Sermon

I Have The Receipt: Made Holy by the Blood of Jesus

Elation Church

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  1. Faith is more than a feeling or a theory. It's

  2. a decision that moves your feet, opens your hands,

  3. and activates God's promises. In our brand new

  4. book, Faith Act, Jeffrey and I take you on a

  5. powerful journey through some of Scripture's

  6. most transforming moments where ordinary people

  7. dared to obey and saw heaven move on their behalf.

  8. Order your copy of Faith Act today on Amazon.

  9. Week number eight in our series that we've entitled,

  10. I Have Faith. The receipt. Everybody say, I have

  11. the receipt. Say it again. I have the receipt.

  12. How many of you have ever been to one of the

  13. shopping clubs like BJ's or Costco or something

  14. like that? Have you been to a place where you

  15. have to hold on to the receipt? You don't just

  16. head straight to the car. You have to hold on

  17. to the receipt. Especially if you go to the BJ's

  18. in Davenport, the one that I go to most of the

  19. time. Because before you can leave the building,

  20. there's someone standing there who is going to

  21. check, especially if you do self -checkout like

  22. I do, which is a yellow receipt. They're going

  23. to look. I mean, they might as well have checked

  24. me out because they're going to look at every

  25. item in my shopping cart and check it off. And

  26. then they're going to do a little squiggly mark,

  27. which might be their initials. I'm not sure.

  28. And you cannot leave. Until they check your shopping

  29. cart against your receipt. Now you can leave,

  30. but the things that you purchase can't leave

  31. until they're verified. See, the receipt is our

  32. proof of purchase. Everybody say proof of purchase.

  33. It's our proof of purchase. Have you ever gone

  34. out of a store and all of a sudden the security

  35. alarm went off? Weren't you glad you had your

  36. receipt? Right? because at least I hope you had

  37. the receipt. I hope you weren't shoplifting,

  38. but especially since you're at church on Sunday

  39. morning, that'd be bad if you were shoplifting.

  40. But you pull out that receipt to prove that you

  41. have purchased that item that the cashier forgot

  42. to take the tag off of or forgot to deactivate.

  43. So having a receipt is a proof of purchase, and

  44. we've entitled... This series, I have the receipt

  45. because we're looking at the Bible and we're

  46. looking at how it contains a detailed receipt.

  47. Everybody say a detailed receipt. A detailed

  48. receipt of what Jesus has purchased for us with

  49. his blood. And guess what? If we don't know that

  50. Jesus purchased it for us with his blood, and

  51. we don't know we have a receipt, that receipt

  52. according to his word that he purchased it for

  53. us, then it's probably not going to be evident

  54. in our lives. We have to know that it has been

  55. purchased. Are you with me? Look at the person

  56. beside you and tell them, quit thinking so hard

  57. and just smile. Quit thinking so hard. Because

  58. this series is helping each one of us be more

  59. established in one of the most central truths

  60. of the Christian faith. What was purchased and

  61. what is provided through the blood of Jesus.

