Open your Bible, then, in I Corinthians, chapter 1, verse 18. Words of the Apostle Paul.

He
makes the following statement, "'For the message of the cross is madness for those who are
dying. But for us who are being saved is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and I will reject the wisdom of the intelligent." Where is the hereditary,
where is the questioner of this era? Has not God made the wisdom of this world crazy? Since in
God's wisdom the world did not know him through human wisdom, God pleased to save those
who believe through the madness of preaching. The Jews ask for miraculous signs and the
Greeks seek wisdom. We, however, preach to crucified Christ, who in fact It's a scandal for the
Jews and madness for the Gentiles. But for those who were called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Hallelujah. He begins by saying in verse 18
about the power of God, and we see that even in verse 24 he repeats the phrase of the power
of God again. The version that I read... The NVI, the new international version, starts using the
expression, the message of the cross. Most of the other versions in Portuguese say the word of
the cross. And of course, when he is talking here about the word, he is talking about the
preaching. In fact, he uses both in verse 21 and verse 23 the expression preaching. In verse 21
he speaks of the madness of preaching. In verse 23 he says, we preach to Christ crucified. So...
If this is a word, if this is a pregation, I believe it makes a lot of sense to us. We refer not only
to the pregation of the cross, the word of the cross, but this word, this pregation, it
communicates what? A message. I particularly like this translation, even though it's not so
literal, but the meaning it produces, the message of the cross. And this is the theme of my
message tonight, the message of the cross. I want us to consider some important things. I
remember that since I was a child I heard this from people in the neighborhood, in school,
expressions that are common, especially to Brazilians, even though sometimes they don't
reflect the biblical understanding, but sometimes we hear someone saying, for example, this
guy fled like the devil flees from the cross. And in fact, the expression used, the devil flees from
the cross, seems to suggest that the cross, alone, by itself, would have some power to drive
him away. But in fact, power is not on the cross. The cross was simply an object of execution.
We look not only at the Word of God, but at history, and we realize that the Roman Empire,
for example, crucified countless thousands of people. The cross was merely an instrument of
execution for the Romans. For the Jews, it was a symbol of curse. Paul, writing to the
Galatians, mentions, The cross itself did not mean anything beautiful, nothing positive. The
cross itself has nothing special, not even the cross used by the Lord Jesus himself, which was
already an object, at least the theme. We know that it could not be true. For example, in the
medieval times, when the sacred relics were sold, if you put together all the scraps of the cross
of Christ that had already been sold, it would give way to the world, of so much cross. Right?
that superstition of believing that it was a piece of wood where the Lord was crucified, that He
had power. It has always been a mistake. Power has never been on the cross itself. Power is in
the work done on the cross. Power is in what the crucified Christ has provided for each one of
us. So it is very important that we understand that power is not on the cross, it is in the work
done. And when we look at this perspective, we can say that the message of the cross is the
power of God. It's not the cross. The message of the cross is the power of God. And this
distinction needs to be made. Why? What is the power of the message? It leads us to know the
truth, which in the words of Jesus, liberates. In John 8.32, he says, You will know the truth, and
the truth will free you. The other day someone told me, Pastor, I've already said scripture, the
truth frees. I said, it's not like that. It is the knowledge of the truth that liberates. Only the
truth, if not known, does not have the liberating power. I like an example that I find in Kenneth
Hagan's book, The Name of Jesus, quoting an episode of Charles Spurgeon, an English
preacher, who was given the title of the Prince of Preachers. He went to visit a lady who, in
addition to being old, was ill, bedridden, and on that visit he discovers, emboldened, hanging
on the wall of her house, what this woman didn't know was a will. He asks her, what is this?
She says, this is a memory that my lady left me before I died. She served someone who
belonged to the English nobility. And when this woman died, she had no children or heirs, and
part of her inheritance was left to her through a will. The illiterate woman takes a piece of
paper that she found all beautiful and well-made. and she hangs her hand on the wall and she
keeps it with a lot of affection because her lady remembered her before she died. Spurgeon
said to her, My lady, this is a testament. The person you worked for for many years left you
part of her assets. They managed to hire lawyers, it took time to receive the inheritance, but
the woman was not only old, but sick, to the point of not being able to enjoy that. as I would
enjoy if I had an understanding of what the piece of paper was. I like this illustration because it
reflects what we have, a right to be conquered, but the lack of knowledge of this does not
allow us to enjoy what was made available to us. What Jesus says on the cross is something
extraordinary, but this truth will only have an impact on someone's life who understands the
message of the cross, who can understand it. And when we actually understand and
understand, this will inspire us. Not only with understanding, knowing what is ours, but it will
produce faith in the inner of each one of us, so that this message makes the difference. Paulo,
writing to the Romans, he makes a statement in chapter 10. I want to read with you from verse
13. Romans, chapter 10, from verse 13. He says, because all those who invoke the name of the
Lord will be saved. In other words, so that the person can experience the salvation of God, he
has to first invoke the name of the Lord. But look at the question he asks in verse 14. How will
they invoke the one they do not believe in? To invoke... You need to believe first. So he asks
another question. And how will you believe in the one who did not hear? Because to believe
you have to listen. And then he asks, and how will you hear? If you don't hear, who preaches?
