Sermon

The Message of the Cross, God’s Answer to a Chaotic Age_Pastor Emmanuel Osei-Akosah

The Church of Pentecost, S.K. Baidoo English Assembly

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  1. Knows it and you see it conveys some meaning to you.

  2. In the same way, God also has chosen the cross whereby from it

  3. He is giving a message to humanity.

  4. So the old ragged cross carries meat meaning and it is God's

  5. ultimate message to us. So I said that why would God the

  6. cross, suffering and shame, a symbol, a symbol of humiliation,

  7. an instrument of death. And it has been tested that it

  8. gave the most excruciating pain till now.

  9. That is the most cruel means of dying.

  10. If you check history, arguably it is the most cruel means of

  11. killing a criminal. So God chose the most, the most

  12. cruel, the heightened form of inflicting pain before you die,

  13. to subject his Son through for us to convey a meaning.

  14. So the cross is very, very, very, very important.

  15. Let's go on. So with me, I'm thinking about

  16. the cross being ghost transmitter, A transmitter.

  17. The cross is a transmitter where the Savior was hanged, suspended

  18. between heaven and earth. So the cross is not just there

  19. for fun, the sun itself is. Plus Jesus hung on it between

  20. two realms, the earthly realm and the heavenly realm.

  21. So whilst he was hanging there, he was transmitting God's love,

  22. that humanity. Look, you should have died, but

  23. I have given my son in place of you.

  24. What else can God do for us? And the Plaza was also

  25. reconciling man and God, reconciling 2 realms,

  26. reconciling the offended and the offender, reconciling and

  27. atoning God, making now God to feel at ease when he looks down

  28. on earth. So the transmission from the

  29. cross has not ended. God is still using the cross to

  30. transmit his message of love and hope to humanity and to

  31. everybody. That is the power of the cross.

  32. That is the power of the cross. So today the message of the

  33. cross is still relevant, it is still powerful, it is caused

  34. message of reconciliation and restoration.

  35. So the vertical one is restoring heaven and earth and the

  36. horizontal 1 is restoring the broken relationships that same

  37. cost. So the cross is not just there

  38. for fun reconciling heaven and earth and reconciling all the

  39. five levels of Brooking relationship one man sin.

  40. I am going over it again. 5 levels of relationship got

  41. destroyed and when Jesus hung on the cross he restored all 51 is

  42. awaiting for the manifestation. One, the relationship between

  43. God and man destroyed when Jesus hung on the cross, the vertical

  44. beam was reconciling God and man also man and man relationship,

  45. typically husband and wife, filial love, every kind of love

  46. vertically Jesus also reconciling them, man with

  47. himself, man with himself. Jesus too came so that the

  48. tripartite being of humanity will be restored and

  49. reconnected, because when sin came there was a disconnect

  50. between the body, soul and spirit.

  51. But through Christ Jesus now the Spirit has received life and is

  52. united with the body and soul. So you are a new creation.

  53. So Jesus hung it on the cross. Also man with creation and

  54. creation with itself. So now the creation is waiting

  55. for the manifestation of the sons of God.

  56. So once we are we manifest then all 5 levels will be reconciled.

  57. That is the hope from the cross. So the message of the cross as

  58. possess to us who have been saved.

  59. It is the power of God. It has you so much power to

  60. transform and to save. That is the wonderful thing the

  61. cross has done for us, and we need to be thankful to God for

  62. what He has done. Again, on the cross you will see

  63. the attributes of God manifested on the cross you see that the

  64. love of God is there, the messes of God abound, and the justice

  65. of God is also being served. God, who is loved, cannot sit

  66. down and let His creation just go like that.

  67. He loves His creation, He loves every human being, He loves the

  68. world. For God so loved the world that

  69. he gave his only begotten Son. So you see the love of God for

  70. so for God so loved the world. He gave his only Son, that

  71. whosoever he didn't come to be a king for the first coming, but

  72. he came to be killed and to sacrifice his life as a ransom

  73. for us. Also.

  74. You see the message of God. Because of the message of God,

  75. we are not consumed. God.

