Good morning, I'm just down here to share some food with you. The Bible this morning speaks about Jesus Christ, who he is, his love for us. I don't know if you got to church yesterday, I hope you did. But it's a good thing to get God first place in our lives. We thank God today for the sunshine that he's given to us. The Bible says the sun shines on the just and the unjust. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. In life, we've got the blessing of God. But you know, the most important thing is that we be ready for eternity. Every single one of us is going to stand eternity somewhere. Sadly, for some, that'll be hell. Eternal separation from God in a fire. No chance to ever get out of that place. That place that God wants you to go to, God wants you to go to the other place, and that's heaven. Heaven is wonderful, not just because of the fruits of gold and the beauty that's there and the perfect peace and things like that, but God is there. And God is present in that place and without any reservation and having any contact with us. You know, in life, the only thing that separates us from God is our sin. The Bible 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. Very sadly, the very thing that separates us from God is the thing that so many people are holding on to in their life. It's things like drinks, drugs, alcohol, immorality, fornication, lies, deceit, embezzlement, and money, and gambling, and things like that. But those things are empty. You know, this life is short. Eternity is forever. But are you ready to spend eternity away from God? That's not something that God desires you to do. You know, but you need to be aware of that. People think, you know, if I don't believe in God, God disappears. You know, there's a lot of things in life you may not believe in. You may not believe in gravity. You can't see it. But it certainly is true if you step off the cranks today, you'll fall to your death. And that's the same with somebody that goes into eternity. They will be forever separated from God. The Bible says in 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 Everyone that passage by this place today's and whosoever it just means anybody to anybody who could be saved today You might wonder Ben. What's the way of salvation? The way of salvation is repenting of our sin and putting our faith in the Son of God Jesus Christ that died on the cross for our sin Again, the Bible says while we're yet sinners Christ died for us For scarcely for a righteous man would one die, but God commended his love toward us, in that while we are yet sinners, Christ dies for us. Jesus didn't die for religious people. He didn't die for good people, because there's no such thing. There's none good, no not one. There's not a single righteous person upon the face of this earth that is righteous of themselves. We are all sinners. Jesus Christ died for sinners. Praise God. Because He died for sinners, we can be saved. It doesn't matter who you are today, you can come to faith in God. Sometimes people say to me, Ben, I'd like to have the faith that you have. Can I tell you today, you can have that kind of faith. That faith comes from the Bible. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. All you have to do is begin to pick up God's book, that precious book, the Bible, begin to read it, begin to understand about the God who loves you, the God that sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sins. Turn from your sin to the Savior. Look at him and say, man, I don't understand why you love me so much that you came and you died for me, that you didn't stay in the grave, but that you rose from the dead and put your faith in the Son of God and you could have God's gift of everlasting life. Romans 10, 9 and 10 says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Friend, you can have God's gift of everlasting life when you know that you have God's gift of everlasting life. You know, these things that are written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have everlasting life. God doesn't want you to think today that you're going to heaven. He doesn't want you to hope today that you're going to heaven. What God desires is that you would know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you entered into eternity, you would be with God for all of eternity in heaven. Friend, do you know that today? Do you have that peace in your heart? Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. There's plenty of people passing this place today. You might be enjoying the nice weather that we have today. You might be enjoying some other things about life. But if you're honest about your life, you've saved me today, Ben. To be honest, I don't really have peace. I don't really have joy. I don't really have satisfaction in life. And I tell you, that satisfaction in life comes from a relationship with God. God created us to walk with Him. He designed us to walk with Him in the Garden of Eden. He created man to fellowship with Him. What happened is God gave us a choice. God didn't make us to believe in Him. He didn't put us so that we're robots or something like that. But God gave us a will. A will that you exercise today. If I said to you, you can't wear that, you'd say, who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do? You value your will more than anything. That will was given to you by God. You can exercise it for God or you can exercise it against God. Very sadly, most people today are exercising their will against God. And because of that, there's sin, death, sorrow, heartache, all the things that we have today as a result of men exercising their will against God. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Friend, the only thing you'll get by living a life that's godless, living a life that's profane, living a life that's against God, is eternity in the lake of fire. You might say, well Ben, God's mean to do that. No, God is loving. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for you. God sent His Son to pay the price for your sin. That price was the bloody and awful death of the Savior upon the cross of Calvary. The Bible said a thousand years before Jesus Christ went to the cross. It says they pierced his hands and his feet. It says they cast lots upon his vesture. Again, that's 1,000 years before Jesus Christ got on the cross. The Bible said exactly what Jesus Christ would do. Can you believe today that God loves you that much that He would send His Son to do that for you? We wouldn't want to see somebody stripped of their clothing, nailed to a cross in shame, whipped upon their back, their flesh ripped off their back, a crown of thorns pierced in their head, blood streaming down their face, themselves blood being beaten by the hands of men. We wouldn't want to see that today, but that's what Jesus Christ did for you. Jesus Christ did that on the cross. He did that for you because He loves you. While we're against sinners, Christ died for us. For God so loved the world. You can't argue with me today and say, Ben, God doesn't love me. God absolutely loves you. God absolutely loves you. His son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for you. Why? So that you could be saved. Do you deserve it? No, you don't. You deserve what I deserve. That's eternity in a lake of fire. We deserve to be separated from God for all eternity. We didn't deserve that in the future. How is your tongue? How is your language? Is there profanity coming out of your heart and out of your mouth today? The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth is speaking. We live in a very wicked day. We live in a day where it's not just men that are sailors that are using profanity. We've got young children using profanity. We've got elderly women that use profanity. We live in a day that is godless, a day that is hard-hearted, a day that is incredibly wicked, a day that takes sin and weighs it for bad. in the face of almighty God, a God that can crush us, a God that can destroy us. It's only the mercy of God that spares us. We live in a very godless state, yet I say to us in this day that there's a God in heaven that loves us. A God that sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sin. He paid the price so that we could be born again. Jesus himself said, except a man be born again, he will in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Friend, if you're not born again, you might be religious, you might be Christian, you might have done a bunch of good things in your life, but I'll tell you this, it doesn't take your sin away. The Bible said, without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness of sin. Without somebody dying on the cross for us, there's no way that you could be forgiven. It's only what Jesus Christ did that he died on the cross that we could be born again, that we could have God's gift of everlasting life. Jesus Christ did that, not so that you could go to a football game on the Lord's Day, not so that you could go to the pub on the Lord's Day, not so that you could watch all your television on the Lord's Day. Jesus Christ died so that you could be born again, so that you could have His gift of everlasting life, so you could be a part of His church. Jesus himself said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Jesus Christ is the one that ordained the sacred institution called the church. I'll tell you this, it's not in a denomination. It is in Jesus Christ. The big man being Christ, he's a new creature. Friend, what you need is not a religion. What you need is a relationship. What you need is 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. Friend, do you have that today? My own testimony is I listened to my dad preach a message on hell. I heard about it as a place of fire, it's an eternal separation from God. It's a place of pain. The sounds that you hear in hell are weeping and gnashing teeth. And as a young man, I heard that message and I thought, boy, I don't want to go to hell. But I knew as a sinner, I knew that the promised land was my sin. I went down to my dad's study, asked my dad what could I do to be saved. He told me that I could trust in Jesus Christ, what Jesus Christ did as he died in the cross for my sins. He paid the price for me so that I could be forgiven, that I didn't stay in the grave, that I didn't run from the death. And as a young man, I died and I prayed something like this. Dear Jesus, I'm a sinner. Would you please forgive me of my sins and save me to fill your gift of everlasting life? I put my faith in the Son of God. I praise God today. I'm not going to heaven because I'm a preacher. I'm not going to heaven because I'm a pastor. I'm not going to heaven because I'm a missionary. I'm not going to heaven because I'm married and I'm faithful to my wife. I'm not going to heaven because I'm a good person. I'm going to heaven today because I have Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. Friend, do you have Jesus Christ as your Savior today? Again, the Bible says, He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. I may not know you, but I know this today. If you don't have the Son of God as your Savior, very sadly, you spend eternity away from God. God doesn't want you to do that. God wants you to have His gift of everlasting life. He desires you to accept His Son as your Savior. Again, that verse says, John 3, 16, For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, we can talk later, whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Friend, do you have that today? God desires you to have that. He wants you to have that gift that's free. That gift that doesn't cost anything. That gift that's priceless. That gift that you look at today and you'd say, many people say, well, I'm going to go to heaven because I'm a good person, because I've done this and that, I've been Christian, I've been baptized, or things like that. But I'll tell you this, that doesn't merit what Jesus Christ merited, the precious Son of God, the Holy Son of God, the sinless Son of God that died on the cross for your sins. He had to die. He had to pay the price for your sins. You might remember the garden Jesus Christ prayed. He said, Father, if it be possible, let this come cast from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as Thou wilt. Jesus Christ had to go to the cross. Jesus Christ had to die on the cross. Why? Because we don't serve sin against the person. There's no such thing as somebody that's it was anybody that thinks today that I'm going to go to heaven because I'm a good person Just evaluate your life by the law of God. Have you ever lied? Have you lusted? Have you coveted? Have you been materialistic? Did you disobey your parents? You know the thing is every single person if the law was called to defend you all the law could do is condemn you it would just say Guilty guilty guilty And friend, that's our position before God today. It's not one of righteousness. Our position is one of sin against God. And yet God in His love took His precious Son, Jesus Christ, and sent Him to the cross for us so that we could be born again. Well, friend, has there ever been a time in your life when you humbled your heart, you looked at the cross, and you marveled at the love of God that sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for you? That you looked at the Son of God, and you thought about your own life, and thought about your sin, and your godlessness, and your heart that was hard against God and away from God, and