I just want to plead with you today, folks, that if you do not know Jesus Christ, that He is the way, the truth, and the life. And that He said that no one comes to the Father except through Him. That was His words. This was the God-Man, the God from all eternity. The One whom the Bible says created all things. He created all things. All things were created through Him and for Him. All things in heaven and on earth visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through Christ and for Christ. And He is the One who came to this earth, who left the glory of heaven, left a perfect fellowship with His Father to enter into His creation. Jesus Christ, the infinite God, the eternal God, came and put on human flesh. He came and put on a human nature. And so He wasn't just partially God. No, folks, Christ was God. God of very God. Truly God. But He was also truly man. The Bible says, The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us. This Christ This eternal God entered into His creation and took on another nature just like ours. He put on human flesh. He was born under the law, born of a woman just like we are, born under the law. And He came for this reason, folks. Have you ever asked yourself, have you ever wondered maybe why did Jesus Christ come? What was His purpose? What was His purpose here on earth when He came to this earth? Many people think He came to be a good prophet. And He was a prophet. He was called the great prophet that the Old Testament prophesied about. And He revealed Himself in the New Testament as the prophet that Moses spoke of in the Old Testament. So yes, He was a prophet. Some think that He came simply to be a good teacher and an example to us. He was the greatest teacher. The Bible says that the crowds were astounded at His teaching. He taught as one having authority. Jesus Christ. He was a great teacher. Some people think He was an example for us in His kindness. He was the kindest man to ever live. It said when he suffered, he uttered no threats. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. He healed the sick. He fed the poor. He even raised the dead. He caused limbs to grow on people who didn't have any limbs. He fed the multitudes. So yes, he was kind. He was the kindest, most compassionate man ever to live. So yes, he was all of these and so much more. He was our example. in all of these things. But folks, know this. Christ Jesus, the Bible says, came into this world to save sinners. That is why He came. That's what the Bible says. He came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came to do the Father's will. To do the Father's will. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever should believe upon Him should not perish, but have eternal life. You see, we have to understand who God is. We have to understand who we are. The Bible describes us as sinners, as being dead in our sin. We are separated from God because of our sin. Because God is holy. God is righteous. God is just. God is perfect. His eyes are too pure to approve of evil, and He cannot look on wickedness with favor. He has one response to sin. He has one and only one response to sin, and that is to punish sin. God hates sin. God will punish all sin. As a matter of fact, the Bible says God hates all workers of iniquity. How are you guys doing? Doing alright, man? Good. God hates sin and He will punish sin wherever it's found. And so the question is, when we look at our life, the Bible describes us as rebels towards God. It describes us as transgressors of God's law. It describes us as being dead in our sin. It describes us as having hearts of stone bent away towards God. It says there's none righteous. There's none righteous, there's none who seek after God. And so the question is, is what is God going to do with guilty sinners like us? If God is perfect, and God's only response to sin is to judge sin, and that place of judgment is an eternal hell, what's He going to do with sinners who are guilty like you and me? Sinners who have taken God's name in vain, do you know that? The Bible says you should not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. How many times have you taken the name of the Lord your God in vain in your life? You see, Jesus said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So when we take God's name in vain, it reveals something about our hearts. How many lies have you told in your life? You see, that is the ninth commandment. You should not bear false witness. And that is not just simply talking about in a court scene, in a court setting. The Bible says God hates lying lips. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. You know who is the father of lies? The Bible says the devil is the father of lies. So when we are deceitful, when we are lying, we are acting like Satan himself, who is a liar and the father of lies. What is God going to do with guilty sinners who are full of lust, full of rebellion, full of adultery, full of deceit, full of hatred? Why do we see our world on fire right now, meaning all of the racism and all of the hatred right now? It's because of the reality of sin. Because sinners are dead in sin. It says hating each other. It says hating God and hating one another. That's why people react the way they do in our culture. Because they hate God and they hate one another. Because their hearts are full of iniquity and full of sin and they're dead in their sins, folks. And there's only one solution. There's only one solution to man's biggest problem. Man's biggest problem is his sin. His biggest problem is that he cannot attain the perfect righteousness that God the Father requires. We can't do it. We are tainted with sin. We are stained with sin. We have been weighed in the balances and found wanting all of us. We have fallen short of His glory and the wages of sin is death. Folks, that means what we earn because of our sin is death. Death, spiritual death, physical death, eternal death. in a place where Jesus spent much of His time describing. A place where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. That's the penalty of death. A place where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched. That is that place of death. The second death. The eternal lake of