  76. God should have killed us. He is angry with us because we

  77. have offended him big time. He wasn't at peace, at ease with

  78. us. There was no peace between US

  79. and him. But by the message of God, as

  80. Jesus was hanging on the cross, he took our place and he died

  81. for us. And they just the Sinner that

  82. must, that dies, must pay. So God being just, he had to

  83. come down to become like one of us and to die in our place so

  84. that anyone who believes in Jesus will not die but have

  85. everlasting. That is the message from the

  86. cross and that message still inspires hope for the world.

  87. Let me try and then go to one man called Max Lucado and how he

  88. describes the cross. I like this phrase very well.

  89. So Max Lucado's description, Let's read and see the Cross

  90. rests on the timeline of history like a compelling diamond.

  91. Compelling diamond is tragedy. Sermons all sufferers, is

  92. absurdity, attracts all cynics, is hope.

  93. Lose all searches history has idolized it and despised it,

  94. good plated it and burn it won and trust it.

  95. History has done everything but ignore it.

  96. You can find it from his book called No wonder they called him

  97. the savior experiencing the cross year 2004 Max Lucado.

  98. So with this, Max Lucado has also come forth with a

  99. perspective from the cross and he has put it in connection with

  100. history so that we appreciate the message of the cross and

  101. still transmitting life from the Mount of Calvary, transmitting

  102. life from the studios of God's salvation room, transmitting

  103. hope and life to everybody, that anyone who believes in him will

  104. not die but have everlasting life.

  105. So let us look at how Max Lucado came or one would just explore

  106. some few things about what he said.

  107. So he said that he rests on the timeline of history as a

  108. compelling diamond. So as diamond, Diamond is

  109. brilliant. Diamond gives radiance, Diamond

  110. gives many things. In fact, it is compelling.

  111. It cannot be hidden, it cannot be.

  112. What hidden is conspicuous is visible.

  113. In fact, it cannot be put anywhere else.

  114. It is the centerpiece of history.

  115. So the cross change the narrative of the world.

  116. And there is so much power in the cross, so it draws attention

  117. because anyone who looks at the cross must not just go.

  118. But I need to sit down and think and ponder what is this message

  119. I am hearing so much look at it is of the view that it draws

  120. attention. It is beautiful, though Jesus

  121. was humiliated. But look at the beauty that

  122. comes from the cross. Maybe experience that power in

  123. the cross and it's diamonds are not easy to come by.

  124. They are priceless. So on the history of the world

  125. that the the message of the cross is in fact how God where

  126. God puts the cross and the message and the manifestation of

  127. Jesus and his death is so compelling.

  128. We don't have time to go there. Another thing that we can look

  129. at the diamond is that diamond, they last for a long time.

  130. They last for a long time. So God did not choose something

  131. that is perishable, but He likened or much lucable is

  132. likening the message or the cross to something in our world

  133. that lasts for a long time, which is what diamond diamonds

  134. also come with many faces. It is multifaceted.

  135. And the cross too gives many, many, many things.

  136. So that is the power of the cross.

  137. When you go at the cross, you see love, you will see those who

  138. are mocking Him, you will see those who are repenting, you see

  139. those who are going to hell, and you see those who are going to

  140. heaven. So the cross, it depends on the

  141. hearts that you come to the cross with.

  142. Today, may we approach God's cross or the cross of Jesus so

  143. that we can receive mercy. The next one says that the cross

  144. summons all sufferers. The cross is summons 1 all those

  145. who are suffering. When I finish with his

  146. description, we will just oppose it with the groups that were

  147. found at the feet of the cross. And you see that Max Lucardo's

  148. description is very true. So it's almost all those who are

  149. suffering because the man on the cross was suffering.

  150. So those who have been betrayed, they can identify with Jesus.

  151. So on the cross and His calling, all those who are suffering that

  152. come, come and see the Savior. He knew no wrong.

  153. He knew no sin, but He was made to be sin so that we can become

  154. the righteousness of God. So the cross is calling for all

  155. those who are suffering. Jesus was betrayed by his own.

  156. In fact, of the 12th, it has been said that he came from the

  157. same hometown with Judas Iscariots Nekromunim Iinimayu,

  158. the one who in fact, when you give finances to someone, it

  159. means that you have given him trust.

