WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.419 Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's 00:00:03.419 --> 00:00:06.059 a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands, 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:09.019 and activates God's promises. In our brand new 00:00:09.019 --> 00:00:11.820 book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:13.839 powerful journey through some of Scripture's 00:00:13.839 --> 00:00:16.800 most transforming moments where ordinary people 00:00:16.800 --> 00:00:20.699 dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf. 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.160 Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon. 00:00:27.009 --> 00:00:31.750 This is week number two in our series entitled, I Have the Receipt. I have the receipt. 00:00:31.850 --> 00:00:36.770 Everybody say that. I have the receipt. I have 00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:40.130 the receipt. How many of you have ever shopped 00:00:40.130 --> 00:00:44.850 at like BJ's or Costco? If you've done that, 00:00:44.890 --> 00:00:47.070 if you've been to like a wholesale store, you 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:51.929 know that after you purchase whatever, your way 00:00:51.929 --> 00:00:54.310 too expensive groceries, and you go to check 00:00:54.310 --> 00:00:58.299 out, There's a person standing there, usually 00:00:58.299 --> 00:01:00.280 a little desk, and they have a little counter, 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:03.759 and they ask for your receipt. And what do they 00:01:03.759 --> 00:01:08.939 do? Now, most of the time, most people, they 00:01:08.939 --> 00:01:12.840 look at it and then kind of look at you, and 00:01:12.840 --> 00:01:15.439 then they look in your buggy. Make sure you're 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:20.280 not suspicious, I guess. Right? They look at 00:01:20.280 --> 00:01:23.439 their receipt, look at you, and then look in 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:27.250 the buggy and go, I feel good about that. Have 00:01:27.250 --> 00:01:30.969 a great day, right? And they hand it off. Yesterday, 00:01:31.310 --> 00:01:35.329 Kayla and I, we were at Costco. And, I mean, 00:01:35.349 --> 00:01:37.890 it was chaos. Don't ever do that. Don't go to 00:01:37.890 --> 00:01:40.549 Costco. Just don't go on a Saturday. That was 00:01:40.549 --> 00:01:45.590 the first mistake of the day. But we ventured 00:01:45.590 --> 00:01:49.489 out. No one was hurt. Only one person ran into 00:01:49.489 --> 00:01:52.840 me with a buggy. I mean, so I consider myself 00:01:52.840 --> 00:01:55.420 very fortunate and blessed that I survived that 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:58.599 experience. But so we paid for our groceries 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.620 and, oh yeah, we probably need to start that. 00:02:02.180 --> 00:02:06.640 Now it's asking questions. Now we're translating. 00:02:07.420 --> 00:02:11.919 As I was checking out, you know, we paid for 00:02:11.919 --> 00:02:14.860 everything. They even rang it up, like surprisingly, 00:02:14.860 --> 00:02:16.699 we didn't do self -checkout or anything, but 00:02:16.699 --> 00:02:19.500 we walk over to the counter, we hand them the 00:02:19.500 --> 00:02:23.689 receipt. And I kid you not, this guy looks at 00:02:23.689 --> 00:02:27.710 me, and he's like, I believe he counted every 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:30.129 single item on the receipt. I mean, there's a 00:02:30.129 --> 00:02:34.069 huge line. Like, it sounded like he was acting 00:02:34.069 --> 00:02:36.050 like it was coming out of his paycheck. Like, 00:02:36.050 --> 00:02:37.810 I mean, there's this huge line. We're sitting 00:02:37.810 --> 00:02:39.490 there, and he's counting every single thing. 00:02:39.710 --> 00:02:43.469 And then he put his hand on every grocery, every 00:02:43.469 --> 00:02:46.509 product that we had, put his hand on every single 00:02:46.509 --> 00:02:49.240 thing in my buggy, and then said, Have a good 00:02:49.240 --> 00:02:53.680 day. I was just like, wow, you are very committed 00:02:53.680 --> 00:02:58.300 to your job here. And that was wonderful. But 00:02:58.300 --> 00:03:03.020 what is a receipt? What is a receipt? Anybody 00:03:03.020 --> 00:03:06.379 know? Just tell me what a receipt is. It's proof. 00:03:06.719 --> 00:03:09.060 There you go. Thank you. It's a proof. Everybody 00:03:09.060 --> 00:03:15.300 say proof of purchase. Say proof of purchase. 00:03:19.610 --> 00:03:22.990 Proof of purchase, right? It's what was bought. 00:03:23.349 --> 00:03:25.770 Now I go and I present my receipt and they're 00:03:25.770 --> 00:03:30.590 checking it for a proof of purchase. They often 00:03:30.590 --> 00:03:33.789 wonder if I showed up and I didn't have the receipt, 00:03:33.949 --> 00:03:39.629 what would happen? Right? What if you lost it 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:43.409 between the checkout counter and the thing? Like 00:03:43.409 --> 00:03:47.159 it has to have happened, right? Like, that scares 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:49.479 me. That keeps me up at night a little bit. Like, 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:53.080 what happens if I show up and I'm like, this 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.759 is all purchased. Like, it's all good. And they're 00:03:55.759 --> 00:03:57.860 just looking at me like, where's your receipt, 00:03:58.139 --> 00:04:00.960 right? What would they do? They would, like, 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:04.240 they would accuse me of stealing, saying that 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:06.680 it wasn't mine and I'm trying to do bad, right? 00:04:06.939 --> 00:04:09.599 If I was in Polk County, Sheriff Grady would 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:11.680 have me on, you know, hold up the little thing, 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:16.339 see this. Right? You'd be like, see this guy? 00:04:16.939 --> 00:04:21.240 Guess what he tried to do yesterday? Call my 00:04:21.240 --> 00:04:25.800 preacher. I ain't getting you out if you steal 00:04:25.800 --> 00:04:31.079 groceries, sir. I'm not bailing you out. But 00:04:31.079 --> 00:04:35.480 they, right, they would accuse you of, you know, 00:04:35.480 --> 00:04:38.959 what was bought, right? And in the same way, 00:04:39.019 --> 00:04:42.839 in the same way we have an accuser, As Christians, 00:04:42.920 --> 00:04:46.300 we have an accuser of the brethren, right? The 00:04:46.300 --> 00:04:49.920 devil, he roams around like a roaring lion, the 00:04:49.920 --> 00:04:54.560 Bible says, seeking who he may devour. He's come 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.480 to steal, to kill, to destroy, and to accuse 00:04:57.480 --> 00:05:01.600 you of things that's already been purchased for 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:06.879 you. His main purpose is to attack believers. 00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:11.069 And to keep you from living in the reality of 00:05:11.069 --> 00:05:19.170 the purchases that Christ paid. I'm just going 00:05:19.170 --> 00:05:22.550 to let that sit there a little bit. Because if 00:05:22.550 --> 00:05:25.209 he can convince you that the price was not paid, 00:05:25.370 --> 00:05:29.170 that you got to work for it, that your past disqualifies 00:05:29.170 --> 00:05:35.769 you from it, he's won the battle. And we're powerless 00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:41.670 against him. Amen. Amen. Let the redeemed of 00:05:41.670 --> 00:05:47.029 the Lord say so. We need to get it in our mouth 00:05:47.029 --> 00:05:52.689 and speak the reality of what God has made available 00:05:52.689 --> 00:05:54.670 to us. And that's what this series is about. 