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Welcome to week number nine. When we started
this series, if anyone was here at the beginning,
we said we're going for eight weeks. Well, we
just couldn't stop. So welcome to week number
nine in our series that I've entitled, we've
entitled, I Have the Receipt. Everybody say that
with me. I have the receipt. Now, has that impacted
anyone's life? Have you gained more revelation
through this series? Anyone? About three people.
That's awesome. I'm glad we did. I have the receipt.
Have any of you ever been to a wholesale shopping
club? Costco, BJ's, something like that? I go
to Costco every once in a while. I go to BJ's
every week, just about. There's one just... down
by my house and one thing's different in these
wholesale shopping clubs and other stores when
you leave the cash register you better keep your
receipt in your hand don't stick it in your pocket
or in your purse you know if you have a bag or
a box don't put it in there because you're going
to have to have it before you leave at our bjs
at posner park davenport they might as well have
checked me out. Because they look at every item
on my receipt, and they match that item with
every item in my shopping cart. And I've seen
them catch people that maybe didn't have one
item on the receipt, and it really messes up
the line when that happens. Because they will
not let that person leave until they figure out
how they're going to pay for that one item. Okay?
Your receipt is your proof of purchase. And I'll
say it one more time. Has anyone ever walked
out of a store and the alarm went off? You know,
flashing lights, alarms. Sometimes there's a
voice saying, you know, somebody's coming to
get you. Isn't it wonderful to have the receipt
at that point? You have a proof of purchase.
You've paid for it. It's just that the cashier
didn't deactivate the theft, RFID or whatever
you call it. So, a receipt is your proof of purchase.
We've entitled this series, I Have the Receipt,
because we're looking at the receipt, what Jesus
has already paid for with his blood. So we have
a receipt in the Word of God to let us know what
has been provided for us. And I have a feeling
that most people don't realize everything that
Jesus has provided by His blood. So this series
is helping us be more established. Everybody
say established. More established. Maybe we have
some understanding or we've had some understanding.
But the more we hear, faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. The more we hear,
the more established we become. So it's helping
us become more established in the truth, one
of the most central truths of the Christian faith.
And that is what was purchased and what is provided
through the blood of Jesus. So, like I've said,
the Word contains a detailed receipt of what
Jesus purchased with His blood. And we're going
to end this series today, and it's been nine
messages, but I want to tell you, this has not
been an exhaustive study. We haven't uncovered
everything that the blood of Jesus has purchased
for us. We've uncovered a lot. And don't worry.
If you haven't been here for the previous eight
weeks, you're going to get it all. Just in small
doses. Small doses. And if you hear something,
if anybody hears something, if you missed a week
and you're like, what? I didn't know that Jesus
purchased that for me with his blood. All you
have to do is go to our podcast, Elation Church
on podcast. Anywhere you want to listen to podcasts,
you can find our worship service. for the last
eight weeks, and it will give you more detail
on everything we're going to just bounce through
very quickly. Hebrews 9 .22 says this, Without
the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
Now, we didn't preach on this. Probably should
have had one week, but if I was to ask a general
population of people who... go to church on somewhat
of a regular basis. If I was to ask you what
the blood of Jesus purchased, church people,
if I ask church people that, they're going to
say the blood of Jesus purchased my forgiveness.
Because most people have been exposed to this
verse that without the shedding of blood, there
is no remission of sin. There is no forgiveness.
So the blood of Jesus makes forgiveness possible.
Without the blood, forgiveness would not be possible.
Because forgiveness is possible, does that mean
everyone is going to be forgiven? No. Only the
people who come to Him in faith. Faith in His
work on the cross. Faith in His blood. That's
when forgiveness is applied. Just like every
other promise of God. Supplied through faith.