  160. The finance minister of the Cabinet of Jesus was the very

  161. one who betrayed him. As if that was enough, the 12

  162. when they came, they all left, including the outspoken Peter.

  163. Oh Lord, if all of them will go me, oh Bing, I will be with you.

  164. They say, Peter, tonight you, you, you will leave me.

  165. So all his friends, all his apostles, they, they just left

  166. him. They just left him.

  167. And he was also going through the highest form of pain.

  168. As I said, they would drive the nails through the nerve points

  169. where the nerves meet. That kind of death was very bad.

  170. To date it is the most painful death.

  171. So they will drive the nail and you would die slowly.

  172. Your blood will be oozing out, oozing, dropping.

  173. So before you die, you will be there going through many things.

  174. And so Jesus is saying that look at the cross, look at me.

  175. I did no wrong, I didn't say. But they couldn't find one

  176. ground to crucify him, and they forced the governor to crucify

  177. him. So if you are suffering, if you

  178. have been betrayed, look at the thousands, the thousands he fed.

  179. None of them came to him. Where?

  180. Where were the 4000? Where were the 5000 that he fed?

  181. Where did they go? None of them came and said that,

  182. oh, they all left him. They deserted him and left him.

  183. So if you are suffering, if you have been betrayed, Jesus is

  184. saying that look to me on the cross, I went through the

  185. highest pain for you, so you too you can find meaning from the

  186. cross. Whilst he was in pain He said

  187. that Father forgive them, Father forgive them, they don't know

  188. what they are doing. If you are here and someone has

  189. offended you, forgive them. Let it go because Jesus at the

  190. highest point of death, he forgave them.

  191. So we, we have no excuse not to forgive.

  192. If someone has broken your heart, forgive him or her.

  193. Yeah. If someone has stolen your

  194. money, forgive them. If someone has betrayed your

  195. trust, Jesus is saying that forgive them.

  196. They don't know what they are doing.

  197. The day they get to know, they will repent.

  198. Husband and wives, forgive each other.

  199. True of us, forgive each other no matter what.

  200. Who has offended you, forgive them God.

  201. Jesus is an example to us. Jesus is an example to us.

  202. Let's move on to the next one. It says that its absurdity

  203. attracts all cynics. Its absurdity attracts you, our

  204. cynics, to many, including now. Why would God die if he claims

  205. to be God? Why should he die?

  206. Why should God? Why should he sacrifice himself

  207. to people who rejected him till now many on earth don't even as

  208. acknowledge Jesus yet he went to the cross.

  209. Someone has said that it is only in Christianity that we

  210. humiliate our hero Jesus Christ. It is only in Christianity go

  211. and check all the other faiths. The heroes were not humiliated

  212. as we did, but out of it is what God has pitches for us

  213. redemption. So to the cynics, he, she, if he

  214. says he's a king, he should be on a throne.

  215. Kings don't die like this. It's irrational, it doesn't make

  216. sense. So those who who think that it

  217. doesn't make sense, the absurdity also attracts them.

  218. Let us go and see why would God, why would God?

  219. They have to pause and think again.

  220. They have to sit down and think again and be like what is this?

  221. What is the meaning of this? So the cross is so much powerful

  222. that the message of the cross brings salvation even to those

  223. who don't believe. The first one is that its hope

  224. Leos all searches. So from the cross, again, Max

  225. Lucado is saying that all those who are searching for hope, who

  226. are searching for hope, when they go to the cross, they find

  227. meaning, they find forgiveness, they find identity, they find

  228. peace, and they find direction. That is the cross.

  229. So the cross gives out so much meaning, so much meaning, so

  230. much forgiveness that Jesus could forgive those who are

  231. killing him, including the Roman soldiers.

  232. He forgive them, give so much meaning because Jesus was there

  233. not doing it his own will, but the will of the Father before

  234. the cross. He prayed that oh God, if it is

  235. possible, let this car pass. And he said, I'm not my will,

  236. but your will. Jesus came as a lump of God.

  237. That is why he was born in a Manger, to be given to that He

  238. was. He came to feed us all.