00:05:54.990 --> 00:05:57.670 This series that helps us be more established 00:05:57.670 --> 00:06:00.149 in one of the most central truths of the Christian 00:06:00.149 --> 00:06:03.560 faith. And that is this, what was accomplished 00:06:03.560 --> 00:06:06.600 and what is provided through the blood of Jesus. 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:10.560 Amen? Because there's things that were accomplished, 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:13.560 there's things that were provided for, that's 00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:20.000 made available to us. And the Word of God, the 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:26.480 Word of God contains a detailed receipt. Say 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.839 receipt. The Word of God contains a detailed 00:06:29.839 --> 00:06:33.879 receipt. of what Jesus purchased with his blood. 00:06:34.459 --> 00:06:41.699 So when the accuser attacks, I have the receipt. 00:06:41.879 --> 00:06:44.879 Everybody say, I have the receipt. You got to 00:06:44.879 --> 00:06:47.220 stay with me this morning. It's a good word. 00:06:47.439 --> 00:06:50.019 This is a good word. If you were here last week, 00:06:50.139 --> 00:06:52.399 if you weren't here, you really missed it. I 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:54.540 encourage you to go back on podcast and listen. 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:57.839 But this is week number two in our series entitled, 00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:02.589 I have the receipt. And the blood, often when 00:07:02.589 --> 00:07:05.790 we talk about the blood, we think of it in a 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:08.709 way of just like an illustration or just symbolic 00:07:08.709 --> 00:07:11.550 religious verbiage. We just kind of pass around 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:15.550 talking about the blood of Jesus. But the reality 00:07:15.550 --> 00:07:19.730 is that it's covenant. It's covenant information. 00:07:20.050 --> 00:07:23.910 It's covenant knowledge. It's full of spiritual 00:07:23.910 --> 00:07:28.029 power for the believer that understands, that 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:31.110 recognizes what the blood. has done and what 00:07:31.110 --> 00:07:35.129 it has purchased for us. Often, though, if you 00:07:35.129 --> 00:07:37.810 ask someone about the blood of Jesus, especially 00:07:37.810 --> 00:07:40.069 if you've been in church any amount of time, 00:07:40.209 --> 00:07:43.769 often if you say, what is the blood? What has 00:07:43.769 --> 00:07:45.689 the blood accomplished? They would probably quote 00:07:45.689 --> 00:07:47.829 this verse. How many of you have heard this verse 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:50.129 before or heard someone talk about it? Hebrews 00:07:50.129 --> 00:07:54.889 9 .22. All the references on the screen, the 00:07:54.889 --> 00:07:59.759 addresses are New Living Translation. unless 00:07:59.759 --> 00:08:03.579 otherwise noted. But Hebrews 9 .22 says this, 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:07.319 without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness 00:08:07.319 --> 00:08:11.879 of sin, right? There's no forgiveness. I remember 00:08:11.879 --> 00:08:14.319 there's no remission of sin, some translations 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:17.819 say. But that's what most people view when they 00:08:17.819 --> 00:08:19.779 think about the blood. They're talking about 00:08:19.779 --> 00:08:22.699 the forgiveness of God. Everybody say forgiveness. 00:08:23.420 --> 00:08:26.800 Forgiveness. But in Colossians, and as we saw 00:08:26.800 --> 00:08:30.000 last week, Colossians 1, 13 through 14 makes 00:08:30.000 --> 00:08:34.100 a distinction here. Listen, for he has rescued 00:08:34.100 --> 00:08:37.679 us. Amen. Ah, that should make you happy. Come 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:43.299 on. He has rescued me. He has rescued us from 00:08:43.299 --> 00:08:47.740 the kingdom of darkness and transferred. Everybody 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:52.700 say transferred. Transferred us, what? Into the 00:08:52.700 --> 00:08:57.679 kingdom. You don't have to fight to get in. Amen. 00:08:58.200 --> 00:09:04.179 It's available to all. For he has rescued us 00:09:04.179 --> 00:09:07.139 from the kingdom of darkness and transferred 00:09:07.139 --> 00:09:10.419 us into the kingdom of his dear son, who what? 00:09:10.799 --> 00:09:14.080 Purchased our freedom. That's what we learned 00:09:14.080 --> 00:09:16.620 about last week, that the blood of Jesus not 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:20.820 only forgives sin, but he purchased us. Ownership 00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:26.820 rights changed hands. Amen. He purchased our 00:09:26.820 --> 00:09:32.460 freedom and forgave our sin. Amen. There we see 00:09:32.460 --> 00:09:35.279 that distinction. So the blood accomplishes more 00:09:35.279 --> 00:09:41.200 than forgiveness or pays the price for purchase. 00:09:42.740 --> 00:09:45.460 Today we're looking at how the blood of Jesus 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:51.340 cleanses us. The blood of Jesus cleanses us. 00:09:51.379 --> 00:09:56.470 Amen. The believer is washed by the blood. The 00:09:56.470 --> 00:09:59.330 Bible communicates this over and over again, 00:09:59.370 --> 00:10:02.429 this concept of the believer being cleansed by 00:10:02.429 --> 00:10:06.590 the blood, purified by the blood. And it goes 00:10:06.590 --> 00:10:09.970 a step farther. It says in the verses that we're 00:10:09.970 --> 00:10:12.629 about to see is that Christ's blood not only 00:10:12.629 --> 00:10:16.970 cleanses us outwardly, it cleanses our conscience 00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:21.620 of all guilt and condemnation. And you might 00:10:21.620 --> 00:10:24.639 think, well, that just really sounds good. But 00:10:24.639 --> 00:10:26.759 this is Scripture, and we're going to learn several 00:10:26.759 --> 00:10:29.200 verses where the Bible talks about how the blood 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:34.440 cleanses our conscience. It cleanses our heart, 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:37.559 the inner man, our personality, the very fiber 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:42.480 of our character. It reaches where no other substance 00:10:42.480 --> 00:10:48.340 could. And it cleanses us, cleanses our minds. 00:10:51.930 --> 00:10:56.029 Unfortunately, though, many believers still live 00:10:56.029 --> 00:11:01.029 in an invisible prison of guilt, of shame, of 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:07.470 condemnation, spiritual insecurity, all due to 00:11:07.470 --> 00:11:10.610 past actions, maybe something that you've done, 00:11:10.769 --> 00:11:18.070 maybe something others have done to you, past 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:25.590 experiences. and are held captive by them. But 00:11:25.590 --> 00:11:29.669 God's blood promises he's purchased something 00:11:29.669 --> 00:11:36.690 for us. He's purchased a cleansing of our conscience. 