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Week number four in a series that we've entitled,
I Have the Receipt. Everybody say that. I have
the receipt. If this is your first time in this
series, you're probably like, what are you talking
about? Don't worry, I'll explain it to you. Does
anyone have a membership at one of the shopping
clubs? Like BJ's or Costco? Well, if you do,
you're going to understand what I'm talking about,
but I go to BJ's every week. This week, I went
to Costco. They did the same thing that they
do at BJ's. After you check out, you have to
hold on to your receipt. Now, this week at Costco,
there was a husband and wife that were struggling
before they got to the exit because he thought
she had the receipt, and he thought she had the
receipt, so it was taking them a while. But at
these wholesale clubs, you have to have the receipt
as a proof of purchase for the things that are
in your shopping cart. You have to have it. If
you don't have that receipt, you can leave, but
the shopping cart's not going to leave. And they're
very specific at this BJ's down at Postner Park.
I mean, I've never been there when they haven't.
counted every single item in my cart. Now at
Costco, that lady, what day was that? Thursday?
Friday? The lady at the door counted at least
three -fourths of what was in the cart, but then
she gave up. But at this BJ's in Davenport, I
mean, you better have it because a couple of
weeks ago, They were dealing with a man who hadn't
paid for one item in his cart. And it's easy
when you're doing self -checkout to possibly
miss something you're trying. You know, it's
easy to miss, but they were not going to let
him leave until they figured out how he was going
to pay for that item or he was going to leave
that item at the door. So you have to have a
receipt, and the receipt is a proof of purchase.
A proof of purchase. Maybe you haven't gone to
one of these shopping clubs, but maybe you've
gone somewhere where they have alarms at the
door. Has anyone ever tried to walk out of a
store and all of a sudden the alarm went off?
It's embarrassing because everybody around you
thinks you just tried to steal something. Every
time it's gone off for me, it's because the cashier
forgot to deactivate the RFID or they forgot
to take off a little tag that sets it off. But
when that happened, I was glad that I had a receipt.
Because without the receipt, I couldn't prove
that I had purchased it. So that's why we've
entitled this series, I Have the Receipt. See,
this series is helping each one of us be more
established in one of the most central truths
of the Christian faith. And that is this, what
was purchased. and what is provided through the
blood of Jesus. Because there are a lot of things
purchased by the blood of Jesus. There are a
lot of things provided for us, provided for you.
Now, that doesn't mean that we've all taken advantage
of it, but it's available. A lot of things that
were provided through the blood of Jesus. And
the Word of God, everybody say the Bible. The
Word of God contains a detailed receipt of what
Jesus purchased with His blood. So, we have the
receipt to prove it, that it's been purchased.
The price has been paid. The blood of Jesus paid
for it. That's my proof of purchase is in His
Word. So, I can be confident. in the things that
he has purchased for me. And here's the deal.
You can be confident in the things that he has
purchased for you. Now, we talk about a lot of
illustrations and we give illustrations like
me holding up a BJ's receipt and Jesus shared
parables, which were illustrations. And we find
illustrations in the Bible, but the blood of
Jesus, the blood, is not just an illustration.
It's not just a picture, a mental picture. It's
not just symbolic religious talk. The blood is
covenant reality. The blood of Jesus is full
of spiritual power, even today. Sometimes we
think, oh, this power, that's 2 ,000 years ago,
and he did shed his blood 2 ,000 years ago. But
his blood still contains the same spiritual power
as it did the day he shed his blood on the cross.
Now the first verse that I probably ever taught
or preached about or even knew about the blood
of Jesus was Hebrews 9 .22. And it says this,
without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Without the shedding of blood, we would be hopelessly
and helplessly lost if Jesus would not have shed
his blood for you and for me. Because there is
no forgiveness. None. Without the shedding of
blood. The price of sin was death. It was death.
That's the price. But thank you, Jesus, that
I don't have to die for my own sin because you
died for my sin. He died for my sin. He shed
his blood for my sin. So we didn't actually preach.
Probably should have preached a week on this,
but we didn't preach a week on this because this
is very basic information, and I believe everyone
who spent any time in church should know that
without the shedding of Jesus' blood, there would
be no forgiveness. So we took that as a foundation.
See, the blood of Jesus makes forgiveness possible.
It doesn't mean that everyone's forgiven, but
it makes forgiveness possible. And in week one,
we looked at Colossians 1, 13 through 14, among
many other verses, to find something else. For
he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness.
