It would be a great year for some people to begin to think about God. Some people don't know where to start. I encourage them to read the book of John. In the book of John, it says at the end that these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you might have life for your sins. God does not want us to live life without Him. He wants us to know Him in a personal way. With God creating Adam and Eve, God created man for fellowship. God desired to have that relationship with us, but our sin separated us from God. Just like Adam and Eve, they chose to disobey God, violate God's law, and our sin has broken our fellowship with God. God wasn't content to leave it that way. He had a plan. He had a plan from the very beginning, and that was to take His Son, Jesus Christ, and to crucify Him on a cross for our sins. It's amazing today that God would love us that much. Truly, we have a God that has great compassion for us. The Bible says that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For scarcely for a righteous man would one die, but God commended, God demonstrated His love toward us, and that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. You know, I look at people today as a testifier, and I just think, you know, God loves you, God cares about you, God wants to meet the needs of your life. A lot of people today, they're seeking satisfaction in things instead of in God. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. And a lot of people today, they are coveting after sinning. There are things that are empty. There are people today that are in gambling debt. Gambling debt that nobody else knows about. Maybe themselves, maybe their spouse doesn't even know about it. But they're in debt and they're going into greater debt and they're living their life for something that's empty. They're buying pieces of paper. They're wasting their living. They're risking their family. And it's all a waste and it never will satisfy you if you want it. They say the top winners, within seven years, lose everything that they won. It's a very sad thing today that people are living their life with things that are empty. For some people, all their life is about a sport. Other people, all their life is about work. But for some, it's about the pub, and getting some pub on the weekends. They work all week to go to the pub, and it's just empty, empty, empty. I'll tell you today, there is something that satisfies. Jesus Christ satisfies. He's the one that can give us everlasting life. He is called in the Bible the Prince of Peace. You know, if I had bottled peace out here today for people to buy, they would buy it. People try it all the time in the pub. But it's an empty piece. It's a piece that does not satisfy. It's a piece that very quickly goes away. But there's a piece, again, that satisfies. That piece is Jesus Christ. Again, as the Prince of Peace, He can give us peace from the inside out. A lot of people are trying to work their lives from the outside in. They're trying reformation, but God offers something better. It's transformation through the power of the blood and the Word of Jesus Christ. The Bible says, When we sin against God, we stain our heart. When we stain our heart, it's a stain that is indelible. It's a stain that cannot be washed away with anything. Praise God, there's forgiveness to be had with others in life, but there's forgiveness with God as well, but it's only through Jesus Christ. The Bible says without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Again, to go back to that verse, scarcely for a righteous man can one die, but God demonstrated His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ died for us because the Bible says that we're all sinners. The Bible says we'll all have sin and come toward the glory of God. It says there's none righteous, no, not one. The problem is there's a penalty for our sin and a penalty is eternity and a leg of fire. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. That death was paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross. You ask me today, Ben, why did Jesus Christ die? Jesus Christ died so that you could live. Jesus Christ took your sin, dead upon himself, upon Calvary, to pay it in full so that God, judicially, could give you forgiveness. There's many religions today that falsely teach that if you say to God, God, I'm sorry, that God forgives you. That's like teaching that if you go to a judge on earth and you say to the judge, I'm sorry, that the judge lets you go free. There's penalties to be paid for our sin. The wages of sin is death. God made a way judicially to forgive us by crucifying his son in our place. I tell you, today wasn't an afterthought. It was on the heart of God when God created us. God knew when He gave us a will that we would exercise that will against Him. But I'll tell you this, nobody here today wants to give up their rights, their freedoms, their liberties. Our will is the most precious gift that God ever gave to us. We defend it with everything that we have. But that will is also what transgressed God's law and led to sin, which led to death, sorrow, sickness, all the things that many people today blame God for instead of blaming themselves. We are the ones that corrupted this society. We're the ones that violated God's law. We're the ones that are living a life that is rebelling against God. It's the mercy of God today that does not cast us into hell right now. And God's mercy wants to give you something even better. He wants to give you His gift of everlasting life. There is everlasting life. It is possible to know today that you're going to heaven. The people today, they don't believe that. Religious people, they don't believe that. They'll say things like, I hope I'm going to heaven, or I think I'm going to heaven, but God doesn't want us to have, and I hope I'm going to heaven. God wants us to know that we're going to heaven because we have personally put our faith in Jesus Christ. These things have been written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life. God doesn't want us to hope so. God wants us to know so. He wants us to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if we die, we wake up in the presence of God. You know, praise God for a believer. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. To be absent from this body is to have the eternal life that God desires to give us. And you might say to me today, Ben, I don't want this for all eternity. I'll tell you, praise God, this is not what there is for all eternity. In glory there's no death, there's no sorrow, there's no sickness. The former things are passed away. God's going to wipe all tears from the eyes of those that enter into his presence for all eternity. We're going to have everlasting life, a beautiful life that we desire in this earth, but we can't have because of sin and death and sorrow and heartache and things like that. Is what God offers us in eternity. It is eternal life. Friend, if you don't have it, God desires good in you. People can laugh at the state of debauchy they did with Jesus Christ on the cross. They laughed at Him, they mocked Him, they cursed Him. But they looked at their Savior, the one that was dying for them. Their Savior, the one that could give them His gift of everlasting life. They looked at Him and they cursed Him. Very sadly today that people like that are dead. People today. in Scotland are bragging about sin. People today in Scotland are boasting about sin and honoring sin and ungodliness. There's parades to honor deep ungodliness against God. And yet where's the generation that will wake up and say, hey, you know, what about the family? What about marriage? What about life? What about the things that are