00:11:43.009 --> 00:11:47.230 The blood was not shed to create forgiven, but 00:11:47.230 --> 00:11:55.399 tormented Christians. And to live tormented is 00:11:55.399 --> 00:12:04.259 to take it in vain. We need to be serious about 00:12:04.259 --> 00:12:08.480 this and this word. The church needs this. This 00:12:08.480 --> 00:12:11.700 is how we walk in God's power. This is how we 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:16.080 experience his glory. This is how the world is 00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:22.470 transformed. The blood was not shed. To create 00:12:22.470 --> 00:12:26.009 forgiven but tormented Christians, but cleansed 00:12:26.009 --> 00:12:34.850 and confident believers. Torment is ultimately 00:12:34.850 --> 00:12:40.570 a lack of unbelief in the Word. Faith is confidence 00:12:40.570 --> 00:12:47.529 in what the blood of Jesus purchased. You can 00:12:47.529 --> 00:12:50.470 be a Christian and not fully believe everything. 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:56.740 and all the tenets of the Christian faith. Think 00:12:56.740 --> 00:13:00.740 about how much you knew as opposed to what you 00:13:00.740 --> 00:13:05.200 know now, being a Christian, right? You come 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:09.639 to God in childlike faith, amen? A child can 00:13:09.639 --> 00:13:11.779 believe it. He doesn't have to understand all 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:15.080 these things. And there's so much to God we still 00:13:15.080 --> 00:13:22.080 don't understand. He's so much more. But we need 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:26.279 to know who he is. We need to be mature in our 00:13:26.279 --> 00:13:30.139 beliefs, and we need to be cleansed and confident 00:13:30.139 --> 00:13:35.320 believers. Amen. The enemy accuses, the past 00:13:35.320 --> 00:13:43.299 reminds, and the mind likes to replay. The mind 00:13:43.299 --> 00:13:48.559 likes to play tricks on you, right? Our spirits 00:13:48.559 --> 00:13:53.289 are made. alive to christ right he renews those 00:13:53.289 --> 00:13:56.889 things but still we we are in a daily fight of 00:13:56.889 --> 00:14:03.289 faith to keep our minds in check for our minds 00:14:03.289 --> 00:14:05.889 to be renewed it's a daily process it's not an 00:14:05.889 --> 00:14:12.529 instantaneous zap the enemy accuses the devil 00:14:12.529 --> 00:14:15.889 he accuses us the past sometimes will you know 00:14:15.889 --> 00:14:18.860 flash images in your head the mind It plays all 00:14:18.860 --> 00:14:21.740 kinds of tricks, but the blood cleanses the consciousness. 00:14:22.460 --> 00:14:26.200 It has the power to silence all condemnation. 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.620 It has the power to restore access to God. And 00:14:32.620 --> 00:14:37.580 it speaks. It speaks. The blood of God still 00:14:37.580 --> 00:14:40.139 speaks. If you look at the book of Revelation, 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:43.059 guess what? The blood of God is still there. 00:14:45.070 --> 00:14:47.490 Come on. That means it's important. It's not 00:14:47.490 --> 00:14:51.090 just what has been done. It is what is done. 00:14:51.190 --> 00:14:54.090 It's finished. When Jesus said it's finished, 00:14:54.210 --> 00:14:57.169 everything that you need is in Christ and in 00:14:57.169 --> 00:15:00.029 him. He made it available. He accomplished it. 00:15:00.110 --> 00:15:02.409 And that's one of the great revelations of the 00:15:02.409 --> 00:15:05.110 Christian faith is just to realize that you're 00:15:05.110 --> 00:15:08.149 not working to earn something from God. He's 00:15:08.149 --> 00:15:12.070 provided it. And we access those things by faith. 00:15:13.980 --> 00:15:18.179 Everything that you need is found in him. And 00:15:18.179 --> 00:15:21.659 it's all finished work in his eyes. He doesn't 00:15:21.659 --> 00:15:24.340 go back to the cross and lay down and die every 00:15:24.340 --> 00:15:27.539 time you think a bad thought, every time you 00:15:27.539 --> 00:15:30.080 give in to the enemy's lies. He doesn't have 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:35.000 to go back. No, once and for all, he paid the 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:38.299 price of everything that I've done, everything 00:15:38.299 --> 00:15:46.230 that I will do. The blood speaks of God's finished 00:15:46.230 --> 00:15:52.990 work. Listen to this. Hebrews 9, 13 through 14 00:15:52.990 --> 00:15:57.970 says this, that under the old system, the blood 00:15:57.970 --> 00:16:00.570 of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer 00:16:00.570 --> 00:16:05.309 could cleanse people's bodies for ceremonial 00:16:05.309 --> 00:16:13.259 impurity. Verse 14, just think. I just want to 00:16:13.259 --> 00:16:19.779 pause there. Just think. This is important. This 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:21.980 is application for what we're talking about today. 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:31.620 Just think. Why? Just think. Set our minds on 00:16:31.620 --> 00:16:34.399 things above. Set our mind on Christ's finished 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:37.580 work on the cross. Keep this in constant view 00:16:37.580 --> 00:16:42.580 of your day -to -day existence. Just think how 00:16:42.580 --> 00:16:53.299 much more. God is all about more. How much more 00:16:53.299 --> 00:17:00.399 the blood of Christ will purify our consciences 00:17:00.399 --> 00:17:07.980 from sinful deeds. The blood of Jesus not only 00:17:07.980 --> 00:17:12.299 forgives you and not only purchases you, it cleanses, 00:17:12.299 --> 00:17:16.740 it washes your conscience from sinful deeds. 00:17:17.099 --> 00:17:20.240 What you've done, what others have done to you, 00:17:20.339 --> 00:17:25.500 it can cleanse you. It can cleanse your mind. 00:17:28.119 --> 00:17:33.680 So that, it continues, what does it say? So that, 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:38.789 what? We can worship so that we can have the 00:17:38.789 --> 00:17:47.069 ability to worship. So that we can worship the 00:17:47.069 --> 00:17:52.130 living, holy God who deserves a pure conscience, 00:17:52.450 --> 00:18:02.230 a pure heart after him, a submitted heart, full 00:18:02.230 --> 00:18:06.259 of faith. full of love, and we give that back 00:18:06.259 --> 00:18:09.900 to him. That's our worship to him is a clean, 00:18:09.980 --> 00:18:14.579 purified conscience. That's how we genuinely 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:18.299 worship him. You do not worship him if your mind 00:18:18.299 --> 00:18:21.079 is held captive to the sin that he set you free 00:18:21.079 --> 00:18:26.059 from. You live below what he's made available. 00:18:30.059 --> 00:18:32.279 And that's why I feel many Christians are living 00:18:32.279 --> 00:18:38.920 a below life than what God has for them. Christ 00:18:38.920 --> 00:18:42.400 is then the climactic answer to every Old Testament 00:18:42.400 --> 00:18:45.720 shadow, as we saw in verse 13 of Hebrews, right? 00:18:46.220 --> 00:18:48.799 He's answering that. It's not just a temporary 00:18:48.799 --> 00:18:53.259 fix where they had to sacrifice and then return. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.940 You know, it's like this over and over and over 00:18:55.940 --> 00:19:00.420 again. God's blood speaks of the finished work 00:19:00.420 --> 00:19:03.140 and his blood secures purity at the level of 00:19:03.140 --> 00:19:07.059 our conscious, not merely the flesh. So the law, 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:10.039 the Old Testament, what we call that, was illustrated 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:14.759 externally, what Christ realized internally. 