Somebody say thank you. He has rescued us from
the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of darkness
has no power over us anymore. None. Because we've
been rescued from the kingdom of darkness. And
we've been transferred into the kingdom of his
dear son. Been rescued out of the kingdom of
darkness. That's where we all started. Every
single one of us started being... captive and
owned by the kingdom of darkness, but Jesus transferred
us, He bought us, He purchased us, He redeemed
us, bought us out of the kingdom of darkness
and transferred us into the kingdom of God. So
we've been transferred into the kingdom of His
dear Son. How did the transfer take place? By
a purchase. He purchased our freedom and forgave
our sins. So in week number one, we found out
that we have been purchased. That's what redemption
is. We've been bought out. Redeemed. The blood
of Jesus. In Corinthians it says, You know, don't
you know that you're not your own? You've been
bought at a price. So the blood of Jesus paid
the price for our redemption. He bought us. He
owns us if we're in Christ. He purchased us and
brought us out of the kingdom of darkness. We
have the receipt. We have the receipt. Let's
look at Hebrews 9, 13 and 14. Under the old system,
the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of
a heifer could cleanse people's bodies from ceremonial
impurity. Just think, how much more? Everybody
say, how much more? Just think, how much more
the blood of Christ will purify our consciences?
Maybe you didn't know the blood of Jesus would
cure or purify your conscience. That's something
that he has done for you. That's something that
Jesus purchased for you with his blood. A cleansed
conscience. Does anybody ever have issues with
their conscience? Beating them down. Well, the
blood of Jesus will cleanse, will purify your
conscience from sinful deeds so that we can worship
the living God. We have to have our consciences
cleansed so that we can worship God freely. Because
if we have condemned consciences, you know what?
We're not going to... Be confident to come to
God in worship. Y 'all are thinking way too hard.
Christ's blood not only deals with the forgiveness
of sin, Christ's blood deals with the effects
and internal damage of sin in the believer. Christ's
blood can cleanse the conscious of all guilt
and condemnation. From past actions and from
past experiences. Because sometimes our conscience
needs to be cleansed over what someone else did
to us. Over some other sinful act that maybe
we didn't specifically commit, but it was committed
and it affected us. The blood of Jesus can cleanse
your conscience. Somebody say thank you. Hebrews
10, 19. We talked about this last week. And so,
dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter
heaven's most holy place. Everybody say, boldly
enter. Why? What does the Word say? Because of
the blood of Jesus. Not confidence in ourself,
but confidence in the blood and what he did for
us so we can boldly enter. We don't come as beggars.
We come as children. Think about it. Who can
boldly enter? Let's just think about the president.
Who can boldly enter? Well, there are people
who are invited who can boldly enter. But then
I imagine the wife can boldly enter. The child
can boldly enter. Right? Some of you are looking
at me funny. But I just want you to think of
that. Picture that. Get that illustration in
your mind that you can boldly enter heaven's
most holy place. Why? Because of the blood of
Jesus. That's why. The blood of Jesus grants
us bold access to God. Now, the blood of Jesus
not only makes forgiveness possible, it not only
purchases us out of the kingdom of darkness,
it not only cleanses our conscience from the
effects of sin, it not only grants us bold access
to God, the bold... The blood of Jesus speaks
over your life. The blood of Jesus speaks good
things, better things. We're going to find out
in the Word. It speaks. Everybody just go ahead
and say it. The blood of Jesus speaks good things
over my life. Did you know that blood speaks?
Blood speaks. Blood speaks in the spirit realm.
You can't hear it with your ears in this natural
realm, but blood speaks in the spirit realm.
Let's see the first instance of this. Not only
the blood of God, but blood. Spilled blood has
a voice. See, Adam and Eve had two sons. Their
names were Abel and Cain. Abel became a shepherd
while Cain cultivated the ground. Genesis 4,
starting in verse 2. When it was time for the
harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as
a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift.
The best. Everybody say the best. the best portions
of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord
accepted Abel and his gift, but he did not accept
Cain and his gift. This made Cain very angry
and he looked dejected. Why are you so angry?
The Lord asked Cain. Why do you look so dejected?
You will be accepted if you do what is right.
But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch
out. Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control
you. But you must subdue it and be its master.
Next verse. One day, Cain suggested to his brother,
let's go out into the fields. And while they
were in the field, Cain attacked his brother
Abel and killed him. Wow. God told him, be careful.
Just do what's right and everything's going to
be good. But no, jealousy tore him up. The first
murder in the Bible had to do with an offering.
