. Please take my crime away. And the judge says, OK, I forgive you. God cannot do that. God has to look at our sin. He has to condemn our sin. But instead, He took His Son, Jesus, and He sacrificed Him in our place so judicially God could say, I can forgive you, Ben. I can forgive you, whatever your name is. I can forgive you because my Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for your sin. Friend, if you don't know that glorious truth, you are missing out in life. Don't go through life without finding Christ. Don't go through life and get to your funeral without knowing God personally by faith in his Son, Jesus, that died for you. Well, friend, it's not a religion. It's not a religion. Religions don't do anything if they don't point you to Jesus. It's not about a religion. It's about a relationship with God, our faith, and the Son of God, Jesus, that doesn't cost you sin. Friend, he made a way for you to be forgiven. The Bible says, again in Romans 3.23, it says, for all had sinned and contorted before they died. It says in Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin is death. What somebody's going to get because of their sins is eternity and a length of fire. The Bible says in the book of Revelation, chapter 20, it says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of those books according to their works. It doesn't matter today if somebody's famous or rich or poor. That doesn't matter. Every single person is going to stand before God and give an account for their life. The Bible says, in death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Friend, God does not want you to go to that place. That's why He took His Son, His only Son, His precious Son, Jesus Christ, and He crucified Him for you. The Bible says it pleased the Father to bruise Him for us. He took our sin upon Him on the cross. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace is upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. And Jesus Christ did that so that you could be forgiven. Jesus Christ suffered and He died and He had the sin of the world put upon Him there on the cross. Jesus Christ did that because He loves you. Because he cares about me. Because he doesn't want me to die and to go to hell. He wants me to receive his gift of everlasting life. Friend, the Bible says in Ephesians 2 and 9, for by grace are you saved with faith. It's a gift of God, not of works, like any man should boast. It's not something that you can earn. You might think, well then, you know, if I'm going to get the God thing, I've got to become religious, and I've got to do all these things, and maybe get christened, and this and that. And if I do these things, God will accept me. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible, in fact, says the opposite. The Bible says, by the works of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in my sight. We cannot declare ourselves righteous based upon keeping the law and doing certain good things to honor God and to try to earn favor with God. It doesn't work. Why? Because all of our sin condemns us. You cannot get rid of your sin by anything that you do. The Bible says, Go thou watchful with neither, and take thee but self, yet thy iniquity is marked before thee, saith the Lord. The only way that we can be forgiven then is through the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that died on the cross for us. He made a way through His shed blood for us to be forgiven. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Jesus Christ on the cross. They pierced his brow. They whipped the flesh off his back. They pierced his hands. They pierced his feet. As he died, they pierced his side. The Bible says water and blood flowed out through the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. God made a way, judicially, for us to be forgiven. The Son of God, you might wonder, Ben, why did Jesus die? Jesus died because of our sin, because the punishment for our sin is death. The punishment for our sin is the wrath of God upon us. Jesus Christ took the wrath of God. As He died on the cross for our sin, He took the wrath of God that was against us. The Bible says He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, all the crimes that we've ever committed. Whether it's lust, covetousness, worry, anxiety, fear, anger, bitterness, gossip, lust, adultery, fornication, pornography, and all those things that we committed against God, He took that and He nailed it to His cross. He died as if he was guilty of all the damnable works that have been in our life, and he was damned of God to bear on the cross for us so that eventually God could forgive him. Friend, that's what Jesus did. Why? Because he loves you. Why? Because he cares for you. Why? Because he doesn't want you to die and to go to hell. Friend, if you said to me today, Ben, what's the worst thing about hell? The worst thing about hell is not that it's a fire, though it is. The Bible says it's everlasting, destruction. It's eternal. It's a fire and it's eternal, but those aren't the worst things about hell. The worst thing about hell is that God is not there. Somebody in hell is separated from God eternally. There's no going