  62. It's a lot. This is week number eight. I'm going

  63. to recap it real quick. If you haven't been here,

  64. you're still going to get it all. You're just

  65. going to get it in very small doses before we

  66. present the new material. So if you listen to

  67. something that I say that Jesus purchased for

  68. you with His blood, and you say, well, I've never

  69. heard that before, all you have to do is go on

  70. our podcast, the Elation Church podcast. You

  71. can get all seven messages before today if you

  72. need more evidence from the Word of God. Hebrews

  73. 9 .22. It says this, without the shedding of

  74. blood, there is no forgiveness. Did you know

  75. that we could not be forgiven by God without

  76. Jesus shedding his blood to pay for our forgiveness?

  77. You could not be forgiven without the blood.

  78. Because without the shedding of blood, there

  79. is no forgiveness. There is no remission of sin

  80. apart from the blood of Jesus. So the blood of

  81. Jesus makes forgiveness possible. Jesus dying

  82. on the cross doesn't mean that everyone's going

  83. to be forgiven, but it does mean that those who

  84. come to him in faith, that his blood will provide

  85. the forgiveness that you reach out to him to

  86. receive by faith. Colossians 1, 13 and 14. Listen

  87. to the word. For he has rescued us. From the

  88. kingdom of darkness. Do you know that you've

  89. been rescued from the kingdom of darkness and

  90. it has no power over you anymore? Do you know

  91. that? Are you living in that? Are you standing

  92. in that? He has rescued us from the kingdom of

  93. darkness and transferred us into the kingdom

  94. of his dear son. So we're no longer, all of us

  95. were born in the kingdom of darkness. How did

  96. he move us from the kingdom of darkness and transfer

  97. us into the kingdom of his dear son? How did

  98. he do it? He did it by purchasing us. He purchased

  99. us and purchased our freedom and forgave our

  100. sins. Hallelujah. You're not your own. The Bible

  101. says you've been bought with a price, and that

  102. price is the blood of Jesus. We've been purchased

  103. by God, and our freedom has been purchased by

  104. the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus paid the

  105. price for our redemption. Redemption means that

  106. he bought us out. He bought us out and brought

  107. us out of the kingdom of darkness. Hebrews 9,

  108. 13. And 14. Under the old system, everybody say

  109. Old Testament, Old Covenant, Mosaic Covenant

  110. is what this is talking about. Under the old

  111. system, the blood of goats and bulls and the

  112. ashes of a heifer could cleanse people's bodies

  113. from ceremonial impurity. Under the old system.

  114. But then it tells us this. Just think. How much

  115. more? God wants us to think about how much more

  116. the blood of Christ will purify, listen, our

  117. consciences. Did you know that the blood of Jesus

  118. can purify your conscience? Another verse says

  119. that his blood was sprinkled. On our conscience.

  120. The blood of Jesus will purify our consciences

  121. from sinful deeds so that we can worship the

  122. living God. Did you know the blood of Jesus did

  123. that for you? Christ's blood deals with the effects

  124. and the internal damage of sin. Before I found

  125. this out, I was living and dealing with the internal

  126. damage of sin and the effects of past sin in

  127. my life. Dealing with shame. Dealing with guilt.

  128. But the blood of Jesus, He shed His blood to

  129. cleanse your conscience. Under the Old Testament,

  130. He said He would remember your sin no more. Under

  131. the new covenant, he says, you shouldn't remember

  132. it anymore either. Because my blood can cleanse

  133. your conscience. Hallelujah. Christ's blood can

  134. cleanse the conscience of all guilt and condemnation.

  135. Here's what else it can do. Not just from your

  136. past actions, but from past experiences in your

  137. life that were the result of sin, even if it

  138. wasn't your sin. The blood of Jesus can cleanse

  139. your conscience. So you don't have to live under

  140. that shame anymore. Even though it wasn't a result

  141. of your sin. How many of you know what I'm talking

  142. about? Has anybody but me lived under that shame

  143. of even the sin of someone else that I was connected

  144. to? But the blood of Jesus can cleanse your conscience.

  145. If you don't know it, you can't receive it. But

  146. now I told you, so you just need to go ahead

  147. and receive it and be cleansed in the name of

  148. Jesus. Hebrews 10, 19. And so, dear brothers

  149. and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven's most

  150. holy place. Why? Because we're good enough? Does

  151. it say if you're good enough, you can boldly

  152. enter the most holy place? Is that what it says?

  153. Come on, somebody. So, dear brothers and sisters,

  154. we can boldly enter heaven's most holy place

  155. because of the blood of Jesus. Has anybody ever

  156. prayed to God and you started out by talking

  157. about how unworthy you were and how low you were

  158. and how much of a worm you are? Anybody? One

  159. person. I'm glad you can be free of that. I'm

  160. glad I can be free of that. Because of the blood

  161. of Jesus. Go boldly to the Father. The blood

  162. of Jesus grants us bold access to God. Hebrews

  163. 12, 24. To Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,

  164. and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks, Better

  165. things than that of Abel. And this week we looked

  166. at how the blood of Abel was crying out to God.

  167. Spilled blood speaks in the spirit realm. God

  168. could hear Abel's blood crying out to him for

  169. justice, for vengeance. And the Bible says, The

  170. blood of Jesus speaks some better things over

  171. us. Somebody say better things. Here's some of

  172. the things that the blood of Jesus speaks over

  173. you today. It speaks mercy. It speaks pardon.

  174. It speaks acceptance. The blood of Jesus speaks

  175. peace. The blood of Jesus speaks reconciliation.

  176. The blood of Jesus speaks covenant favor between

  177. you and God. The blood of Jesus. speaks better

  178. things over your life and over my life. Better

  179. things. 1 Corinthians 15, 57. But thank God.

  180. He gives us victory over sin and death through

  181. our Lord Jesus Christ. How does He give it to

  182. us? Because he purchased it. He purchased it

  183. for us. Victory over sin and death. Revelation

  184. 12, 11. It says this. This is a future time,

  185. an eschatological future time, if you want to

  186. put that word on there. From John, the Spirit

  187. took John up into heaven and showed him these

  188. things. And looking back, he found out how the

  189. people in the church age, how they overcame.

  190. They overcame their spiritual enemy. They overcame

  191. all demonic forces. They overcame. How? How did

  192. they overcome? There's two things. By the blood

  193. of the Lamb. Everybody say the blood of the Lamb.