I don't know if you've ever realized that or
not. Afterward, the Lord asked Cain, where's
your brother? Do you think God knew where his
brother was? He just wanted him to come clean,
right? Afterward, the Lord asked Cain, where's
your brother? Where's Abel? How did Cain answer
God? I don't know. Cain responded. Am I my brother's
keeper? Am I my brother's guardian? But the Lord
said, what have you done? Listen, your brother's
blood, everybody say blood. Your brother's blood
cries out to me from the ground. Everybody say,
blood speaks. In the spirit realm, blood speaks.
You can't hear it with your natural ear, but
blood speaks. God was hearing the blood of Abel,
crying out to him from the ground. Abel's blood
was crying out for justice. Everybody say justice.
For judgment. For vengeance. Everybody say vengeance.
Abel's blood was crying out. Now let's go to
Hebrews 12, 24. To Jesus, the mediator of the
new covenant. Jesus ratified this new covenant
that we live under with his blood. When we receive
communion, when we read those verses, Jesus said,
this blood represents the new covenant. Everybody
say new covenant. between God and his people.
To Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant. Listen,
and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better
things than that of Abel. Everybody say better
things. Abel's blood was crying out for vengeance,
for justice, for judgment. But the blood of Jesus
on the cross is not. Speak what Abel's blood
spoke. Thank you. The blood of Jesus speaks better
things. Everybody say better things. Everybody
say good things. This is the NLT version of Hebrews
12, 24. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates
the new covenant between God and people, and
to the sprinkled blood which speaks of forgiveness.
Everybody say forgiveness. Instead of crying
out for vengeance, like the blood of Abel. Jesus'
blood speaks better things, better than vengeance,
better than condemnation, better than penalty.
His blood speaks better things because the blood
of Jesus, here's what the blood of Jesus speaks
and declares. The blood of Jesus speaks mercy.
The blood of Jesus speaks pardon. The blood of
Jesus speaks acceptance. The blood of Jesus speaks
peace. The blood of Jesus speaks reconciliation.
The blood of Jesus speaks covenant favor between
God and his people. If you ever said amen in
church, that would have been a good spot to say
it right there. The blood of Jesus also speaks
against accusations. One of the enemy's primary
strategies is accusation, being accused. Sometimes
we think those accusations are just coming from
our own intellect and our own thought, but we
can also hear accusations from the enemy whispering
in our ear. He wants to accuse you. That's one
of his primary strategies. Another one of his
primary strategies is to tell you lies that are
in opposition to God's truth. That's a big one
too. But one of his strategies is accusation,
to accuse you before God, to accuse you in your
own mind, to accuse you through shame, to accuse
you through past failures. His tactic, strategy,
is to accuse you. Romans 8, 33 says this, Who
dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own?
Hello? That needs to be where we are. When accusations
arise, we need to say, who dares to accuse me?
Because God has chosen me as his own. Who dares
bring an accusation to me? Instead of us receiving
it and being crushed under it and beat down under
it, we need to stand up boldly and say, who dares
accuse me? No one. For God himself, listen, has
given us right standing with himself. How did
that take place? How did we receive the righteousness
of Christ? By him shedding his blood for us.
So we take off our unrighteousness and we are
clothed in the righteousness of God. What an
amazing place to be. Who dares accuse us? No
one can accuse us for God himself has given us
right standing with himself. Who dares accuse
you? No one can accuse you because God has given
you right standing with himself. Verse 34. Who
then will condemn us? No one. Everybody say no
one. I have a feeling a lot of us deal with condemnation
a lot. Because I've lived a few years. Hello?
Has anyone in the room ever dealt with condemnation?
Five of us are telling the truth. Everybody else
needs to be feeling condemnation for lying in
church right now. Who then will condemn us? No
one. God's not even condemning us. For Christ
died for us and was raised to life for us and
He is sitting in the place of honor at God's
right hand pleading for us. Speaking for us on
our behalf. Not only is He speaking, He carried
His blood into the Holy of Holies, the real Holy
of Holies in heaven, and put His blood on the
mercy seat, and His blood is speaking good things
over us. It continues to do that. I'm about to
get happy in a minute. Charges exist, right?
Who could have some legitimate charges against
them? Only four of us again. I don't know. Charges
exist. Accusations come. But when you're in Christ,
the blood of Jesus answers those accusations.
Accusation speaks guilty, but the blood speaks
justified. Accusation speaks disqualified. You're
now disqualified because of this that's happened
in your life. But the blood speaks accepted.