fire, folks. That is God's permanent punishment for sinners. So how do we escape? The writer of Hebrews said this, how shall you escape? He was writing to Jewish Christians, he was writing to these people, and he was encouraging them not to turn back to their false, dead religion of Judaism, but to keep on pressing forward with Christ, And he said, how should we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? How will we escape, folks, the wrath of God from a perfect, holy, righteous God if we neglect such a great salvation? If we neglect the salvation that God has provided for us? How should we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? How will you escape the wrath of God? You see, the Bible says death is coming for all of us. We're reminded of this even when we see an ambulance. The reality of death. The reality that we're mortal. The reality that this life is not all that there is. That our life is like a vapor, folks. Use this ambulance as an illustration to remind you that your life is like a vapor. Do not boast about tomorrow by saying, oh, I'll get right with God tomorrow. I'll get right with God next year. I just want to enjoy my sin. Folks, the Bible says, seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Call upon the name of the Lord while He is near. God sent His Son, folks, to be the substitute for us as guilty sinners. First of all, He came, born of a virgin, put on human flesh, truly God and truly man, and as a man just like you and I, had a nature just like you and I, He lived the perfect life that you and I couldn't live, but that God demands and requires to be in His presence. That is good news, folks. First of all, not only that He died for our sins, but that He lived the very life. He fulfilled all righteousness on behalf of those whom He came to save. That was called His act of obedience. And in His passive obedience, He went to the cross and He was beaten beyond recognition. by sinful men, by wicked and sinful men that God predetermined before the foundation of the world that He should suffer at the hands of godless men and that they should put Him to death. He did suffer. It says He suffered and He uttered no threats. When He was reviled, He did not revile in return, but He bore the punishment that you and I deserve upon the cross. He was beaten with a cat o' nine tails. He was whipped. And these whips, they had these razor-sharp claws and bones on the ends of them, and it would come around his back and rip his flesh off of his ribs. It says he was marred beyond human semblance, meaning you could not recognize the Lord Jesus Christ as even being a human. He was beaten so bad. And I might remind you that this one that was beaten so bad is your very Creator. The Bible says all things were made through Christ, for Christ. Things invisible, things on earth, things under the earth. Powers, authorities, dominions, they were all created by Christ Himself. The One who created all things. He created the sun, the moon, the stars, the galaxies. He formed you in your mother's womb. He formed the very ones who were beating Him. Beating Him and nailing Him to a cross. He formed them in their mother's womb. And that is the One they were putting to death. The Lord of Glory. The Sovereign One. The All-Powerful One. Jesus declared, I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. The perfect One, the sinless One, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world, was nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men. When He was upon the cross, when He was upon the cross, He cried out, My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me? As the Father of glory, the Bible says, was pleased to crush Him. The Lord was pleased to crush His Son. For the first time in all of eternity, the Son was separated from the Father as He bore our sin in His body upon the tree, upon the cross. You see, the Bible says in Deuteronomy that cursed is every man who hangs upon a tree. What a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ who is indeed cursed by God as He bore the wrath of sinners. He bore the very curse that is upon mankind, that is upon all of those who would believe and repent. Jesus Christ bore that curse. He bore the wrath of God in full. He drank every last drop of the wrath of God, the punishment of God, the anger of God that you and I deserve, which is an eternal hell. Jesus Christ drank all of the wrath of God upon that cross in just a matter of hours. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever would believe upon Him would not perish, but would have eternal life. God demonstrated His own love toward us, and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is love that He laid down His life for us. That was the love of God demonstrated at the cross of Calvary. when God the Father, being just and holy, could punish every sin of every sinner and send every single person to hell for our sin. And He would do that which is just, that which we deserve. But in His mercy, He sent His Son to pay the price. for all the sins of every one of those who would humble themselves before God, who would be willing. Is that right, sir? You know, you've got an appointment with death, sir. It's been appointed for a man, including you, once to die, and after that, the judgment. And you're just revealing your heart, sir. You're revealing your hatred for the Lord Jesus Christ right now. Yeah. Sinners hate the light. They hate the light. They will not come to the light unless their deeds should be exposed. You're going to stand before the one whom you give the finger. You're going to stand before Him one day, sir. You can roll up your window. Roll up your window, sir, but your conscience, your conscience tells you that you're guilty against God. You have sinned against God. And the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners like you, sir. He came to save sinners like you and me. We need His grace, folks. And what I was just saying, Jesus Christ came to die for those who would humble themselves. Not for those who are proud and arrogant, who want to give God the finger. But for those who are willing to humble themselves. For those who are willing to cry out, God be merciful to me a sinner. God be merciful to me a