important? Where are those with moral courage and moral fortitude to say, look, it's not okay. The profanity that we have in our day, the people endowing us of the speech of our children and our older ladies in our society used to be, you would say, that was singular talk. It is the talk of everybody now. It's a talk on social media. This is taught in our schools, and very sadly today, nobody's stepping up and saying, hey, don't you think that we ought to speak correctly in Scotland, to get away from profanity. The Bible says, every idle word that men shall speak shall be the counter of in the day of judgment. Sadly today, the most often way that our young people hear about God is hearing God's name taken in vain. They go to a sporting event, they hear God's name taken in vain. They go to anywhere in society and God's name is continually taken in vain. You know, we ought to step back from that and say, look, you know what, maybe we ought to take God's name and lift it a little bit higher and protect the name of God, protect the name of Jesus. The Bible says, thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. People can say, I don't mean anything by it. Hey, that's what they mean. People use God's name in an abusive way. Where are the parents that will wake up and say, look, I'm going to teach my kids about God, not through profanity, but through the Bible. I'm going to open the Bible with my children. I'm going to begin to read from that precious book, that old fashioned book, that book that God gave us to tell us about life, that manual for life that men have discarded, men have torn up, men have thrown away. And we wonder today why society is in the condition that it is and the things that are happening are happening. We ought to step back and look at it and say, we are in a godless society that is forsaking God, turning its back on God. And there ought to be some with the moral fortitude to look at their life in the mirror and say, my life is not right. There's guilt in my heart. There's defilement in my soul. My life is worthless. My life is vain. And rather than despairing by that, but taking back to God and finding hope through Jesus Christ. There's plenty of people passing by you today that are suicidal. They're thinking about taking their own life. And I say to them today, look, there is hope because there is Christ. There is hope because there's a new life that God's willing to give you. It doesn't matter what has happened in your life. God is a forgiving God. God is a gracious God. God can take broken things and make them better. Praise God. God's workshop's always open for it. He's always willing to work on our life, but we have to be willing to bring our life to Him and let Him have His way in our life. He has the power to change us. He has the power to take us from darkness to light. There's a power of Satan, there's a power of God. Satan's a deceiver, he's a liar. He's the one that says dreams satisfies and morality satisfies, or things like that. Look, those are lies from the pit of hell. They're the very things that will destroy your marriage. They're the things that will destroy your life. They're the things that will destroy your health. But there's a God in heaven that has told us in a precious book that there's a way of life, that way of Jesus. Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He has the power today to give us life, and His life is found in the truth, and the truth is found in the Word of God. This book is not just a book, it is the book. It has been translated in more languages than any other book. It's outsold every book, every year. It's been recognized by mankind to be what it says it is. That is the Word of God. The printing press was created to print Bibles. This book is the book. This book is historically accurate, it's prophetically accurate, it's scientifically accurate, and it says, in the beginning, God created. God is a creator, designer. Therefore, God is a lawgiver. And therefore, God is a judge. He's the one that every single one of us is going to stand before someday and get an account for everything that we've ever done in our life. The Bible says, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And the dead were judged out of those things which were written therein according to their worth. Every single one of us. It doesn't matter what you believe in God or not. When you die, when you face that judgment, you'll stand before a holy God. And that Holy God is not going to say to you, hey, what does the Scottish government think about your life? What does the social media think about your life? What do your mates think about your life? What God is going to do? He's going to pick up his book. He's going to pick up his cloth. And He's going to judge us according to His purpose in His Holy Word. Self-justification is no justification at all. You can defend yourself today. You can say, I feel fine about what I do. My mates feel fine about what I do. The government thinks it's fine what I do. But I tell you this, that doesn't matter. What matters today is what does God say about what I did. Why? Because we're going to give an account to a holy God. Not to the Scottish government. Not to social media. Not to our mains. Friends, think about today. What do your mates encourage you to do? They encourage you to blaspheme God. They encourage you to mock God. They encourage you to drink. They encourage you to smoke. They encourage you to violate sexual purity. And I'll tell you this, where are the people today that would encourage you to say, hey, do what's right? Do what's right. Where are the people that would stand up and say, hey, I commend you for picking up a Bible. I commend you for honoring God. I commend you for standing up for what the Word of God says about marriage, what the Word of God says about life in the womb. where the people with moral fortitude today, in our day, people are ashamed to stand up in our society and say, I believe in God. People are ashamed of the book of all books, the precious Bible, the precious Word of God. They treat this book just like they treated Jesus Christ. They crucify Him. They took the Son of God. They took Him out of that city of Jerusalem. They crucified Him on a hill outside of that city. And they wondered today, Ben, why did God let that happen? If that was His Son, why did He let Him die? Listen, friend, it was the plan of God from all eternity that His Son would die on the cross for their sin. God the Father let His Son die on the cross because it's the only way that you and I can be saved. There's no other way today. I'm not down here on the street preaching religion. I'm not down here on the street saying you've got to reform your life. I'm down here preaching on the street to say today that we need one thing in our life. That is Jesus Christ. The Bible says, 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 ye may know that ye have everlasting life. It's only with Jesus that you can go to heaven. I may not know you today, but I'll tell you this. If I ask you one question, do you have Jesus Christ in your heart? If your answer is yes, you're on your way to heaven. If your answer is no, you're on your way to hell. That's not some false theology. That is the truth of the Word of God. John 3.16 says, 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. Friends, salvation is not in a religion. It's not about becoming religious. It's not about being christened or being done or being baptized or anything like that. It's about putting your faith in Jesus Christ. You can read it for yourself. If you pick up the Bible, you can read the book of Acts and ask the question, how does somebody get saved? Somebody gets saved by putting their faith in Jesus Christ. There was a man in the Bible that cried out to people. He was desperate. He was about ready to take his life in suicide. But right at that moment, God stopped him and he got saved. But he got saved in this way. He cried out and he said to the man, he said, Serge, what must I do to be saved? They said, believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Why? Because salvation is not in anyone other than the Son of God, Jesus Christ. A lot of people today, they're trying to find satisfaction in things. They're trying to find hope and peace in meditation or things like that. It is empty. Why? Because truth is the answer. The Bible says, you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. It's only those that pick up the book, the Bible, and begin to study it and read for themselves what God did when He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for them. It's only those that can have God's gift of everlasting life. Ephesians 2 and 9 says in the Bible, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourself. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Salvation today is not for those that are self-righteous. There's a lot of people today that were looking in the eye and they say to me, Ben, I'm a good person. Well, I understand what you're trying to say. You're trying to say I'm a nice person. I'm a kind person. I try to keep people as I want to be saved. I'll tell you this. Every single person has violated God's law. If God calls God's law, To him at the judgment bar and you're standing there all the Word of God is going to say they're a liar. They're deceived. They're materialistic. They must have been coveted. They're idolaters. They took God's name in vain. The Word of God will stand in judgment upon us. Why? Because we are not good. And so therefore our only hope is that there's someone who is good who died on the cross for our sin. And I'll tell you today that's exactly what Jesus Christ did. The Bible says, while we get sinners, buy side for us. Jesus Christ, He that knew no sin became sin for us, so that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Well, praise God, today there is righteousness, but it's not self-righteousness. It's not us getting a flag, waving it over ourselves and saying, my sexual sin or my ungodliness is okay with God. I'll tell you this, God is not okay with all the perversion that is taking place in our society. God has not sanctioned the wickedness in our society. But I'll tell you this, God can forgive it through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. God has the power to take it away. God has the power to change us from the inside out. You might think today, hey Ben, this is just the way I am. I'll tell you this, every single one of us are just the way we are. We're all sinners. The Bible says there's none righteous, no not one. The gospel is not for good people. The gospel is for people that understand that they're a sinner, that the punishment for their sin is hell, but that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sin, so he would personally put their faith in the Son of God and receive His gift of everlasting life. Friend, has there ever been a time where you've done that? Where you humbled your heart, you looked at God and said, God, you're right, I'm wrong. You might be somebody that thinks, man, I'm just an atheist, man, there's no hope for me, there's no way I can ever believe in God. I'll tell you this, just look up at this creation that God has made and begin to open your eyes to it. The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day into day uttereth speech, night into night showeth knowledge. There is no place around this globe where God is not speaking through nature, saying, look, I am here, I exist, I created you, I designed you. Animals do not have legal systems. Animals do not wear clothes. Animals do not have hospitals. We are not descendants from animals. We are special creation of God. God created man in his image. And that is why murder is not okay. That is why taking somebody's life is a violation of God's holy law. Because the Word of God teaches that we are made in the image of God. God created us. God designed us. God desires to give us not just physical life as He already has, but God desires to give us His gift of everlasting life, found by faith in Jesus Christ. Oh friend, have you ever done that? Have you ever gotten on your knees and looked at what God has done and said, Dear God, I don't understand why you love me so much that you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sin. But I recognize that he died in my place. I recognize that he's not in the grave, but that he rose from the dead and that he's in heaven today. And you put your faith in what Jesus Christ did on the cross for you. Friend, if you've never done that, I encourage you to do that. I encourage you to pick up a Bible. You might say, Ben, I can't believe that. I'll tell you this. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Nobody that ignores God, nobody that turns their back on God is somebody that is going to get saved. It's only those that will humble their hearts and begin to pick up the Bible and begin to read it and begin to understand that there's a God in heaven that loves them. There's a God in heaven that does not justify their sin. does not say that their sin is okay, but condemns their sin and condemns them for their sin. The Bible says that he that hath a son hath life, he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. But it also says that somebody that does not have Jesus is not going to be condemned, but they're condemned already. Friend, the sentence has already been passed against us. We are transgressors of God's holy law. But God, in mercy, reaches out and says, I'm willing to pardon you. I'm willing to give you my gift of everlasting life. Why? Because my son died in your place. My son was crucified for you. Friend if my son did that to you, my physical son did that to you, I would look at you with love, I would look at you with concern and say, man, don't you understand what my son did for you? All I can do as a preacher today is just say for God what God desires to say to you, and that is, look, my son, Jesus Christ, went to the cross for you. Jesus Christ did not just suffer pain, he suffered change. They mocked him there. They laughed at him. They stripped him, they treated him as the thieves and murderers that were on the cross beside him. They whipped him. They spat upon him. They put a crown of thorns upon his head. Why did they do that? They abused the Son of God because the wrath of God was falling on Jesus Christ for our sin. The Bible says to please the Father to bruise him for us. It says, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. A lot of young people today, they want to look good in their posh clothes. They want to look good for their mates on social media. They're big on how they look, but their soul is dirty, it's defiled, it is unholy. They're not right with God. They care about what men think, but they care nothing about what God thinks. A lot of women today spend a lot of time in front of the mirror, contributing to the outside. A lot of guys are at the gym, working out, working on the outside. And they might look good on the outside, but I'm saying this, in the inner part of their heart, before a holy God, they are defiled, and again, they care more about what men think than about what God thinks. Very sad today. If somebody picked up a Bible, they'd likely get a lot of social media backlash for saying, you know what, I actually believe what the Bible says about marriage, that one man, one woman, in a covenant relationship for life, that sex outside of marriage is