you recognized the love of God for you, and you personally put your faith in Jesus Christ? Friend, without that, you can't go to heaven. Except the man be born again, he'll in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Jesus was talking about a second birth. Everybody has to have that second birth. Everybody that's in life has been born once. But the thing is, if you've been born once, you'll die twice. But if you've been born twice, you'll die once. Physical death is the only thing you'll suffer as a child of God, but something that's not safe in the face to death It's not just physical death, but it's the second death is eternity in a lake of fire away from God Again, God doesn't desire to do that. God did everything he could to rescue you including Impacting your life with different points in life and trying to reach out to you and let you know. Hey, there is a God you might say Ben How would I know today that there's a God? The Bible says the heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament showeth his handiwork. That's natural revelation. It's amazing today we can see more than any other generation has ever seen and yet we're the most godless generation. We can look at grains of sand and see incredible beauty. We can look at, you know, a close-up of a a plant or something like that and see the infinite beauty that's there. We can see the grandeur of the heavens as we can see billions of light years away and see the incredible stellar landscape that God has designed. It is shouted to us that there is a God. The heavens declare the glory of God, the firmament show it in sandy word. The fact that the water cycle works, the fact that, you know, it gives us the rain that we need, and then it purifies itself, and it comes back, gives us the rain that we need. All that testifies to us today that there is a Creator-Designer. And because there's a Creator-Designer, there's a Lawgiver. And because there's a Lawgiver, there's a Judge. There's somebody that we're all going to stand before someday and give an account. Friend, are you ready for that day? The Bible says, it's appointed unto men once to die, but after that, to judgment. Friend, are you ready to stand before God? Are you ready to enter into his presence? Are you ready to be there face-to-face with your judge and to give an account of your life? Very sadly today, people's lives are all about things that don't matter. It's about sport, it's about fornication, it's about drugs, it's about drink, it's about gambling, it's about the pub culture, it's about lies, it's about other things, it's about everything but about God. You know, in life there's a lot of good things. Work is a good thing. Family is a good thing. You know, friends are good things. But it's those things, even if you're doing the main thing, worshiping God, even those things, even the bad of themselves, they put idols that keep us from God. God has to have first place in our life. The first commandment is thou shalt have no other God besides me. Friend, most people that I see today, they've got a God in their life. Everybody worships something. Everybody has something that makes them tick. It's the main thing. They spend their money on it. They spend their time on it. That's what their life is all about. We call it a sports idol. We call it a music idol. There's a reason that we use those terms of worship because that's what we are. We are people that were designed. We are people that worshiped it, but there are people that are worshiping a false god today. Oh friend, do you know the God of the Bible? Do you know the God that created us, the God that designed us, the God that gave us life, the God that gave us physical life is the God that desires to give us his gift of everlasting life. Oh friend, do you know that God today? It's not, again, about a religion. It is about a relationship. It's about knowing the God that cares for you. That precious psalm says it this way. It says in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down and greet pastors. He leadeth me beside the still waters. And a lot of people at their funeral, they like to have that psalm, Psalm 23, to be read. And yet the very sad thing is it's so hypocritical in so many funerals to read that scripture because the honest truth about that person is the Lord was not their shepherd. Again, it says in that text, He leadeth me in the path of righteousness for His namesake. The vast majority of people today are on the white path that's leading to destruction. They're on the path that's leading to eternity away from God. They're not following the narrow way. They're not following Jesus Christ and what Jesus Christ did as He died on the cross for their sin. Friend, that could be you today. Your life is anything but about God. It's about everything else. And very sadly, there's a lot of things that would be in your life that are against God. There's lies, and deceit, and immorality, and fornication, and godlessness, and profanity, and drunkenness. And all those things are in your life. And I'll tell you this, God desires to take those things away and give you something that will satisfy. That is His gift of everlasting life, and that is Jesus Christ. Friend do you have that today, you know? Not because you're a good person not because you've been christened but that you've received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior Again, the Bible says, He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. You may say, Ben, I don't even know where to begin. There's so many sects within Christianity even that I don't even know which one to follow. Can I tell you, the Bible is given to us as the standard. It is given to us as that which stands in judgment upon religion. You can take this book and you can look at the Church of Scotland. You can look at Mormonism. You can look at Islam. You can look at other religions, Jehovah's Witnesses or Christianity. You can look at those religions and take this book and identify what God says in His Word and judge those religions by this book. I'll tell you about this book. This book teaches that Jesus Christ is God in flesh. His name is Emmanuel, which means God with us. On earth, Jesus Christ forgave sin. Only God can forgive sin. Jesus Christ is worshipped. Only God can be worshipped. Jesus Christ did miracles that testified that He was the Messiah, the one sent from God. On top of that, He's the Creator. The Bible says about Jesus Christ, without Him was not anything made that was made. You might think they all did. What's the big deal about Jesus Christ being God? Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, and Islam teach that Jesus Christ is not God, but the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is God. What's the point? The point is you can take this book, you can stand in judgment upon religions, and you can say, what does God say? What does God say about marriage? I'll tell you this. God says marriage is between one man and one woman for life. What does the Bible say about gender? It says that God created them male and female. What does God say about atheism or evolution? It says in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. Again, what I'm saying today is God gave us a standard. He gave us a book. It's also the blueprints for life. You know, if you go to Ikea, I don't recommend putting something together without instructions. You know, sadly today, people are trying to put their life together without instructions, and they think, my life's going to work out okay. I can do whatever I want, I can be whoever I want, as long as the government says it's okay, the social media says it's okay, the educators say it's okay, therefore it's okay. I'll tell you this friend, it's not okay unless the Creator says it's okay. It's not okay unless God says it's okay. You get the word of God said, in the beginning God created. Do you know your Creator? The Bible says, Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days pass not, for the years shall nigh, or thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them. It means this, we ought to seek God early. Nobody's guaranteed tomorrow. You know, we're praying for the king, that God would heal the king, but the truth is, he has cancer. There's so many people today, they think, I've got tomorrow, I've got next month, I've got next year. And the truth is, we don't know the day of our death. Nobody knew the day of our birth, and we don't know the day of our death. It's appointed unto men once to die, but after that, to judgment. Friend, are you ready for that day? Are you ready to enter into the presence of God? Are you ready to give an account to your Creator, to your Designer, to the God that made you, the God that gave you the gift of life? There's a lot of people today, they're just wasting what God's given. They're wasting it with drugs. They're wasting it with drink. They're wasting it with immorality. They're wasting it with fornication. They're wasting it with sin and other things that take them away from God. Far better to take our life and use it for God. Far better for us to live for something that is of eternal value and to have the wisdom that God can give and the grace that God can give. I'll pray to you, O God, today. You know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Do you understand what He did when He died on the cross for you? That He paid the price for your sin, that He made a way for you to be born again, for you to have His gifts of everlasting life. My friend, God wants you to have that. God wants you to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if you're to enter into eternity, that you'd be forever with God. Oh, friend, do you know God today? Do you know God today? Not, do you know about God? There's plenty of people today, they would say to me, Ben, I know about God. I know the Bible says He's the Creator. I know the Bible says that Jesus Christ came and that He died, that He didn't stay in the grave, but then He rose from the dead. But I'm not asking today, do you know about God? But I am asking today, do you know God? Do you know God in a personal way? Has there been a point in your life where you looked at the cross, Jesus Christ, and the Son of God, and what He did is He died for you, and you vowed to kneel before that God, and you repented of your sin, and said, I don't want these things that are taking me to hell. I don't want these things that are destroying my life. I don't want these things that are destroying... My finances, my health, my relationship. I turn from those things and I turn to God. Friend, that's the best decision you could ever make in your life, is to turn by faith to the Son of God. Oh friend, do you know Jesus Christ today? God desires you to not just again know about Him, God desires you to know Him. God desires you to have a gift of everlasting life. If you say to me today, Ben, what's the worst thing about hell? I just tell you the worst thing about hell is that God's not there. Today, God is here. Anybody could cry out to God and say, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. They could receive God's gift of everlasting life. But in hell, somebody is never going to have that opportunity ever again to be with God. They're going to be separated from God. The second worst thing about hell is that hell's eternal. Again, God is not there, and hell is eternal. It's eternal separation from God. There's no second chance. It's not appointed to man twice to die or three times to die. It's appointed to man once to die, and after that to judgment. Nobody gets a do-over. Nobody gets to go back and say, you know what, having thought about it now as I face hell for all eternity, I'd like to go back and think a little bit about God. I'd like to think a little bit about what Jesus Christ did. Nobody has that opportunity. So again, I say the worst thing about hell is that God's not there. The second worst thing about hell is that it's eternal. The third worst thing about hell is that it's a fire. A lot of people today, they laugh about the idea of hell, but I'll tell you this, they wouldn't stand outside of the towers that burned in London and laugh at the people that were in those windows that were burning and that wanted out of that place. They would weep, they would cry, because their heart would be broken about that. And anybody laughing about hell is laughing at all the people that are in hell today that are burning eternally and separated from God. Friend, God doesn't want you to go there. That's why Jesus Christ died. Jesus Christ died so that He could give you His gift of everlasting life. And so instead of saying to you, depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, He could look to you and say, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there you may be also. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. God desires you to have that place. God desires you to receive that. But I tell you today, you can't earn that. You can't earn that by being good. You can't earn that by being religious. You can't earn that by being Christian or anything like that. All you can do today is look to the God of heaven and say, God, I never understand today why you love me so much that your son Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sin, but I put my faith in you today. It's what the Bible speaks about in Romans 10, 9 and 10. It says that if thou shalt confess what thou doubt the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It doesn't matter who somebody is today. Anybody can get saved the Bible says whosoever will The Bible says whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved friend. Don't delay that day Don't think well, I'll do that next week. I'll do that next month. I'll do that next year I encourage you pick up a Bible begin to read it with your family begin to spend some time in the Word of God There's plenty of people today. They're spending their life for frivolous things things that don't matter and things that are empty. There are fathers that are teaching their children to worship sport and to bow down to sport, and that sport is the main thing. I'll tell you this, sport might be fun, it might be good exercise, it might have some good things, but I'll tell you this, it does nothing to prepare a child for eternity. If you're a parent today, You have a responsibility. You've got kids that you're teaching truth to. The greatest truth is that there's a God in heaven. The greatest truth is that there's a great designer. The greatest truth is that there's a God that loves us. That sin is good. Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sin. Oh friend, do you have Jesus Christ as your Savior? Are you teaching your children to love God? Are you teaching your children to worship God? Again, there's nothing better for them. Nothing better than walking with God, knowing God, following God, having the grace of God, working in your life, and the enablement that God gives to live a pure life, to live a right life, to have a heart that is clean. I'll tell you today, the vast majority of people have hearts that are defiled and they don't care. Again, the Bible says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. The profanity that we hear, the godlessness that we hear coming out of the mouths of people testifies to the fact of the depravity of the heart of man. We live in a godless day. and we're not ashamed. In fact, we're proud of our sin. There are people that pick up a banner, they pick up a flag, they wave it over their sin, they wave it in the face of Almighty God, they wave it in the face of our population, our society, and our society pats them on the back, claps them on the back, and says that great, but where's the generation that would wake up and say, wait a second, the family is the building block of society. And we've got dysfunctional families. We've got broken families. We got families that because of fornication and sin like that, they're divided and there's no stability in that home. Where are people that care about that today? And say, hey, maybe it's time to get back to the Bible. One man, one woman in a covenant relationship for life, having children and raising their children in the fear of God. Where's the generation that will get back to the Bible? that will pick up the blueprints for life and begin to follow after God. Isn't there anything in your heart today that says, hey, you know, Ben, that makes a little bit of sense. It makes a little bit of sense to get back to God, to get back to understanding who God is and what Jesus Christ did as he died on the cross for our sins. If you're a believer today, I encourage you to begin to pray earnestly for this nation. Begin to ask God to awaken the heart of our nation to turn us back to God. Very sadly without that. The vast majority of people that you see today are on their way to hell. They're stepping one step closer to eternity in the length of fire away from God. That ought to concern us today that despite what God did in sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross, yet people are passing by thoughtless and careless about God and about what God has done. Friend, I encourage you to pick up a Bible. Begin to seek God. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. The ungodly man is fought. It's a day that we need to turn to God. The greatest need today is not Finance, the greatest need is not the economy, the greatest need is not the climate, the greatest need is God. Oh friend, do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior? Has there ever been a time in your life where you humbled your heart, you looked at the cross and saw what Jesus Christ did for you, where you repented of your sin and put your faith in Him? Oh friend, I pray that you receive Him even today. Father, I pray for the grace of God to take the Word of God and put it deep in the hearts of people today. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. I'll do it. Okay. Okay. Good morning, just sat here sharing some truth from the Bible, speaking about Jesus Christ, his love for us, what he did when he died on the cross for our sins. It's a pretty amazing story when you read about the cross and you read about the crucifixion. It's very sad that Jesus Christ had to do that. Sadder still because we love our sins so much and it's our sin that put Jesus Christ on the cross. The Bible says for all sin he comes short of the glory of God. The Bible says there's none righteous, no not one. Might be a good person, might be a nice person, but the truth is today we are sinners. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. The punishment for our sin is eternity in a lake of fire. You know, again, that explains why Jesus Christ went to the cross, why Jesus Christ died. He's our substitute. There's a lot of religions that teach you to say to God, God, I'm sorry. God just, part way, forgives you. But that's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that God is a just God. The Bible teaches that God has to judge our sin. And so Jesus Christ was judged for our sin, and if we enter into eternity without God, we'll be judged for our sin. So there's basically two ways that our sin can be paid for. Our sin is either paid for by Jesus Christ on the cross, or our sin is paid for by our eternal suffering away from God for all eternity. Hey friend, God doesn't want you to go to hell. God wants you to receive His gift of everlasting life. God desires you to be born again. God wants to do a work in your life that you might look at and say, Ben, there's no way God could ever work that in my life. You don't understand about my life. No, I'm an atheist or I'm somebody that has a lifestyle that is totally against God. I'll tell you this, the Bible speaks about the lifestyles that were against God. Lifestyles like drunkenness or fornication or homosexuality. or even a gender identity, people that think that they're a different gender. The Bible speaks about people like that receiving Jesus Christ as their Savior and Jesus Christ transforming their lives by His amazing power. Such were some of you. But you are washed, but you're cleansed, but you're justified by the power of God. You know, God has the power to do that today. You know, friend, that's the greatest thing in life, to have your sin taken from you and to be forgiven by the grace of God. God is a merciful God. God is a gracious God. God is a good God. The greatest thing about God today is His mercy. If it wasn't for the mercy of God today, I wouldn't see you today because each one of us would be cast into hell immediately the day that we sin. And all of us have sinned. All of us have transgressed God's law. So many of us take God's name in vain. Think about what that's like to God. God said, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for he will not hold it guiltless that taketh his name in vain. A lot of people today, they use the name Jesus or the name Lord or the name Christ or the name God as if it's a curse word. And yes, a precious word. It's a word that is the name or it speaks of the being of who God is and what Jesus has done for us. And by the way, the name Jesus means Savior. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Oh, it's a precious name. Very sadly, if you go to a sports stadium, what you'll hear is that name abused and abused and abused. Friend, you might be an atheist today, but let me ask you this. Why do they take his name in vain? Why don't they say some other name? Why do they say the name of God? Because we are sinners by nature, and by nature we sin against God. And when we sin against God, we violate His law. And His law 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. My friend, do you know this Savior today? Do you know Jesus Christ? Has there been a time in your life when you accepted the Savior as your Savior? You know, it's one thing to say, I know Jesus is the Savior. It's another thing to say, I know that He's my Savior. The precious truth that's in that psalm, Psalm 23. It says, the Lord is my shepherd. Friend, can you say that today? Can you say from your heart, the Lord is my shepherd? Has there been a time where you've turned from being the sheep of a different pasture to being the sheep of the pasture of the Lord Jesus Christ? Not a sheep that is in the path of sin, but a sheep that's in the path of righteousness. Because you're no longer following after the world, but you're following after God and the grace of God, the goodness of God, the love of God. Friend, you can say to me today, Ben, Christianity is no fun. But I'll tell you this, is drunkenness fun? Is STDs, are STDs fun? Is gambling debt fun? Is the broken relationship that you have because of lies, is that fun? And the truth is today, all our sin does is destroys our life, it wrecks our life, but Jesus Christ came, he died, so that we could be forgiven, so that we could have all the bad that's in our life taken away and have the grace of God. I'm not preaching today saying your life's going to be easy after you get saved, but I am saying this. It's going to be a life of righteousness. It's going to be a life of purity. It's going to be a life of forgiveness. It's going to be a life of strength. It's going to be a life that has the God of heaven on your side. Friend, very frankly today, if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you're not with God, you're against God. You're at enmity with God. The things in your life are pushing back against God. Every time we sin and violate God's law, it's just another thing that separates us from God. The Bible says your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hit His face that He will not cure you. You know, for us to come to God, we've got to be honest about our sins. So many in our day, they want to justify their sin. They want social media or the government or educators to make laws or make decisions and to say, hey, your sin is okay. Your lifestyle is okay. It's okay that your job is a bit like that. But the thing is, we're not okay in that condition. If we die in that condition, we'll be cast into a lake of fire for all eternity. Again, God doesn't desire that. God wants to give you his gift of everlasting life. God desires you to be saved. God desires you to be born again. God wants to give you a fresh start. Somebody could say to me today, Ben, I want that. I want a new life. I want a fresh start like that. Well, the Bible says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things are passed away. The old things have become new. God's willing to change your life today. God is willing to take your sin debt away. God is willing to take the bondage of sin away. Somebody could say, Ben, I could never get over this addiction. I could never break this bondage that's in my life because of sin. I don't even like it. I don't even want it. It cost me my health. It cost me my finances. It's hurting my relationship. What can I do? I tell you today, the one thing you can do that's going to make the difference is accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ is life. The Bible says about Jesus, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Jesus Christ is not a way. He is the only way. There's no other way. It's not religion today. It's not about being a Baptist. I'm a Baptist, but it doesn't make somebody sane. It's not about being some religion. It's about having Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. It's about having Jesus Christ in your heart. The Bible says, He's that half the Son, half life. He that hath not the Son of God hath not life. Very sadly today, if you know that Jesus Christ is your Savior, it's not that someday God's going to sentence you to eternity in the lake of fire. The Bible says that if you're not saved, you're under the condemnation of God right now. If that judgment of God is already against you, God doesn't have to make up his mind in the future about what your sentence is. It's already recorded. What we need is the mercy of God to take our sentence away. But Jesus Christ, when He died at the cross, He took the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. He nailed it to the cross. Jesus Christ died as if He was a sinner, and yet Jesus Christ was sinless. The righteous Son of God went to the cross. Why? Because He died for us. That's what we needed. You know, I can't die for you because I'm a sinner. But Jesus Christ could die for us because He's sinless. And because He was sinless, He paid the price for our sins when He died. He took the wrath of God for us. It says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever, anybody who believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You know, you might say to me, Ben, I don't believe. Well, that's a problem. Why? Because the salvation is by faith. If you don't come to faith in God, if you don't come to faith in Jesus Christ, there's no way of salvation other than faith in the Son of God. Jesus Christ, again, is