back, there's no do-overs. A lot of people today, you know, they laugh about hell, they mock about hell, but I'll just tell you this, that's like laughing at people in a fire. It's like laughing at people in the towers there in London that burned and standing outside the window as they were trapped and as they perished in the flames and laughing and thinking off, you know, that's funny that somebody's in a fire. Friend, it's not funny today that people when they die, they spend eternity away from God in a lake of fire. It's not funny to laugh about that place of eternal torment. And friend, I'll just tell you this, if you're laughing at it, You're underway to that place of judgment against God, but God does not desire you to go to hell That's why God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you so that you can be forgiven so that you can have God's gift of everlasting life Again, friend, the Bible says in John 3, 16, it says, For God so loved the world. I love it that it doesn't just say, For God loved. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, Jesus, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Friend, God desires to give you life. God desires that you would have that gift of Christ in you, the hope of glory. That you would have a new life that God desires to give you. The word of God says, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. When things are passed away, behold, all things are become new. I got saved as a child. I listened to my dad preach a message on hell. He talked about being a fire, being eternal, that God wasn't there. The sounds that you hear in hell would be weeping and gnashing your teeth. And as a child, I humbled my heart. I went down to my dad's study. I said, Dad, I want to get saved. He showed me that I was a sinner, that the punishment for my sin was hell, but that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin. And that he made a way that by faith I can receive God's gift of everlasting life. As a child I didn't even know how to pray, but my dad led me in a prayer that I believed. And I just prayed, and I said, Dear Jesus, I'm a sinner, but your son, you died for me on the cross. Would you please forgive me of my sin and save me a friend? As a child, I received God's gift of everlasting life. I can look you in the eye today and say, I don't just know there is a God, I know that I have everlasting life because I have put my faith in the Son of God, Jesus. And friend, it's not because I'm a preacher, it's not because I'm a pastor, it's not because I'm married, it's not because I'm a good family man, it's not because I left my homeland to come to another nation to preach the gospel. I have eternal life because I received Jesus Christ as my Savior. Friend, has there ever been a time in your life when you humbled your heart and you took the gift that God desires you to have, the gift of life in Christ? Friend, without that, you're not ready for the judgment. The Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die, but after that, the judgment. Friend, there's coming a day where you're going to stand before the God that you do not believe in, the God that you reject, the God that you say does not exist. You're going to stand and give an account to that God. Friend, nobody hates Santa Claus because he doesn't exist. But they do hate God. What I find is I speak to atheists, and atheists are somebody that says there is no God, and then they say this, and if there is a God, I hate him, I despise him, I blame him. Look, they do not say, if there is a God, I want to thank him for my job. I want to thank him for my wife. I want to thank him for my family. And what they reveal and what they say is they do not believe in God because they hate God. That's what's in the heart of men. It's not that this doesn't speak about a God. It shouts that there's a God. The Bible says the heavens are clear. The Lord is God. The permanent showeth his handiwork. Day into day, utterest speech. Night into night, showest knowledge. There is no nation around this world, this planet, that doesn't testify to the fact that there is a God. Every time that there's an eclipse, we ought to stop and go, how does that happen that the moon perfectly covers the sun? Isn't that God shouting out to us that he exists? Beyond that he gave us a book a book that's been translated into more languages than any other book. It's outsold every book every year It's been the book that that the printing press was designed to print. Listen, it's God's book. It's eternal It's God in a prophecy that speaks hundreds of years and thousands of years before something took place saying exactly what would happen things like in the book of Psalms Psalm chapter 22. It says they pierced his hands and his feet. It says they cast lots upon his chest for meaning to gamble for his clothing. It says that dogs had come to be a doubt. The Jews called anybody that was not a Gentile, they called them a dog. But I'll tell you this, you might say, Ben, that's speaking about the crucifixion. I get that. I understand that. But listen, it's a thousand years before Christ died. A thousand years. And it was before crucifixion was ever