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:20.039 And that regenerates the believer. It allows 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:24.730 the believer to have a new life. The old me is 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:27.069 gone, Paul said, right? The old me has died. 00:19:27.230 --> 00:19:31.289 I'm crucified with Christ. I no longer live. 00:19:31.329 --> 00:19:36.829 It's Christ who lives in me. He gives you a new 00:19:36.829 --> 00:19:43.349 mind, a new heart, new desires, new will, new 00:19:43.349 --> 00:19:48.829 passion, new purpose, new plan. He regenerates, 00:19:48.829 --> 00:19:51.890 and he's in the business of regenerating the 00:19:51.890 --> 00:19:57.609 believer as a whole. Not just your spirit, but 00:19:57.609 --> 00:20:00.930 your body, your mind, your will, your emotions. 00:20:01.990 --> 00:20:08.250 Amen? I had a co -worker. I worked part -time 00:20:08.250 --> 00:20:13.829 at Disney as a custodian. And one time when I 00:20:13.829 --> 00:20:15.309 was coordinating, I was sitting in our little 00:20:15.309 --> 00:20:18.549 office that we had on break. And there was this 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:22.650 guy, especially during the summer, you know, 00:20:22.670 --> 00:20:25.609 you're out in the hot sun. If you're not familiar 00:20:25.609 --> 00:20:28.250 with Florida, it gets like 200 degrees in the 00:20:28.250 --> 00:20:34.210 shade. And he, you know, it really didn't come 00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:37.170 up until the summer that he just didn't take 00:20:37.170 --> 00:20:40.869 a bath every day. Like, it was just one of those 00:20:40.869 --> 00:20:43.109 things. Like, he just went, you know, he would 00:20:43.109 --> 00:20:45.410 go a week. Sometimes he would push it to two. 00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:53.309 and there's just no sign of soap or bath. It's 00:20:53.309 --> 00:20:57.430 just bad. And it just kept getting worse and 00:20:57.430 --> 00:20:59.789 worse. It's like the stench just kind of would 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:07.829 build up. It was so bad. I kid you not. It was 00:21:07.829 --> 00:21:10.410 so bad, like you could tell if he had been in 00:21:10.410 --> 00:21:13.519 the room. even after he had left, like 30 minutes 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.700 after. How many of you have ever experienced 00:21:15.700 --> 00:21:19.619 that? It was so bad, they would break out the 00:21:19.619 --> 00:21:23.380 Lysol. I remember Caitlin, we were trying to 00:21:23.380 --> 00:21:25.339 eat lunch, and she was like, I can't eat, I got 00:21:25.339 --> 00:21:29.880 to leave. Somebody grabbed a can of Lysol and 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:32.380 started spraying down the chair after he left. 00:21:33.240 --> 00:21:38.809 It was bad. It was really, really bad. But the 00:21:38.809 --> 00:21:41.450 funny thing was, I guess he sort of knew or maybe 00:21:41.450 --> 00:21:44.990 like someone said something because you would 00:21:44.990 --> 00:21:47.309 see him go over to his backpack and grab some 00:21:47.309 --> 00:21:50.470 cologne or like body spray and he'd kind of, 00:21:50.529 --> 00:21:56.910 you know, do a little spritz. You know what I'm 00:21:56.910 --> 00:21:58.549 talking about. Don't look at me like you don't 00:21:58.549 --> 00:22:00.130 know what I'm talking about right now, okay? 00:22:00.390 --> 00:22:02.390 Like he would kind of spritz it a little bit 00:22:02.390 --> 00:22:05.609 and there would just be this sense, you know, 00:22:05.609 --> 00:22:09.519 of like, you know. I'm not going to say what 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:12.640 I was thinking, but there would be this nicer 00:22:12.640 --> 00:22:18.819 scent over a lasting stench, right? It kind of 00:22:18.819 --> 00:22:23.099 temporarily covered, in a sense, right? But what 00:22:23.099 --> 00:22:27.960 he really needed was a scalding hot bath. You 00:22:27.960 --> 00:22:29.779 know, not just a bath, but I mean, it needed 00:22:29.779 --> 00:22:32.799 to burn the flesh a little bit. You know what 00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:36.029 I'm saying? There needed to be some soap and 00:22:36.029 --> 00:22:39.829 some really, really hot water involved to get 00:22:39.829 --> 00:22:45.529 that off. And that's kind of like, I say that 00:22:45.529 --> 00:22:48.930 to say this, not just to be funny, but like the 00:22:48.930 --> 00:22:50.950 Old Testament, they were kind of like putting 00:22:50.950 --> 00:22:53.069 on cologne. They were like masking something, 00:22:53.390 --> 00:22:56.410 right? And a lot of times we'll even sort of 00:22:56.410 --> 00:23:01.069 do that. We try to fix things our own way. We 00:23:01.069 --> 00:23:04.160 kind of go, well, I recognize it. I recognize 00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:06.960 there's a problem here. There's a stench that 00:23:06.960 --> 00:23:09.799 I'm smelling. So I'm going to put a little cologne 00:23:09.799 --> 00:23:12.140 on it. I'm going to put a little perfume on it 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:15.700 and try to hide it a little bit. Maybe the people 00:23:15.700 --> 00:23:22.140 around me won't know. They will know. Come on 00:23:22.140 --> 00:23:28.039 now. Don't shout me down when I'm preaching. 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:31.700 Put a little cologne on it and think everything's 00:23:31.700 --> 00:23:35.089 better. God offers us something completely different. 00:23:35.190 --> 00:23:39.069 He offers us a complete cleansing, amen? Complete 00:23:39.069 --> 00:23:43.950 washing, scalding hot water to purify not just 00:23:43.950 --> 00:23:46.849 our bodies, but our consciences, the whole being 00:23:46.849 --> 00:23:50.890 of the person. Forgiveness removed the offense, 00:23:51.349 --> 00:23:57.210 but cleansing removes the stain, it removes the 00:23:57.210 --> 00:24:03.549 stench and the torment of sin. It's great to 00:24:03.549 --> 00:24:07.990 be forgiven. Thank you, God. Somebody say, thank 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:14.410 you, God. But he goes a step beyond that. Why? 00:24:14.490 --> 00:24:21.869 Because he genuinely cares about you. Sometimes 00:24:21.869 --> 00:24:26.210 that's hard to take a hold of. But he cares about 00:24:26.210 --> 00:24:29.609 you so much to not just forgive you of your sin, 00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:32.789 of everything that's going to happen, he removes 00:24:32.789 --> 00:24:35.809 its remembrance. He purifies your consciousness 00:24:35.809 --> 00:24:41.210 of it so it no longer has power over you. So 00:24:41.210 --> 00:24:45.049 you can walk in victory. So you can worship him 00:24:45.049 --> 00:24:51.730 genuinely from a heart. Why? Because you have 00:24:51.730 --> 00:24:57.789 the receipt. Amen? Forgiveness and cleansing 00:24:57.789 --> 00:25:01.970 are not identical. Many of us may accept forgiveness, 00:25:02.150 --> 00:25:06.230 right, while we still carry the burden of condemnation. 00:25:07.490 --> 00:25:12.410 But forgiveness removes guilt before God gave 00:25:12.410 --> 00:25:16.269 us right standing with Him in Christ, but cleansing 00:25:16.269 --> 00:25:21.730 removes the guilt within the believer. Condemnation... 