In other words, it is the preaching that allows the person, listening, to exercise faith, then
invoke and enjoy the benefits. But it all starts from the message. So he arrives at verse 17. and
consequently says that faith comes by listening to the message and the message is heard by
the word of Christ. So power is not on the cross. Power is in the work done on the cross, but
when communicated properly through a message that not only generates enlightenment, but
also generates faith. Reason why we need to understand the importance of this. Paulo
recognizes this as his main message. And first to Corinthians 2.2, he makes the following
statement, because I decided, nothing to know among you, if it is not Jesus Christ, and this
crucified. Paul was saying, the central theme of my message is Jesus, and this crucified.
Everything is part of the work done on the cross. And it does not matter what we can say, on
this end of the year, when Christmas approaches, It starts to emphasize the birth of Jesus, but
the reason why he, by subsisting as God, emptied himself, took on the human form, says Paul
in the letter to the Philippians, was so that in the human form he could be obedient, obedient
to death and death of the cross. All the time the focus is on what he came to do for us on the
cross of Calvary. Now, why does this message become so significant and so powerful? We must
first understand that she has a declaration in the spiritual realm that speaks of substitution.
Can you repeat it with me? Say, substitution. Just one more time, substitution. This is just to
help you memorize what we are going to talk about most important. The work of the cross
needs to be understood as an act of substitution. Christ was judged in our place. The Word of
God says in Isaiah 53, in theology we call this a vicarious sacrifice, a substitute. The Word of
God says in Isaiah 53, Isaiah from all the prophets of the Old Testament, maybe the most
messianic, the one who spoke the most about the coming of Christ, the Messiah, about His
work, about what He would do for us. And Isaiah 53, in verse... I will read from verse 4 to verse
7. In the word of God, he certainly took over our diseases and took over our diseases.
However, we consider him punished by God, by God who has hit and afflicted him. But he was
surpassed because of our transgressions, he was crushed because of our iniquities. The
punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we were healed. All of
us. As we used to say to the sheep, each of us went back to his own path, and the LORD made
the iniquity of all of us fall upon him." Notice this phrase, the LORD made the iniquity of all of
us fall upon him. He was oppressed and afflicted, and with all he did not open his mouth. As a
lamb was taken to the slaughterhouse, he did not open his mouth. When you read Acts
chapter 8, And notice the story of that Ethiopian who was returning from Jerusalem. The Holy
Spirit sends Philip to touch the side of the carriage and notices that he is reading this text from
the Bible. Every day someone asked me, how did you know the text that the other was
reading? Because biblical reading has always been done in a loud voice. So it was something
that was perceived. In fact, in moments when you have the soloist in your room, in the secret
devotional, This helps you memorize, helps you emphasize the truth, it was something they
practiced. Felipe hears, he is reading Acts 8, he says exactly this text. And the question that
Felipe asks him is this, do you understand what you are reading? And the answer from that
man is this, how will I understand if someone does not explain to me? At that moment, Felipe
offers help to him and says, Help has arrived. I can help you. And verse 32 of Acts 8 shows us
that it was this text, Isaiah 53, that we read, that he was reading. And the question of man was
the following. Does the prophet speak of himself or of another person? Verse 35 says the
following. Then Philip explained, and starting with this passage from Scripture, he announced
to Jesus. Clearly, the Bible interprets that this prophecy is related to Christ. And that the work
of Christ was to suffer in our place, the punishment that brings us peace. We had a debt of sin
to God. Every human being had a debt of sin that starts in Adam. The Bible says that when
Adam sinned, through sin came death and death passed to all men. The sin of the first man,
the head of the race, spread throughout humanity. We were all affected by our own essence
and nature, because one of the laws of creation was that everything should be reproduced
according to its species, according to its species. And we need to understand that humanity
has become compromised. There was a need for a withdrawal of the debt of sin, of a payment.