fornication. Just like the Bible says that shacking up with somebody is not okay. Anybody that begins to espouse those beliefs in our society is hated and despised and yet it's the truth of the Word of God and they're standing up for honor and they're standing up for holiness and they're standing up for purity. Where's the society that will pat that on the back and say, I respect that and I honor that? Friends, that's what we need. We need the mercy of God today. We need the grace of God today. We need the enablement of the Holy Spirit as to work in our hearts and to change our lives. This day is the day that we have the power to change our lives. I pray today that somebody today will come to Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and bring God to Him who's got the power. He's got the agility to meet our needs. He can make us holy. A lot of people today, they treat the gospel just like that man maybe treats some people today, just kind of running over them, forgetting right in their face. You know, praise God today, the gospel's for you. God is not against you, God is for you. God does not hate you. God does not despise you. God does not mistreat you. God does not malign you. God is a holy God in love. He reaches out. Why? Because He cares for you. He desires to give you His gift of everlasting life. He desires to give you His purity. He desires to give you His holiness. You know, praise God again today. One of my favorite verses, as I put it on the street, is while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. A lot of people today think, Ben, I'm not a religious person. If I went into a church, lightning would strike. Listen, the gospel is for you. The mercy of God is for you. Don't despair of life. Don't think that you've got to continue in wickedness. You've got to continue in a lifestyle that is so opposed to God. Think this, there's a God that can forgive you. There's a God that can cleanse you. There's a God that can change you. There's a God that wants to give you hope. There's a God that wants to give you peace. He's a God that is reaching out in love. If it wasn't for that, God would have already cast us into hell. Certainly, it's what we deserve. But God, in His mercy, is reaching out in love, trying to help us to understand today that the greatest desire in His heart is to adopt us into His family. You might say, Ben, I thought everybody was a child of God. No, not everybody's a child of God. It's only those who by faith put their faith in the Son of God. It's only those that do the will of God that are the brothers or sisters of Christ and things like that. Jesus taught that in his own life. You can read it in the Gospels how Jesus said that. But God gives us the power to become the sons of God even by faith in His name. Trusting in Jesus Christ. That's what it's about. It's about God's gift of everlasting life. It's about the fact that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He did that because He loves us. He did that because He cares about us. He did that because He's Almighty God and He has the power to take away our sin. He has the power to clean us from the inside out. It's an awesome thing to lay your head on your pillow at night to know that your sins are forgiven. It's an awesome thing to be able to go to God and say, God, I'm struggling with questions about my life and have open access to God. The thing is this, Fred, you may say, well, anybody has access to God. Well, actually, the Bible says our iniquities separate us from God. Our sin takes us away from God. It's only those that will be honest about their sin before a holy God and deal with it in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ that have access to God and have that ability to see God answer their prayers. God desires to do that. It's tremendous to see God in a personal way as God answers prayer. Our church sees that. We've seen that in our ministry. There's many ways that we've seen God answer prayer. Anybody that's a believer, that's born again, has the privilege of seeing that. And to be able to go to God and say, God, I'm burdened, or I'm anxious, or I'm afraid, or I'm worried. And to have God intervene. I can't change myself from the inside out. But God has the power to do that. Friend, there is peace, but it's not drugs, it's not drink, it's not immorality, it's not running away from life. Where peace is found is by confronting ourselves for who we really are in light of the Word of God, letting God deal with our sin, and getting God's forgiveness and receiving God's gift of everlasting life. One of the best verses in the Bible is John 3.16. It says, 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. I praise God that His word goes over any boundary. It goes over boundaries of race. It goes over boundaries of age. It goes over boundaries of morality. It goes over every single boundary that there is. The Gospel is for everybody. Jesus Christ is for everybody, but only those that humble their hearts and take Jesus Christ as their Savior can have what God desires to give. It's a gift, friends. It's not something we earn. It's not something that we do something to get. It's just something that we reach out and love to God and say, God, I don't understand why you love me so much that you send your son, Jesus Christ, to die in the cross for me. But today I receive him as my Lord and Savior. That's what the Bible says. It says it in Romans 10, 9 and 10. It says that thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. Listen, the God that cannot lie promised that salvation is found in Jesus Christ. You might say, Ben, what's salvation all about? Salvation is all about the fact that our sin is going to be paid for by eternity in hell unless we repent and receive God's salvation. When God saves us, God saves us from the punishment of sin for all eternity, but he also saves us from the power of sin. God sets people free from addiction. God sets people free from the sin in their life that they look at and say, I could never get victory over that. Listen, friend, God has the power to break the power of sin. A hundred years ago on Princess Street right here, Charlotte Street Chapel was seeing a revival and there was a group called the Regime Drunkards Band. They would come out and testify of the goodness of God and what God had done. The secular newspaper in Edinburgh reported this. They said a religion that can take drunkards and make them good fathers and loving husbands is a religion worth having. The gospel that changed those men's lives still has the power today to change the lives of men. You can say, men, Scotland wants nothing to do with God. This nation is not a Christian nation. I would agree with you. And I would say, you're right, this right now is not a Christian nation. But go back to the 1800s and what you find is this nation was a Christian nation unlike any other nation. You know today people that are named Paul, David, Mark, Mary, Elizabeth, names like that, those are Bible names. Why are those names so prevalent in Scottish society? They're prevalent because this nation was a Christian nation. You might say to me, Ben, what happened? Well, in the 1880s, In our theological schools in Scotland, they began to teach evolution as fact. They began to teach it as theistic evolution, that God created evolution. That's contrary to what the Word of God says. The Word of God says, in the beginning God created. The Bible says that God created in six literal days. They begin to undermine faith by seeking to re-establish truth. Listen, the foundation of the Word of God has been kicked out by Scottish society. That is the problem. You might say to me, Ben, what are you talking about? Well, read Genesis 1-4 in your Bible. In