Through our trust, our confidence in Him. Colossians
1, 13 through 14. For He has rescued us from
the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into
the kingdom of His dear Son who purchased our
freedom. Everybody say redeemed. Who purchased
our freedom. and forgave our sins. So in week
number one, we found out that Jesus purchased
us with his blood. We were all born in the kingdom
of darkness. And a price had to be paid for us
to escape or come out of the kingdom of darkness.
And that price was either... Well, it couldn't
have been our blood, right? Wages of sin is death.
We just received the punishment for that. It
had to be someone's blood who was not guilty
could purchase us. That's Jesus. He purchased
us. The Bible says in Corinthians, don't you
know that you're not your own? You've been bought
with a price. That price is the blood of Jesus.
So he purchased us and he... Purchase us out
of the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of darkness
has no more authority in your life because of
the blood of Jesus. It has no authority unless
you give it authority. By faith. In the blood
of Jesus. The kingdom of darkness has no power
over us anymore. Because we've been rescued from
that kingdom. into the kingdom of His dear Son,
in the kingdom of God, in Christ, because He
purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. The
blood of Jesus paid the price of our redemption.
He bought us and brought us out of the kingdom
of darkness. That was week number one. Week number
two. Hebrews 9, 13 through 14. Under the old
system, old covenant, old testament, under the
old system, the blood of goats and bulls and
the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people's
bodies from ceremonial impurity. Under the old
system. And then just think about something.
I want you to think about this. Just think. How
much more? Somebody say, how much more? Just
think about how much more than the blood of calves
and bulls and the ashes of heaven. Just think
how much more the blood of Jesus will purify
our consciences. We need this. The Bible even
says that the blood of Jesus was sprinkled. on
our conscience. Just think how much more the
blood of Jesus, the blood of Christ will purify
our consciences from sinful deeds so that we
can worship the living God. In the Old Testament,
God said, because of the blood, I will remember
your sin no more. Because of the blood of Jesus,
We're not supposed to remember it anymore. Yeah.
The blood of Jesus purifies our conscience. Has
anyone ever lived part of your life where your
conscience was just beating you down and tearing
you up? Anybody? Because of sin that you've committed
and the enemy just keeps bringing it back up
and you just... You just beat down and beat up
with a guilty conscience. Beat down and beat
up with shame and guilt and condemnation. Anybody?
The blood of Jesus will cleanse that. Some of
you may have lived under shame because of someone
else's sin that someone you are connected with
and their sin has caused shame to come upon you.
this same blood will cleanse your conscience
of that as well. Christ's blood deals with the
effects and internal damage of sin. So Christ's
blood can cleanse the conscience of all guilt
and condemnation from past actions and from past
experiences. But you have to let it. You have
to believe it. You have to apply it. You have
to let it. Because you can hold on to it if you
want to. Why would you want to? Has anybody held
on to it for years and then you come to the point
where you've let it go and you're glad that you
finally let it go? Let it go. Let it go. Had
to do that because I live just outside of Orlando,
right? Hebrews 10, 19. And so, dear brothers
and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's most
holy place because of the blood of Jesus. Not
based on our performance. But because of the
blood of Jesus. Has anyone ever spent part of
your life trying to come to God and say, Oh God,
I'm just so bad. I've been so bad, God. I'm just
a worm. I'm lower than a worm, God. I'm just...
I'm below the worms. Even if you were the best
performing person that you know, even if that
was you, well, I got this Christian thing down
pat. Well, that means that you're dealing with
pride issues. But anyway, I got this thing down
pat. All these people around me, they're a bunch
of heathens. Even then, that would not gain access.
to the Father. You can't earn it. You'll never
deserve it. But the good news is, because of
the blood of Jesus, you can boldly enter heaven's
most holy place. We don't go ashamed. We go as
blood -washed sons and daughters. The blood of
Jesus grants us bold access to God. Hebrews 12,
24. I don't know what week we're on now. To Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling that speaks better things
than that of Abel. During this week, we learned
that spilled blood speaks in the spirit realm.