But none of us had the condition to pay. Isaiah 49, in the G.E. 7 and 8, that none of us could
give God the rescue for the life of his brother. The Bible says that the redemption of your soul
is very expensive. So there was a required punishment, but none of us could stand it. And the
Bible says that God made fall upon them, upon Jesus, the iniquity of all of us. The essence of
the work of the cross is the substitution. It is He who suffers what we deserve. so that we
could be innocent, so that we could be justified. The cross was not an accident of course. The
cross was not produced by the betrayal of Judas or by the opposition of the Romans or even
the Jews. The cross was part of an eternal plan. The Bible says that Jesus is the lamb known
before the foundation of the world. The word lamb in the mentality, in the culture of the Jews,
for whom initially the word of God was written, explained for himself the necessity of a
sacrifice. By the way, when we talk about substitution, we can't ignore the comparison that is
made all the time with a lamb, with a sheep, the animal of sacrifice, the very text of Isaiah 53.
It says that just as the sheep changes, it is taken to the slaughterhouse. That's how it happened
to him. By the way, in John chapter 8, verse 56, Jesus makes a tremendous statement. He said
that Abraham saw his day and was glad. When Jesus makes this statement, the Jews vote and
ask him, what if you are not fifty years old? Are you going to say that you and Abraham already
met? Jesus was actually quoting an episode from the Scriptures. Even though he justifies that
before Abraham existed, I am, talking about his pre-existence, he was referring to a specific
episode. When did Abraham see the day of Christ and be glad? You will only find a text in the
scriptures that reveals this. When he is going to Mount Moriah, taking Isaac and his son to
offer him sacrifice, Isaac asks a question in the middle of the way. He begins to observe what is
going on and says, Dad, nothing is missing. What do you mean? We are not going to make a
sacrifice, Dad. You are taking the firewood, the fire, the knife hanging there to sacrifice the
animal. But Dad, where is the animal of the sacrifice? And the boy's logic is that whoever
makes a sacrifice doesn't take what will be sacrificed. In fact, he was taking what would be
sacrificed. The boy, by the tone of the conversation, doesn't know what's going on. So,
Abraham gives him an answer, saying, God will provide for himself the animal of sacrifice, my
son. I found, all my life, as a believer, that Abraham was making a boy. Because if until now the
boy doesn't know that the sacrifice is his, I imagine that Abraão thought, it's better that he
doesn't know until the end. And I imagine myself in the place of Zac, if I'm walking with Abraão
and the old man, my father, says, sacrifice is you, my son, I would tell him, so get me in the
race. Because I don't know if I would have yielded so easily. But his question made a lot of
sense. Imagine today, let's try to contextualize this, imagine today you, arriving at the gas
station, and telling the driver, fill the tank, but you got there on foot. He will look at you and
say, is there anything missing? Isn't there a car, a motorcycle missing, something to fill the
tank? How do you fill the tank of someone who got there on foot? For you to tell the driver to
fill the tank, you have to have the essential for that, which is the means of driving. In the same
way, Isaac looks and it doesn't make sense, in his head it's like his dad is talking to him. We go
to the post, fill the tank, but they are going to the foot. He says, something is missing, Father.
Where is the animal of sacrifice? Now, the answer of Abraham, which I thought for a long time
was a mistake, in fact it was a prophetic and precise declaration about the work of Christ.
When he says, God will provide for himself the animal of sacrifice, Abraham was actually
expressing the faith he had from the beginning. Because when he leaves his servants at the
foot of the mountain, he says, you wait here. And my son we will go, we will worship. He says,
and we will return. The book of Hebrews says that he created that from the ashes God could
raise Isaac. He knew that the boy would return, he knew. Now he makes a declaration, God
will come to himself. He is not just saying this is a problem of God. He was already declaring in
faith and prophetically, at the right time, there will be an animal that will replace you. And the
Bible says that when the angel of the Lord will come from heaven, Because Abraham was
willing to reach the end. When he puts the boy on the altar, he is willing to sacrifice him. The
angel of God, Brada, says, don't do that. The Bible says that Abraham looked and there was a
lamb with a horn screwed on a bush, trapped. And the Bible says that then he substitutes Isaac
and puts the lamb that was sacrificed. When he says, God will provide for himself, he wasn't
just talking to Isaac, at the right time. God will replace you and another will die in your place.