Genesis chapter 1, the Bible speaks about, in the beginning, God created. What does Scottish society say? Scottish society says, in the beginning, God did not create. The Bible says, in the beginning, that God created male and female. What does Scottish society say? Scottish society says, God didn't create male and female. People can be whatever they want to be. The Bible says, in Genesis, right at the very beginning, that marriage is between one man and one woman. It says, therefore, shall man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. In Genesis chapter 4, Cain tried to worship God any way he wanted to worship God. And he got upset about it and he killed his brother Abel. And again, our society says you can worship God however you want to worship God. And that's why I just said a moment ago that Scottish society has cast out the foundation of the Word of God. They cast out creation. They cast out gender identity. They cast out marriage. They cast out life. They cast out worship. It's the first four books of the Bible. And you wonder today why our society is so godless. You wonder today why so few have faith in God. Listen, you can't destroy the foundation for faith and have faith. The Bible says faith can't be cured until you find the Word of God. If you care about that, then you ought to care about re-establishing the foundation and building it up again and saying, God says, He created it. God says he made us male and female. God says marriage is between a man and a woman and it's a covenant relationship for life. God says we worship God through the blood that was shed. That's what the word of God teaches even in Genesis chapter 4. Oh friend, there's no other way today. The only way, the only hope for us, for our society, for our neighbors, is to get back to the book. Get back to the Bible. Get back to where Scotland has any hope of the blessing of God, any hope of the mercy of God, any hope of the grace of God. If you feel today like our society is in a downward spiral, if you feel today like we've lost God's presence, I'll tell you this, friends, we have. We have. You can't take God's symbol that is His in the sky, the precious rainbow that He looks at. It wasn't given for men. It was given for God. That rainbow is something that God would look at and remember that He had decided that He would never again destroy this world with a flood. Men today in our society have taken that precious symbol of the mercy of God and they have waved it as a banner of their sexual impurity and deep ungodliness. Friend, do you think that's an offense to a holy God? A God who in mercy sent his son Jesus Christ to die for us. A God who in his mercy cares about us. A God who in his mercy wants to rescue us from our sin. The only hope today is for this nation to turn back to God. The only hope is that some would get on their knees and begin to pray against God and say, Dear God, forgive us and to recognize that the wrath of God is justly against us for our sin against Him. Well, friends, it's very sad today. Very sad to hear people blaspheming God. Very sad that in our schools and in our society and our social media, people are abusing the name of God, mocking God, cursing God, laughing at God. Ashamed to stand up and say, I commend those that stand with the truth of the Word of God. I commend those that believe marriage is between a man and a woman, and it's a covenant relationship for life, and that sex outside of marriage is contrary to God's law and is a violation of God's holy law. We're the generation that would encourage our young people to have moral fortitude, to be a man or to be a woman, not by the ungodliness that's in their life, but by the godliness that's in their life, by the courage to have a life that isn't characterized by profanity, a life that isn't characterized by addiction, a life that isn't characterized by immorality. We're a people of honor today. We're people that recognize that we've got a sin problem here in our society. And we care enough to have a voice and to stand up and say, I care about morality. And I care about truth. And I care about honor. And I care about godliness. And I care about God. And I care about the old-fashioned truth of the Bible. Because that's the answers have been seen. Friend, that's what we need. That's the greatest thing that we could possibly give to the young people in our day. That would give them hope. Today, their hope has been taken away. Our young people are there being told that they're nothing more than an animal. They're told that when they go into the grave that they don't exist. And I'll tell you this, that is hopeless. That's like saying there's a pointlessness to life. If you want to escape, just take your life. If that's the case, there is no justice. There's plenty of people that have taken their life, that are committing horrible crimes, and if life is all that there is, and if death is all that there is, there is no justice. But I praise God today, that there's justice for all abusers, and all those that abuse mankind, because there's a holy God in heaven, and if we're a group of four, we're gonna stand someday, and get an account. And friends, we will too. The Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die. But after that, the judgment. Are you ready to stand before God? Are you ready to enter into His presence? Do you know for sure that if you die, that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord? Do you know that Jesus went to prepare a place for you? That when you die, you can go to be with Him for all eternity? God desires you to know that today. God wants you to know that today. You may want to say, the Lord is my shepherd, but I'll say this. The vast majority of people passing this place today, the Lord is not their shepherd. Jesus said this, he said, my sheep are my boys, and I know them, and they follow me. Friend, if you're not following Jesus, Jesus is not your shepherd. If you're not obeying him, he is not your shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. I shout out what he made me to fly down and greet pastors. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his namesake. a friend, anybody that knows you, to probably testify whether or not you're a born-again Christian or not, whether you're a follower, a true follower of Jesus Christ, you're likely to back up your testimony, for it does not agree today that if you have a testimony of being born again, that you stand true, and you stand right, and you stand for the truth of the Word of God, because there are plenty of reasons today for people to look at false religion and say, that person says they're a Christian, and if they're a Christian, I want nothing to do with it. And friend, I agree with you. if they are a Christian. But just because somebody says, I'm a Christian, does not mean that they're a Christian. If they're at the pub drinking like everybody else, they're not a Christian. If they have profanity and ungodliness in their life, they're not a Christian. The Bible says that a Christian is somebody that's a Christ follower. They're somebody that is yielded to God. Christianity is not a brand that you place on ungodliness. Christianity is somebody that will identify with Jesus Christ. And if somebody identifies with Jesus, very sadly, They're going to be treated as Jesus Christ was treated. Jesus himself said it. He said, hey, if they treat the master of the house this way, are you going to be surprised if they treat his servants the same way? Why do we think today that Christianity ought to be popular? Why do we think today that Christianity ought to be something that the world pass it on the back and say, hey, that's great. You know, very sadly today, religious leaders