invented. They didn't start crucifying people until about 600 A.D., and the Romans did it until 300 or 400 A.D., I'm sorry, B.C., just 340 years before Christ, 600 years before Christ, but 1,000 years before Christ. This book said they pierced his hands in the sea. thinking about the way Jesus Christ would die. He died stripped naked there on that cross and in that psalm it says, I look and I can see all my bones, I look and stare at them. Listen, they were revealed because he was stripped of his clothing and put on the cross just like the scripture said. The Bible says about Jesus in the Old Testament 450 years before his birth that he would be born in the city of Bethlehem. And so we have prophecy and the Word of God that speak about things before they ever happened. And all of that is there so that you and I would pick up a Bible and go, only God can say that. Only God can reveal that. Friend, right now you ought to look at the Middle East and what's happening there. And pick up a Bible and begin to read it. And understand that the Jewish people, historically in the Old Testament, they were the people of God. But remember this, they rejected the Messiah. As they rejected the Messiah, AD 70 was the destruction of Jerusalem. They were cast out of their land. But the Bible said they would come back. The Bible said they would again be in the land. And listen, the Word of God says that Jesus Christ is going to come back. He's going to reign on the Temple Mound that is in Jerusalem. That Temple Mound is the most debated and fought over piece of real estate, most valuable, most interesting piece of real estate that is in the world. And it's because Jesus Christ is going to reign there in the future. You can read it yourself. It's in the book of Revelation. It speaks about a one-world government. It speaks about a one-world economy. It speaks about a one-world religion. It speaks about somebody that's going to rise up before Jesus Christ comes back. He's going to make as if he is the Christ. He's going to be an anti-Christ, but he's going to set up a system where he can only buy and sell if you have something in your hand or in your forehead. Friend, in this day we understand the chips and the technology that we have in our day, but listen, the Bible spoke about it before it ever took place. The Bible says this about genetics. In thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there were none of them. God said that before men ever knew about it. Listen, one gram of DNA Well, it's an incredible amount of information that would be like almost a mind-boggling supercomputer that we don't even begin to have in our day. That's one gram of DNA. And all of that science and all of the power that is in this creation, you split one atom and you've got an atom bomb. Listen, Frank, you ought to look at that and go, there's got to be a God. There has to be a designer. There has to be a creator. Listen, explosions don't make things. Anybody today that believes evolution, that an explosion made all this, I want to sell you some stock in a company that I'll make with superchips, and I'll put them in a room and we'll blow it up, and you can invest your life savings in the idea that that's going to make some form of supercomputer, and I'll tell you this, friends, it's not going to happen, and that's not a lie. Friend, the basic question today for you, if you believe evolution, where does life come from? Because science says life comes from life. You know, and evolution teaches they bring forth a different kind and a different kind. Science says they bring forth after their kind, just like the Bible says. Friend you got to look at it go down to the National Museum find the oldest civilization that's there they say it's 10,000 years old I disagree with that, but this Bible says 6,500 years and I'll just ask you today is a thousand years closer to 6,500 years or is it closer to our 10,000 years closer to 6,500 years or is that closer to millions and millions of years? Friend, if it was millions and millions of years, how did we go from 1 billion 100 years ago to 8 or 9 billion now? How did we go in 100 years from riding horses to supersonic jets, from primitive medicine to being able to do things with genetics? How did we go from poor communication to FaceTime and things like that? Friend, all of that speaks to a blip on the radar of evolution a hundred years, but biblically it speaks to the fact that God, at the point where men needed the information, gave them the information which they needed. Friend, look at this nation and understand this nation invented incredible things. Four and a half million people here. We invented the telly. We invented the anesthetic. We invented steam engines. Okay, this nation, not a big nation, incredible inventions. But I'll tell you this, this nation was a Christian nation. This nation in the 1800s were the people that believed God and obeyed God and followed God and God gave them incredible wisdom. But now we're a nation that's turned its back on God. Now we're a nation that despises things to do with God. We're a nation that takes a gay pride flag and puts our first minister at the head of the parade and goes down