Because the blood of Abel cried out for vengeance,
cried out for revenge, and God could hear his
blood from the ground, is what the Bible says.
So spilled blood cries out. And Jesus' blood,
this verse tells us, it speaks better things.
Somebody say better things. Here's some of the
things that Jesus' blood speaks. It speaks mercy.
It speaks pardon. It speaks acceptance. It speaks
peace. It speaks reconciliation. It speaks covenant
favor. Just a small list of what the blood of
Jesus speaks. The blood of Jesus speaks better
things over us. Then we go to 1 Corinthians 15,
57. But thank God. Somebody say, thank God. Thank
God. He gives us victory over sin and death through
our Lord Jesus Christ. How is that accomplished
through our Lord Jesus Christ? I'm glad you asked.
Because now we'll go to Revelation 12 and 11.
It says this. They overcame. I can put it this
way. You, if you overcome, if you're going to
live in the victory that Jesus purchased for
you, here's how you're going to do it. They overcame
him by the blood of the Lamb. That's where victory
comes from. From the blood of the Lamb. And it's
going to be applied in our lives when we continue
reading this verse. It says they overcame by
the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their
testimony. You've got to start talking about
what God is doing and has done in your life.
If you're going to live in victory, you've got
to talk about it. You've got to talk about what
He's provided. Maybe even before you see it,
you've got to talk about it. Before you see victory,
you've got to speak victory based on the blood
of Jesus. Hallelujah. I'm not supposed to preach
the whole series, but I'm trying to hold back
a little bit. The blood of Jesus secures our
victory. And we are victorious over sin, over
death, and over all demonic forces. We have the
victory in Christ that he purchased with his
blood. We have it. We have it. Now the enemy
will try to tell you, I'm going to get you. And
you just say, no. The blood of Jesus has already
won this battle. And I'm going to stand in his
victory. You're not going to get me. You're not
going to bring me down. You're just a big, bold
-faced liar is what you are. And I'm not going
to believe your lies. I'm not going to fall for
your lies. 1 Peter 2 .24 Who himself bore our
sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having
died to sins, Bible confirms this in Romans.
We're dead to sin and alive to God. Dead to sin.
So when temptation comes, we say, nope, I'm dead
to that. Having died to sins, might live for
righteousness. By whose stripes you were healed.
So by the blood of Jesus, We did an in -depth
word study and looked at this when we talked
about this. But by the blood of Jesus, we are
healed and made whole. And it's talking about
all of us. Every part of us. The blood of Jesus
purchased healing and wholeness for the whole
person. Physical, mental, emotional. Jesus purchased
it. For us, we have the receipt in His Word.
But just like everything else, we have to receive
it by faith. Hebrews 9, 11 through 15. That is
why He is the one who mediates a new covenant
between God and people so that all who are called,
look to the person beside you and tell them,
I'm a called out one. That word church means
called out ones. When we're in Christ, we are
called out ones. So that all who are called can
receive the eternal inheritance. Look at the
person beside you and say, I've got an inheritance.
I've got an eternal inheritance. Hello? So that
all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance
God has provided for them. So the blood of Jesus,
if you've received communion, you know that on
the night before he was crucified, he says, this
is the cup that represents my blood. The new
covenant. The new covenant. The blood of Jesus
establishes a new covenant between God and us.
A covenant is an irrevocable agreement. that
secures our inheritance and guarantees his promises.
Promises of God are, somebody say yes and amen,
is what the Bible says. His promises are yes
and amen. And his blood secures a guarantee of
his promises. Hebrews 13, 11 through 12. And
so Jesus suffered outside the city gate to make
the people holy through his own blood. This was
last week. The blood of Jesus makes us holy.