of false religions are standing up and saying, we agree with sexual sin and we agree with gross ungodliness. And they say this, they say the Bible says it's okay. Listen, friend, if you can read, recognize that those that profess that God says something, that he does not say are false prophets. My friend, when we stand before God, those false prophets are not going to defend us. It doesn't matter if they're the first minister. It doesn't matter if they're the SMP. It doesn't matter if it's a conservative government in Westminster. It doesn't matter who stands up and says ungodliness is okay. Ungodliness is still not okay because the person that we're going to stand for is not the SMP, is not the conservative. It is God and He is the one to whom we'll answer. Are you ready? Again, the Bible says in the book of Revelation, I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of those things which were written therein according to their works. You may wonder today, Ben, Am I really going to give an account for everything that I've ever done? I'll just tell you this. You're not really going to give an account for everything that you've ever done. You're going to give an account for everything that you have ever said. The Bible says that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. When you stand before God, everything that you've said, every idle word, the profanity, the hate, the complaining, the criping, the bitterness, the maligning of the name of God, the abuse of the name of God, the blasphemies against God, every single thing that we have said against God, we will give an account thereof in the day of judgment. Friends, what can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. O precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. I praise God today that God has the power to forgive our sins. He says to us in his word, 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, H.O.B. as well. Frank Darzenstein is great. Most of our young people today are immoral. Most of our young people today are ungodly. They've had sex outside of marriage. They've experimented around. Instead of being a society that encourages our children to be chaste and to be pure and to wait for that marriage altar before having what God blesses in the marriage relationship, sadly today our society encourages our young people to be sexually promiscuous. And I'll tell you this, we live in a deeply ungodly society. Where are people that care about that? Where are people that will have a voice about that? Where are people that will stand up to our young people and encourage them to be here? Where are some role models in our sports or things like that that would have a voice for truth and for righteousness that would say, hey, I'm going to be somebody that doesn't use profanity. I'm going to be somebody that isn't immoral. I'm going to be somebody that's not part of the pop culture or things like that. Frank, that's honorable. You know, very sadly, in Scottish culture, we honor the exact opposite. We bow down at the feet of those that are sexually impure and have the courage to step up to the mic and say their deep condoublingness to everybody around us. People pat them on the back. The more profane somebody is, the more deeply ungodly they are. That's the role models for our children. The rap culture, the pop music culture, the immodesty, the indecency, the ungodliness of that. Where are people that would wake up and look at that and say, hey, that's not good for our children. That's not good for our young people. That's not good for our families. That's not good for our culture. And you know what that is? That is sin. People are violating God's law. Rather than being ashamed of it, we can't blush. Rather than being ashamed of it, we boast about it. Rather than being ashamed of it, we pat people on the back and say, hey, that's great that you're so immoral, that you're so ungodly. Again, where are people that will care about that and say, I'm going to look myself in the mirror and be honest about the spiritual depravity that is in my life, and I'm going to bow before a holy God, and I'm going to say to God this, God, you are right, and I am wrong. Please forgive me. We're the people that will own their sin before God. They say, God, you're right. My profanity is not okay. My gambling is not okay. My addiction is not okay. My immorality is not okay. And would humble their heart before God and say, dear God, forgive me of my sin and give me a gift of everlasting life through your son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for me. Friend, you might wonder today, for whom did Jesus die? Jesus Christ died for you. While we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Friends, you can put your name there. My name is Ben. Christ died for Ben. Christ died for Peter. Christ died for Mary. Christ died for anybody, whatever your name is today, Jesus Christ died for you. Jesus Christ, the greatest desire in the heart of God today, God knows you better than anybody knows you. God knows even the thoughts in your heart, but that God that knows you reaches out in love today to say, I'm here for you. I desire to forgive you. I desire to give you my mercy. There is hope. And again, plenty of people today are facing great hopelessness. There's great despair. But Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ is the one that can give us real peace, lasting peace. But if you find peace in the bottle, it's empty. It gives you a headache. It makes you vomit. It makes you commit depravity. That peace is empty. It doesn't satisfy. It hurts your marriage. It hurts your life. It hurts your family. It hurts your health. There's a God in heaven that cares to give you something that satisfies but doesn't hurt you. It's Jesus. And I praise God today. God has the power. You might look at me today and say, Ben, you're not making a difference. You're not making a drop in the bucket. I'll tell you this. I feel like that sometimes. But then I think that there's a God in heaven that loves you. There's a God that has the power through the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Word of God to convince you in your heart what this preacher could never convince you of. I have no ability today to persuade anybody. But I do know this, that God has a power, and that tonight, as somebody lays their head on the pillow, it may be the Spirit of God brings back to their mind something they heard being preached on the street about Jesus Christ and God's love, and it might be a turning point in that person's life. And friend, I praise God for that. And that's what it's all about. You may say, Ben, what have you done for the Gospel of Scotland? What have you done for the cause of Christ in Scotland? Well, you might recognize that I'm American. I moved my family here to start a church. I moved my family here to tell people about Jesus Christ and God's love. Why would I do that? Because I care about you. Because I care enough to get out here on the street, people laugh at me, people mock me, people curse me. Hey, that's alright. I do care about you. I do want you to know the peace I found in Jesus Christ is real, that there is hope, that God gives. There's a loving God in heaven today that can give you his gift of everlasting life. He can transform your life through the power of the blood of Jesus. Friend, that's worth doing anything for. You may say, Ben, that's not a big deal. You sacrifice your family. You're not with your mom and dad. You're not with your relatives and friends. Good people ask me, hey, why did you move to Scotland? Do you love the culture? Do you love the weather? Or things like that? No, I moved here because I love the people, and I love the truth of the