Abraham was saying, it will come to the day when each one of us will be covered with the
death that he deserves. Because a lamb is already a substitute. Just as he was not entangled
for nothing, just as he was not trapped by the horns for nothing, and that was a divine
provision. Abraham was saying, God already has an eternal provision, there will be someone
who will replace us with the death that we deserve. She speaks of exchange. She speaks of
Jesus taking our place. There is a declaration of Caifás, a priest, that cannot be ignored. In the
Gospel of John, in chapter 11, I want to read from the Recycles 49 to 52. They are in a
conversation where they demonstrate fear that the whole nation will perish. And Caifás says
the following. Caifás, however, one of them, a priest in that year, warned them by saying, You
know nothing, nor do you consider it to be convenient for you that only one man dies for the
people and not the whole nation will perish. He is saying that there will be no need for
everyone to perish. Only one. It will take up the place of all. Now look at what the text says. He
did not say that of himself. But being a priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was to die for
the nation, and not only for the nation, but to gather in one body the children of God, who
walk scattered. The declaration all the time of the Bible is that Jesus replaced us. This
replacement actually involves a exchange that I will talk about. This replacement actually saved
us. of suffering the punishment we deserve and still generated or produced, released for us,
benefits. And we can't preach the message of the Cross without recognizing the substitution.
And we can't announce the message of the Cross without talking about the benefits it provides
us. So the second thing I want to say now after the substitution is about the benefits. The work
of the Cross deals directly with our sins. and there are many texts that point this out to us. But
one in particular that I like is in Colossians chapter 2 and verse 14 when the Bible says that the
written debt that was against us in your commandments, which was against us, the Bible says
that He removed it from our means and He preached on the cross. In perspective and in the
eye of God and divine justice, What was trapped and nailed to the cross was not only the body
of Our Lord, because He was our substitute. Because the punishment that brings us peace fell
on Him at the moment when He was suffering the condemnation that we deserved for our
sins. The Bible says, God takes away the written of David. Read this in our culture as a promise.
I don't know who has ever had a promise in the language of the old hanged on the preg. Those
who have already had the relief of when you take off that promise, that written debt against
you, it's zeroed out. Maybe those who have already experienced your experience understand a
little better. You took that promise of a debt that we could never pay, and you took it and you
prayed on the cross. At the moment Jesus was prayed on the cross with him, our debt was
prayed on. Our debt was annulled. Our debt was taken away. Forgiveness is not just God
looking at me and your life and saying, okay, we're going to leave it there and nobody pays for
it. He said, you can't pay. I prove who pays in your place. Maybe in the legal language, the
closest we have to illustrate this today, is a payment of bail, when someone can pay for the
crime of another. But in fact, Jesus does this with substitution. The act of purchase or rescue
was not done with any money. The Apostle Peter says, "...was not it with silver or silver that
you were freed from your vain way of living, which by tradition was inherited from our fathers,
but with precious blood, from a lamb without a defect." We need to look at the message of the
Cross and understand the benefits. It starts with the tax collection, it starts with the payment
of the debt. And what is the consequence of this? Why is the core of the work of the Cross God
treating with sin? because He was the cause of our separation. Isaiah 59, 2 says, Your sins
separate you from God, so that He does not hear you. The Bible always presented sin as being
responsible for the separation between man and God. And the work of the cross, in fact, is a
work of reconciliation. In Colossians, in chapter 1, in the recitals of verse 19 and 20, we read
the following, that in Him all the fullness would dwell, He is talking about Jesus, and that
through Him He would reconcile with each other all things, both the things that are on earth
and the things that are in the heavens, establishing peace through His blood spilled on the
cross. That is, the Word of God is saying that it was the pleasure of God that in Him, in Jesus,
there was reconciliation with each other, with God, of all things. How did He reconcile with the
blood of the cross? The word religion has become a specific type of belief. But it comes from
the Latin religare, which means relegation or reconciliation. In fact, Christ is the true religion.