Everybody say this. If you're in Christ, say
this with me. I am holy. I am righteous. Now
if you have trouble saying that, you need to
go back and listen to last week's podcast. Because
it's the blood of Jesus who makes us holy. Immediately,
when we come to Christ, you are a spirit, you
have a soul, you live in a body. Immediately
when you come to Christ, your spirit is made
holy. Your spirit will not be any more holy in
heaven than it is today. Now, the goal is for
us to live more as spirit beings than we are
as soulish beings and allow our spirit to have
authority over our soul. Our soul is our mind,
our will, and our emotions. Our thought life,
our desires, and our emotions. That's why You
might look in the mirror and say, well, you know,
I know what you've been thinking, so you ain't
holy. I know what you've been desiring, so you
obviously ain't holy. I'm talking like looking
at the mirror and talking to myself. You obviously
are not holy because I live with you. This sanctification
needs to work from our spirit through the word
of God we saw last week. Washed us. He makes
us holy by washing us with his word. It's talking
about that holiness moving, not just being contained
in our spirit, but the holiness begins to affect.
If we will allow it, if we'll yield to it, he
will begin to affect our thought life. our desires,
our emotions. Hallelujah. The blood of Jesus
makes us holy. And these are three good reasons.
I call it the fruit of holiness. The blood of
Jesus makes us holy so that we can be His temple.
The Holy Spirit cannot live in an unholy temple.
So the blood of Jesus makes us holy, and then
the Holy Spirit moves in at salvation. The blood
of Jesus makes us holy also, so that we will
be carriers of His glory, carriers of His manifested
presence. If you need more information on that,
you've got to go to the series before this one
where we talked about the glory for four weeks.
And then, the blood of Jesus makes us holy. We
saw it. We read verses to substantiate all of
this. The blood of Jesus makes us holy so that
we can display the goodness of God. People should
be able to look at us. Just look at us and say,
God's good. They shouldn't look at us and say,
boy, you are successful. Boy, you got your head
on straight. Boy, you got plans and purposes,
and you are amazing. No. They need to look at
us and say, God's good. Especially the people
who knew us before. They should look at us and
say, God's good. I'll tell you, if anybody knew
me in high school, that'd be all they could say
today is God's good. I was a mess. I just admitted
to that. I was a mess. I wasn't displaying the
goodness of God, I can tell you that. I wasn't
carrying the glory of God. So here we go. The
blood of Jesus not only makes forgiveness possible,
not only purchases us out of the kingdom of darkness,
not only cleanses our conscience from the effects
of sin, not only grants us bold access to God,
not only speaks better things over our lives,
not only secures our victory, not only makes
us whole, not only establishes a new covenant
between us and God, not only makes us holy, But
wait, there's more. The blood of Jesus gives
us the right to heaven. The blood of Jesus prepares
us for the life of heaven. And the blood of Jesus
fills our hearts with the songs of heaven. Revelation
7, 9. You've heard songs. Hopefully, if you've
spent time in church, you've heard songs written
on this text. Here you go. It says, I saw a vast
crowd. God brought John, the beloved. He brought
him up into heaven. He showed him things that
were to come. This is his description. I saw
a vast crowd. Too great to count? from every
nation and tribe and people and language, standing
in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They
were clothed in white robes, and they held palm
branches in their hands. This is how good God
is. I didn't know I was going to be preaching
on Palm Sunday today. I knew I was preaching
about the blood. But this is Palm Sunday. And
I've got a great message on Palm Sunday. Most
of you have heard it more than once. About the
word Hosanna. Everybody say Hosanna. I didn't
want to preach the same sermon again today. Because
I wanted... God really laid this on my heart
to preach one more message about His blood. Listen,
around the throne of heaven, they were clothed
in white robes and held palm branches in their
hands. And they were shouting something with
these palm branches in their hands. With a great
roar, countless people in white robes. are shouting
with a great roar, salvation comes from our God
who sits on the throne and from the Lamb. Everybody
say Hosanna. Does anyone remember what Hosanna
means? Gaynor remembers. Jeffrey remembers because
they probably heard this message more than all
of you put together. This Palm Sunday message.