Word of God. And I want people to know that God cares about them, and God can change their life, and God can meet their need. And I'll tell you, there's a son that left his father for you, and that is Jesus Christ. Why are you a sinner? That son not only came to this earth, but that son died on the cross for our sin. Friend, do you know Him today? Do you know the God in heaven that loves you? Do you know the God in heaven that cares about you? Do you know the God that gave it all so that you could have a gift of everlasting life? Again, the Bible says, All we like sheep have gone astray, and we have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord hath laid on him, Jesus, the iniquity of us all, all the ungodliness that is in our life. God the Father put upon his Son, Jesus Christ. He crucified him as if he was an ungodly man, and yet he was a righteous man. He that knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God through Him. God has the power to change your life. God is the power to give you his gift of everlasting life. God is the power to take the guilt away, the guilt maybe that nobody else knows about. The burden on your soul that you wonder, what's the matter with me? Why do I feel like this? I almost feel like I have a medical condition. My heart is so heavy. I'll tell you, friend, the greatest weight you carry in life is the weight of your sin. It's the ungodliness that is in our life that is weighing us down, that is separating us from God. Listen, God desires to take it away. God has the power to take it away. Through the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Friend, if you don't have that, I encourage you to get it. I encourage you to find a quiet place and seek God. I encourage you to find somewhere and read the Bible and look at what Jesus Christ did for you as He died on the cross for your sin. Again, a lot of people say, I don't even know where to begin in the Bible. It's a big book. Well, it's actually 66 books. 66 but there's one book the book of john the gospel of john It says at the end of it that these are written that you might believe that jesus is the christ The son of god and that believing he might have life through his name It's a great place to start Friend if you started reading right now, you'd be done reading the gospel of john in about an hour and 15 minutes It's not a big book but it shares everything that you need to know about Jesus and his love for you and what he did and why he came and who he is and how he died and how he lives and how you can have God's gift of everlasting life. Right? If you don't have it, it's for you. You might say to me, Ben, why are you preaching on the street? Aren't you a pastor? Don't you have a church where you preach? Yes, I am a pastor. And yes, I do have a church where I preach. I'll tell you this, I preach on the street because the vast majority of Scots are not going to church. If you think about it today, how many people do you know that go to church every Sunday? If I were to guess, I would suggest that maybe less than 2% of Scots go to church regularly. It's a very sad statistic. Sadder still because most churches aren't preaching the gospel. Sadder still because most aren't standing with the Word of God. Sad because there's so many false religions and things like that, that even among those that go after religion don't actually follow the standard, the Word of God, and what God said in His precious blood. Jesus said it this way, He said, Why does the way that leads to destruction, many there be that go in there at, narrows the way that leads to life everlasting, few there be that find it. Friend, you'll never find God unless you look. You'll never find God's truth unless you begin to investigate. The Bible says, if you seek me, you shall find me, if you search with all your heart. A lot of people today, they search with all their heart for the winning gambling ticket, and they keep coming up a loser, but they've lost everything trying to get it. A lot of people today, seeking, satisfaction in the bottle. They give everything to it. They go into debt for it. They get drunk for it. There's deep ungodliness in their life because of it. They bow down to it. Of course, it doesn't meet their needs, but they're giving everything to it. A lot of people today are giving everything to drugs. People may not know about the drug habits that are in their life, but they're greatly in debt because there's a drug habit that's destroying them. They're giving everything to it. I would just say this. Look, Rather than going after that thing that's destroying you with all your heart, why not turn and go after God with the same energy? A lot of people say, I have no time for God. Well, you've got time for sport. You've got time for the ungodliness that's in your life. You've got time for the pub. Where are the people that have said, all right, I'm going to give God 10 minutes. I'm going to give God 20 minutes. I'm going to give God an hour. Where are the families that will say, hey, let's give God a chance as a family. Let's begin to read the Bible together. Let's see what it's about. Let's stop listening to people malign the scriptures and slander the scriptures by saying this legend's shiny whispers and stories. And let's actually look for ourselves and see what God says. It's a free download on the apps. You can get a free Bible, you know, and today just so easily listen to it or to read it yourself. And I just tell you, there's nothing better you could do than take a little bit of your time and begin to investigate the claims of God. begin to understand why it's important that we fear God. Why it's important that we recognize that He is creator-designer. Why it's important that we realize that societies that get themselves over to sexual sin are societies that historically got it judged. Read about it for yourself in the Bible. Read about Sodom and Gomorrah. Read about those cities that were judged by fire from heaven because of the deep ungodliness that was in them. The Bible says in Isaiah chapter 3, it says that You're like the city of Sodom because you boast about your sin, just like David. I'll tell you this, our society today is just like Sodom and Gomorrah. We boast about our sin. We are unashamed of our sin. And there ought to be something in the heart of men that wakes up and says, you know what? We ought to fear God. Again, people today, they fear the government. They fear social media. They fear their mates. They care about what they think. They care about what they think. But I'll tell you this, there are very few people today that fear God. The Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God. The fool because that person has cast off the only way of salvation. The fool because they have cast off any hope of everlasting life. Friend, God doesn't want you to go to hell. You may say to me, Ben, what's the worst thing about hell? I'd say first of all the worst thing about hell is that God is not in hell. God is present here today for anybody to cry out and to say to God, God, I want your mercy. But when somebody goes to hell, they are separated from God. If you said to me, Ben, what's the second worst thing about hell? I'd say this. Hell's eternal. There's no second chance. Nobody gets a do-over. Purgatory is invented by man. It is not a doctrine of the Word of God. The Word of God speaks about everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. So again, I said the worst thing about hell, God's not there. The second worst thing about it is eternal. The third worst thing about it is a fire. People boast about it, laugh about it, say, you know, it's so funny about hell. I'll tell you this, when they laugh about it, they're laughing about every person that's in hell burning right now for all eternity. They are mocking them, they are laughing at them. It'd be very sad today if somebody saw somebody in a fire and rather than cheering about them, they mocked them and they laughed at them and they said, I think that's really funny that you're in a fire. There's no difference, friend, today from that and somebody laughing about hell and laughing about the idea that there's an eternal place of damnation away from God where people burn for all eternity. The Bible very clearly speaks about it, and it answers the question about why Jesus Christ died. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, died so we don't have to go to hell. Jesus Christ died because He gave a way of escape. He gave a way of forgiveness. He gave a way to receive God's mercy through His love and His work on the cross for us. But friend, if you don't have that today, then you don't have what God desires you to have. You don't have God's gift of everlasting life. But friend, my prayer today is that you get saved. My prayer today is that something that I say would just trigger in your heart the idea that there is a God, that Jesus Christ did die for you, that there is hope, that there is forgiveness, that there is mercy, because what? That's what it's all about. That's what life's all about. It's finding the one thing that satisfies. And again, people desire satisfaction. If they didn't, they wouldn't drink. If they didn't, they wouldn't do drugs. If they didn't, they wouldn't get into that immorality and mess up their life with all the gross ungodliness that's in it. They want satisfaction, but they're not seeking it in the right place. The right place is the Word of God. The right place is what Jesus Christ did for us. The right place is knowing Jesus Christ is your friend. Knowing that your sins are forgiven. Knowing that God is your father. Knowing that you have a home in heaven. Knowing that you have eternal life. That's what God desires us to have. He died so that we could live. Scarcely for a righteous man would one die. But God committed his love toward us in that while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ did that because He loves you. You know, again, people say to me, Ben, God doesn't love me. And a lot of people even say, I don't even care if He loves me or things like that. I'll just say this, God does love you. How do you know that God loves you? Because the Son of God, Jesus Christ, God in flesh, took your place on a cross. He died for you. If that doesn't show the love of God, what does? What does? If the death of Jesus for you isn't enough, what's going to prove to you that God loves you, that God cares about you? Again, do you deserve it? No. Any more than I do. I don't deserve the love of God. I don't deserve the mercy of God. I don't deserve the grace of God. I don't deserve the forgiveness of God. I praise God today. I've got it because God is merciful, because God is gracious, because God is good. Bring guidance to it. I get people today say, you know, why is God so against me? Why is He so restrictive? Why doesn't He just let me have my sin? Because sin is what corrupts. Sin is what destroys. Name one sin that's good for you. There's not a single sin that you can think of that doesn't hurt you, your family, or your relationship with God. Every single one hurts you. There's not a single one today that can help you. Friend, God wants to deliver you from that which is destroying you. God wants to give you His gift of everlasting life. Why not humble your heart and recognize the love of God? Recognize the mercy of God? Recognize the grace of God? The Bible says, Behold, today is the day of salvation. Today is the accepted time. Nobody is guaranteed tomorrow. A lot of people today are living their life like it's eternal. The Bible says it's appointed as a man wants to die. The Bible says live your life in three score years, in 10, 70 years, maybe 80 years. But there's coming a point where every single one of us will perish. And we don't know when that is. It behooves us to get to that point of understanding the truth of the Word of God in the Gospel and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and as our Savior. Friend, have you ever done that? Again, I praise God today for His mercy. I praise God today for His grace. I praise Him for His love. I praise Him for giving us a book that tells us the old story about Jesus Christ and what He did. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 53 is a precious prophecy given to us 600 years before Jesus Christ went to the cross. But there it speaks about God's love for us. It says He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our inequities. The punishment of our peace is upon Him. And with His stripes we are healed. And I praise God today for the Son of God, Jesus, that loved us so much that He would enter into His creation and die on that cross for us. And that God's Word said about it before it ever happened exactly what would take place. All those things were written for us to look at and say, you know what? I believe that. Only God can reveal where Jesus Christ would be born before He was born. Only God can reveal how Jesus Christ would die before He died. Only God can reveal where Jesus Christ would live or Jesus Christ would grow up And all the things that that led to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ Psalm 42 is a great text in the Word of God that you can read It's a thousand years before the cross But there it says that it pierced his hands and his feet It says they cast lots upon His vesture. A thousand years before Jesus Christ died, the Word of God testified to what Jesus Christ, the Messiah, would do, that not only would He live, but that He would die for our sins. The Old Testament is full of the testimony of what Jesus Christ would do on the cross of Calvary for our sins. A friend, God wants you to know that, not just in your head, but in your heart. God doesn't just want to give you information today. God doesn't want you to learn a religion. God wants you to have a relationship with Him by faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that died on the cross for your sin. God stands willing to give it. Friend, it's as easy as humbling your heart, repenting of your sin, and putting your faith in Jesus Christ. The one thing keeping you from God's gift of everlasting life is yourself. It's your heart against God. It's your unbelief that's there. And you might say, Ben, I can't do anything about it. The Bible says that you can. The Bible says faith doth it by curing and curing by the Word of God. That if somebody will pick up the Bible and begin to read it, begin to understand who God is and how God loves them and what Jesus Christ did for them on the cross that God stands willing to give them His gift of everlasting life. Friend, God has the power to do that. You know Jesus Christ as your Savior. Again, the one way to get to God's gift is just to humble your heart. If you're afraid of something like this, you're God of a sinner. but your son Jesus Christ died on the cross for me. Will you please forgive me of my sin and save me right now. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. Friend, a prayer won't save you, but I'll tell you this, if you believe what you're praying, when you pray that prayer, God is guaranteed you'll be saved. The Bible says, believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Friend, all you gotta do is believe it. Father, I pray in the grace of God that any In Edinburgh, a scholar would say, for this generation needs to see the power of God to change men's lives from the inside out by the power of the gospel. It's in Christ's name I pray.