  239. So he came to give his life as a ransom.

  240. He did not live for himself. You find the meaning of life

  241. that living for purpose is what it means to live.

  242. He said live for 33 years and a half but look at the impact he

  243. has had on the world till now. No human being has had that

  244. impact. Why He lived for his father.

  245. That is purpose. Why am I here on earth for?

  246. Go to the cross and you find out that there is so much meaning in

  247. the cross direction. The cross is pointing us back to

  248. God. It is giving us the direction

  249. that the old system has passed away.

  250. And behold, I bring a new one. So it draws all those who came.

  251. How can we end death? How can death end?

  252. Look at the cross. He was killed.

  253. He took away our case. So that we will be in line with

  254. God because the Bible says cares be anyone who is hung on the

  255. cross. On the cross Jesus took life of

  256. sinners and he nailed them to the cross.

  257. That is what the cross means that all those who are looking

  258. for hope when they come to the cross.

  259. The thief on the cross found so much hope and joy.

  260. So today, if you have no hope, look to the cross, look to the

  261. cross. There is so much hope to my

  262. trophies. At last I lay down.

  263. I will cling to the. Old, Ragged and exchanging

  264. something for aircraft, the. Old ragged crown.

  265. Oh, tell my trophies I lost, I lay down.

  266. Hallelujah, I will cling to the old ragged cross.

  267. Oh. So the cross, again, history has

  268. idolized it. Today, if we can search through

  269. the Jew jewelry of our ladies who are here, some of us are

  270. wearing that. The cross has earrings,

  271. necklaces, many things. So we have idolized it.

  272. When you go to the Catholic churches, you find real crosses

  273. all over, fixed on the walls everywhere.

  274. History has idolized this cross, and some have also despised it.

  275. Some in history have despised it.

  276. It has been good plated. The cross that was now a symbol

  277. of shame now has been gold pleated.

  278. And you find it that it is gold pleated.

  279. And some have hung it in their room as in the ham.

  280. So there's so much message and power from that simple wooden

  281. old rugged cross because the Savior hung there.

  282. And some 2 have been it, some have been it trying to eliminate

  283. it. So the cross is a turning point.

  284. The cross is a mystery. The cross has that paradox, the

  285. extremes, but it's also power that God has used to save us.

  286. Let's transition to the groups of the cross.

  287. Let's go to the groups of the cross, the sufferers, those who

  288. are betrayed and abandoned. They meet there.

  289. We all meet there, those who have come there, There were

  290. people who were suffering because the mother of Jesus too

  291. came there. The close relatives of Jesus

  292. were there and they were suffering.

  293. They also came there to suffer. So Jesus friends, including the

  294. woman who had followed him, stood at a distance.

  295. So at the cross there were other groups who were there suffering

  296. and identifying with him. And we have the cynics.

  297. The leaders and the soldiers were mocking Christ.

  298. They were there too, mocking him, scoff at him.

  299. And they were like he saved others, let him save himself.

  300. If he's really God, then we'll be believing.

  301. They came there to mock him. There was a satcher at the

  302. cross, the thief seeking hope. Say that.

  303. Oh Lord Jesus, Remember Me when you enter your Kingdom and Jesus

  304. gave him the best that guy is that he had the shortest path to

  305. redemption. Today you will be with me in

  306. paradise. That is the cross and the

  307. centurion and the crowd. The centurion also confessed

  308. that this man is indeed the Son of God.

  309. When he looked at what had happened, he confessed that this

  310. man is truly the Son of God. This man and the crowd too, they

  311. were there somewhere, mourning, and some went home sorrowful.

  312. So all these groups, they can be found at the cross.

  313. But today the power to save is still there.

  314. Jesus is still saving those who are suffering because He

  315. identifies with them. We do not have a high priest who

  316. cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

  317. He was tempted in all things, as we are yet without sin.

  318. Therefore He is able to help us. So if you are suffering, go to

  319. the cross because the man who suffered.