00:25:22.440 --> 00:25:24.140 Maybe you're like, well, what does that word 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:26.640 mean? Condemnation is kind of like this. It's 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.480 like a lingering voice in the back of your conscious 00:25:29.480 --> 00:25:35.000 that says, like, I know what the word says. I 00:25:35.000 --> 00:25:38.599 know what I've heard from a sermon. I know those 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:41.660 kind of things. Maybe you have, maybe you haven't. 00:25:41.900 --> 00:25:44.920 But maybe it's like you're hearing this today, 00:25:44.980 --> 00:25:46.920 but you're still in the back of your head going, 00:25:47.019 --> 00:25:52.059 but there's no way. Like, I'm still dirty. You 00:25:52.059 --> 00:25:53.779 don't know what I've done. You don't know what 00:25:53.779 --> 00:25:56.200 I've experienced. That kind of disqualifies me 00:25:56.200 --> 00:25:59.140 from walking in what you're talking about this 00:25:59.140 --> 00:26:03.920 morning. Maybe you feel still rejected by something 00:26:03.920 --> 00:26:06.299 that's happened or what someone's done to you. 00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:12.779 Christ's blood, though, deals with not just the 00:26:12.779 --> 00:26:16.920 internal damage of sin. Everybody say internal 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:21.960 damage. Y 'all are asleep. Everybody say internal 00:26:21.960 --> 00:26:26.680 damage. Not only deals with the internal damage. 00:26:28.960 --> 00:26:36.900 What? It deals with the whole man. It's not just 00:26:36.900 --> 00:26:40.480 the internal damage of sin. Not only just the 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:44.299 legal debt of sin. It deals with the whole person. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:49.319 It deals with the internal. and the external, 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:53.380 right? A condemned conscience, listen, becomes 00:26:53.380 --> 00:26:57.500 a spiritual weak point that causes this. When 00:26:57.500 --> 00:26:59.500 we're condemned in our conscience, it causes 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:04.259 us hesitation in prayer, insecurity in our worship, 00:27:04.339 --> 00:27:08.200 to where we feel like we're unworthy to come 00:27:08.200 --> 00:27:14.319 to Him or to cast our cares on Him, that He doesn't 00:27:14.319 --> 00:27:16.980 want that. He doesn't have time to deal with 00:27:16.980 --> 00:27:19.960 that, with all the prayers of the world. I've 00:27:19.960 --> 00:27:21.660 heard people say those things. I'm mentioning 00:27:21.660 --> 00:27:24.839 that because this is real life what people say 00:27:24.839 --> 00:27:26.940 sometimes. They're like, well, I can't pray to 00:27:26.940 --> 00:27:29.579 God. I can't cast Him my cares. Why does He genuinely 00:27:29.579 --> 00:27:33.079 care that much? Because they don't view God in 00:27:33.079 --> 00:27:38.180 the way that He wants them to. It can be a spiritual 00:27:38.180 --> 00:27:40.900 weak point when we're unstable in our faith, 00:27:41.140 --> 00:27:46.150 when we don't wholeheartedly believe. Maybe we've 00:27:46.150 --> 00:27:52.730 heard the word. Maybe we've, you know, maybe 00:27:52.730 --> 00:27:54.910 even tried to act on it a little bit, but we've 00:27:54.910 --> 00:28:00.190 not genuinely believed it. It's unstable. And 00:28:00.190 --> 00:28:03.990 then also a weak point can look like cycles of 00:28:03.990 --> 00:28:09.480 hiding and striving. You know, when... When something 00:28:09.480 --> 00:28:12.960 happens, when you sin, and your immediate response, 00:28:13.019 --> 00:28:15.279 if you really think about it, it's to pull away. 00:28:16.960 --> 00:28:21.380 It's to not pray. And that's a great indicator 00:28:21.380 --> 00:28:25.259 of where you're at spiritually. It's like if 00:28:25.259 --> 00:28:28.559 all of a sudden you feel drawn back from it, 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:31.059 you feel like you're not entering into worship 00:28:31.059 --> 00:28:33.400 like you feel like you should, you're not... 00:28:33.630 --> 00:28:36.609 hearing from God, those times with him are not 00:28:36.609 --> 00:28:39.710 meaningful anymore. Those times you're pulling 00:28:39.710 --> 00:28:44.609 back, something is in the way. And then for some, 00:28:44.630 --> 00:28:46.970 it looks like striving. It looks like, well, 00:28:47.009 --> 00:28:49.130 I'm trying to get God's approval. I'm trying 00:28:49.130 --> 00:28:51.730 to do your work. Because you see yourself as 00:28:51.730 --> 00:28:56.750 something that God does not see you as. God sees 00:28:56.750 --> 00:29:00.710 you as his child, and sometimes we look and view 00:29:00.710 --> 00:29:05.380 ourselves as a beggar. Someone, we're reaching 00:29:05.380 --> 00:29:07.619 out to him, but he says, you're my very own. 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:13.220 I bought you with a price and that matters. You're 00:29:13.220 --> 00:29:19.140 no longer yourself. No longer your own. And then 00:29:19.140 --> 00:29:21.539 often it can look like fear -based obedience 00:29:21.539 --> 00:29:28.819 instead of love -based obedience. But faith rests 00:29:28.819 --> 00:29:32.079 on... What the blood has done. Here at Elation 00:29:32.079 --> 00:29:34.400 Church, we talk a lot about faith, right? But 00:29:34.400 --> 00:29:37.420 faith rests on what the blood has done, and a 00:29:37.420 --> 00:29:40.460 cleansed conscience is the foundation for strong 00:29:40.460 --> 00:29:44.680 faith. Condemnation not only makes believers 00:29:44.680 --> 00:29:47.839 feel bad, but it makes us powerless. As we've 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:50.299 said, it really hinders the believer's witness 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:55.640 to the world. But Paul writes in Romans 8, 1 00:29:55.640 --> 00:30:01.609 -2, says this, So now, Doesn't mean that, you 00:30:01.609 --> 00:30:07.750 know, it's now. Everybody say now. So now, there 00:30:07.750 --> 00:30:12.410 is some condemnation for the believer. Is that 00:30:12.410 --> 00:30:15.029 what it says? Are you awake? Are you listening? 00:30:16.589 --> 00:30:20.750 Come on. So now, there is, well, every once in 00:30:20.750 --> 00:30:23.650 a while, it's okay to let the devil beat me up 00:30:23.650 --> 00:30:25.769 and let my mind get the best of me. And every 00:30:25.769 --> 00:30:28.720 once in a while, it's okay. to experience a little 00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:34.400 condemnation, yeah, that's not what it says. 00:30:36.519 --> 00:30:42.940 So now, there is no condemnation. For who? For 00:30:42.940 --> 00:30:48.279 those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because 00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:51.799 you belong to Him, the power of the life -giving 00:30:51.799 --> 00:30:57.130 Spirit has freed you. From the power of sin. 00:30:57.769 --> 00:31:00.609 Have you thought about condemnation being the 00:31:00.609 --> 00:31:10.789 power of sin? Do you see that as a power of sin? 00:31:10.869 --> 00:31:17.230 A power over you is condemnation. Guilt, shame, 00:31:17.650 --> 00:31:27.559 bitterness. Because you belong to him, the power 00:31:27.559 --> 00:31:32.319 of the life -giving spirit has freed you from 00:31:32.319 --> 00:31:37.000 the power of sin that leads to death. Amen? He's 00:31:37.000 --> 00:31:40.660 freed you. How has he freed you? He's cleansed 00:31:40.660 --> 00:31:50.240 your conscience of it. Condemnation, maybe let's 00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:52.079 talk about that a little bit. Condemnation is 00:31:52.079 --> 00:31:56.700 accusing. It's that accuser at the door of BJ's 00:31:56.700 --> 00:31:59.000 like trying to see if you stole something, right? 00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:02.900 Condemnation accuses. Condemnation, it attacks 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:05.960 your identity. This is how you can recognize 00:32:05.960 --> 00:32:08.960 that it's condemnation or conviction, right? 00:32:09.359 --> 00:32:13.339 Condemnation attacks who you are, questions who 00:32:13.339 --> 00:32:20.119 you are. It's vague. Why? Because it has no evidence 00:32:20.119 --> 00:32:26.339 and no real charge against you. It's crushing. 00:32:26.380 --> 00:32:30.180 It's hopeless. There's no hope in it. It says 00:32:30.180 --> 00:32:34.539 things like, you're a failure. You're a failure. 00:32:35.400 --> 00:32:38.299 You know it's the Holy Spirit because the Holy 00:32:38.299 --> 00:32:42.420 Spirit convicts us, and that word from God, that 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:45.400 knowledge of the Holy, you know, what he does 00:32:45.400 --> 00:32:48.599 on the inside of us, that inward working, it 00:32:48.599 --> 00:32:52.440 calls us for restoration. It calls, it's very 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:56.240 specific, usually about something. specific for 00:32:56.240 --> 00:33:01.140 you to lift you up, not tear you down. It's always 00:33:01.140 --> 00:33:07.299 full of hope. And it sounds like, come back to 00:33:07.299 --> 00:33:11.839 me. Come back. I want to spend time with you. 00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:15.440 Just lay that. Give that to me. Don't deal with 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:20.549 that anymore. Come back to me. All who are weary 00:33:20.549 --> 00:33:29.170 and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come 00:33:29.170 --> 00:33:37.250 back. Amen? We must resist accusation. That's 00:33:37.250 --> 00:33:39.609 why he tells us to know these things. That's 00:33:39.609 --> 00:33:44.069 why he's saying, he's telling us to put on the 00:33:44.069 --> 00:33:48.920 armor of God, right? We got to put it on. And 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:51.940 then we have to resist it. That means we've got 00:33:51.940 --> 00:33:53.799 to recognize it when it comes. That's why I'm 00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:56.480 talking about the difference between condemnation 00:33:56.480 --> 00:33:59.619 and conviction. We need to recognize when the 00:33:59.619 --> 00:34:04.240 enemy is accusing us of something that may have 00:34:04.240 --> 00:34:07.660 been true, but now is no longer true because 00:34:07.660 --> 00:34:14.219 you are a new creation in Christ Jesus. We have 00:34:14.219 --> 00:34:17.739 to resist it. And we have to agree with our covenant. 00:34:18.219 --> 00:34:20.840 And what the Word says, you've got to know it. 00:34:21.719 --> 00:34:24.800 You've got to agree with it. And to not stand, 00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:28.679 to let the devil beat you up, is to not agree 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:33.880 with what the Word of God says. To not resist 00:34:33.880 --> 00:34:41.719 is failure. But God still stands and still goes, 00:34:41.800 --> 00:34:46.679 come back to me. Come back to me. Don't get caught 00:34:46.679 --> 00:34:49.940 up in all the worldly things. Don't dwell on 00:34:49.940 --> 00:34:52.519 that. Don't meditate on those things. Come back 00:34:52.519 --> 00:35:00.239 to me. Faith refuses guilt as a form of spirituality. 00:35:00.860 --> 00:35:04.480 Like so many people I've had, like they've talked 00:35:04.480 --> 00:35:07.039 to me about something, maybe some sin thing they've 00:35:07.039 --> 00:35:08.960 been trying to deal with. They've hung up about 00:35:08.960 --> 00:35:11.789 it. And then they... They almost want you to 00:35:11.789 --> 00:35:14.090 agree with them that they're just lower than 00:35:14.090 --> 00:35:16.429 dirt, that they're like the scum of the earth. 00:35:16.730 --> 00:35:18.289 They tell you something, and they're just like, 00:35:18.369 --> 00:35:20.869 man, I can't believe I'm battling this. I can't 00:35:20.869 --> 00:35:22.969 believe I'm dealing with this over and over and 00:35:22.969 --> 00:35:25.710 over again. I know none of us are in here like 00:35:25.710 --> 00:35:30.269 that. But, no, it happens. The enemy can just 00:35:30.269 --> 00:35:34.489 flat out wear you out if you let him, if you 00:35:34.489 --> 00:35:39.690 don't speak to him. We have to resist it. Faith, 00:35:39.690 --> 00:35:42.449 though, sometimes people have grown up in circumstances, 00:35:42.650 --> 00:35:46.610 situations, and even spiritual, like in the form 00:35:46.610 --> 00:35:48.989 of spirituality, kind of feel like, oh, well, 00:35:49.070 --> 00:35:52.570 God wants us to be meek and, you know, come to 00:35:52.570 --> 00:35:55.150 him like in fear because he's talking about the 00:35:55.150 --> 00:35:57.769 fear of God. Like he wants us to kind of shine 00:35:57.769 --> 00:36:00.409 back and like, well, God, I know I'm not worthy. 00:36:00.730 --> 00:36:02.909 Our prayer sounds like this. God, I know I'm 00:36:02.909 --> 00:36:05.210 not really worthy of your love. I know I'm not 00:36:05.210 --> 00:36:08.460 really accepting. You know, I know you've done 00:36:08.460 --> 00:36:10.920 so much, and I know that, and it's almost got 00:36:10.920 --> 00:36:13.400 a whine, right? It's got a little whine to it. 00:36:13.460 --> 00:36:15.579 It's like, God, I know I've messed up. I know 00:36:15.579 --> 00:36:18.300 I've done, but God, just if you could help me 00:36:18.300 --> 00:36:25.599 out this one time. God, if you could make the, 00:36:25.719 --> 00:36:29.199 you know, just take this away. Take the wheel, 00:36:29.340 --> 00:36:40.409 God. And the funny thing is we treat it as some 00:36:40.409 --> 00:36:44.349 kind of spiritually mature position. I don't 00:36:44.349 --> 00:36:46.190 know if you've grown up in church like that or 00:36:46.190 --> 00:36:48.269 like somebody who's taught that before, but like 00:36:48.269 --> 00:36:52.929 that's a real thing. People want you to like 00:36:52.929 --> 00:37:01.510 feel bad. People put that on you. Doesn't sound 00:37:01.510 --> 00:37:04.050 like something God's done. Doesn't sound like 00:37:04.050 --> 00:37:12.420 the blood. what it's accomplished, right? 1 John 00:37:12.420 --> 00:37:17.380 1, 7, the blood of Jesus, his son, cleanses us 00:37:17.380 --> 00:37:23.179 from all sin. 1 John 1, 9, he is faithful. Oh, 00:37:23.280 --> 00:37:27.460 yes. Somebody say, God is faithful. God is faithful 00:37:27.460 --> 00:37:33.159 and just. Everybody say, God is just. To forgive 00:37:33.159 --> 00:37:39.260 us of our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 00:37:42.360 --> 00:37:47.920 Faithful. He's just. He forgives. He purchased 00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:54.079 us and he cleanses us by his blood. The conscious 00:37:54.079 --> 00:37:58.000 is cleansed by faith in the blood, not by prolonged 00:37:58.000 --> 00:38:06.320 shame. The blood is precious and holy and it 00:38:06.320 --> 00:38:09.539 removes the shame and it restores believers into 00:38:09.539 --> 00:38:13.099 a living fellowship with God. And our response 00:38:13.099 --> 00:38:16.500 in those situations, our response to any kind 00:38:16.500 --> 00:38:19.159 of failure doesn't need to be retreat. We don't 00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.280 need to pull back and hide in shame. That's what 00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:26.380 the enemy wants. But we need to return quickly. 00:38:27.789 --> 00:38:29.989 We don't need to stay out like the prodigal son, 00:38:30.170 --> 00:38:33.110 you know, way past our time. We need to run back 00:38:33.110 --> 00:38:35.969 to the Father. We need to realize the things 00:38:35.969 --> 00:38:38.070 that we've said, you know, realize what we've 00:38:38.070 --> 00:38:41.469 done, realize the mistakes we made. And when 00:38:41.469 --> 00:38:47.610 we turn, God comes running. When you draw near, 00:38:48.010 --> 00:38:54.750 he draws near to you. Amen? Return to him. This 00:38:54.750 --> 00:38:58.730 is... Our main passage here, I love this. I don't 00:38:58.730 --> 00:39:01.130 know how many times I've read this, but never 00:39:01.130 --> 00:39:04.789 seen this truth in Scripture, but God's Word's 00:39:04.789 --> 00:39:10.230 just cool like that. Hebrews 10, 19 through 22. 