The word Hosanna is only in the New Testament
surrounding Palm Sunday. It's the only time it
appears in the New Testament. It appears one
time in the Old Testament as a messianic prophecy.
And the word in the New Testament is actually
kind of, they just put the letters together to
kind of make it sound the same as the Old Testament.
Hosanna. Here's what it means. It means save
now. Save now. And when Jesus was riding into
the city, down to the city, they were shouting,
save now! Save us now! Hosanna! They wanted rescue
from the Romans. who were oppressing them. And
by saying the word Hosanna, what they were doing
was they were saying, Jesus, we believe you are
the Messiah who has come to save us. Based on
this Old Testament verse, we're going to say
that word for you as you're coming to town. Hosanna.
Jesus, save us. Save us now. Rescue us. After
the fact, the word Hosanna has become a word
of praise. Have any of you ever sang a song that
was Hosanna? Hosanna. It's a song of praise.
It's not saying save us now. It's like, here's
the illustration in the other message. It's like
going to the beach and you get out and you get
caught in a riptide. And you think you're going
to die. You think you're going under for the
last time. So you're screaming, save me. Save
now. And then the lifeguard comes out. That's
my slow motion lifeguard. He's got this little
buoy in his hand. A can is what they call it.
And he comes out there. And it's like the people
on the shore begin to cheer because the lifeguard
is here. And the lifeguard saves and rescues
and everybody's happy. So in the New Testament,
that word Hosanna becoming praise, here's what
you're saying. You're saying, salvation is here.
Salvation has come. Salvation is in Jesus. Hosanna.
We're not begging him to save us now. We're excited
because He has saved us. Salvation is here. Salvation
is now. So we can just as easily say that in
heaven they're holding up these palm branches
and what are they saying? Salvation comes from
our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb.
The Lamb is Jesus. Everybody say Jesus. And we
call Him a Lamb because He was the sacrifice.
This is an image. It's saying he's the lamb that
was slain before the foundation of the earth,
is what it says. He's the one who shed his blood.
Salvation, we could say, comes from the blood
of Jesus. Salvation is here. And when we're in
heaven, looking back over this time on earth
that's already ended, we're going to keep saying,
salvation, my salvation came from the lamb. My
salvation came from God. We're not going to quit
talking about the blood of Jesus. Getting ahead
of myself. Palm Sunday. Hosanna. Save us now.
Salvation is here. Let's continue reading verse
11. And all the angels were standing around the
throne and around the elders and the four living
beings. And they fell before the throne with
their faces to the ground and worshipped God.
They sang, Amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom
and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength
belong to our God forever and ever. Amen. And
one of the 24 elders asked me, Who are these
who are clothed in white? Where did they come
from? And I said to him, sir, you're the one
who knows. I'm just visiting. You probably know
who they are. Why are you asking me? It's basically
what John's saying. Then he said to me, these
are the ones who came out of great tribulation.
NLT puts it this way. These are the ones who
died in the great tribulation. And why are they
there and why are they in white robes? They have
washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and
made them white. Now if this is a specific group
of people, guess what? You're going to be wearing
a white robe too. And why is your robe going
to be white? Same, same way. Look at the person
beside you and say, same way. Same way. The robes
in heaven are made white by being washed in the
blood of the Lamb. Only those who've been washed
in the blood of the Lamb can stand before the
throne. Only blood washed. Without being washed
in the blood of the Lamb, you have no right to
stand before the throne. The great multitude
is not before the throne because they tried hard.