the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by Him. You have to come to faith. Without faith, there's no way to please Him, the Bible says. You cannot please God today by unbelief. You cannot please God today by denying Him, by rejecting Him. The only way to please God is to recognize that there is a God in heaven, to recognize that His Son, Jesus Christ, did die on the cross for your sins, and to put your faith in the Son of God. Friend, has there ever been a time that you've done that? I'm not talking today about being religious. I'm not talking today about going to church. I'm talking about finding Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. You might look at me today and say, Ben, I'd like to have the faith that you're talking about. I'd like to believe in God. I just don't feel like I can. Can I encourage you to pick up a Bible, cry out to the God that you don't believe in, and say, God, if you're real, prove it to me, and then pick up the Bible and begin to read it. The Bible says, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You know, as you study the Word of God, you look at it and you say, wow, you know, the Bible says things before they ever happened, a thousand years before Jesus Christ went to the cross, a thousand years before that. In Psalm 22, the Bible says they pierced his hands and his feet. It says they cast rods upon his vestments. Jesus Christ and His death was testified of in the Word of God a thousand years before it took place. It was testified of 600 years before it took place. In Isaiah 53, it says, 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. It was speaking about the crucifixion 650 years before it took place. Friends, study it out. Look it up. You can look and you can study it yourself and find out that the Word of God has prophecies in it, that it's foretellings. Before it ever took place, the Bible said it would happen. A lot of times people would say to me, Ben, why don't you believe the Bible is the Word of God? Well, just practically speaking, this book is written by 44 human authors and it's 66 books written over 1,500 years. And this book all agrees. It's one message beginning to end. It's a message about the most famous person in human history. It's a message about a man that we celebrate his birthday every year. It's about a man that we take our calendar by. His name's Jesus. And again, that testifies to the truth that this book is not just a book, this book is THE book. It's the book that is given to us by Almighty God. We're going to be reading. Have you picked it up and looked at it? You know, someday when you stand before God, God's not going to say, it's okay that you're ignorant. It's okay that you never took the time to think about me. You know, you've been given a life and you've been given the opportunity, the ability to read or to look into the Word of God or listen to the Word of God. It's incumbent upon us that we take that opportunity and think about God. Well, friend, I encourage you to do it. What you'll find if you pick up the Bible, you'll find that there's a God that loves you. You'll find that there's a God that does not love your sin, that God is against your sin, because if your sin separates you from God, your sin violates God's law. It's the very thing that's going to cast you into hell. That's why God hates your sin. God despises your sin. God wants to take away your sin. The Bible says, while we are yet sinners, Christ died for us. for a righteous man when one died, but God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Jesus Christ died for you. He wasn't ashamed to go to the cross for you. I just ask you today, if you're a Christian, are you ashamed of him? Are you afraid to stand up for Him, to speak up for the God that loved you so much, that sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for your sin? There's people today, they're unashamed to take a flag and wave it over their sin. And they're unashamed to get out in public and say, I'm the greatest sinner in the world. And look at the sexual immorality that's in my life. Where are some believers today that would step up and say, look, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus Christ. I believe in the Son of God that loved me and sent His Son. to die on the cross for my sin. Oh friend, He loves you today. He loves you today. He cares about you. He cares about what you're doing in your life that is against Him. He cares about how that's going to take you to hell. He wants you to be born again. He wants you to have His gift of everlasting life. Oh friend, do you have that today? Has there ever been a time in your life when you looked at the cross and you recognized that the Son of God, Jesus Christ, died on that cross for your sin? We understood that He loves you, and that He cares for you, and that He made a way for you to be born again, for you to have God's gift of everlasting life. The Bible says again in 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. Friend, that word whosoever means anybody who. It doesn't matter today what your education is. It doesn't matter your race. It doesn't matter where you're at as far as sin and ungodliness is in your life. What matters is are you ready to get right with God? Are you ready to deal with your sin? Are you ready to look at the cross and recognize what the Son of God, Jesus Christ, did as He died on that cross for your sin? Are you ready to be born again, to have a new start, a fresh start, a new beginning? The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Old things are passed away. The old, all things have become new. We may not know it today, but there are people passing this place. They're suicidal. They might have the instrument of death at their home. They might be ready to take their life and execute themselves and hasten themselves to the grave. But I'll tell you this, there is hope today because there's God. There is hope today because there's Jesus. You might look at your life and say, Ben, I'm struggling in life and I've got mental health issues and, you know, I'm taking medicine. I'm just really struggling. I'll tell you again, there's hope because there's God. There's a God in heaven that can set you free. There's plenty of people passing this place today. They say, man, I got sin in my life. It's destroying my life. It's hurting my health. It's hurting my relationship. It's hurting my finance. It's a thing that is destroying me, but it's a thing that I'm addicted to, and I can't get victory over it. Friend, there's victory in Christ. Jesus Christ can set you free. Jesus Christ sets us free from the bondage of sin. He sets us free from the penalty of sin and the power of sin. God has the power to change your life. Friend, give