00:39:10.610 --> 00:39:15.289 Listen. And so, dear brothers and sisters, we 00:39:15.289 --> 00:39:22.710 can boldly enter heaven's most holy place. We 00:39:22.710 --> 00:39:30.269 can boldly enter. Say, I can. Boldly enter heaven's 00:39:30.269 --> 00:39:38.250 most holy place. That's good. What is that place? 00:39:41.030 --> 00:39:43.730 What is that place? What is heaven's most holy 00:39:43.730 --> 00:39:49.530 place? It's where God is on the throne. It's 00:39:49.530 --> 00:39:54.710 the throne room of eternity. Many people think 00:39:54.710 --> 00:39:58.230 that they'll just, you know, there's, they're 00:39:58.230 --> 00:40:00.170 like, well, I'll just wait back in the back. 00:40:00.289 --> 00:40:02.289 I'll wait in the corner of heaven because, you 00:40:02.289 --> 00:40:05.030 know, I barely made it in. Imagine the thief 00:40:05.030 --> 00:40:06.789 that died on the cross next to Jesus. You know, 00:40:06.809 --> 00:40:08.570 he lived his whole life and turned. He's like, 00:40:08.670 --> 00:40:14.949 maybe I'm not deserving of this, right? God says, 00:40:15.110 --> 00:40:22.829 come up, come here. The angel told John, come 00:40:22.829 --> 00:40:25.119 up. In the book of Revelation, he said, come 00:40:25.119 --> 00:40:33.300 up here. Come up here and see. We can boldly 00:40:33.300 --> 00:40:36.139 enter that place. Not because of what you've 00:40:36.139 --> 00:40:43.579 done. Not because of how good you've lived. Not 00:40:43.579 --> 00:40:45.960 because of how much you gave, how much you've 00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:55.320 done. Like, no matter. Come on. We can boldly 00:40:55.320 --> 00:40:59.579 enter heaven's most holy place because the blood 00:40:59.579 --> 00:41:05.820 of Jesus. Amen. By his death, Jesus opened a 00:41:05.820 --> 00:41:09.219 new and life -giving way through the curtain 00:41:09.219 --> 00:41:13.380 into the most holy place. Oh, but it doesn't 00:41:13.380 --> 00:41:16.840 stop there. And since we have a great high priest 00:41:16.840 --> 00:41:22.619 who rules over God's house, say Jesus. I like 00:41:22.619 --> 00:41:27.539 this. Let us go. Look to your neighbor and say, 00:41:27.599 --> 00:41:32.940 let's go. Come on, let's go. Let's go right into 00:41:32.940 --> 00:41:36.980 the presence of God with sincere hearts. How 00:41:36.980 --> 00:41:39.420 can you come to God with a sincere heart? It's 00:41:39.420 --> 00:41:42.280 not by what you've done. It's not by any work 00:41:42.280 --> 00:41:44.559 that you've put in to make your conscious clean. 00:41:44.659 --> 00:41:47.960 Come on. How can you come in with a sincere heart? 00:41:53.480 --> 00:42:01.059 How can you come in fully trusting God? Maybe 00:42:01.059 --> 00:42:03.539 you say you trust God, but do you really trust 00:42:03.539 --> 00:42:06.599 him? When the rubber meets the road, are you 00:42:06.599 --> 00:42:16.199 planted? Are you confident? Heels down. Saying, 00:42:16.219 --> 00:42:20.320 I have a receipt. I know what God's done for 00:42:20.320 --> 00:42:25.429 me. I know what he's purchased. I know what he's 00:42:25.429 --> 00:42:30.829 accomplished. And I'm standing in it with a sincere 00:42:30.829 --> 00:42:40.210 heart. I trust you, God. It doesn't stop. Say, 00:42:40.269 --> 00:42:46.750 it doesn't stop. Continuing 22. Why? For our 00:42:46.750 --> 00:42:52.710 guilty consciences. have been sprinkled with 00:42:52.710 --> 00:42:57.570 Christ's blood to make us clean. And our bodies 00:42:57.570 --> 00:43:04.530 have been washed with pure water. Come on. Our 00:43:04.530 --> 00:43:07.670 conscious, our guilty consciousness have been 00:43:07.670 --> 00:43:11.429 sprinkled with Christ's blood. This is the covenant 00:43:11.429 --> 00:43:14.530 reality that he's made with you. This is what 00:43:14.530 --> 00:43:18.150 he's calling you to come into. A life that he's 00:43:18.150 --> 00:43:21.070 wanting you to live free from guilt and shame 00:43:21.070 --> 00:43:24.369 that will leave you powerless, broke, hopeless 00:43:24.369 --> 00:43:30.690 in this world. He's called you to live life and 00:43:30.690 --> 00:43:33.889 life to the fullest, in abundance, in excess. 00:43:34.050 --> 00:43:36.769 This is accomplished not by the things that you 00:43:36.769 --> 00:43:39.389 accumulate on this earth. It's accomplished by 00:43:39.389 --> 00:43:42.449 the reality of his goodness that you get a hold 00:43:42.449 --> 00:43:46.170 of and it makes your life worth living. Because 00:43:46.170 --> 00:43:55.010 apart from him, life is not worth anything. Our 00:43:55.010 --> 00:43:57.429 consciousness have been sprinkled with Christ's 00:43:57.429 --> 00:44:02.610 blood to make us clean. And our bodies have been 00:44:02.610 --> 00:44:08.989 washed in pure water. A blood -washed consciousness 00:44:08.989 --> 00:44:13.809 then, therefore, produces boldness, produces... 00:44:14.219 --> 00:44:17.300 Nearness, right? So we can boldly enter. We can 00:44:17.300 --> 00:44:23.119 draw near to God. We have unlimited access, you 00:44:23.119 --> 00:44:27.219 could say, to Him. He does not shy back from 00:44:27.219 --> 00:44:31.260 you. He does not hide Himself from you. You can 00:44:31.260 --> 00:44:34.820 approach Him and come to Him wherever you are. 00:44:35.179 --> 00:44:37.619 And you can have confidence that He will hear 00:44:37.619 --> 00:44:44.960 you. You can know. Not just hope, not just be 00:44:44.960 --> 00:44:48.179 like, well, I hope that hit the ceiling somewhere 00:44:48.179 --> 00:44:50.460 and it kind of went. No, you can have confidence 00:44:50.460 --> 00:44:53.320 and know that when you pray that He's there. 00:44:54.960 --> 00:44:57.920 You can have confidence that you're in a heavenly 00:44:57.920 --> 00:45:01.280 place, seated with Him, like picture it, like 00:45:01.280 --> 00:45:03.380 you're on His lap and whispering in His ear. 00:45:09.380 --> 00:45:14.590 You have access. You have... because of what 00:45:14.590 --> 00:45:19.369 he purchased for you. Amen? Believers do not 00:45:19.369 --> 00:45:22.389 approach God as spiritual beggars, but as covenant 00:45:22.389 --> 00:45:26.989 children. So how do we apply this truth? How 00:45:26.989 --> 00:45:33.170 do we apply it? We have to reject condemnation, 00:45:33.170 --> 00:45:38.269 all condemnation, all guilt, shame. We have to 00:45:38.269 --> 00:45:45.150 reject it immediately, today. Don't be held captive 00:45:45.150 --> 00:45:49.050 by it. God has freed you. He's given you power, 00:45:49.210 --> 00:45:51.349 and the life -giving Spirit of God has freed 00:45:51.349 --> 00:45:58.269 you from the power of sin. Right? We've got to 00:45:58.269 --> 00:46:01.630 reject it. How do you reject it? When you hear 00:46:01.630 --> 00:46:04.869 those lies of the enemy, when you think those 00:46:04.869 --> 00:46:07.769 thoughts, when you feel that way, you feel that 00:46:07.769 --> 00:46:10.860 weight on you. That's not calling you to come 00:46:10.860 --> 00:46:15.039 back to God. It's calling you to retreat in fear. 00:46:19.460 --> 00:46:22.820 You stand up wherever you're at. I don't care 00:46:22.820 --> 00:46:26.760 how foolish you look. And if you're dealing with 00:46:26.760 --> 00:46:30.039 it, it doesn't really matter. And you say, I 00:46:30.039 --> 00:46:36.099 have the receipt. God has accomplished something 00:46:36.099 --> 00:46:39.039 for me, and it doesn't just impact my intellect. 