He is the only one who could connect man to God through sin, through the work he did. That's
why the Bible says in 1 Timothy 2.5, through the work of the cross. When we understand that
the core of the work of the cross is to treat with sins, we can also understand some uncoiling
of the benefits of the cross. Because God did not come to treat only with sin, but He also
decided to treat with the consequences of our sin. For example, God gave a sentence to the
first couple in Eden, they do not eat the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Because the day
you eat it, you will surely die. They didn't die physically. Even because God was talking about
spiritual death and separation. Death in the Bible has this idea of no longer the end of
existence, but separation. Even when we refer to someone who is no longer in our midst, we
think of the end of existence. The Bible treats this as separation. It is the moment of
separation. And a spirit, devoid of the body, it loses contact with the natural world and with
people, it does not mean the end of existence. Even the body that will be buried and
decompose, one day will be resurrected. So, for us, in no perspective, it means the end of
existence. But it has the idea of separation. And when man sinned, he separated from God,
and that's why he needs reconciliation. But there were also consequences. For example... Man
lived much longer in the beginning, and over time, the average life of man in the Scripture
itself is being lowered and diminished. Many of the consequences of sin have settled. Much of
what we experience and experience today in several areas is still the fruit and consequence of
sin, such as diseases. And it's easy for us to know this because redemption shows that one day
they will be completely stripped and eliminated. The book of Revelation speaks of a moment
when there will be no more pain, where there will be no more death, where there will be no
more curse, where God will fill the eyes with tears and other words. God's plan for man is that
there will be no order of suffering. But all of this was established because of sin. And Jesus did
not come to treat only sin in a direct way, as He also has a provision for the consequences of
sin. There are several texts. And Isaiah 53, who speaks of the substitution of Christ, shows us,
for example, the declaration that he took upon himself, not only our iniquities, but our
illnesses. In Matthew's Gospel, chapter 8, there is a reference to this episode. In Recycles 16
and 17 of Matthew 8, we read the following. At nightfall many were brought to him, and he
expelled the spirits with one word, and healed all the sick. And so it was fulfilled that it was
said by the prophet Isaiah, He took over our diseases and over himself took over our diseases.
If all that the New Testament says about this text of Isaiah was only this mention of the Gospel
of Matthew. Maybe we couldn't declare that this is the work of the cross. I've read
commentators and theologists declaring, no, this prophecy of Isaiah about healing was fulfilled
in the ministry of Jesus. In other words, they are saying, while Jesus was here, He healed the
children. Who was here enjoyed well. Who didn't live this time, danced. But nothing in the
Bible limits this work of Jesus of taking the infirmities to his ministry of Jesus. This supposition
would be appropriate if this was the only statement, but look at 1 Peter 2, 24. It says, He
Himself took our sins upon His own body, on the cross. So that we may die for our sins and live
for justice. So He says, By your wounds you were healed. The healing part, as well as the
forgiveness of sins, is fulfilled on the same cross. He has provision of healing. And we can't lose
sight of this. Please, tell me. In Psalm 103, David says, Well, say, I am to my soul, and do not
forget not one of your benefits. He is the one who forgives your iniquities, but He is the one
who quenches all your infirmities. He is the one who redeems your life from the grave. He is
the one who crowns you with grace and benignity. And many times we stop looking at the
other benefits. Sometimes we are looking at forgiveness of sins and saying, In fact, if God
decided to include, beyond the forgiveness of sins, a treatment with consequences of Him, we
need to let the message of faith inspire faith in our hearts for a greater provision than what He
came to do in relation to sin. For example, sin brought curses. Among them, God says to man
in the Garden of Eden, the earth will produce thorns. You will have a much harder job than you
would have before. I find it interesting that the curse seen here was the work of becoming
more arduous than it would be. But the other day a brother with a vagabondness of air said to
me, Yeah pastor, you know that work is a curse, right? The man did not work before, after sin,
God cursed him to have to work. I said, are you crazy, my brother? Genesis 2, 15 says that God
put man in the garden to plow and keep him. Work already existed before the fall. The
problem is that after the fall, the curse had to be more. It was necessary to sweat a lot more to
have results that were perhaps easier and more accessible before. So working is not a curse,
you can't think that way. It's a blessing. Now, the curse was the emergence of thorns. This
would make man's work much more arduous. Now it's not just plowing the land, planting and
harvesting. Now it's all the time fighting against thorns, against the weeds of the line, against
what competes with your own work. Now, when Jesus goes to the cross, he assumes... a crown
of thorns. And for me, the message is very clear. The first sign of the curse is attached to the
thorns. When that crown of thorns is placed, of course, whoever decided to place it didn't
think that it was a symbol or a prophetic sign. And many times, we imagine a thorn that only
scratches the forehead. The Bible says that those Roman guards used to give a cane to Jesus'
head. Why did they do that? So that those thorns could penetrate. The head is one of the
places that easily gets swollen. Now, you can imagine that the more they hit, the more it hurt,
the more the head got swollen and the more it hurt. Of course, they thought about increasing
the suffering and torture, but I believe that His meaning cannot be ignored. Jesus was saying, I
am taking not only your sins, but the consequences of your sins. In Galatians chapter 3, recicles
13 and 14, Apostle Paul makes this event clear when he says the following. Galatians 3, 13 and
14, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, when he became a curse in our place, for it
is written, cursed is he who is hung in a wood. This, so that in Christ Jesus, the blessing of
Abraham, may also reach the Gentiles. so that we may receive the promise of the Spirit
through faith. The cross is a place of exchange. When our iniquities were thrown at Him, God
was making a exchange. According to Corinthians 5.21, it says, "...the one who did not know
sin..." Jesus is speaking. "...God made sin for us in our place, so that in Him we may become
the justice of God." He who was born in sin never sinned. He transfers His justice to us for free
in exchange for our sins that He has taken over Himself. He takes over our curses, for what?