God a chance. You got a Bible? Pick it up. Begin to read it. Begin to look at what God did. Take that Gospel, the Gospel of John. It says in the Gospel of John, "...but 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." God desires you to have that life. You can find it, but you've got to seek for it. Nobody today is going to find gold or strike gold without mining for it, without working to get it. Listen, today there's gold in the Bible. There's precious metal in the Bible. There's precious truth in the Word of God, but you've got to get into it. You've got to take some time. Friend, I encourage you, give God a chance. A lot of people today, they say, Ben, I don't have time. You've got time for family. You've got time for fun. You've got time for fornication. Or you've got time for sin. You've got time for ungodliness. Friend, take time for God. Take time to pick up a Bible. Begin to read it. Begin to study about who Jesus Christ is and what He did as He died on the cross for your sin. Again, 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 God desires you to have that. He wants you to receive his gift. He wants you to have his love He wants you to have his power in your life. Oh friends, you know Jesus Christ today You know the Son of God that did everything for you. Friend, if you go to hell, it's like you're gonna trample over somebody that loved you so much that they took it all for you on the cross. You know, I appreciate our soldiers today. I appreciate our military that fight for us. I appreciate those that gave their lives for our freedom. But I'll tell you this, I appreciate more than anything the man that took it all for us on the cross of Calvary, Jesus Christ. The man that was perfectly sinless. The man that had done nothing wrong. The man that loved us so much that he came to this earth and he died on the cross for our sin. Do you know him? Do you know the son of God, Jesus Christ, that died on the cross for you? Have you ever thanked him for that? You might say to me that they've been, I'm an atheist. Well, I'll tell you this about an atheist. An atheist is somebody that never thanks God for their food, never thanks God for their family, never thanks God for the blessings of life, never bows a knee to God. Thanks God for that and certainly never thanks God for sending his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for their sin. An atheist is somebody who's fighting very hard against God. But I'll tell you this, an atheist can get saved. You may say today, Ben, there's no chance in a million years that an atheist can accept Christ. There absolutely is. There are people in churches today that are born again, that have received Jesus Christ as their Savior, that were atheists. There's a man that was a scientist. You can look up his videos online. His videos are incredible creatures that defy evolution. He was an atheist. He was an evolutionist. He didn't believe in God. But he studied it out. He looked at some animals. He said, hey, there's no way those animals could have just evolved. And it brought him to study of the Word of God. And it brought him to faith in God. His name is James Martin. Again, you can look him up. And it's incredible features that defy evolution. Friend, there's no way we just happened. There's no way we just happened. There's no way that the people that are looking today are descendants of animals. God created us in His image. In the image of God created He. Him, male and female, created He down. God designed us. God made us. The guy that made us, the guy that designed us, gave us a will. We exercised that will against God. We sinned against God. That brought death, sorrow, sickness. A lot of people think that they've been, if there is a God, why is the world like this? The world is like this because we transgressed against God. Death is not something that God created or God designed. When God created every day of His creation, God said this, and God saw that it was good. That it was good. Well, we understand today cancer's not good. War's not good. Death's not good. So what happened? Again, man sinned against God. And when we sinned against God, death, sorrow, sickness came into this world. And once that eternal death came into this world, people would begin to die and be cast into hell for all eternity. The Bible says in the book of Revelation, And 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 words. Then it says that 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 doesn't want you to go there. God doesn't want you to be cast into hell for all eternity. That's why he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for your sins. Has there ever been a time in your life when you looked at the cross and you understood what Jesus Christ did and He died on the cross for you? Friend, if you've never done that, you're not prepared to enter into eternity. You're not ready to go into that place of stepping off out of this life into that place of Eternality where you'll either go to heaven or you go to hell if you don't have Jesus Christ as your Savior The only thing God could say to you is depart from me first in the everlasting fire God doesn't want to do that Jesus Christ died so that God could give you a chance to get saved God can give you a chance to humble your heart and to confess your sin and put your faith in the Son of God, Jesus Christ, that loved you so much that He died on the cross for you. Friend, there's nothing greater that you can do. I saw somebody in the last two weeks and it was a joy to see that person light up after they accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. very confidently say that they knew that God had saved them and spontaneously just give you a hug and thank you for talking to them about Jesus Christ. It's an awesome thing when somebody gets saved. Right? God can do that in your life. You can absolutely be born again. You can have God's gift of everlasting life. There's nothing keeping you from that, from your unbelief or your sin that you were holding on to instead of receiving Jesus Christ and the love of God into your heart. Friend, it's not worth going to hell for anything. It's not worth going to hell for sport. It's not worth going to hell for sin. It's not worth going to hell to have your mate pat you on the back and say what a great drinker you are or anything like that. But friend, the greatest thing that we could do is turn from those things that are defiling to turn from those things that are destroying us and receive Jesus Christ as our Savior. Father, I pray by the grace of God that some will get saved. I pray for your mercy for Scotland. I pray, Father, for a day of revival, a day of awakening. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen.