Most of the world is stepping over the crucified body of Christ. Many know not what they are doing, but one day they will have a rude awakening. That broken body is all that stands between the sinner and hell today. How many times have you stepped over His body? One more step and you may step right into hell as many others have done.

Paul said in Galatians 6:14, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. God forbid that we should glory in anything else. Today people are glorying in business, in sports, in social standing and political prestige. They glory in anything and everything but the Cross of Jesus. How tragic that the world doesn’t glory in the Cross!

Paramount and foremost we must glory in the Cross of Jesus. That Cross represents the very Son of God; it represents all the love of God, the divine blood of Heaven and forgiveness for a lost world. That Cross is more than just a Cross of wood. Paul expressed its value most compellingly: God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross.

Paul didn’t glory in his education; he didn’t glory in his family and what would have been his inheritance. He was no doubt wealthy when he met Jesus, but he didn’t glory in it; his desire was to win Christ and have the whole heart of Jesus. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ (Philippians 3:8). Paul came into the knowledge of the whole heart of Jesus belonging to him; he embraced that heart, held it to his bosom till the day he died.

The Loudest Voice on Earth

The Cross of Jesus is crying out that something is terribly wrong in this old world. People wear a symbol of the Cross around their necks, but I wonder how many recognize the voice of the actual Cross. It has a loud voice, the Gospel voice, the loudest voice on planet Earth, a great voice of warning and love. The Cross of Jesus brought grace to us, not Law, not justice. The Cross is marvelous and glorious, and it promises a way out of eternal night for everybody who accepts the Crucified One.

Many people wonder what they are going to do. Their answer is in the Cross; it is within reach. The way of the Cross leads home, leads to Heaven; how beautiful is the way of the Cross! Some look at the ruggedness of the Cross and think what a dreary life a Christian must have. If they are world Christians, yes, it is dreary; for they have by-passed the joy of the Lord. Living in the permissible will of God is a selfish way to serve Him. However, being totally yielded to the love and the divine will of God is the most exciting and fulfilling life imaginable.

Full of the love and grace of God, you hold to the Cross that represents the great bridge between God and man, the mighty love bridge. Jesus is that bridge; He died on the Old Rugged Cross for a sinful world.

A Light to Penetrate All Darkness

The Cross of Jesus is the light that penetrates into all darkness of sin no matter how thick that darkness might be. The Bible tells us that when Jesus was here the people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up (Matthew 4:16). Everyone didn’t come to the light; but those who came received direction for their paths, for their lives, an individual light that showed each one the way to glory.

You have an individual salvation, an individual light; and no one, not even the devil himself, can put that light out. Through the wonderful six spiritual senses, clearly you can see your way.

The love Cross of Jesus destroys hate, bitterness, grudges, strife, and ungodliness. The power and the glory of the Cross destroy all the works of the flesh. No wonder Paul pushed everything aside—fame, social position, political position—and said he would glory in the Cross! He forsook all the world and took the Cross.

Have you taken the Cross of Jesus? Is the Cross your life? The Cross is eternal life; because of the Old Rugged Cross we will live forever with the Lord when we have salvation. The one who died on that Cross said, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die (John 11:25,26).

The Healing Balm for Souls

When you see the Cross, think of the live Christ. He died and was resurrected for you—and thank God He’s all yours!

The Cross represents the healing balm for lost souls and for sick bodies also: healing for soul, mind and body. That Cross means deliverance—and isn’t it wonderful to have deliverance! Through the blood, study the Cross and you will have knowledge of its greatness that you never had before.

The Cross of Jesus teaches us the horrors that sin leads people into. It tells us how terrible, how awful sin is. Sin is the worst thing that has happened to mankind, the most dreadful tragedy that Heaven has ever looked upon. It cost God His Only Begotten, His whole heart, to get us the remedy, the cure for sin. What a sacrifice God, the Son and the Holy Spirit made! Yes, that Cross lets us know there’s much wrong in this old world, and sin is to blame for it all.

Salvation is free, the gift of God; how sad when some people won’t accept it. They strive to have a little bit of pleasure, a taste of what they call life here on planet Earth; but the world’s life is no life at all; it’s death. Anything with sin in it is death: The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). The wages of sin have no inspiration, have no song, have no sunshine or blessings. No peace, joy, happiness, goodness, mercy, or love is found in sin; only hate. In hell you, like Cain of old, will cry, My punishment is greater than I can bear (Genesis 4:13).

No Sin Will Enter Heaven

You’ll never understand the true conception of the atonement unless you understand the true conception of sin—don’t ever forget that statement; let it burn upon the altar of your heart. You must learn the true conception of sin. Many people don’t know what sin is; many others don’t want to know. Some so-called Christians think they can commit sin and still be on their way to Heaven. They declare that no one can live free from sin. The fact is that no one can go to God’s Heaven unless they do live free from sin; the Cross tells you that you can be free. Jesus brought us that great hope.

Since the wages of sin is death, it stands to reason that you won’t see Heaven through the wages you’re paid for sinning. No passport to God’s Heaven is found in that pay envelope. If sin is as terrible as God says it is, if it’s destructive to everything good, then we need to wake up to the fact, don’t we. Sin is everywhere; were sin not so terrible, it would not have been necessary for Jesus to have come.

If God were going to excuse sin, Jesus would not have come down here. He wasn’t welcome; He wasn’t treated right. He was murdered, crucified. He died for a lost world. His crucifixion would have been senseless, useless if God accepted sin in Heaven. If God allowed sinners through the pearly gates He would have to apologize to Adam and Eve for throwing them out of the garden for one sin. They didn’t commit two or three sins; God cast them out of Eden because of one sin.

God Despises Sin

The Cross demonstrates God’s hatred for sin. God despises sin. The loud voice of the Cross is crying: The soul that sinneth, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). The Lord told Adam and Eve that of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:17). But the serpent refuted God’s statement: Ye shall not surely die (Genesis 3:4). Eve, tragically, believed him. The same devilish message is going forth today: Oh, you won’t really die; you can do whatever you want. Yes, that’s the message of that old deceiving devil.

Sin is so destructive that the Bible tells you to even abstain from all appearance of evil (I Thessalonians 5:22). We must cast down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ (II Corinthians 10:5). In order to cast down every thought of the heart that would exalt itself above the thoughts of God, we must not be deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7). The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23). Through the Cross of Jesus we have life eternal.

The Cross tells you that sin can’t enter Heaven. If you die with any sin in your heart, hell will be your destiny. No matter what anybody tells you, God through His Word has the final say in your case. He gave His whole heart for you when Jesus died on Calvary; there is no excuse for sin.

Godly Sorrow Brings Repentance

Can’t a person be forgiven? Yes, but not to go right back into sin. To say “Lord forgive me” and then to go right back into sin doing the same things over is merely lip service and not true repentance. To have forgiveness from sin, you need the godly sorrow the Bible tells us about: For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation (II Corinthians 7:10). Sin is so terrible that you must be as sorry for your sins as God is that you committed them. That’s a lot of sorrow. God will never smile upon sin; He can’t bear to look upon it.

There are all kinds of sinners in the world, but God hates sin no matter what color, what size or form it comes in. Old sins or new sins don’t matter; all sin is sin in the eyes of God. If you pass over the broken body of Jesus, you have not one thing to keep you from plunging right on into hell.

A Mother’s Broken Heart

I read a story one time of parents and their only child. They were farm folk. Sadly, the father died at an early age and the mother was forced to leave the farm and move into the city. She had to get a job, leaving her little boy to grow up mostly by himself. It broke her heart; she did the best she could by him, but he went into the world. She kept talking to him, pleading with him and crying over him to try to get him to turn to the Lord.

Time passed, and the son, grown up now, was drinking and doing other things that go with it. One night his mother pleaded with him not to go out. He promised her he would stay home, but then decided to go. So with the tears rolling down her cheeks she threw herself down in front of him to block his way; but he just stepped over her crying body, that body of love, that body so distressed, and left her lying in the doorway.

The hours passed by, and in a wee morning hour the son returned home. He was shocked beyond words, for there was Mother’s body still across the doorway cold in death. He’d stepped over his mother’s body for the last time, stepped over her love, her prayers and her desire for him to go to Heaven so that the family could all be there together. It was too late for Mama to speak love to him anymore, too late for Mama to care anymore.

How many times has that happened? How many times has a boy gone over a mother’s sobbing body, stepped right over it into more and more sin, stepped right over her prayers, her sleepless nights and plunged into eternal night, eternal darkness? The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God (Psalm 9:17).

Be Careful of the Point of No Return

Even if you don’t have Jesus in your life today, take care not to step over His broken body. Stepping one more time may be the last time you will step over the broken body of Jesus before God doesn’t care anymore. You know Jesus died for you; you know He went to Calvary for you, and you know that the Cross gives you the danger signal: You can go past the point of no return.

In the winter if you go skating and see a red flag on a section of ice, you know the ice is thin there; the flag is up warning you of danger. The blood that stained the Old Rugged Cross as well warns when you are approaching the danger line, when one more step will mean eternal darkness, eternal night, just one more step. The Cross stands as a danger signal for sin. Seeing a flashing light, we take precaution, don’t we? Yet countless thousands don’t notice this red signal of blood flashing before their eyes through the Holy Spirit, a signal of the gravest of dangers.

Hell Is Real

Sinner, you may think you have plenty of steps left, but one more may be your last. One more step has plunged multitudes into hell, and it could take you there, too. God forbid that you glory in sin and walk with the ungodly! God forbid that you glory in drinking, drugs, gambling and the filthy lust for life instead of glorying in the Cross!

If you enjoy talking about how degraded you’ve been, you can tell it and re-tell it in hell; God won’t care at all. For all eternity God will let you glory in your sins, boasting about what you’ve done, the sins that you’ve committed. However, you won’t want to talk about them then. No, hell’s an awful place, and it’s very real.

Jesus said there is a flame in hell, and I believe Jesus. He said that hell was a place of fire that never shall be quenched: Where their worm [soul] dieth not, and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:43,44).

Do you believe Jesus today? How much longer will that powerful Cross-signal warn you? Will you heed the warning? Some of you are backsliders, slipping along on the thin ice of life and about to plunge through never to be rescued. You’ll be out of reach of the divine lifeline. The Cross is the lifeline for mankind; when you step over that Cross, there’s nothing to save you. When you step over the broken body of Jesus, you trample that blood underfoot. If you’ve stepped for the last time, there’s not a thing that can save you. You can scream and cry all you want to, but the Bible says, How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation (Hebrews 2:3). How can you escape if you neglect the salvation Jesus brought? How can you escape the judgments of God? There’s no way to escape if you let the devil or man influence you against the Cross of Jesus unless you repent with sorrowful repentance.

Fig Leaf Religion Is Worthless

Salvation comes with accepting Jesus into your heart as His divine blood cleanses you from sin. Church membership or water baptism without salvation are nothing but fig leaf religion that won’t do you any good. You must be born again.

Water baptism is a Christian’s answer of a clear conscience toward God. John the Baptist would not baptize sinners when they came to him. He said, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham (Matthew 3:7-9).

Bring forth fruit meet for repentance; lip service will not save you. Salvation comes only through Jesus’ sacrifice on the Old Rugged Cross. If salvation came through fig leaf religion, Adam and Eve would have been all right because they went immediately into fig leaf religion in an effort to cover their nakedness. Did the fig leaves hide their sins from the Lord? Absolutely not. Their sin was ever before them. Death, the wages of sin, came upon them physically as well as spiritually.

Earth Life Is Like a Vapor

How shall you escape? What shall your end be? You can find your future in the Bible: For what is your life It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away (James 4:14). Like a flower that blooms in the morning and fades by evening, this short span on planet Earth is soon over with. How you live your life during that time determines where you will spend eternity: Heaven or hell. None of us have long.

What are you glorying in today? Where is the Cross in your life? Where is the power? Where is the way that leads home?

Without the Cross, there’s no way to Heaven. The Cross is your way, your deliverance, your victory, your power, your love. The Cross is perfect deliverance from sin and sickness. All that stands between you and destruction is the Cross of Jesus, the only thing keeping you out of hell. The love, the power, the compassion flowing from Heaven in that Cross can save you from total destruction.

God’s Barrier

Are you going to walk over the broken body of Jesus today? Will you dare do it after a message like this from God? God is giving you what could be your final warning, your final message; and how sad if you reject it! If you step over the body of Jesus and never repent, there’s nothing left to hold you out of hell. The crucified body is God’s barrier between you and eternal death. And when you climb over that barrier, over the body of Jesus, you leave His keeping power, and you’ll roll right into that damnable pit of hell to never get out. The soul that sinneth indeed shall die, and the wages of sin is absolute death, eternal death, eternal darkness, eternal night.

Oh, I think I’ll be all right. Thinking you’ll be all right doesn’t mean you will be all right. Second thoughts are too late when you’re screaming in hell. I say again, the only thing standing between you and damnation is the Cross of Jesus, and yet some of you are going to step right over it today. Some of you are not going to receive deliverance through the Cross even though you have the Gospel light.

Just as clothes stand between you and the shame of nakedness, just as school stands between you and ignorance, just as parents stand between their child and the orphanage, God’s love and the body of Christ are standing between you and death, eternal death. If people were not protected by the laws of the land, there would be no safety anywhere; yet so many people are stepping into the greatest danger of all, climbing right over the eternal protection that Jesus offers, eternal safety.

You Will Change Worlds

Where will you spend eternity? Where will you be the second your heart stops beating? The Cross tells you that you’re going to change worlds; you won’t be here much longer. Where are you going from here? The Cross tells you that either eternity in hell is ready to swallow you up or else the Lord will take you into the great heart of God to be in His love and grace through Jesus Christ His Son as the eternal ages roll. The Cross tells you that all your tears will be dried one day unless you step over the Cross, in which case tears will flow throughout an endless night of torment. There’ll be no light for you in hell, no love, no song, no music in the wages of sin, no happiness.

You may want to miss sin’s payday, but only through the Cross, only through the broken body of Jesus can you escape the wages you have earned by sinning against God. That day is coming, and it may be here much sooner than you think. Never forget what God is telling you today: The soul that sinneth shall die. When you trample the Cross, you trample the Word that was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

No Life without the Blood

God help you today! This message is a burden upon my soul. Are you going to step over the broken body of Jesus? What are you going to do about it? Stepping over the crucified body of Christ—I don’t know how much this sermon means to you, but it means a great deal to me. I count it an honor to be able to deliver it, to cry out to the lost: Don’t step over the broken body of Jesus! His body was broken for you, crucified on the Cross. To step over His body is to trample His blood of life underfoot, and without that blood there is no life for you.

Life is in the blood. When you count the divine blood of Jesus to be worthless you have no way to get to Heaven I say again, no bridge to cross over and you’ll plunge into eternal damnation, into that bottomless pit of the damned where, my God! there is no rescue! No, you’ll be there as the endless ages roll, stepping over the crucified body of Christ, remembering what you did. At the White Throne judgment the voice of the God of all flesh booming forth like mighty thunder will tell you that you stepped over the Cross, you stepped over the broken body of His Son and eternal damnation is yours. God help you today! What a chance you are taking if you don’t have Jesus in your heart.

The Sinners’ Prayer

How could you step over that broken body? How could you do it knowing you’ll go to hell? You’re stepping over the body of the one who died for you, the one who was crucified for you: How could you do it? Say the sinners’ prayer with me now. Oh, God, please, I don’t want to step over the crucified body of Jesus. Please God, I’ll never step over Him again. I ask for mercy today; please forgive me. Take all the sin out of me: Take all the anger out of me; take everything out of me unlike Jesus. I want forgiveness. Please God, I’m guilty, but I don’t want justice; I want mercy. Forgive me Lord! Please forgive me! I believe the blood of Jesus washes away all of my sins. Come on in Jesus! Come on in to my heart! If you meant this prayer, now you can say, Hallelujah, He has come! Hallelujah, Jesus is mine!

Healing Is God’s Will

You who are sick and afflicted, I am God’s humble servant, His instrument of clay He has chosen to pour His power through to work His will for people; and it’s His will for you who are sick and afflicted to be healed if you’ll serve God and glorify the name of the Son of God who died for you. You can be healed of AIDS, leprosy, heart trouble, cancer, and sugar diabetes. You can be healed of that stroke; those crippled limbs can come to normal through His mighty power. Whatever you need, there is nothing God can’t heal. With His blood stripes we are healed.

Lord, I bring the sick and afflicted to you: In the name of Jesus: Heal! In the all-powerful divine blood name of Jesus: Heal! Heal! Lord, you have sent me to set the captives free in your holy name. Deliver them from cancer, heart trouble, AIDS and all manner of sicknesses and diseases. Heal that little one and set it free. And Lord, if that little one doesn’t have a whole brain, give it a whole brain. If the child has never walked, let it start walking to glorify the name of the Most High God. We honor you Jesus; we honor you.

Don’t you feel God’s presence there where you are? Watch yourself get well; watch your child get well. Be thou made well!

And you who found the Lord today, write and tell me about it. But if you didn’t surrender, take warning: Don’t continue to step over the crucified body of Jesus. The only way to go to Heaven is through Jesus and the Old Rugged Cross. How shall you escape if you neglect so great a salvation?