Beloved radio, friends, we greet you in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we welcome you to the present series of messages on the blessed theme, the glory of the cross. Our key verse of Scripture for this theme, we have taken from Galatians chapter six, verse fourteen. May I read the verse through the inspired words of the Apostle Paul, saying, God forbid that I should glory, save him the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. We now seek to search the Scriptures that we may have an intelligent understanding of what our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour, accomplished by himself on our behalf, when he died upon the cross of Calvary. There are many spiritual and eternal blessings for you and for me, my beloved friends, to enjoy as the result of that great divine undertaking in the history of God, and particularly in human history, when our Savior died upon the cross. It was not for the benefit or the blessing of angels, but oh, it was for the blessing and the eternal welfare of every man, woman, boy and girl. Yes, for all mankind. Now may we raise this question. What is the first blessing which the Christ of God has provided for us through the finished work of His cross? Now what would you say? What would you say is the first essential blessing for you and for me to enjoy through the death of the Son of God? in which we can glory or we can boast? Would it not be true to say, is it not the forgiveness of our sins? For did not the Lord Jesus Christ, after his death, his burial and resurrection, did he not command his disciples to proclaim throughout all the world that repentance and remission or forgiveness of sins be preached in His name among all nations? Luke chapter twenty-four in verse forty-seven. This is a universal message. It is to be heralded in and through all the world at the command of the risen Savior. Now why? First consider with me the universal need of forgiveness. There is a universal need for it because the opposite to forgiveness can be only one thing. And what is that? Is it not the guilt of our sins? We have done wrong against the Holy God. And does not God's word declare, all the world is guilty before God. Romans three ninety. And is it not written also in Romans three and verse twenty three? For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There is no exception. Every man, every woman, every boy, and every girl in the world is a guilty sinner, whether you confess it or not. Each one is guilty, and frankly, this makes it an intensely individual matter. And now guilt is established, and it is declared by God Himself. And if you will read chapters one, two, and three of the Roman Epistle, you will find that God proves that even the barbarian and the heathen, the cultured and the civilized, and even the religious and the self-righteous Jews in God's sight, they are every one of them. They are all sinners, with no exception. Therefore, by our own honest confession, but most of all by God's declaration, all the world, every person within it, needs forgiveness. It is an urgent necessity, for we have sinned and every sin, no matter what kind, is against God. Now let us second consider the meaning of the word forgiveness. It is an interesting word. It has been translated from one Greek word into two English words within our Bible. Yet both of the words convey the same meaning. One is the word forgiveness. And the other is the word remission. So whichever you find translated, they mean the same thing in relation to sins. And what is the meaning? Well, it means to send away or to release, denoting a dismissal. Now let me apply this from some scripture. Reading in chapter thirteen of the book of Acts, verse thirty-eight, Paul the apostle preached about Jesus and said to his audience, Be it known unto you, therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, that is Jesus, is preached unto you the forgiveness or the remission of sins. And the beloved Apostle stated that Jesus is able to take your sins away. In Acts chapter twenty-six and verse eighteen, the beloved Apostle Paul again declared why the Lord Jesus appeared to him, and why the Lord commanded him to go to the nations and preach. to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins. Now you may ask my beloved friend, may I ask you, do not these very scriptures prove that God wants to forgive you and wants to forgive me of our many sins, to remove them from our guilty conscience and from His holy sight, Please let me say emphatically, to my unsafe friends, you don't need to ask God if He's willing to forgive you. He's already proved His willingness. And through the message of the gospel, He is offering forgiveness and waiting for you to take it. And God says to you, here it is. As Paul preached, you can have it. Now let's ask the question. How can I... Let's consider it. For a third fact, how can I possess it? And why is God able to do this for me? Can I know that my sins are forgiven? Now let me as clearly as I can show you the reason that you can be forgiven and the basis of knowing it. Now first of all, there are two facts you must rest your heart steadfastly and your mind upon. First, it is because of the shedding of Christ's precious blood in His sacrifice upon the cross. You and I can have it. Now let me read one verse for you. The words are found in Hebrews chapter nine and verse twenty-two. Listen carefully. Without the shedding of blood is no remission. or meaning there is no forgiveness. Now realize there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. Now this was true in the Old Testament, which you can read from the whole words of even Leviticus, seventeen in verse eleven. But in our New Testament in the book of Hebrews nine, verse twenty-two, it is emphasized once more. But this does not refer to an animal sacrifice but to the sacrifice of the Lamb of God upon the cross. It is the work of Christ upon the cross that alone saves us. May I ask, my friend, may I beg of you never to look at your work, which cannot save you. You should look at the work that the Lord Jesus did, alone upon the cross. Now let me repeat the premise again. that it is because of the shedding of the blood of Christ that God is able to forgive us. Now let me give the second fact we should remember and consider carefully. You must put your faith in His finished work that He did upon the cross. Now listen to what Peter says as we quote the words of Peter from Acts chapter ten in verse forty-three. To him, that is to Jesus, as he spoke to his audience, to him give all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. Acts ten and verse forty-three. Listen to Paul preach again. By him, that is by Jesus, all that believe are justified. from which he could not be justified or saved by the law of Moses, Acts thirteen and verse thirty-nine. But let me quote Romans chapter three and verse twenty-five. Here is a little phrase. Note the words carefully. God hath foreordained Jesus to be a propitiation, to meet our need through faith in his blood, and to declare his righteousness. for the remission or the forgiveness of sins. My beloved friend, your faith, my faith, in His precious blood upon the cross, that is the sole basis of our forgiveness. Do you want your sins, whether they are great or small? But if they are great upon your guilty conscience, if you want them removed from your conscience and from God's sight, then listen to these blessed words. We quote them from Hebrews nine fourteen. How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without stop to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Once again, the references to the blood of Christ. My beloved friend, have you been forgiven? God offers forgiveness free. The price for it was paid by the Lord Jesus upon the cross, by the Lord himself. And surely by receiving this in simple faith, you will be able, and you will say with Paul, when you enter into the joy and the reception of his forgiveness, God forbid that I should glory, save him the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did the work. All you and I must do in repentance of our sins before God is said, Lord, I do believe, I now believe. that Jesus died for me, that on the cross he shed his blood from sin to set me free. Have you never sung the old hymn? Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow. I think of a dear man, whom I had led to the Lord in the closing days of his life, and thereupon his bed as I saw him for the last time, just before he died. He looked up into my face, and he said, Brother Bramhall, when I get to heaven, I'll be looking for you. I looked down upon my friend and said, Mr. Weatherly, how do you know that you're going to be in heaven? And he looked up with a bright smile and replied, saying, just what I wanted to hear. I'm trusting the precious blood of Jesus. I said, praise the Lord. I'll see you there. My friend, will I see you there? Not unless you're trusting the blood of Christ. Oh, Father, bring some sinner under the precious blood of the Savior now, for His name's sake. Amen.