They're not standing before the throne because
they meant well. They're not standing there because
they hope for mercy in some kind of abstract,
you know. That's not why they're there. You don't
go to heaven and beg for mercy. Now mercy is
involved, but nobody gets to heaven based on
just the mercy of God. They're there for one
stated reason. They wash their robes in the blood
of the Lamb, and that is the distinguishing mark
of the redeemed. To be washed in the blood. Of
the Lamb. Romans 5, 21. So just as sin ruled
over all people and brought them to death, now,
listen, God's wonderful grace rules. Instead
of giving, instead, God's wonderful grace rules
instead of sin ruling. giving us right standing
with God, and resulting in eternal life. And
all this was paid for and accomplished through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So grace. What is grace?
Normal church response is unmerited favor. Everybody
say unmerited favor. If you spent time in church,
you ask somebody what grace is, they say, well,
it's unmerited favor. Well, let's expand that
a little bit. Because if you study the word grace,
if you dig in deep, it means this. Unmerited
favor is a good definition, but this expresses
it more of what's actually taking place. Grace
is God's acts of kindness and favor towards us.
To just say that there's unmerited favor, I don't
know that we can come up with some kind of connection,
you know, that we can really take hold of. So
the grace of God is his acts, the things that
he's done. His acts of kindness and favor that
he's done for you and for me. He's done a lot
of wonderful things for you and for me that are
unmerited, not based on our performance. God's
greatest act, if you want to challenge me on
this, you can, but I won't go for it. God's greatest
act of kindness and favor towards you was the
shedding of the blood of Jesus for you. That's
the greatest act. The greatest act of grace for
us. Greatest. See, the blood of Jesus is what
establishes a legal claim of righteousness. God
can't just say, Oh, that's alright. I'm just
going to call you righteous. God can't do that.
He can't. Because He's just. He can't just call
you righteous. Even though He's God. Because
if He just called you righteous without something
to establish that righteousness, legally establish
it, He couldn't just call you righteous. Because
if he did, he wouldn't be God anymore because
he wouldn't be just. So it's the blood that establishes
this legal claim of righteousness. Because Jesus
fully satisfied, on the cross, he fully satisfied
what divine justice required. He did it. He satisfied
it. See, the blood means sin has been judged.
It's already been judged. Punishment has already
been executed. It was executed on the cross.
Righteousness has been satisfied. And now we...
being in Christ, we can now be welcomed legally
and lovingly. I got goosebumps. The blood not
only makes heaven desirable, it makes heaven
rightfully open to all who are in Christ. So
here's the deal. We don't have to live with an
uncertain hope. Have any of you ever asked someone
if they're going to heaven and they say, well,
I hope so. And they're using hope in the English
understanding where it's like, I don't know,
it's about 50 -50. Hope so. You know. I've asked
people before if they were going to heaven, they
say, well, I've been a good person. We did a
Vietnamese camp in New Jersey just across the
George Washington Bridge in New Jersey. And I
tried to share this with these kids. And I kept
asking them every session we had. And we had
a lot of sessions because we thought we were
doing vacation Bible school, but it turned into
a camp. I mean, they were actually living there.
So, I mean, it was like we had them for four
days and it was all us. We were woefully underprepared.
Because we didn't know we were going to do a
camp. But I would ask those boys and girls, every
session, I would say, who goes to heaven? And
they would say, good people. And I would say,
no! Good people do not go to heaven. They don't.
There's none righteous. No, not one. Jesus is
the only one. All God, all man who lived a perfect
life. He's the only one. Nobody's perfect. Nobody's
perfect. We've all messed up. Listen. We don't
have to live with an uncertain hope. Because
our hope. I think the hymn writer put it very
good, and it just came to my mind. My hope is
in nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
My hope is in nothing less. It's not in my own
works, in my own ways, in my own goodness. If
so, I'm living with an uncertain hope. An unfounded
hope. A never fulfilled hope. Let's just go ahead
and put it that way. But because of the blood
of Jesus, my sins are forgiven. My record is
cleared. My robe is washed. My access is secured.
My heavenly home is settled because of the blood
of Jesus. The blood of Jesus not only gives us
the right of heaven, it also makes us fit for
the life in heaven. The life in heaven is this,
nearness to God. It's delight in holiness separated
for God and to God. Delight in holiness. Worship
before the throne. Fellowship with the Lamb.