Accusation speaks that you're still bound. But
the blood speaks redeemed and free. That's what
the blood of Jesus speaks. By faith, we must
agree with the blood's testimony. If we are to
live, and experience everything that Jesus shed
His blood to purchase for us, then we've got
to know by faith that we have the receipt. And
we've got to agree with the blood. We've got
to quit agreeing with the enemy and agreeing
with guilt and shame and condemnation. We've
got to agree with God if we want to be free.
Now, you don't have to be free. But free is a
whole lot better than bound. And in Christ, Jesus
has presented to you what he has done for you,
but it's up to us to take hold of it. It doesn't
just automatically happen. It's available. Listen,
salvation is available, but we have to respond
to God's grace by faith. That's what the Bible
says. So it works the same way. Always works
the same way. What the blood has provided, we
have to receive it by faith. Believers must refuse
accusation, and we've got to start speaking covenant
truth. Because we combat thoughts with words,
not with more thoughts. We combat thoughts with
words. So when the accusation comes, we speak
the truth. The blood is not only something to
believe silently. The things that Jesus' blood
has purchased for us, it's not just a mental
agreement that we just believe silently. No.
It's something for us to confess boldly. Colossians
2, 13 and 14. You were dead because of your sins.
Spiritually dead. That's where we all started.
You were dead because of your sins and because
your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then...
God made you alive with Christ for he forgave
all of your sins. How did that forgiveness come?
Without the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness.
And get this. He canceled the record of the charges
against us and took it away by nailing it to
the cross. See, I'm a preacher's kid, but I grew
up thinking that one day, when I finally made
it to heaven, I was pretty sure I was going to
make it to heaven, but I always thought that
when I got to heaven, there was just going to
be this film projector. This is before digital.
There's going to be this film projector, and
I was going to have to stand there in front of
everybody and watch. Every bad thing I ever did.
And let everybody hear every bad thing I ever
said. I don't know where I got that from, but
that's. I didn't get it from the Bible. Didn't
get it from the Bible. The Bible says that God
has canceled the record of the charges against
me. And he took it away. By nailing it to the
cross. There is no document in heaven keeping
record of sins of people who have believed in
Jesus and who have been forgiven by Jesus, who've
been washed in the blood of Jesus. There's no
record. We talked about at our... We talked about
the judgment seat of Christ this week. And the
judgment seat of Christ is not to pour guilt
and shame and condemnation on you in heaven.
It's a judgment seat that the result of it is
going to be the rewards that are given to us.
Because we're going to see rewards in heaven
for the things that we've done that God led us
to do and God empowered us to do. There's going
to be rewards for those things. Notice there's
no rewards for things that are just done out
of our imagination. Because what was done for
Christ, in Christ, led by Christ, empowered by
Christ, those things are going to last. How else
do you think? That we're going to have something
in our hands that represents the way that we
lived for Christ to lay at the feet of Jesus.
Where's it going to come from? Judgment seat
of Christ. Contrary to what some people believe,
there's not going to be a big stack of bad things
that we've done and then all of a sudden we've
got to go to purgatory or something and, you
know, get punished for... A thousand years before
we finally get to heaven. That's not in the Bible
either. But it's a good way to raise money, I
guess. Because after somebody dies, they tell
your family, they say, well, you know, if you
give, if you make a generous gift from the life
insurance policy, we will pray them out of purgatory
and they won't have to spend as long in purgatory.
I'm sorry. I normally don't bash things. But
some things are just too ridiculous. My record's
been canceled of every charge that will ever
be. Not just my past, my past, my present, and
future. My record is being canceled. Has anybody
ever heard of a record being expunged? Do you
know what that is? Who knows what that is? Some
of us. Well, if you are found guilty or if you're
charged with things in the legal system, those
things will stay on your record forever. I had
a friend go hunting in Canada. And when he was
there, the officer asked him, well, do you have
any convictions or anything like that? This was
a preacher friend. He said, no. And the guy said,
are you sure? He said, well, back when I was
17 years old, I found myself in a car with some
guys who, they didn't steal anything, but they
were at the beach. and they had spent the day
on the beach, and then they were all sandy and
dirty. It was going to take them hours to get
back home. So one of them had the idea to break
into some rental house, just go in there and
take showers and stuff. So he was charged with
that at 17 years old. He actually went to jail,
and his dad, the preacher, and one of the deacons
had to come get him out of jail. But they didn't
come until after church because it happened on
Wednesday night. They let him sit there. Let
him sit there and think about it until after
church. And then they drove a few hours. So he
had some time to think about who he was hanging
out with and what he participated in. Well, anyway,
now he's a grown man. And he's trying to go into
Canada. Are you sure? Well. I did get arrested
and spend several hours in jail when I was 17.