  320. If you are a cynic, you don't believe anything, go there

  321. because it wouldn't make sense to you that God would die for

  322. us. If you are searching for hope,

  323. look at the teeth on the cross. The centurion found hope and the

  324. crowd also did seem so. What has the cross achieved for

  325. us? The accomplishments of the

  326. cross? Reconciliation.

  327. The first one is what reconciliation.

  328. God has forgiven us. God has forgiven us.

  329. Ephesians 216 He says that together as one body, Christ

  330. reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross.

  331. By what? By means of his death on the

  332. cross. So if you would say that, and in

  333. one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by

  334. which He put death to their hostility.

  335. So Jesus came and He brought reconciliation.

  336. Ephesians 120 says that. And through Him God reconciled

  337. everything to himself. He made peace with everything in

  338. the earth, in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood

  339. on the cross. By means of what?

  340. Christ's blood on the cross, please.

  341. I took it from Colossians 120. If you want to protect it, yes,

  342. you see that. And through Him to reconcile to

  343. Himself all things. So God is reconciling all things

  344. to Himself. What are things on earth or

  345. things in heaven? By making peace through His

  346. blood shed on the cross. Shed on the cross.

  347. The accomplishment of the cross again is victory.

  348. Victory. The cross is the battleground

  349. designated by God where Satan and the seed of the woman wage

  350. war for life of humans. So on the cross, that seed of

  351. woman, that God promised that the seed of this woman will

  352. crush your head. It happened on the cross.

  353. And when we read from Colossians to 13.

  354. Let's go there and try and read it. 213 Fleeing when you were

  355. dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh.

  356. God made you alive with Christ. He forgive us all our sins.

  357. Next verse. Having cancelled the charge of

  358. our legal indebtedness which stood against us and condemned

  359. us, He has taken out. He has taken it away.

  360. Kneeling it to the cross. Next verse please.

  361. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a

  362. public spectacle of them. Triumphant over them by what?

  363. Oh, you are not here triumphant over them by the So Jesus

  364. triumphed and crushed the head of the serpent by the cross.

  365. That is why the cross is still powerful and the message it

  366. carries will be transmitting the message of hope and victory

  367. throughout the world. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.

  368. So at the cross, God has done many things for us.

  369. Also at the cross. What the, the, the cross has

  370. done. Forgiveness.

  371. Let's look at that one. Forgiveness.

  372. The records of our deaths were wiped clean.

  373. Next slide, the records of our death were wiped clean, all the

  374. records that, that was what we read, Colossians 214 records.

  375. In fact, there were legal requirements against us when in

  376. the ancient times, in the Jewish time or in the Greek or whatever

  377. world, when you sin and they put you in a dungeon, a cell, they

  378. write your liquor required the things you did and they hang it

  379. at the door. They hang it at the door that as

  380. soon as he stole one goat, he did ABCD and they hang it at

  381. your door. So anyone who passes in front of

  382. yourself immediately knows that this man is a thief, that that

  383. is why he's been, he's been kept there.

  384. But when Jesus went to the cross, he came to the cells

  385. where the devil and sin has kept us and took all the legal

  386. requirements that they are written our name.

  387. He took them one by one, one by one, and he took all of them to

  388. the cross and they knelt it there, buying, buying, buying.

  389. And he said that you are free to go, go out, go out, go out.

  390. That is the power of the cross. Hallelujah.

  391. So Jesus, he nailed them to the cross.

  392. So today, if you're holding on to anything in the past, Jesus

  393. is saying on the cross, bring it.

  394. Let me nail it there. Hang it over there on the cross.

  395. So you have no right to cling on to the sins you do, Yes.

  396. And whom? So if you are here and you are

  397. trapped by your past, Jesus looks at you and it's like till

  398. when will you appreciate my sacrifice on the cross?

  399. Today, if the devil is bringing back your passings, tell the

  400. devil to go to the cross. Jesus has tell them there, Jesus

  401. has finished them and the devil can't go to the cross because

  402. that was where he suffered shame and defeat.

  403. So he did not go there because it will remind him of his field

  404. work. So every record of our death has

  405. been cancelled. This man said.

  406. Dear Philip, he says that all the incriminating evidence has

  407. been erased because our debt has been paid in full.