Pleasure in the will of God. We're not just going
to float around on clouds. We're going to be
serving God. We're going to have pleasure in
the will of God. But guess what? We don't have
to wait until heaven to experience this because
of the blood of Jesus. See, we've already established
that the blood of Jesus gives us bold access.
The blood of Jesus makes us holy. The blood of
Jesus unites us with God through a new covenant.
So it's the blood that's preparing us, making
us fit for heaven. Not only the right to heaven,
but to get us ready for heaven. See, when we
get there, it shouldn't be like we've gone somewhere
that we've never been before. Heaven is not an
unknown foreign place to a blood -washed heart.
It's home. It's home. Blood not only prepares
a place for the believer, It prepares the believer
for the place. It's a good way to look at it.
I've already alluded to this, but you need to
know something. Heaven will never outgrow the
blood of Jesus. We're not going to go beyond
the blood of Jesus and say, well, you know, thank
you Jesus for doing that, but we're moving on
now. The blood of Jesus will continue to be one
of the focal points of singing and celebration
throughout all eternity. It's going to continue.
Revelation 7, 19. We just read this. Salvation
comes from our God who sits on the throne and
from the Lamb, the sacrificed Lamb, slain before
the foundation of the earth. Every time we see
the word lamb, we're talking about, basically
we're talking about the blood of Jesus and the
sacrifice of Jesus. Revelation 5, 9. We have
been made right in God's sight by the blood of
Christ. I mean, they're still talking about this
in heaven. Not just to get in. It's a continual
thing. Hey, I'm celebrating today. I'm in heaven.
I was made right in God's sight by the blood
of Jesus. And salvation came from His blood.
Revelation 1, 5 and 6. All glory to Him who loves
us and has freed us from our sins by shedding
His own blood. These are the words and the songs
of heaven. These are the praises of heaven. All
glory to him who loves us and has freed us from
our sins by shedding his blood. He has made us
a kingdom of priests for our God, his Father.
All glory and power to him forever and ever.
Amen. And that verse points out something that
should bless your heart today. The blood of Jesus.
See, it's on the altar in the throne room of
all eternity. The Bible says he took his blood
to heaven, to the real altar. And it's still
there today. It'll be there when we get there.
And it'll be there 10 ,000 times 10 ,000 years.
It'll still be there. The blood of Jesus is there
in the throne room of eternity. But the blood
of Jesus is the eternal testimony of the love
of God, the love of Jesus for you. It's the eternal
testimony of his love. Greater love is no man
than this, and he laid down his life for his
friends. Jesus willingly laid down his life.
Nobody could take his life. He willingly laid
it down and shed his blood for you and for me.
And his blood, is the eternal testimony of His
love. See, talk is cheap. People say that they
love you and then they might stab you in the
back the very next week. But Jesus didn't just
say that He loves you. He shed His blood to show
you that He loves you. The blood is the eternal
testimony of His love. See, the blood forever
declares He loves you. He loves you. He gave
Himself for you. He purchased you. He brought
you near. And He's the one who brought you home.
He's the one who brought you home to heaven.
And He did it with His blood. Made it possible.
So how are we going to apply this truth? You
need to settle your confidence in the blood now.
Be confident. Don't be wishy -washy or hem -hawing
around. That might not translate into Spanish.
Wishy -washy. Hem -haw. That probably doesn't
translate very well into French or Spanish either.
Listen. You don't need to be back and forth.
Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
All those things that the blood purchased for
you, you don't need to be back and forth and
back and forth and back and forth all the time.
Double -minded, unstable. No. We need to settle
our confidence in the blood of Jesus. Biblical
hope, right? Don't wait until death approaches
to ask what gives you hope. Have you been washed?
