Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:00]:
Hey. Good evening, everybody. Good evening. Man, so good to see you. Can you believe it's November? So right now, I think we're all kind of feeling that there's a there's a hill that's kind of like we're gonna go down the you ever go down the roller coaster and just that moment you feel that thing just, like, no gravity. Right? And we're going. So it might start feeling like that, in a few weeks. And so when once you turn the corner, right, once you hit November, you feel that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:00:30]:
And so even though we kinda gave some dates, I know it's a little early for some of us, but, just to understand that in December, our Christmas services, just we're gonna have them at the same time, just a different location. We'll be on the road, out in Kapolei where we get a little bit of a larger facility and, capacity to, embrace a little more people. So, this evening, we're gonna just take communion, together tonight. And, if you've never taken communion before, I want you guys to know that, that if you've never done it with us, you know, that you don't have to be a member. If you're at home, I really wanna encourage you guys to go get some kind of elements, to be able to take that whether it's juice and a piece of bread or cracker and, and water, whatever it is that you have. And, we're gonna invite you to take that with us today. But I wanted to explain communion in our time together, and for some of us that if you've been around for a while, it might seem simple and and we're you know, to do a message on it, like, I think sometimes the the the more that you see that something that seems simple, I think on one hand it's like what the, what they say about the gospel. The gospel is simple enough for a child to understand it, but you can spend your whole life and people who are much smarter than me have spent their whole life and written numbers of books, and still not exhaust it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:01:57]:
And, you know, when I think about what does that mean sometimes practically, how do we do that in in in certain things that we take for granted? You guys all know what is when we want to talk about something that's super basic and fundamental, sometimes we say what? 1 +1 equals? 2. That's right. And so, you know, I get some of us had to think something like that. That's a little nervous for that, but, but you know, the thing is that it is simple, but the thing is that it's the most fundamental thing. Right? If I have one apple and then somebody gives you another apple, like if you're in elementary school and they say, how many apples you got? Right? 2. Like or somebody takes one away. How many you have? You have 1. Right? So we understand, this aspect, but sometimes, people when they really study it and they want to prove that this is true, then it starts getting complicated.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:02:48]:
A guy named Bertrand Russell wanted to conclusively prove that math mathematics works, so he decided to start with the simplest concept he knew, which is what? 1 +1. And so he began to put his calculations on, and and he did, and he he he completed this, and he proved this theorem, and it only was 374 pages long. And this, by the way, wasn't written, like, by the Greek philosophers and right all those guys. This was done in the 20th century because that one plus one equals 2, apparently, when mathematicians you find that it's a lot more complex than than we can think. And so when we think in terms of communion, the gist of it is simple. Jesus gave his life for us, and because he gave his life for us, we take these elements and we invite Jesus all over again to meet us in the expression of his body and the expression of the sacrifice that found in his blood, and so we take these elements of bread and juice, and we do that. And so Jesus explained, he explained it like this. On the night before his crucifixion, he he he says this in Luke 22 19, and we're gonna just read this out loud together.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:11]:
And would you be kind of let's stand in reverence for God, reverence for His word. And, this is the first time that we he explains this and this is what he says. Ready? Let's read. He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. And after supper, he took another cup of wine and said, this cup is the cup of the new covenant between God and His people, an agreement confirmed with my blood which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. And so let's let's say that word, it says, it's this covenant between God and his new people is in agreement.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:04:58]:
Let's say in agreement. Agreement. An agreement. What is an agreement? Well, that we say the same thing. Right? And so, God wants us to see the same thing that he sees in this covenant that we have with him. That when we do this thing and we experience the the power of his sacrifice, the power of his blood, the breaking of his body, that there's some things that are inherent in this that apply to you and to me, and sometimes we might understand it in concept, but we don't know how it applies to our daily life, how that intersects in some ways. That's what I kinda wanna go over this weekend, and, that we're experiencing the power of his blood in our lives. So do me a favor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:05:39]:
Before, you're seated, just turn to your neighbor and say, hey, I'm so glad we can have an agreement with God. And then you can have a seat. Right? Because the the Last Supper and the institution of communion actually happened at the Passover. And, and if you've been around it, you might understand that so often what happens in the old testament, and the sacrificial system in particular, become a foreshadowing of the things that will be realized in the New Testament, in the life and sacrifice of Jesus. And so, even though I'm not gonna read the whole thing, that you'll find the story of the original Passover in the book of Exodus chapter 12. And in this story that what we find is that they they had a lamb that would have been taken and sacrificed, and its blood poured out into a bowl, and none of it was to be spilled, and that blood then would be they would dip a stick of hyssop, which is like, you know, like halekua, like you just see it kind of growing all around. That's how it is over there in the Middle East, and they would dip it, and then they would they would apply it to the door and the and the, the lintel, which is the the top, right, of the doorway. And so, and and then it it was a it was a sign to God for something.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:04]:
And so we're gonna take a look at 5 ways the blood of Jesus impacts you today. Right? And so, and so part of that we see happened at the Passover, and we're gonna see some of the fulfillment of this kind of a prophetic word and this foreshadowing of the things to come. But maybe first thing I'd like to start with is just saying this. How many of you, have had somebody upset at you recently? Anybody upset have somebody upset at you recently? Right? Isn't that, like, kinda suck? Right? You you guys ever, like and especially, you know, like, when it's uncomfortable to have somebody upset, especially, you know, maybe you got in an argument or whatever. Nobody likes that. Nobody likes to make somebody else upset. But here, the follow-up question is this. Have you ever felt like God was upset at you? Right? That God was mad at you? And and that's a more difficult thing to shake.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:07:56]:
And there's sometimes that that we can get stuck in that kind of a mindset if you've been raised and we we talk about the holiness of God, and we understand the fact that that that we need to be right before God. And sometimes when you're in this thing and you're looking at it, for many of us, maybe you're like me, that we I used to think I was a pretty good guy. I used to think I was a pretty good guy, until I came to Jesus. Then I realized, oh, man, I I am so far from good. Right? I am so far from that whole thing, and so one of the first of the 5 ways is I think the first thing is that to recognize that we are cleansed and reconciled with God. In Ephesians chapter 2, and there's gonna be jumping around because a lot of this is New Testament that's gonna show an expression of the fulfillment of Jesus' sacrifice. He says this in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 23. He says, you used to live in sin.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:08:54]:
Let's say used to. Used to. Right? And so, you know, the life that we live that I think that he's saying is that we should have a before and we should have an after, but he says you used to live in sin, and just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. And then he goes on, he says, and all of us used to live that way following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature, and by our very nature we were subject to what? God's anger. Just like everyone else. So some of us are saying that, oh man, that I I guess that God is angry with me. That's what it says here. It says, no, it doesn't say God is angry with you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:09:33]:
Now, it says that that we were subject to God's anger. Now, where does this anger come from? Because although God is loving and that God is love, we understand that's not all he is. Right? Like that God is loving. Right? Aren't you glad I'm glad God is loving, but and I'm glad that God makes forgiveness, and I'm glad that God is wise, or because he's more than just one thing. Right? He has more than one aspect, and because the other part we understand that God is also just. Right? He's also a judge. He sees that certain things are right, and certain things are wrong. And like all of us, we have all done right things, and we have all done wrong things, and that one day all of us will stand accountable before God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:10:18]:
And the secret to standing in that time the secret to standing before God in that time is not to make excuses. How many of you guys ever made an excuse when you get caught on something? I did last night. So, you know, the thing is, when we're in that kind of a situation, that's the secret to standing because it's not to justify yourself in that time. Now why is that? Because God has made a way. Like, I had some just just admit it. Right? But and he says that we're all subject to that because all of us have blown it in some way, and he says, by nature, human beings were faulty, frail, broken people. And because of that, there god would say that god looked at us and he says that if I'm supposed to be honest and call it straight, none of you guys make it. Right? And so in the Passover that I had mentioned that we find in Exodus 12, the people of God, the Israelites, were slaves in Egypt for 435 years.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:26]:
You guys some of us might remember that that they were there, and they were generations enslaved, generationally in bondage. And and so when God said to them, I'm gonna set you free, he says the night before that happened he had them do that thing. Right? They get the the lambs, and you you sacrifice the lamb, you take the blood, but this is what he said in verse 13 of chapter 12. He says, but the blood on your doorpost will serve as a sign. Let's say sign. It's a sign. Alright. It's a sign.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:11:58]:
It's it's a it's a marker of some kind marking the houses where you are staying, and when I see the blood, I will what? Pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. And the blood of the sacrifice was the acknowledgment that we needed someone or something else to take the penalty for our sin, because for us we couldn't take it. So what would he say? The animal was slayed in your place, in this case. Right? The the Passover lamb. In the New Testament we find Jesus then becomes the sacrifice for us, right? That that what we find is that that we need a cleansing, that we need forgiveness, that we need a washing in in our soul. And so in 1st Peter it says this, for Christ also suffered once for sins. How? The righteous for the unrighteous.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:12:57]:
Right? Jesus died in my in in Glen's place. The righteous Jesus died for the unrighteous Glen, so that the unrighteous Glen can be brought close to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the spirit. Right? Because he's to bring us to god. And so we see this aspect of, what what is it saying? That judgment is coming, and he cannot just judge the, Egyptians. Right? That wouldn't be fair. Right? I judge the Egyptians, but I don't judge my own people. And so what is he saying? See, by nature, the the Israelites were just as guilty as the Egyptians.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:13:48]:
And so what did he do? He gave them a sacrifice. And then what do you do with the sacrifice? You gotta apply the blood. So I see that as the sign. It's the marker. You've responded. There's a marker that you say, hey, it's not because responded. There's a marker that you say, hey, it's not because I'm such a great person. It's not because I I I'm the magnanimous people.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:06]:
It's not because we're better than other people. It's because, he's saying, that the the justice and the judgment that would have come on us was poured out on this animal, and, therefore, I can be forgiven. And, therefore, I can have peace with God, but he satisfies his anger. Right? In the Old Testament, actually, it says they covered over their sin. But what it's the implication then is that god's made peace with you through the sacrifice of Jesus. In other words, he's not angry at you. Why? Because judgment has already been taken. We were guilty.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:14:52]:
And rather than it being poured out on us, it was poured out on Jesus. So if we really want to know what justice looks like for our sin, we we look at what happened to Jesus on the cross. And and so he says, the unrighteous for me. I mean, the the righteous for the unrighteous who is me. But that means you have peace. That means you can be cleansed. That means you can be washed. That means you can be reconciled to God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:18]:
The word reconciled literally means that it's a theological term, but it it literally means to take 2 who have been enemies and bring them to peace. Right? And so you might have heard people say, yeah, we were planning on getting divorced, but we reconcile. Right? You might have heard somebody that we, you might have heard somebody in a financial sense said, hey, my my my bank balance says this, but then when I look at my checkbook and I look at the I look online, it says something else. And then you what do you say? There's a discrepancy, and we bring it together. Right? And so you have peace. And so that's what he says, that you can have peace. Do me a favor. Don't tell your neighbor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:15:59]:
He says, God wants you to have peace with him. Yes, sir. He wants you to have peace. And one of the things I found is that when I have I I remember that I have peace with God. It's so much easier to have the peace of God. Yeah. Because I know that that sometimes, you know, maybe you maybe you make a mistake. Maybe you you've blown it at at some point in this week, and you go, like, oh my gosh.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:19]:
Is god upset and angry? It's like, no. He that we're loved. He's made a provision for that. We should own up to it. We should confess it and and and repent of it, but that's god's made a way. And then it says it goes on that, that this is the second thing. So it's it's a little bit more teaching oriented this evening. Let's look at this.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:16:40]:
The second thing is that we have redemption and forgiveness. Now the word redemption, again, it's a it's a theological word, but it literally means to buy back. You guys, you know, it is and I know that sometimes we might use redemption. It's like, oh, I get 5¢ back when I put the bottle in and all that, but, like, so the company is buying back the bottle basically for 5¢. Right? But God is saying this, that he buys us back. Why does God need to buy us back? Because in the garden, in the beginning that we find in Genesis when when Adam and Eve fell, when they sinned, when they disobeyed, that what happened is that they were designed to be an authority in all of God's creation. All they had to do was obey. All they had to do was trust.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:17:30]:
All they had to do was follow, but they decided not to. They decided to listen to another voice. Right? They decided to, not trust god and trust what the serpent said. And and so in that moment when they disobeyed, it says that in the moment in which you disobey, you will surely die. And for some people, we think like, well, it wasn't true, right, because they sinned, but they were still walking around and they still like it's true. Physically, they didn't, but spiritually they did. And it says in that next moment in the when God comes into the garden and, he says, Adam, where are you? And, he says, hey, we're hiding. We're hiding because we are naked and we're ashamed.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:18:19]:
Now, the thing is that when God asks you a question, this is something that you should know that you might be in a devotion, you might be in a prayer time, you might be and then you hear a whisper, God asks you a question. You know, the thing is, God never asks you a question so he can find out the answer. He already knows the answer. Right? When he was asking Adam, Adam, where are you? He he knew the answer. This is what he's asking. He wants to know if you know the answer. Right? And so he says, I was hiding because I was naked in the shame. And what we find is that the world that the fact that that we all feel guilt and shame and all that, sometimes sometimes rightfully so and sometimes not so much, that it's because the fact that we have been sold into bondage, into sin, and dominated by the ways of the world and and subject to the spiritual enemy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:19:17]:
And so what he says is that when he died on the cross, he not just satisfied that so we could be right with him, but that so we could be transferred into god's family, adopted into his family because he's we were bought by the blood. This is what it says, Ephesians 1:7. Let's read what that says together. Ready? Begin. In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin, in accordance with the riches of God's grace. And when you're being held back by your past at times, do you ever hear like a voice that comes out to you that says, you know, how can you say you're a Christian? Look at all this and this and this and this. You call yourself a Christian. Look at didn't you say this or didn't you act like this in this kind of a place? Right? So, you know, when you hear that voice, don't argue, don't disagree.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:17]:
Right? Maybe you say, yeah, that's true. Right? But Jesus paid the price. I I don't have to deny it. It's it's it's true. Right? I you gotta agree. Just bring it under the blood. Because in in in there, then we go, I already paid for that. Let's just give Jesus what he paid for.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:20:40]:
Right? He already paid for you. He already paid for your redemption. He doesn't want you to sit in shame and guilt, and he he doesn't want us to stay in the the the prison that the enemy has fashioned for us. Some of us we still feel imprisoned by our past. Some of us that that we we feel like, oh my gosh, he reminds us always, and you you you cannot step out because, you know, I'm I did this in my past. I cannot step out. I cannot stand up for God because I did this before, or I've said this before. The reality is if you're in a prison, it's because you don't realize the door has been opened and you've been sitting in that place, and it's a familiar place.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:29]:
And the enemy tells you that you should sit in this place, but the door is really opened. You don't have to stay in the cell. We don't have to sit in our shame. We don't have to sit in our guilt because he's already paid. He he's ransomed us. He's paid the price. Let's get him what he he paid for. He paid for our freedom.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:21:51]:
Right? Yes. He paid for your freedom. Do me a favor. Turn to your neighbor and says, He paid for your freedom. He paid for your freedom. God derives no pleasure that we sit around and feel guilty and and shame. That's not what he wanted. He wanted it.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:22:06]:
So that you and I could have freedom, and and then as a result of that and as a result of that, we have access to God. Right? As a result of that, we have we have access to God, and you know, like when I I just remember once we were in on a mission trip and we were in China, when we were doing, house church training, and it was a it was an exciting time. Different things happened, and and there was a small team of us, you know, pastors, and we went to go and teach, and and as soon as we landed, the guy who picked us up, our contact there said, you know what? I don't know what we're going to do today. I don't know what we're going to do. I go, what are you talking about? He says, because there was an arrest. They broke into the police came and arrested all these pastors in this, one cell, and they hauled them off to jail, and so the people that we were gonna teach to just went dark, just went off the grid. And so he said, I I don't know how to get in touch with her. I don't know how to get in touch with them.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:23:16]:
So, what do you guys want to do? And we were just saying, oh, we don't know what we're gonna do too. So we just we just prayed. We went to go eat lunch. We we prayed, and and when we went to this place to go to eat lunch, and it was like some guy's birthday party, formal Olympian guy, who's a believer in China, and so some somehow our contact knew this guy. And when we were at the party, the contact lady was there. She her network is has, like, 80,000 people, her network of small small group churches, house churches. And so she was there, and then so she said she just acted like, oh. Oh, yeah.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:02]:
Would you guys come over? It's like all of a sudden, it's like nothing happened. Like, and we were like, Hey, did you know she was gonna be here? Did you call? I never know. We just showed up. Right? But we had a connection. We had access, but before that we had no ability to connect. Right? So we felt distant, and we felt lost. And you know, sometimes the world, they feel disconnected from God because they don't have his number, because they don't know where he's at, and because they're hanging out in the wrong places, right, in some ways. But here's what happens is that God gives us access to himself.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:24:41]:
Why? Because you're a son and you or a daughter. And so because you're you're a member of the house, you have access. This is what it says in Hebrews 10 verses 19 to 22. And so dear brothers and sisters, we can what? Boldly enter heaven's most holy place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life giving way to the curtain into the most holy place. You know, the picture he's giving is in the in the temple that people couldn't go into the very inner core where the Ark of the Covenant was, where they would sacrifice the animal, they would take the blood, and they would pour it over on the top of this golden box that had two angels over it, and he says that in that moment only once a year the priest could ever enter, and when they would enter that place that they would actually tie a rope around their feet as they would walk into the temple, and that they would if you ever read sometimes you read Old Testament and there's a little minutiae in there, but they would talk about how his robe would be blue and and with different threads in it, and on the bottom they would sew tiny bells. Right? And so when the guy went behind the curtain, this is how they knew the guy was, like, didn't get struck dead by the holiness of God is they would hear the ting ting ting, like they'd hear the little tinkles. And if it ever came to the place where they heard something go, and they're listening and it's super quiet in there, and they call them and they say, hey.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:26:22]:
Hey. You alright in there? And like, they couldn't just go right in if that guy couldn't handle being in the holy place. Then like the regular people, right, we're just saying, I ain't going. So this is why they had the rope, to drag out the body, should there be that. But instead, this is what it says, that by his blood and the cross, when he was there, it says the temple veil was torn in 2. So god says, by my son's blood I'm opening the door. It's not just for the priest once a year, if you happen to be right with me and good enough and not enough sin in your life to warrant that. He says, no.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:27:07]:
It's for all my sons. It's for all my daughters. It's for all my children. And since we have a great high priest who rules over God's house, let us go into the presence of God with sincere hearts, fully trusting him, for our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ's blood to make us clean. Right? So he's saying, remember that guilt and that shame. He says, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. And what does that apply, the image of is, like, of course, of salvation with the sprinkling of the blood and the the washing of the waters, the waters of baptism, and taking a step of faith in that. And so, I remember when we went to Israel, and we went to the Wailing Wall, and the Wailing Wall is the most holy place in all of modern Judaism, because it's the remnant of the retaining wall, the outer wall that was surrounding the Temple Mount.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:28:06]:
So to them, this is like whenever you see videos, and there's a long line of people, and sometimes you see them going like this, and they're praying, right, standing in front this stone wall because that's the only wall that remains that was part of the Temple Mount. So it's the most holy place. And I remember standing there, and I was just thinking, you know, I'm I'm standing in. They tell us, write your prayer in a little paper, and then you could stick it in the wall in the cracks of the wall. That's what they do. And before I did, I just thanked Jesus. I thanked the father for the blood of Jesus because me, myself, personally, if we weren't in the New Testament time, if I put my hand on that wall, I think it would be like And so does he hear he hears you. And it's not because God makes himself unholy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:20]:
He just made a way for us to become holy. And so we have access to God. Jesus' blood is the washes us, makes us clean. And by that, we can present. And it says that, you know, today, I think that sometimes we don't pray because we don't feel qualified to come before God. Maybe you feel like sometimes you gotta wait. It's like, I gotta feel bad for like, I I didn't feel bad long enough yet. I didn't feel guilty long enough.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:29:48]:
And then when I feel guilty long enough and I think I paid enough price, then I'll confess my sin and then I can pray. You know, like it's it's like I don't need to beat myself up. The moment I repent, the moment I choose to just bring it before God, God says, just come. Just come. And and so today, would you know that the instruction to us, Hebrews 416, says that let us approach then God's throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive help. Great grace mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. You have access. Why? Because you're so great? Sometimes maybe.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:30:32]:
Right? Sometimes not so great. But the blood of Jesus still washes you, still washes you. And maybe sometimes when you haven't been, you say, God, would you just tell them, you know, Lord, would you just wash me all over again? Thank you. Thank you for the blood of your sacrifice. That's the way I come. And, you know, the thing is that, interesting when and I I couldn't put all these things together, and I didn't wanna get you too lost and talk too much about the the passover, but there's a passage in that whole, there's a couple verses in there that talk about the fact that that he was doing more than just making the people right because he was he was also casting judgment on the idolatrous gods. In Exodus 12, verses 12 and 13, he says it like this. He says that at the Passover, what is he saying? I will execute judgments against what? All the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:31:37]:
You see, part of what the that was happening, in the Passover was God was judging all the false gods in the land, all the demonic spirits, all the principalities and powers. And he says, but the blood under your doorpost will serve as a sign, what, that you're not serving those gods. Right? It was a sign that you're you're not you you might have been raised in this thing. You might not have known about me. You might not have followed me, but the thing is that now the sign is that you've chosen me. Now the sign is that you've put your faith in me, and so he says, that's the sign that I see it, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt. The 10 the 10 plagues that you see happen in in the book of Exodus about the water, the Nile turning into blood, was really because the Nile was like a god to them because they thought it brought fertility to the land. It overflowed, and it brought, you know, that's why they called it the whole thing, the Fertile Crescent and and all of those things.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:32:42]:
And and so you see this aspect is he's judging all the gods of the land. And and Passover then is kinda end of that. And so that's the Old Testament image, but this is what it says in the New Testament then. How is that fulfilled then in Jesus? And in Colossians, the apostle Paul says it this way in in Colossians 2:15. In this way in this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. And you know, when you see in our in our country or you see in our city or you see in our island that, like, a division, do you guys ever notice there's a little bit of division? Right? So it sometimes I I really believe there's a spirit of division. Right? There's a spirit of division.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:33:43]:
But you know what? Jesus disarmed the spirit of division, but we need to enforce that. Right. There's a spirit of violence. Right. There's a spirit of excess, of of intoxication, of of drunkenness, or or or getting high. Right? There's a there's there's all these things that influence people to do them. There's a spirit of anger, like that the enemy derives pleasure for some of us that when we just lose it. And and this is what it says though.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:20]:
When Jesus died on the cross, he disarmed those spirits, principalities, powers, demonic forces. Why? Because he paid the price. He broke the barrier. He shamed them, he says, and he broke their power. Now, this is what it says in Revelation 12:11, and you might have heard this, before, but even in the book of Revelation, it's like not dark stormy night. No. But, or right? But sometimes we get in there. I don't want to read.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:34:57]:
It's kind of scary or whatever. But in the midst of that, there are things that happen. There is a spiritual battle that happens, but in the middle of the book, in Revelation 12:11, it says this. It says let's read what it says together. They triumphed over him. Who is him? It's actually Satan. Right? It's actually the enemy. They triumphed over the devil by what? The blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:35:30]:
Because the people of God that when they hold to the blood of the lamb, the the the power of Jesus' sacrifice, and it says, and the word of their testimony. Now what is the word of their testimony? It's the word testimony that it comes from the word martis where you get actually the word martyr, but it's like it's saying this that often a martyr is somebody who dies for their faith. Right? And so they would say often they would want them to recant their faith, like, hey, denounce this thing. Say that this is not true. And, you know, that they would generally say at that point, they would, like, I'm I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it. You know, I I I was talking with one of my friends, Corey. A lot of you guys know Corey, big Corey.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:36:25]:
He does announcements on Sunday sometimes. And he he had a friend that was in, in Seattle when he was living in Seattle of a of a brother, African guy who came to and, came to Seattle, was working in there, and ended up working in a shop, of course, in the auto body industry. And and he was he said, he was such a great brother in the Lord. He was a horrible body shop guy, but he wasn't skilled in that, but he was a great guy. Right? And he said, you know, he asked them, like, how did, you know, how did you get here? And he he told the story how his dad was a pastor in, and I I I think it was Kenya, and that that the rebels came, Muslim rebels came and told him, hey, you guys, you better stop preaching the gospel. He had a radio station where he would preach to all the villages, and they came at gunpoint, and he said, you better you better stop doing this and renounce Jesus. Tell everybody this is a lie or we're gonna kill you. And they came with the guns, and the pastor said, nope.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:37:40]:
I ain't doing it. And then the next thing he knew, they came one day in the middle of the night, rounded him, his dad and him together, put him in a vehicle, and the next thing they do is they wake up and they're in a warehouse, and next to them is one guy who's been tortured, and that looks like he'd been shot or stabbed or whatever. And he asked these guys, would you, you need to renounce your faith. Right? Tell everybody we're giving you just the last chance. And the dad said, nope. Jesus is Lord. He said, they took a saw and they cut off his leg, and they they beat him up, the son up, and eventually, the dad died from his womb, and and they left. And he said that that guy who was there previously, who had been beaten, they they somehow got out of their bindings and they escaped, and that guy died on the journey in from where they were.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:38:46]:
They were in the middle of nowhere in a warehouse. And somehow, in one village, he found out there was an embassy someplace or a consulate, US consulate. They made for the consulate, and the consulate had them flown to Washington state. He's telling this story, and Corey is like blown away. Corey is telling me this story, and I'm blown away, right? Like I'm thinking like, bro, this guy's dad is like Bible level hero, right? But because of that, because he was not willing that he didn't say, I'm going to preserve my life at all cost. He says, the devil was defeated. The gospel continued to go forward. This guy now is a pastor.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:39:37]:
The son is now a pastor in the church in Washington, kind of overseeing the African congregation because it's not just the power of the gospel in in in the blood of the lamb, but it's it's expressed through a human life that says, Yes, Lord. This, I trust you. No, I'm not. Even if they even if they even if the worst happens, I'm not changing. You know, if you talk to anybody who's been in the military and sometimes when there's been war and and that we've had to send people off, and we would pray for them. And and, you know, we talk to the family, and the family sometimes they're a little nervous and but you know when you talk to these guys, who actually go, they don't love war. Right? They don't. They but this is what they say.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:40:37]:
They're they said, but this is what I trained for. Sometimes it's the first responders. It's the same thing. Right? It's like, this is what I trained for. So when, you know, when everything is crazy and everybody's running away, these guys, they're running in. Right? But you know what? They they don't get promised when they sign up for the military or they sign up for to be a police officer or fireman or whatever. They don't get promises like, yes, we'll pay you. Yes, sometimes we'll house you, right, like a fireman, they stay in there or or military, right, you stay in the barracks.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:41:13]:
And yes, you know, we'll train you, and we guarantee you, you'll never ever get hurt. They don't make that last promise because that's what it means sometimes to be a soldier. And you know the thing is that God doesn't actually give us that same promise either. It's not like it happens all the time, but the thing is that there are real arrows and real bullets that fly in this spiritual battle. And some of those, when I say real, are spiritual in nature, But when you've been shot, you feel it. When you've been betrayed, when you've been lied about, when you've been dragged down, when you've been tempted, when you've been whatever the case, sometimes you get shot. And sometimes it's literal. Right? But we say, nobody wants that.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:42:17]:
I mean, we're not crazy. Nobody says, I wanna die for that. But he says that, you know what? They said there's there's something worse than dying, and that's for me to abdicate my testimony. And you guys have met some people in this church who have come from Myanmar, who literally put their lives on the line, every day they get up and go out and go do the ministry that they are called to do, that they could be arrested, they could be conscripted, if they refuse, they could be taken out and shot, and they still go. And because of that, God says, we give them, He gives them the victory because there's a better life to live. There's more to this life than just this life. 1st John says this, that the world is fading away. This world is fading away along with everything that people crave.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:43:32]:
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. And so our battle is not with flesh and blood. Right? Our battle is not with that Muslim rebel. Our battle is not with the guys who overthrew the government. Our battle is not like if today, you know, like when we say there's a bit of division. Right? If you're a democrat, republicans are not your enemy. If you're a conservative, progressives are not your enemy. Right? If if you're a person of, who believes in Jesus, atheists are not your enemy.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:06]:
Or people of other religions are they're not our enemy. Right? So who's our enemy? The devil's our enemy. We flesh we we don't fight flesh and blood. We're trying to reach them because Jesus loves them. He died. He paid the price for them. And so this is what he says, Hebrews 1023. So let's hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:44:36]:
Your God is faithful. You know, that word confession really means to say the same thing, to say the same thing. I confess like we say, okay, this is my confession. I'm saying the same thing as whatever that truth that they were talking about, to say the same. And when you and I, we align our lives with God, and that we say that no matter what the cost, our lives become unshakable. And this is the person that the devil fears. The devil fears the person who says, God, even if it doesn't work out the way that I think, if the Lord Jesus, if you're telling me to go, I'm gonna go. And we overcome Satan when we testify personally to the power of the blood according to what the word of God says.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:45:32]:
That when you and I test personally, that we we testify to the power of the blood according to what the word of God says because it it gives us a sense of redemption, right, of cleansing, of reconciliation, peace with God, access with God, the victory over the enemy. And it says that we just need to agree. We need to agree with God, to be committed. Another word for these guys is they were committed. And so we need to be committed. That's what it's calling us to. This is the last one. This is the last point is that that we're covered we're covered to live a new life transformed in Christ.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:46:21]:
Do it for your turn to your neighbor and say, God's got you covered. Now why do I say that? This is what it says, to God's elect. In 1st Peter 1:1 to 2, it says, to God's elect who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the father, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood. You see, the blood covered them at the Passover, and the blood covers them at the cross, but it actually says that there's a bit of a requirement. There's one requirement is that you got to listen to what God is saying. So I'm going to read this in a little bit, but one of the things that said that when they would, in Exodus when they did the Passover, you know, he gives this instruction, you know, you do these things, you slaughter lamb and you catch the the blood in the bowl and you get the hyssop and you apply it to the doorpost and the lintel. And none of it was to be on the ground because it was never to be trampled on. Right? But but it's on these places, and it says, and then you stay in your house you stay in your house till the morning.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:47:45]:
Why? Because if you went out at night, this is when God was bringing judgment on that land. So although the blood covered the door in your house, if you stepped out of the covering, you weren't really covered. Right? So sometimes what's necessary for us to be covered is for us to listen and obey God's instruction. You know, like if somebody gave you an umbrella, and you got the umbrella, like, say, the big golf umbrella, and you went out. It was raining. Right? And and but you were walking like this with the umbrella, and over and half your body is wet. Are you gonna say, oh, junk this umbrella doesn't cover me. No.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:48:44]:
You're gonna say somebody's gonna say to you, brother, you gotta you gotta bring them like this, and you gotta walk under the covering. And then you know what happens? Then you're covered. Right? And so God is saying to us He says, I got you covered. Right? But part of that is and so that we kind of leave behind some old things, and we walk into new things. And some of us maybe you when I say that you you're it covers those who are obedient, it doesn't cover the disobedience. Now when I say something like that, I know some of us are wondering, like, okay, wait. So he's saying, if I don't listen to God, I'm not obedient to God, and I do this thing, Is that unforgivable? No. I think anything's forgivable, right? Anything's forgivable, but you won't be covered in that moment of that you're out there, right? And so some of us, we might be wondering, well, like like what? Like what? Like, what kind of stuff? Right? Is it, like, if I lied, is that covered? Or if it's, like, if I if I took something that's not mine, if I, you know I mean, I don't know.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:49:58]:
Right? But here's the thing. If you ask me that kind of a question or that's what you have in the back of your mind, if you ask me, I'm gonna say I don't know. I don't know what the little thing I I know 2 things about that. God doesn't expect you to be perfect, because if you were perfect, you wouldn't need Jesus. Right? So He knows that we are faulty and frail, but at the same time, the second thing I know is that it's not so helpful to think about how far can I get from Jesus and still be covered? It's more helpful to say, I want to be as far away from the edge as is possible. Right? And when the closer we walk, I think the more fully we'll be covered and so that we can live a new life in Christ. You know, I'm gonna I just want to read this this thing about the Passover, and I, I think it'll make sense, you know, like a little bit more fully, and I'm just gonna explain, and we're gonna, we're gonna make some confessions. We're gonna say the same.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:51:10]:
Right? But and then we're gonna take communion. But before we do it, I wanted to read this. It says, so then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, go pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families and slaughter the Passover animal. Drain the blood into a basin, then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it in the blood, and brush the hyssop across the top and the sides of the door frames of your houses, and no one may go out through the door until morning. Right? Just all the stuff that I said. For the Lord will pass through the land and strike down the Egyptians, but when he sees the blood on the top and the sides of the door frame, the Lord will pass over your home, and he will not permit his death angel to enter your house and strike you down. You know, the thing is that when they sacrificed the animal, and the animal already died, and they're taking the blood and they're pouring it into the bowl, the animal has already been sacrificed. But, you know, the blood in the bowl is meaningless until it's applied.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:52:21]:
It's the application of the blood that is the sign to pass over. And in the same way, like, for us as a believer, Jesus already paid the price. The blood and the sacrifice already been been made. But until it's applied, in some ways, it doesn't matter to us. But the moment that it is the moment that it is, we'd have peace with God and be reconciled to Him. He buys us back and forgives us our sin. He gives us access. Right? And we have a direct contact in God and we can come boldly.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:53:06]:
We have victory over the enemy and all of his strategy, and then he says this, you're covered, and then you can live a new life. It's just got to be applied. So what we're gonna do before we take communion, I'm gonna just give us a time, just a moment, and just say, hey, you know, like maybe there's an area in your life that when I say it's not covered, you kind of walked out from the covering of God. Maybe another way to say it was that when we were singing the worship song today, Build My Life, Right? I will build my life upon your love and I will not be shaken, we say. I was just thinking, you guys ever find yourself standing at some point and you realize, I haven't built this part of my life on Christ. I haven't built it in obedience to God. I've built it on, like, just what I wanted to do because I felt like doing it, and I wasn't about to listen to anybody, even God in this moment. If that's you, you find yourself, just confess that to God and just bring it under.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:18]:
Just say, God, I I stepped out of your covering in this moment. And you know what? There'll be a grace for it. God, I'm sorry. I want to bring this part of my life under your covering. And this is this is what he says, and you're covered. Because He already paid the price. You don't need to you don't need to wait, feel bad, like, long enough. Just choose.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:54:44]:
Just choose. And let's bring ourselves before God. Let's Father, I I thank you and that each of us we come, we're asking, Lord, would you just search our hearts today? Because you tell us there is such tremendous power by the blood of Jesus. And this is not even all. Part of it is you say, Lord, that it's it's by your stripes that we're healed. Father, it's it's it's by the blood that that we're not just saved, but we're empowered and that, Lord, you you that you see us not just simply as sinners who are forgiven, but, Lord, that you say you see the righteousness of Jesus. And, Father, today we just recognize sometimes we've we've not really walked fully under your covering. And if that's you, would you just just acknowledge that to God? If there's a sin to confess, would you just confess it? But we are also going to ask, if you have never said yes to Jesus or maybe, you know, you have just kind of been walking your own way, we are just going to invite you to just say, would you just bring yourself back? Bring yourself back before him.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:04]:
And, father, that today I just confess I haven't been as close to you as you wanted me to be. And maybe some of you, you just said, Lord, to be honest, I've never really surrendered my life to you. And today's the day I have for you. Would you just tell them today, today I'm surrendering to you. Thank you for the blood. Thank you for dying in my place. I wanna follow you. I I wanna know you.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:35]:
Yes. Yes. I wanna be your son. I wanna be your daughter. Thank you that you made a way. Thank you that you you want me to know you and you want me to have peace with you. That's what I'm coming for today. And we're going to just make some confessions.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:56:51]:
Would you, you know, you can have your eyes closed, you can have your eyes open, it doesn't matter, but would you just confess this to God today? Dear God, I wanna say the same thing as what your word says because I put my faith in you. You said the blood of Jesus cleanses me and I have peace with you And I receive that peace with you today. Thank you, Lord. Thank you that you chose me and called me out from the world. Father, I thank you today because of the blood of Jesus that you've bought me back. You've redeemed me. And now I'm a part of your family. I'm a child of God and I silence every voice that says otherwise that says otherwise.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:57:56]:
And father, I thank you right now. You hear me. You hear me. Because you've given me access. To boldly come before you because of the blood of Jesus. Thank you for the life giving way that I can come before you now. And father, thank you that when the enemy accuses me, or opposes me, or opposes me, or stands against me, that I have the victory. That I have the victory.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:58:32]:
Because he is disarmed by the blood of Christ. You shamed them and defeated them and defeated them by the power of the cross. I agree. And Lord, I stand in Jesus' name. And say that would every plan of the enemy be frustrated. Every whisper of the enemy be silenced. Because I'm standing in the blood of Christ. And I thank you that you got me covered today.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:11]:
And I want to live a new life in Jesus. I wanna be changed and transformed. Look more like you. Look more like you. Bit by bit. Start today. In me. In me.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:26]:
Through me. In Jesus' name. Amen. If you agree with that, would you give the Lord a praise? Hallelujah. You know, obviously, you guys probably know that the words that we prayed are not magic words. They're just words that express the things that we talked about. And so when you're in that kind of places, just remember, it's not the magic words. It's it's the powerful God.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [00:59:56]:
Right? It's the mighty God. Amen. And that when we stand in agreement with him and we say, Lord, your word is true. That's right. That it no matter what I feel, no matter what I've been through, your word is true. Amen. And, God, I'm gonna align my life. Amen.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:00:09]:
You know what he says? You're covered. Yes. Right? And so to as a symbol of that, we're gonna take communion. Right? And what that is is we meet Jesus at the cross. Right? Amen. So the elements are in the back. A piece of bread, cup of juice, and, if you need to pray about some things, we'll give you a little bit of time, and when everybody's got their thing, we'll we'll take the elements together. Okay? Let's go.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:01]:
I was a wretch. I remember who I was. I was lost. I was blind. I was running out time.

Pastor Glenn Yamaguchi [01:01:58]:
 In Jesus name, as people say, amen? Okay, let's stand. We're going to close this on this last song here.