streets and says, this is what we honor in Scotland deep. ungodliness and wickedness and perversion that was unspeakable even 20 years ago. It is brandished on the street and promoted as if it is good. The Bible says, Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. We live in a day that hates Christianity. We live in a day that hates the Bible, that blasphemes the Bible, that mocks God and hates God. Friend, we ought to bow our heads in a day like that and say, Dear God, where have we gone as a nation? Every spot I would look around and go, how could we, in the last two decades, have changed so drastically in our rebellion, in our wickedness, in our hearts against God? God's turning people out again on their knees and begin to beg God to awaken our nation again, that we would have people in office that honor God and honor truth, that would get in a parade that honors 50 years of marriage, honors 40 years of marriage, honors 60 years of marriage. instead of the ungodliness in our day that we're honoring. Friends, you get what you honor. We're starting to ask ourselves, how did we get such a generation of rebels that are growing up and they're setting places on fire and they're killing people. There was a stabbing that took place in Gilmerton just last week by a youth and things like that. It's not going to get better. It's going to get worse because we're ingraining in the hearts of our children ungodliness. Friends, our kids don't even know about God. All they know about God is what they hear at the sports stadium, and they hear the name of Jesus Christ, and they hear the name of God, Jesus, it's a curse word. And that's all that they know about God. And in our RE classes in our schools, they're not teaching about Christianity. They're teaching about supposed world religions, and they're teaching Islam, and they're teaching are doubting the psychology of things like that, and they're not putting the hearts of this generation to God. Friend, where's the generation that looks at that and says, I'm burdened about that. We gotta get back to God for the sake of our kids, for the sake of our families. Listen, what is wrong with our society is our society is being broken apart because the family unit, the building block of society is being destroyed from infancy in our schools, infancy in our social media, and we're promoting that ungodliness in the hearts of our kids. Friend, we gotta get back to God. Look at what the Word of God says about the family. Look at what the Word of God says, male and female created he them. It says, therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. That one flesh union, that is the marriage that is honorable in all. But the Bible says whoremongers and adulterers, God will judge. And we live in a fornicating society that the vast majority of Scots are living with somebody, sharing a bed with them, and they're not married. We are raising our kids in a godless and wicked generation that is a cesspool of filth and there is no hope for kids in a situation like that. They're looking at their parents and going, why don't you love one another enough to commit to a marriage relationship? Or there's confusion in the home because of ungodliness that is there and pornography that is available on their phone and on their social media and on the television in their home. And instead of protecting our kids from sin, we're letting our kids invite sin and their heart is adulterated and they're decreed by the sin that is in their life as a child. Friend, it's child abuse. The wickedness that's being promoted before our children in the schools, being promoted on social media, it is abusing their hearts. Friend, where are some parents that would care about that? Begin to pick up a Bible and say, look, we've got to get back to the Word of God and what God says in His Word. And no, you don't need a device. You don't have to have a mobile because everybody else has it. I'm not going to give you as a parent something that's going to corrupt your heart and corrupt your mind. I don't care how much you cry. I don't care how much you fuss because I care more about you than I care about what you think. Friend, where are some parents that have some moral courage that would stand up and go, look, school, you're not gonna teach that to my kids. You're not gonna teach that a boy can become a girl, a girl can become a boy, because the Bible says male and female created you them. That their identity is secure, because as a parent, I encourage them in the God-given gender identity that God gave them when he created them, he designed them in the womb, he's got a purpose for their life, and I desire them to find it. Oh, friends, it's time to get back to God as a nation. It's time to humble our hearts and to seek God again and to find out the truth of his precious word. Father, I praise you for your grace. Thank you for the liberty today to declare the truth of the word of God. I pray for your mercy for Scotland. I pray, dear God, awaken the hearts of the people that are hard against you. Thank you, God, for your love. Thank you for Christ and his step in the cross for our sin. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. so