God's Salvation from sin only comes to a sinner through the free favor of God by trusting to the Atoning Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only the preaching of the Cross will win a lost soul to Jesus. This is our first and chief theme - Christ Jesus Crucified, His Substitution for sinners, His Bloody Atoning Sacrifice on Calvary's Cross for the ungodly.
Think much about Jesus' Blood. His Blood means suffering; it means that a sinless life was surrendered with actual agony and a real death. When your bones ache, and your body is racked with pain, and you have sleepless nights, and your mind is depressed, think then about what Jesus went through for you.
God manifest in the flesh was crucified on account of your sins. There in Gethsemane, His bloody sweat fell on the soil; on Gabbatha's pavement, His blood sprinkled from His stripes as the scourge lashed His back and shoulders again and again. With those stripes your soul is healed from sin's curse and ruin. There at Calvary, they nailed His innocent hands to the Cross with rough iron spikes. They lifted Him up into the air; the Cross settled into the hole in the ground and jarred His entire body so that it dislocated some of His bones. They fixed the Cross into the Earth, and they sat down and watched Him suffer for hours. They insulted Him as He let out cries and uttered prayers. They mocked His thirst. He hung there naked in shame in the blazing sun as they cast lots for His garments. The cruel mob jeered and laughed as He bore their sins in His own body. God the Father even forsakes Jesus as He becomes Sin for us. God the Father turns His face away, pitch black darkness covers the Earth, and Jesus shrieks in agony, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me!" Sin thrust a spear through the tenderest heart that ever beat. Jesus cried, "It is Finished!", gave up the ghost, and died in my place. Nothing can wash out your deep sin stains within but the Blood of God manifest in the flesh.
Come directly to the Cross by Faith, ask God for faith in Jesus, and look up into the face of the Bleeding Lamb of God, view the flowing of His blood, and beneath His Blood hide your guilty soul. Depend upon nothing but what Christ Jesus has done for you on the Cross.
The way to Hell is paved with good intentions and religiousness. Heaven is desirable, Hell is terrible, time is so short, death is lurking, Eternity is infinite, your soul is precious, and Christ is your only hope of Salvation. God is Eternal, His Son is alive forever more, His words are true, His Holy Spirit is calling to you. The very worst way to go to Hell is from a church pew. Hell is crammed with church members. Souls are being lost every day, men are being damned, sinners are perishing all around us, the Devil is grinning, the Church is asleep, Hell is being filled.
Sin is out-and-out rebellion against God Himself, and sin is the prelude to Hell. It is a dreadful thing to sin against the living God. Sin is evil and damnable. We should loathe the sins we commit that murdered Jesus Christ. Hell is the inevitable consequence of unforgiven sins. A vile desire, an unclean thought, an unkind word, and a selfish action - these are all sins. Hell is seeking you, Justice pursues you, evil seeks to overtake you every day. The gate to the City of Refuge, Calvary's Cross, is still wide open now. Away to the Cross, the road is open - the short path is to go straightaway to the Cross, and say, "God be merciful to me a sinner for Jesus' sake, I rest on Jesus' Blood only."
This is the grandest truth, the keystone doctrine, the cornerstone of the Gospel - Christ Jesus pays my sin debt with His own Blood, and I go free. Christ suffers for me, and I receive Mercy. Full Atonement by Precious Blood is the Gospel message. I was guilty and facing a coming Judgment, but Jesus stepped forward, and said, "I will bear this sinner's punishment, pour all His Hell on Me, let Me drink His cup of damnation dry. I will suffer in this rebel's place." JEHOVAH JESUS is the gentle Creator; Omnipotent, yet full of pity; Almighty, yet merciful; the Eternal God, yet the suffering Lamb of God; THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, yet meek and lowly in heart.
By nature and practice you are a sinner; you are guilty for sure; the best of us as well as the worst of us deserve nothing but Hell. All sinners are self-condemned; men love sin and have a proclivity towards darkness and evil. Man does not love his Creator, he cleaves to his iniquities, and trusts his own righteousness instead of Christ. Your damnation will be your own choosing, not God's. God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to Repentance. If you intentionally neglect and reject Christ, you will richly deserve eternal damnation. Your sins deserve damnation, please don't cut the throat of your soul by neglecting Christ. The Lake of Fire is the place where Christ-rejecting souls die the second death everlastingly.
Religion works hard to make the plain words of the Gospel hard to understand. But we use great plainness of speech and declare the Gospel clearly; we tell you the Good News that can be understood by a little child. Christ Jesus suffered in the sinner's place, in your place. Trust Him, for He suffered for you. God the Father is Just and takes the voluntarily offered sinless Sacrifice of Calvary instead of us. God the Father vindicated His Justice and honored His Law at the same time when Jesus suffered and died for the ungodly. God can forgive me now, He can freely pardon me, for Jesus died in my place.
The Gospel is so Simple, so Just, so Merciful, so Safe. Yield to the Gospel, yield now, let not your pride kick against it. You must first realize by the help of the Holy Spirit the danger that your sins have gotten you into before you will flee from it. Ask Jesus to cover your soul now with His Righteousness, ask Him to cleanse your soul with His Blood, ask Him to keep and protect your soul by His power. Christ laid down His life and washed us in His own blood - this freely gives pardon and peace to us. Look away from all other confidences you may have. Rely only on Jesus' bloody death and resurrection from the dead. A Finished Redemption has been accomplished by Jesus; our sins were laid on Him, and He was made to be Sin for us.
After you are born again, ask the Holy Spirit to subdue your sin nature daily, as you struggle for purity and godliness for Jesus' sake. Only by the Precious Blood of Christ can we subdue the corruptions within and the temptations without. The Lord Jesus Christ takes His Gospel as an axe and chops at the root of the tree of your self-righteousness. He cuts aways all trust in self and love for sin. Live simply by faith in the Blood of the Cross.
*Soli Autem Crucis - The Cross Alone*