00:46:39.139 --> 00:46:48.659 It impacts my life. We say, you no longer have 00:46:48.659 --> 00:46:51.099 power over me. That thought doesn't have power 00:46:51.099 --> 00:46:54.960 over me. Whatever it may be. No, I am loved by 00:46:54.960 --> 00:46:59.280 God. I am forgiven. I am purchased. I am cleansed 00:46:59.280 --> 00:47:03.449 by the blood of Jesus. You can't have me. I have 00:47:03.449 --> 00:47:06.570 the receipt. He can remind me of what I've done. 00:47:06.650 --> 00:47:08.309 He can remind me of the things that I've said, 00:47:08.429 --> 00:47:11.489 remind me of my thoughts, remind me of my experiences, 00:47:11.610 --> 00:47:14.670 but I can stand in faith and stand in victory 00:47:14.670 --> 00:47:23.750 and say, I have the receipt. I have the proof 00:47:23.750 --> 00:47:29.829 of purchase. So you can accuse me. You can count 00:47:29.829 --> 00:47:32.409 all the items in my buggy. You can count all 00:47:32.409 --> 00:47:34.710 these, right? You can count all these things. 00:47:34.769 --> 00:47:37.829 You can say that I'm not worthy to walk out with 00:47:37.829 --> 00:47:39.590 all these things. And guess what? We're not. 00:47:41.489 --> 00:47:43.989 We're not worthy to walk out with all the blessings 00:47:43.989 --> 00:47:46.469 of God. But guess what? He says that he's freely 00:47:46.469 --> 00:47:49.369 given them to us. You didn't have to purchase 00:47:49.369 --> 00:47:52.550 it. You didn't have to buy it. Come on. You didn't 00:47:52.550 --> 00:47:56.250 earn it. You didn't have to work for it. so that 00:47:56.250 --> 00:47:59.010 no man can boast, but you can come boldly unto 00:47:59.010 --> 00:48:02.510 the throne of God and access Him, spend time 00:48:02.510 --> 00:48:06.510 with Him, receive from Him, and stand in faith 00:48:06.510 --> 00:48:16.469 and reject any lie of the enemy. I can't do this 00:48:16.469 --> 00:48:24.110 for you. God can't do this for you. He calls 00:48:24.110 --> 00:48:29.639 you. To stand. He calls you to fight the good 00:48:29.639 --> 00:48:33.059 fight of faith. He has enabled you. He has equipped 00:48:33.059 --> 00:48:39.179 you. And like a good father says, go do it. Go 00:48:39.179 --> 00:48:47.739 do it. Go do my will. Serve. Worship. Go do it. 00:48:47.760 --> 00:48:51.920 You have everything that you need. Stand in it. 00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:57.710 He does not force you. God's a good God. Fear 00:48:57.710 --> 00:49:06.469 forces. Fear forces. Love leads and faith follows. 00:49:11.110 --> 00:49:17.190 We have to maintain a clean conscience. This 00:49:17.190 --> 00:49:19.309 is something else that you do on a daily basis. 00:49:19.369 --> 00:49:21.570 It's not something that God just kind of zaps 00:49:21.570 --> 00:49:24.519 you with and it's all done. Christian life is 00:49:24.519 --> 00:49:29.840 a daily renewal of your mind, renewing yourself 00:49:29.840 --> 00:49:34.699 to the mind of Christ, having his mind. We have 00:49:34.699 --> 00:49:37.420 to maintain it. So spiritual maturity, though, 00:49:37.480 --> 00:49:41.679 is not saying that I've perfected this and I'm 00:49:41.679 --> 00:49:45.500 walking in this fully. It would actually be being 00:49:45.500 --> 00:49:48.980 humble and coming to God humbly, in humility, 00:49:49.159 --> 00:49:57.360 in quick repentance. Quick return. That's the 00:49:57.360 --> 00:49:59.500 way we worship God. That's the way we honor him 00:49:59.500 --> 00:50:03.000 and honor his blood is by quickly recognizing 00:50:03.000 --> 00:50:07.980 and returning to him and saying, I've been free 00:50:07.980 --> 00:50:10.519 from it. I understand that I've messed up. And 00:50:10.519 --> 00:50:16.619 we just quickly repent. Quickly turn. Say, I 00:50:16.619 --> 00:50:19.900 recognize this. I know I did. But God, I give 00:50:19.900 --> 00:50:24.710 it over to you. I repent and I return back. And 00:50:24.710 --> 00:50:29.090 then we realize what the blood has done, and 00:50:29.090 --> 00:50:32.630 then that gives us confidence in his instant 00:50:32.630 --> 00:50:40.969 restoration. So we can know, not just think about 00:50:40.969 --> 00:50:47.389 it, we can know it, that God loves us. He cares 00:50:47.389 --> 00:50:49.849 for us. He instantly calls us back. He instantly 00:50:49.849 --> 00:50:53.610 welcomes us. He restores our fellowship with 00:50:53.610 --> 00:50:57.349 Him because it's like it never even happened. 00:50:58.869 --> 00:51:05.610 If God doesn't remember it, why do we keep bringing 00:51:05.610 --> 00:51:13.570 it up to Him? In the Old Testament, He said, 00:51:13.610 --> 00:51:18.389 I will remember your sins no more. And here He's 00:51:18.389 --> 00:51:21.710 saying that I will wipe your conscience. Of sin. 00:51:25.289 --> 00:51:30.210 Quit bringing up your sin. To God. He's done 00:51:30.210 --> 00:51:39.190 forgot it. It's time for us to. I have. The receipt. 00:51:41.010 --> 00:51:44.150 Not just making it up. Not just making. It's 00:51:44.150 --> 00:51:45.989 not something to just feel good. It's not just. 00:51:46.610 --> 00:51:49.510 This is what God has done. This is what he has 00:51:49.510 --> 00:51:51.530 purchased. This is the reality that he wants 00:51:51.530 --> 00:51:56.710 you to walk in. Say, I have the receipt. One 00:51:56.710 --> 00:52:00.329 more. To serve God from acceptance. This is how 00:52:00.329 --> 00:52:02.989 we apply the truth of his blood cleansing our 00:52:02.989 --> 00:52:06.289 conscience is because we know that we are accepted. 00:52:07.090 --> 00:52:11.269 We are accepted by God. We don't have to strive 00:52:11.269 --> 00:52:15.090 to be accepted. We know that we are accepted. 00:52:15.789 --> 00:52:20.260 That's why we can boldly enter in. And that's 00:52:20.260 --> 00:52:23.400 how our service then in our day -to -day lives 00:52:23.400 --> 00:52:30.820 becomes worship and not just payment. Why? Because 00:52:30.820 --> 00:52:36.460 I have a receipt. Have you ever thought about 00:52:36.460 --> 00:52:38.920 your worship is not just a song, it's not just 00:52:38.920 --> 00:52:46.440 a gathering like this. Your service to Him, wherever 00:52:46.440 --> 00:52:50.260 you're at, Whatever you do, you can serve God 00:52:50.260 --> 00:52:55.019 and not man. You can do the same job and serve 00:52:55.019 --> 00:52:59.760 man or serve God at it. Your job does not determine 00:52:59.760 --> 00:53:06.840 your worship. It's your heart. Service is acknowledgement 00:53:06.840 --> 00:53:12.039 and intention of worshiping God where you're 00:53:12.039 --> 00:53:14.059 at and where he's planted you. It's not payment. 00:53:16.010 --> 00:53:18.469 I want us to stand to our feet. Everybody stand 00:53:18.469 --> 00:53:22.230 up. Stretch your legs. And it's going to be like 00:53:22.230 --> 00:53:23.690 we're back to third grade. And we're all going 00:53:23.690 --> 00:53:26.769 to read together as one big strong voice. We're 00:53:26.769 --> 00:53:30.030 going to make this confession based on the word 00:53:30.030 --> 00:53:34.449 all together. Let's read. One, two, three. I 00:53:34.449 --> 00:53:39.090 am cleansed by the blood of Jesus. My conscience 00:53:39.090 --> 00:53:43.150 is cleansed from all past actions and experiences. 00:53:45.719 --> 00:53:50.619 all shame and condemnation. I approach God with 00:53:50.619 --> 00:53:55.800 confidence and boldness. I serve God with freedom 00:53:55.800 --> 00:54:01.300 and joy. Who the Son sets free is free indeed. 00:54:01.579 --> 00:54:05.420 Amen. Let's say it again. One, two, three. I 00:54:05.420 --> 00:54:09.699 am cleansed by the blood of Jesus. My conscience 00:54:09.699 --> 00:54:13.119 is cleansed from all past actions and experiences. 00:54:13.679 --> 00:54:18.940 I reject all shame and condemnation. I approach 00:54:18.940 --> 00:54:23.880 God with confidence and boldness. I serve God 00:54:23.880 --> 00:54:29.659 with freedom and joy. The blood not only erases 00:54:29.659 --> 00:54:32.739 your past, listen, It cleanses your conscience. 00:54:33.119 --> 00:54:37.019 It gives you access and boldness to stand before 00:54:37.019 --> 00:54:40.780 a holy God. This online worship experience was 00:54:40.780 --> 00:54:43.199 brought to you by the friends and partners of 00:54:43.199 --> 00:54:43.980 Elation Church.