For us to receive the blessing. According to Corinthians 8 and 9, the Bible says that He made
Himself poor so that we could be rich. All the time we have a exchange. But when He took over
our infirmities, it was only this. No, dear. He did this so that we could receive healing and
health. Please say Amen. In fact, even in this declaration of 2 Corinthians 8 and 9, when he said
that he became poor so that we would be rich, I know that in some way we can limit such a
declaration to the material aspect. But I also don't understand why some people try to throw
this level of intervention out. Because when the Bible says that Jesus became poor, it is not
talking about the condition of sin and spiritual misery. Because he did not assume this. Unless
it is the moment of the cross, when our iniquities fell on him, we cannot put Jesus in a spiritual
misery. The maximum we can say is when the two Filipinos said that by subsisting as God, they
took human form, we were a great impoverishment. Because he wanted to enrich us for
eternity. But when we also think about the consequences of sin, which involved the difficulty
of man to sustain, We need to understand that the work of the Cross also means reaching
provision. I'm not talking about wealth, enrichment, but provision and full provision, which not
only allows us to have our basic needs fulfilled, but also allows us to be bountiful. There are
many benefits. This subject would obviously go very far. The idea is that we present here only
a review, but in addition to treating with sin and the consequences of sin. Jesus came to the
work that he did on the cross, to defeat Satan indefinitely. Colossians 2.15 says that he
triumphed from the principal and powerful on the cross. He triumphed from them on the
cross. You can repeat this with me, say, He triumphed from them on the cross. Now,
everything that Jesus did on the cross was for me and for you in our place. He takes away our
sins so we can receive justice. He takes away our infamities so we can have healing. He takes
away our curses so we can have blessing. He made himself poor so we can be rich. Now, why
do you think he defeated the devil? He is not mere and simply in a popular language solving
the mess that the two had. He is guaranteeing our victory. The victory won against Satan on
the cross. It is mine and yours. And we can walk in this place. That's why John, speaking of this
place where we are today in Christ, says greater is the one who is in us than the one who is in
the world. He is saying that the victory of Jesus, it manifests itself in us. It is available to me
and to you, together with His presence, which has become possible through the work of the
cross. In 1 John 3, 8 the Bible says that for this, the Son of God manifested himself to destroy
the works of the devil. And because he won and entrusted us with his victory, the power of his
name, we can walk in victory over the enemy. Jesus said in my name, you will expel demons.
And he said, you will step on snakes and scorpions. Jesus was basically saying that we would
not need to live in fear of the enemy. That's why the Bible says, resist the devil and he will run
away from you. You and I can walk in victory against all opposition of the Kingdom of Darkness.
Please say Amen. I don't like believers who exaggerate the power of the devil, almost trying to
match it with God. He doesn't reach the feet of the Almighty God. But we can't deny that he
has his power there. But you and I don't need to be afraid of anything. Because our victory was
guaranteed and determined. Our victory was established on the Cross of Christ. And no matter
how much the Kingdom of Darkness hates you or tries to persecute you, you have a
guaranteed right to walk in victory under the Kingdom of Darkness. Now, after we understand
the substitution, after we understand that the work of the Cross produces benefits, perhaps
the practical question that takes us here to close our conversation is what to do to enjoy the
benefits? So, after talking about the substitution and the benefits, I want to finish by talking
about the third place, our responsibility, what is our part. First, we need to start talking about
faith. The Gospel of John, Lord Jesus makes an important statement. In John, in chapter 3, he
says, Just as Moses raised the serpent in the desert. So it is important that the Son of Man be
raised. Here Jesus is talking about the message of the cross, which was already announced in a
symbolic and typological way since the Old Alliance. It is after talking about this comparison,
and when you look at the message of the bronze serpent, you will find that. And the Lord says,
all those who are stung by a snake and look at the one in bronze, he will live. But those who
are stung and do not look will die. Jesus says, in the same way Moses did. Thus, God is doing
with the Son of Man. What was the curse that was harming us as humanity? Sin. And the Bible
says that he was made a sin by us. He is raised as a symbol of curse. Going to the cross, which
was something only criminals deserved. It wasn't the kind of death that a righteous person
should have. And what message is being said? Just as the snake was pecking at the snake,
whoever looked at it, a bronze snake. Bronze in the Bible speaks of judgment. God was saying,
I will judge this curse in this act. It was a message that announced what he would do on the
cross one day. God was saying, I will judge sins in the wood and in the one that I will raise as a
figure of curse in your place. So whoever looked at it, the antidote that came from God.