And the Canadian official said, I'm glad you
told me because it's on your record. He said,
what? It was still on his record. But there's
something about getting your record sponged.
If you got money and a lawyer. Even though he
was guilty and there was a record. I guess because
he was a minor or whatever. He got it expunged.
So now there is nothing on his record. It's clear.
Like it never happened. Listen. Jesus shed his
blood. And your record is expunged in heaven.
It's like it didn't even exist. It's like it
never existed. That's why if you start talking
about your past and sin, things that happen and
all that kind of stuff, it's like if you listen
close to the Spirit of God, He'll say, what are
you talking about? You need to quit condemning
yourself because your record is clear in heaven.
Somebody say thank you. He canceled the record
of the charges against us and took it away by
nailing it to the cross. Listen, the blood of
Jesus speaks some things. It speaks paid in full
to all legal debt. And it also speaks delete
to the record. If we really got a hold of that,
we sure would be a lot happier than we are right
now. 2 Corinthians 1 .20 For all of God's promises
have been fulfilled in Christ. We could add in
here, purchased by His blood. All the promises
have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding
yes. Everybody say yes. And through Christ, our
amen, which means yes, and I agree, ascends to
God for His glory. Blood of Jesus turns God's
promises from maybe to yes. This may be hard
for you to believe, but every promise that God
has made available to you in His Word is yes
to you, not maybe to you. It's yes to you. Promises
of God are yes and amen. Because the blood, because
we're in a blood covenant, a new covenant purchased
with Christ's blood, the blood guarantees the
covenant's reliability. The blood of Jesus speaks
yes to all of God's promises for you. Zechariah
9 -11. Because of the covenant I made with you,
and all covenants are ratified with blood, just
so you know. All biblical covenants are ratified
with blood. Because of the covenant, covenants
between us and God, ratified with blood. Because
of the covenant I made with you, sealed with
blood, I will free... You're prisoners. Everybody
say freedom. Covenant blood is associated with
release, with deliverance, with freedom. This
truth applies spiritually and practically to
each one of us. We've been freed from the bondage.
Freed from fear. Freed from oppression. Freed
from shame. That's what the blood is speaking
over you and over us. The good things. That's
part of the good things. The blood is speaking.
Blood speaking freedom from bondage, fear, oppression,
and shame. And the blood of Jesus speaks freedom
to all who are bound, not just to the super Christians.
Speaks freedom. Freedom is available through
the blood of Jesus. So how do we apply this truth?
We need to learn to answer accusations with the
blood. We've got to stop responding to accusations
with emotion. Because so many times we try to
battle spiritual things with our emotion. So
we've got to stop responding to accusations with
emotion and start responding with covenant truth.
Has anybody ever heard the word plead the blood?
Has anybody ever heard that? You don't hear that
much in church anymore. Who's actually heard
that? I plead the blood or plead the blood. Raise
your hand if you've ever heard that before. Okay,
that's most of the older folks in the room. So
you can't find that actually in a verse where
we're instructed to plead the blood of Jesus.
But I want you to think of a courtroom. And the
judge answers. The judge questions. He doesn't
answer. He questions. To every person who comes
in the courtroom, he questions. How do you plead?
Everybody say that. How do you plead? You have
to make a declaration. You're either going to
plead guilty or you're going to plead innocent.
But in Christ, We don't plead either one. We
just plead the blood. We rest our case, as a
matter of fact, we rest our case by the blood.
That's it. That's our only hope. It's our only
case. And Jesus backs up His blood. The Father
backs up. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross
always backs it up. So everybody stand up. We're
going to say some things. If you want to take
pictures of them, you need to say this more than
once in your life. We're going to go to third
grade again. And we're going to declare these
things together. But I don't want you to just
read them like we did in the third grade. I want
you to speak these things with authority. You
ready? One, two, three. The blood of Jesus speaks
good things over my life. All accusations against
me have been dismissed by the blood of Jesus.
I plead the blood. I rest my case on the blood.
Amen? I plead the blood. All of the promises,
all of God's promises, maybe I'll read it right.
All of God's promises are yes and amen to me.
So when we see a promise of God, we don't have
to wonder, well, is that for me or not? Is that
not for me? No. By the blood of Jesus, it's yes
and amen for you. And say it with me. The blood
of Jesus has set me free. I am free. I'm free.
Are you free? I'm free. You may be seated. See,
the enemy may accuse. The past may remember.
But the blood is still speaking. Everybody say
the blood speaks. And the blood speaks a better
word, a good word, over you and over me. Somebody
say, I have the receipt. This online worship
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