Are you trusting in the blood of Jesus? Is your
confidence in Christ alone? See, our assurance,
we don't live with hope, so our assurance rests.
In the blood. Not in vague spirituality. Have
you talked to somebody recently who said, you
know, I'm a spiritual person. I have. I'm spiritual.
I don't know that I'm a Christian, but I'm a
spiritual person. That's useless. Being spiritual
is not going to take you anywhere except to hell.
Just go ahead and put it out there. The believer's
assurance rests in the blood of Jesus, not in
some vague spirituality. How else are we going
to apply it? We need to let heaven shape our
lives today. Our present lives need to be shaped
by heaven. Because if you're a believer that's
headed home, you should live like home is real.
We shouldn't be so focused on the natural that
we lose sight of the spiritual. We shouldn't...
have our sights set so much on the temporal that
we lose sight of the eternal. Because if we're
really headed home, hey, this whole life down
here is just like a puff of wind compared to
eternity. It's over. I look in the mirror today
and I'm 60 years old. It seems like I was just
in middle school with my friends. If we're going
to live like we're headed home, then we need
to have a loose grip on the world. I mean, we
still have to live here. Don't get me wrong.
We still have to live here. For this time. But
this time should not consume us. We need to have
a loose grip on the world. We need to have a
deep love for God's presence. To see and experience
His glory, His manifest presence. We need to
have a strong desire for holiness, that that
holiness is going to work in our thought life
and in our... in our desires and in our emotions,
like God wants it to and has made available for
it to through the washing of the water of His
Word. We need to be steady worshiping God. And
so many times, we're quick to worship God when
everything's going great and everything's going
our way. But this world is filled with some hardships
that we all face. So do we spin out of control
when we face hardship? If so, we're focusing
on the temporal too much. We need to be steadily
worshiping God. Even during the hard days. What
else? How are we going to apply it? We need to
participate in and learn the song of the redeemed
before we arrive there. The only time we talk
about the blood shouldn't be during a nine -week
series. We need to be thanking Jesus for His
blood, what His blood has done for us, made available
to us. We need to worship the Lamb. We need to
testify of redemption. of His purchasing us out
of the kingdom of darkness and placing us in
Christ into the kingdom of His dear Son. We need
to be testifying of the goodness of God. We need
to speak often of what Christ has done. That's
the way we get ready. We don't need to get to
heaven and say, Oh, what do I do now? Why? Maybe
after a year or two, you can pick up on some
of the language if you haven't had any of it
before you got there. It'd be awesome to go through
the gate and say, Thank you, Jesus, for your
blood and what your blood has done for me. We're
just ready to go when we get there. Just be ready
to go when you get there. All right, everybody
stand up. I'm sorry I woke some of you up when
I did that. I'm glad the baby's still asleep.
Didn't wake up the baby. We're going to put our
words in agreement with the Word of God. Let's
say this together just like we're in the third
grade on three, except don't just say it all
like monotone. Say it like you're saying it.
Look to the person beside you and say, take ownership.
Take ownership. You ready? One, two, three. I
have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The
blood of Jesus has secured my heavenly home.
I have boldness before God through the blood.
The blood of Jesus is preparing me for the life
of heaven. My song is salvation to our God and
unto the Lamb. Everybody say, Hosanna. I belong
to Jesus now, and I will be with him forever.
Y 'all want to say it again? Let's say it again
one more time. Ready? One, two, three. I have
been washed in the blood of the Lamb. The blood
of Jesus has secured my heavenly home. I have
boldness before God through the blood. The blood
of Jesus is preparing me for the life of heaven.
My song is salvation to our God and to the Lamb.
Hosanna! I belong to Jesus now, and I will be
with Him forever. Somebody say praise the Lord.
Maybe sit here just for another moment. The blood
of Jesus secures your home before the throne.
And the lamb who washed you is the lamb who will
welcome you home. This online worship experience
was brought to you by the friends and partners
of Eulation Church.