Whoever refused to look, would die. God was saying, one day I will solve this problem on the
cross. But you need to look and recognize what Jesus did. If you don't look at Him, if you don't
recognize what He did in your place, you will never enjoy the benefits. It is soon after making
this declaration, in verse 14, that Jesus then continues and says the following, 15, I will read
from... from the 14th to the 16th of John 3. In the same way Moses raised the serpent in the
desert. So it is also necessary that the Son of Man be raised, so that all that is in him believe,
have eternal life. Because God loved the world, in such a way that God gave his unborn child,
so that all that is in him believe, do not perish, but have eternal life. All the time, when talking
about the Cross, he says, so that we may have eternal life. Everything that God has made
available to us in His grace is only received with faith. That is why the Bible says, By grace you
are saved, Ephesians 2.8 through faith. Now, we need to understand what it means to believe.
Because some think that it is only to believe that Jesus exists, that He is real, that He is true.
Let me tell you, there is a kind of faith that involves recognition that does not produce any
result for you. Thiago writes and says, Christ in God, and says, the demons too, and trembles.
But the faith of the demons is not helping them in absolutely nothing. It is possible that you
have a type of faith that does not help you, yes, if it is a wrong faith. If you just accept that
Jesus is real, this has no power to change your life. What you need to understand is that faith
has some elements. I like to summarize them into three. First, identification. Second,
appropriation. And third, confession. Can you repeat this with me? I say identification,
appropriation and confession. So let's give an example of this. Paul declares in Galatians, in
chapter 2, in the 19 and 20th recitals, I am crucified with Christ. If you took a time machine,
we'll have a moment of fiction here in the message, and went back to the exact moment
where Paul made this declaration, you won't find him preached on the same cross as Christ.
Even because Paul's time of life, of the ministry and his declaration of this, is after the
crucifixion. But when he is saying, I am crucified with Christ, he is talking about what?
Identification. If Jesus died in my place, the moment he was crucified on the cross, I was there.
I was crucified there, because he is my substitute, because he is my representative.
Identification, in fact, could never be just with the crucifixion. The Bible says that we die with
him. We were buried with Him. The Bible says that we are resurrected with Him. And the Bible
says that after He settled on the right side of God in the heights, we are settled with Him.
Because He represents us. He is substituting us. So the place where He is legally in the eyes of
God, we are also there. In Colossians chapter 3, verse 3, Paul says, Your life is hidden with
Christ in God. Wherever He may be, we are also there. Who understands this? So, Paulo
Escreveiro Esconido said, If someone is in Christ, the new creature is. How can you become a
new creature, being in Christ? How am I in Christ? When I identify myself, if He did in my place,
I was there. When I assume this position of faith, of identifying myself, understanding the
substitution, it's where it all starts. I suggest you, when you are reading, especially the New
Testament, the Epistles, start to grip the expressions in Him, in Christ, with Christ. and you will
be surprised by what the Bible says about your place and your position in it. But identification
is not enough. We need to give appropriation. If he was raised in my place and my sin was
judged, then I don't have to pay for it anymore. I can't stand hearing a believer saying, I'm
paying for my sins. I say, if you were paying, you should be on the cross. You had to die for
your sins. You're not paying for your sins. You can even suffer some inevitable consequences of
some sins, but you're not paying for them. Jesus has already paid for this for you. And when
you understand, identify what you need, appropriate. So this is mine. I have the right. 1
Timothy 6.12, take possession of eternal life. What is to take possession? If this is mine for the
right, I appropriate myself. But a confession is also necessary. Maybe some don't understand
the importance of baptism, it's not just a ritual. It's the greatest expression of public confession
than our faith. In Romans 6, the Bible says that we died with Him, were buried with Him, and
we rose again with Him to walk in new life. When we take the person, sink him in the water,
and give him what I call the holy broth, we are testing, you died and were buried with Christ.