  408. This one, if you have not been to the court before, you will

  409. not understand it. When you are accused, you are

  410. tried and you are charged and you are sentenced, it enters

  411. into the law books. So now your kids become the

  412. Republic versus Attai and future will study it.

  413. Anyone who will go to the Ghana Law School will go and read how

  414. Attai's case was tried, sentenced evidence, evidential

  415. BBR sequence by sequence and they will list it and now they

  416. will charge you as guilty for crime, ABCD and your sentence

  417. too will be there. When we sin, all these things

  418. were done for us but when Jesus went to the cross, he said that

  419. I have come to pay in full and I am expunging everything about

  420. them as far as the east is from the West.

  421. So has God removed our sins away from us?

  422. That is the beautiful thing, God.

  423. He doesn't remember your past. It is gone, it is dissolved.

  424. He doesn't use it in any way. No, caught in this world, in

  425. eternal court, can they use it against you?

  426. Because the moment they raise it up, the work of the cross will

  427. cancel it. That is what the cross has done

  428. for us. So we need to cherish that cross

  429. because he has paid it all, He has paid it all, He has paid it

  430. all. And now what is left for us is

  431. victory is victory. Let me end next slide because my

  432. time is up. Go ahead.

  433. So here the cross is a battleground.

  434. So when you are praying, when the devil comes to you to remind

  435. you, don't argue with him man, don't waste your time.

  436. Tell the devil that please can you go to the cross and engage

  437. my Savior. He has finished it all.

  438. I don't, I don't need to answer. You point him to the cross and

  439. when the devil goes there, it ends it all.

  440. So Paul wrote that text that disarming them, making a

  441. spectacle of them. He was using the victory image

  442. of the Roman triumph. So when they come from war, they

  443. display their trophies in the streets of Rome, so that

  444. everybody will see that yaquoi and yechenipe tobacco, ye nin

  445. Ababa, we got gold, we will bring it.

  446. We captured their king, we will bring it.

  447. And the slaves that they got, they will line them up and pass

  448. through the streets of Rome for the whole city to know that they

  449. have won the victory. In the same way, Paul is using

  450. that imagery for us, that when Christ finished the work on the

  451. cross, he made a public spectacle of them on the cross.

  452. He disarmed those who was ruled over us.

  453. Nyamir raw upon some coward fanabethi disarming his power.

  454. That was not enough, and like captives of war, he put them on

  455. display to show the world his victory over them by means of

  456. the cross. So Jesus, when he died, he

  457. descended into the depths and he that was where he transitioned

  458. paradise. Let me take you a bit into

  459. escathos. He went into the depths and he

  460. transitioned the very place of paradise.

  461. So Abraham, David and Code, they were all waiting for Jesus to

  462. come there. So when he died and he went

  463. there, he transitioned. He transitioned them, He

  464. transitioned them. Let us read efficience 4 so that

  465. you would know what I am talking about.

  466. Efficience 4. Let's start from probably 10.

  467. Efficience 4 verse 10. Efficience 4 verse 10 He who

  468. descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the

  469. heavens in order to fill the whole universe.

  470. Next verse please. So Christ himself gave apostles,

  471. prophets and all of those things to equip his church blah blah

  472. blah blah blah blah blah and to the end the most important thing

  473. is the 10. So when he descended, he took

  474. all those who are held captive away from Satan.

  475. He took the keys of the king of death and help from him.

  476. And whilst he was living that deepest path show well he said

  477. after we know Obian Imachi, Obian Imachi message.

  478. So Abraham, David and could all fall in Christ out of show well

  479. into the highest points in heaven.

  480. So by means of the cross and while they were living, he made

  481. a public display. I was some displaying them and

  482. shaming them that the works of the devil has come to an end.

  483. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Another thing that I want to end

  484. with you is that poor asked death, oh, death, where is your

  485. victory? Where is your victory?

  486. Do you know why he asked that? Because when Jesus died, he

  487. tested death on our behalf. He tested death for all

  488. humanity. And when he conquered death, he

  489. posed a question to death, death, where is your victory?

  490. And Paul says that the victory. Oh, let's go there and then read

  491. first Corinthians 15. Oh oh oh I am trying to stop but

  492. I need to say this for someone to hear and link it up.

  493. First Corinthians chapter 15 and let's try and read from verse 55

    1 Corinthians 15 chapter mention

  494. or let's start from the the 54. OK, when the perishable has been

  495. clothed with the imperishable and the mortar with immortality,

  496. then the saying that is written will come true.

  497. Death has been swallowed up in victory.

  498. Gone where O death is your victory?

  499. Where O death is your sting? Next verse The sting of death is

  500. sin, and the power of sin is the law.

  501. Next verse. But thank me to God, He gives

  502. US1 through who? So death.

  503. Jesus settled the score of death by testing it.

  504. And when he finishes that, now death, where is your victory and

  505. where is your sting? Your sting comes from sin, sin.

  506. I have dealt it on the cross. So Death has no victory again,

  507. and Jesus rose back from the dead Death has.

  508. Now. Death has a final terminal point

  509. that it will end. And if Death is celebrating some

  510. victory over us, don't mind it. It will be the last enemy to be

  511. thrown into the Lake of Fire. When Death is thrown into the

  512. Lake of fire, we will be there laughing at it and it's a woman

  513. for Obi Kwa men through because a day is coming we to celebrate

  514. our victory over death. And we tell them that when our

  515. Shono, you are going to hell, you are going to burn and burn

  516. and burn. So the cross has done all these

  517. things for us and that is the message of the cross.

  518. In conclusion, last slide, last slide, last slide.

  519. So the cross is God's mouthpiece of love.

  520. The cross, that is what Paul says, that to us who are being

  521. saved, it is the power of God. So the cross is still

  522. transmitting love, and it's also the mouthpiece of forgiveness.

  523. The cross is the battleground of victory, and after the victory

  524. over sin, over Satan, over death, over hell, and the cross

  525. is the ultimate symbol of hope in a messy age.

  526. Let us all be on our feet as we pray.

  527. So I cherish the old ragged cross to my throat.

  528. Alas, I lay down. I will cling.

  529. To the old ragged cross. And I've.

  530. Changed it something for red ground so.

  531. I cherished the old rocket. Grow to my trophies I lost I.

  532. Lay down, I will clean. To the old rugged road and it's

  533. changing something for that ground so.

  534. I cherish the old. Rugged Rd.

  535. Oh still my trophies. I lost.

  536. I lay down. We.

  537. Want to just thank God for the cross today?

  538. We want to thank God that He so loved us and gave us His only

  539. begotten Son to die a shameful death.

  540. He went through the pain. Thank God.

  541. Let us thank God for the cross. Let us thank Jesus that He went

  542. through for us. He did not sin, He did not

  543. wrong, but He was meant to be sin.

  544. Thank you, O Lord. Thank you, O Lord, thank you,

  545. thank you, thank you. We are so.

  546. Much thank you. Thank you Lord, thank you, Lord

  547. for the cross. Thank you, Lord, for the cross.

  548. We are most grateful unto you for the.

  549. Cross. Thank you, Lord, for the cross.

  550. You did not wait for us. Thank you for the cross.

  551. We celebrate you for the cross. Thank you, Lord.

  552. Thank you, Lord, thank you.

  553. Lord. Your mummy.

  554. Die, die.

  555. Oh, now my name Paji kuruwani SU na ma boli STI I cha ma Sai.

  556. Let me give you another reason why we need to thank God for the

  557. cross. The cross has dealt with our

  558. pasts. It went into the very beginning

  559. of the fall of man and dealt with it.

  560. It has also come to deal with our present and it has dealt

  561. with our destination where we will go in future.

  562. They have all been made possible by the kindest courtesy of Jesus

  563. on the cross. So if you have any acts of

  564. gratitude to express this morning, we need to pour it out

  565. unto Jesus. We need to thank God that he

  566. gave his Son, that he gave his Son his begotten Son for us for

  567. redemption. Thank the Lord, thank the Lord,

  568. thank the Lord, worship Jesus, worship Jesus.