sinner. Is that you today? Do you desire God's mercy? Or are you proud? Are you arrogant? Do you desire the preaching of the gospel to be silenced? Are you saying in your heart right now, I just wish that man would stop preaching that Bible? Folks, that reveals where your heart's at. Jesus said that the light is coming to the world, but people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. It says for everyone who hates the light, does not come to the light, lets his deeds should be exposed. Is that you today? Is that you today or does the sound of Jesus Christ dying upon the cross so that you can be forgiven for your sin, is that good news for you today? Folks, if that is good news for you today, then God is at work in your heart. then I would encourage you to come to Him. That means that you either already know Him or that God is drawing you to Himself. You see, Jesus said, no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. Is God drawing you? Is God drawing you to Himself? Do you desire Christ? You see, it's not just that He died, but He was buried and He rose again on the third day. Here's my man Tony. How are you doing, Tony? I heard you out there. I figured I'd come down here, man, you know, and some people down here who don't hear. How you doing? Doing alright? Doing alright? So folks, Christ not only died for our sins, but Jesus Christ was buried, and on the third day, He rose from the grave. That means death has been swallowed up in victory. That is the good news that we're here to proclaim. That death is swallowed up in victory. It says, O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? It says, the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. It was not possible for Jesus to be held by death. It says, Jesus Christ who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel. You see, Jesus said, I lay down my life. He said, no one takes my life, but I lay it down of my own accord. He said, I have the authority to lay it down and I have the authority to take it up again. And so folks, the good news, the hope for you today is that if you do not know Christ, you can know Him today. Regardless of your past, Christ came to save sinners. But the command is this, God commands all people everywhere to repent. Turn from the direction you're going. Have a change of mind about the direction you're going, about who you are. And turn to His Son, Jesus Christ. Turn away from your sin and turn to Christ. Paul said, we preach repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, repent and believe in the Gospel. The writer of Proverbs says, be not wise in your own eyes, but fear the Lord and turn away from evil. The prophet Isaiah says, let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return to the Lord. That's talking about repentance. Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Jesus says, repent and believe in the gospel. The Christians in Thessalonica were said to have... Paul said that they had turned from idols to serve the living and true God. So that's what God is calling sinners to do today. To turn from idols. To serve the one and only true and living God. The One who has revealed Himself. in creation. The One who has given us His creation to testify. The heavens declare the glory of God today, folks. Your conscience testifies. That's the inward witness that God has given us a conscience. We know right from wrong. We know it's wrong to lie. We know it's wrong to steal. We know it's wrong to murder because we are made in the image of God. God has then stamped His image on our very hearts, on our very souls. That's why the Bible says that there will be none who stand before God, who have an excuse. It says they will be without excuse. Because God... Do you know Christ, sir? Do you know death's coming for you one day, sir? See, we're here for this very reason, folks. Because death is coming. And you're going to stand before the God whom you're cursing right now. And Christ can save you. Christ forgives sinners. He forgives sinners, man. It's good news. Why would you curse somebody who's telling you how you can find eternal life? Forgiveness of sins. Have you ever thought about that? Why people react that way towards the Gospel of Jesus Christ? The greatest man who ever lived, the most compassionate man to ever live, the one who healed the sick, the one who raised the dead, the one who fed the multitudes, the one who was perfect. Why do men respond the way they do to the Lord Jesus Christ? Jesus told us why. He told us exactly why. He said the light has come into the world, speaking of Himself. He said the light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. He says everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light unless his deeds should be exposed. That's why right there, men and women love their sin. They love sin. They know Christ is the light. The name of Jesus Christ. The name that makes demons flee. See, the demons, they knew who He was. They begged the Lord Jesus Christ. He would encounter a man who was possessed by demons. Those demons knew who He was. And they would beg Him not to cast them into the pit before their time. So there's many people that say, yeah, I believe in God. Folks, even the demons believe. It says, and they tremble. It says the demons believe and they tremble. A lot of people, they don't even tremble. They don't tremble before God. There is no fear of God before their eyes. That's why men and women can live in all kinds of acts of perversion because there is no fear of God before their eyes. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Do you understand that? To even have any wisdom at all, the Bible says you must fear God. Do you fear God? Or do you mock God? Do you fear God today or do you mock God? Examine your heart. You see, that's what the Gospel does. The Gospel, when it is preached in truth, it exposes men's sin and men's hurts. The Gospel is good news. That's what it means. But it's good news only for those who believe. Folks, if you reject this message, this is not good news. If you reject the message of Christ being the one and only sacrifice for sins, it's not good news. Because there is no sacrifice left for you. It says... How you doing, ma'am? You doing okay? Yes.