When we take the person out of the water, I always joke that this part is important too. to
bring out, when we take it out of the water, we are witnessing that this person has resurrected
to walk in new life. That is, baptism is a confession of faith, but it declares what? Identification
and appropriation. But it needs to be the end of the confession. And when we start to confess,
not only in a moment, but in a lifestyle. When Paul says, I am crucified with Christ, when he
says, with Christ, he shows identification. When he says, I am, he already appropriated, this is
mine and it serves me. His own declaration shows that his faith also had confession. All these
three elements are always involved with faith. So it is my and his responsibility to believe, to
appropriate us from what is ours, to confess and declare what is ours. But we also need to
apply the work of the cross in a practical way. We saw that Peter said that when he took our
sins upon himself, upon the wood, it is for us to be dead to sin and that we may live for justice.
This means that in a practical way, I cannot look and say, he replaced me, but I need to pull
that reality and say, I will no longer be a slave to sin. Whoever understands, say it well. In
Galatians chapter 6, verse 14, the Apostle Paul makes the following statement, How much to
me, that I never glorified myself, unless on the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ, through which
the world was crucified for me, and I for the world. Do you know what he's saying? He
understood what happened there. It changes my way of living. I died for the world. The world
died for me. That cross definitely separated me from sin and the environment where it is so
encouraged to be practiced. So we need to bring this to the practical aspect, to the practical
application. What involves, among other things, I will not go into detail. We understand what
the message is to take our cross. It is an extension and a practical application of what it did for
us. But besides believing and besides... to inherit the path of practical application. And we
need to understand our responsibility to proclaim the message. Everything that God gives us,
He does with the intention that it does not stop in us. God looks at Abraham and says, I will
bless you. But he says, And I will make you a blessing. Why does God want to bless someone?
So that the blessing transports him to others. Paul says, I proceed to achieve that which I was
also reached. We took from this text of Philippians 3, 9, and our motto here as a community of
reach. Reached to reach. But he is saying, God did not reach me and the goal was only that. He
says, now I understand that it is a purpose. What was the purpose? Paul says, in nothing I have
my life as valuable. As much as I complete my career. And the ministry that was entrusted to
me to testify the Gospel of the Grace of God. Paul was saying, he reached me with the purpose
of reaching others through me. Paul says to Corinthians, with the consolation that we are
consoled, we console others. Here is the paraphrase, with the salvation that we are saved, we
will also save others. The word of the Gospel means good news. There is no better news in this
world than the message of the cross. But we do not have the right to retain the message of the
cross just for us. I really like how... My friend Pastor Carlito Paz repeats a phrase a lot, that in
the Christian life, normally we have three actions, that they are all related. He talks about
receiving, celebrating and sharing. I believe that with the cross it can't be different. We need to
receive by faith. God expects us to celebrate. When you look at worship, even in heaven, after
having consumed everything, The Bible shows that the focus of our worship is still the lamb
that was killed in our place. The recognition, the gratitude, the celebration of the work of the
cross, it continues for all eternity. Even here on earth, Jesus is not going to establish the
supper, says, do this in memory of me. He expects us to remember all the time, walk in the
awareness of these truths, that we celebrate this in gratitude and worship. But he also expects
us to share. Because many times the life of the client is limited to receive and celebrate, and
we eliminate the aspect of sharing. I want to encourage you today, not only to receive and
celebrate what is yours for the right, provided through the cross. but to commit to the
responsibility of being the messenger of the Lord. To announce that Paul did not preach the
Gospel of the Cross just because he had a specific call for it. He understood that each of us
who was reached by the work of reconciliation had the same responsibility. And according to
the Corinthians 5, 18, it says, all this comes from God. that reconciled us with Christ and gave
us the ministry of reconciliation. God not only reconciled us, He gave us the ministry of
reconciliation. Paul says, now we become his ambassadors, begging in His name that people
reconcile with Him. We have a responsibility to proclaim this message. And we can't just wait
like a church. that the sinner appears through the door that he discovers the way by himself.
Just as you never see a fisherman who goes to the boat in the sea and waits for the fish to
jump in, the church should not be waiting for the sinner to appear. The atapé means that we
are going to get the fish. If necessary, we go to a bait to attract the fish, but we go after it. And
we have the responsibility to share this with our home, with our friends, and even with
strangers, that God will put you in their way, or they in your way, it doesn't matter. We have
the responsibility to share this message. And my prayer and my cry to God is that in the next
year that begins, we as a Church understand... that we are in the imminence of living the
greatest harvest of our history. There is a prophetic station, a wind of God blowing, that God
wants us to preach His will for all time, but there is a grace for differentiated results. And I
want to encourage you to proclaim this message in the name of Jesus. Do you receive this
word?