  569. Thank him, thank the Lord, bless his name, worship him.

  570. I saw. His name?

  571. We celebrate you. You came from heaven to earth

  572. to. Show the rain from the earth to

  573. the cross, my death to pain. From the cross to the grave,

  574. from the grave to the sky. Lord, I live to live on heart.

  575. Hallelujah. You came from heaven to earth to

  576. show the way. From the earth to the cross

  577. might die to pain. From the growth to the grave.

  578. From the grace to the stars. We are praying, we want to

  579. enforce all the benefits bequeath to us from the cross in

  580. our lives. We are enforcing it.

  581. Through prayer, that through the.

  582. Cross the devil has been disarmed, he has made he has

  583. been made a public show, and this is our triumph of.

  584. Our. God has forgiven.

  585. Us our sins. So we are going.

  586. You are praying and enforcing anything you had.

  587. Enforce it in your life. If you have no hope, pray to God

  588. for hope. If you have been betrayed, ask

  589. Jesus for grace. If you are suffering, ask for

  590. grace to carry through. Because for the joy that was set

  591. before him, He endured the cross, despising the shame

  592. thereof. So that same grace is available.

  593. If you are a cynic, you don't believe anything.

  594. Just look at the absurdity of the cross, that how could God

  595. die for me. And if you are searching, Jesus

  596. is still giving out hope. So whatever you had from the

  597. sermon, we are enforcing it in our lives that I am forgiven.

  598. I am wash. I have been cleansed.

  599. Devil back up from me. Lift up your voice.

  600. Thank you.

  601. Thank you for the power of the cross.

  602. None. Shall we please sit?

  603. Shall we place it? The triumph that Jesus, the

  604. triumphant possession over the devil.

  605. May God cause us to triumph in everyday life.

  606. Father, we enforce this victory in our lives.

  607. Victory over relationship with you, victory over sin, victory

  608. over death, victory over the devil.

  609. Lord, we enforce this in our lives that every day.

  610. Oh God, may we live and walk in this victory in the

  611. consciousness of what you have done.

  612. You have purchased our redemption.

  613. And therefore, Lord, by faith in your Word, we enforce all the

  614. benefits of the cross in our lives.

  615. As far as the east is from the West.

  616. So have you taken away our transgressions?

  617. Law reinforces that we are no longer slaves of sin, and we

  618. yield the members of our bodies as instrument of righteousness,

  619. not as instruments of sin. Law possess us so that we can

  620. walk in the victory. Today may we walk in your stead

  621. that we also triumph over every limitation.

  622. Lord, through the cross we are we find peace, meaning of life,

  623. purpose, and hope. If anyone is here and is looking

  624. for these things, may we have an encounter with You.

  625. Are the feet of the cross. Oh are the cross, Oh are the

  626. cross. We have come, oh, we have come

  627. by the faith we are clinging unto you, that through the

  628. cross, Lord, settle every doubt, every chaos, every messy life.

  629. If somebody's life is in a mess right now, may the cross that

  630. brings order bring order right now in our lives.

  631. It brings order because the old self has been crucified with

  632. Christ. Lord, if perhaps our old self is

  633. still reigning, we submit them unto you.

  634. Nail them to the cross. Nail them to the cross.

  635. We thank you that you share that it is finished.

  636. You finished paying for everything.

  637. And so, Lord, we walk in this grace.

  638. Lord, bestow grace upon us. That same grace that enable you

  639. to despise the shame and for the joy that was set before you.

  640. May we always continually look and focus on you, looking on to

  641. Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith, who for

  642. the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despise and

  643. the shame. Jesus will look to you.

  644. You are example. So help us and bestow the same

  645. grace so that if anyone is going through a very tough time as we

  646. look to you, help us to endure and to finish in victory.

  647. We thank you, O Lord, as we come to dine with you.

  648. We are celebrating your goodness, we are thanking you

  649. for your finished work on the cross, We are thanking you for

  650. your vicarious death, that you died for us.

  651. We should have died, but you stood in and you died for us.

  652. Thank you Lord, thank you our God for what you have done for

  653. us. As we dine with you, give us

  654. more understanding, give us more insights in Jesus name, Amen.

  655. Amen. We want to dine with the Lord,

  656. as I read from.