  194. The blood of the Lamb. And by the word of their

  195. testimony. What are we testifying about? What's

  196. the word of our testimony? The goodness of God.

  197. That's why you've got to open your mouth. If

  198. you want to live a victorious life, you're going

  199. to have to open your mouth and talk about what

  200. God has done. what Jesus has provided, what He

  201. purchased with His blood, what's available to

  202. you. And you know what? You've got to say, no,

  203. I'm not going to be under that shame and guilt

  204. anymore because I know that I have a receipt

  205. that my conscience is cleansed. So I reject that

  206. in the name of Jesus. It's my testimony. I've

  207. been washed by the blood of Christ. I've been

  208. sprinkled by the blood of Christ. I've been forgiven

  209. by the blood of Christ. That's my testimony.

  210. And that's how we overcome the deceiver, the

  211. liar. That's how we overcome. By the blood of

  212. the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. The

  213. blood of Jesus secures our victory over sin.

  214. The Bible says in Romans that sin is no longer

  215. your master. Why is that? Because of the blood

  216. of Jesus. The blood of Jesus secures our victory

  217. over sin. It secures our victory over death.

  218. Death, where is your sting? It secures our victory

  219. over all demonic forces. Some people just walk

  220. around scared of the enemy. The Bible says that

  221. Jesus defeated them and led captivity captive.

  222. And he leads us in a triumphal procession. Back

  223. in the old days, they would take the king and

  224. put him in a cage after they won, and they would

  225. have a parade going through town of the people

  226. that they conquered. And they were basically

  227. saying, we're in charge now. Here's your king.

  228. He's in a cage. We're celebrating because we're

  229. victorious. Can you get that picture? He leads

  230. us in triumphal procession, Jesus does. He says,

  231. here's your lying enemy. He's in a cage. Let's

  232. show all the rest of them that they're defeated

  233. too. Somebody should smile. 1 Peter 2 .24. who

  234. himself bore our sins in his own body on the

  235. tree, that we, having died to sins, might live

  236. for righteousness, by whose stripes you were

  237. healed. Everybody say this, if I was healed,

  238. then I am healed. And it's talking about the

  239. whole person. Looked up the Hebrew words that

  240. this is referring to and the Greek words it's

  241. talking. It's talking wholeness for the whole

  242. person. It's what the original language is bringing

  243. out. So the blood of Jesus purchased healing

  244. and wholeness for the whole person. I was waiting

  245. on an amen. Physical. Mental, emotional. Blood

  246. of Jesus has purchased it. You have a receipt

  247. in your Bible where God has purchased it. You

  248. have the receipt. Hebrews 9 .11 says this. That

  249. is why He is the one. who mediates a new covenant

  250. between God and people so that all who are called

  251. can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised

  252. them. This was last week. Does anybody remember

  253. during the communion and the Lord's Supper where

  254. Jesus said this when he held the cup? He says,

  255. this is my blood. And basically saying, I'm establishing

  256. a new covenant with my blood. A new covenant

  257. between you and God. I'm establishing this new

  258. covenant. And Jesus was, at that time, speaking

  259. prophetically because that was going to happen

  260. the next day when He died on the cross. And He

  261. was whipped overnight and He died on the cross

  262. and He shed His blood. His blood was shed to

  263. enact or establish A new covenant. New covenant.

  264. And what does that new covenant establish? Well,

  265. this says that all who are called, and if you're

  266. in Christ today, if you are part of the church

  267. today, that word church in the New Testament,

  268. ecclesia, it's a compound word. It's two words

  269. put together. Here's what it means. It means

  270. called out. We're called out. It's a description

  271. of what we've already talked about. We've been

  272. called out of the kingdom of darkness and we've

  273. been transferred into the kingdom of God. We're

  274. called out. We're called out from being immersed

  275. in sin to being immersed in Christ. Can't preach

  276. that message again. I could, but... You wouldn't

  277. want to stay here long enough to hear it. So

  278. I've got to keep going. He's the one who mediates

  279. a new covenant between God and people so that

  280. all who are called can receive something. The

  281. eternal inheritance God has promised. So the

  282. blood of Jesus establishes covenant between us

  283. and God. And a covenant, a blood covenant, is

  284. an irrevocable agreement that secures something.

  285. And the blood covenant that Jesus laid out for

  286. us in the new covenant, it secures our inheritance

  287. and guarantees the promises of God. Amen. I'll

  288. amen myself. So the blood of Jesus not only makes

  289. forgiveness possible, it not only purchases us

  290. out of the kingdom of darkness, it not only cleanses

  291. our conscience from the effects of sin, it not

  292. only grants us bold access to God, it not only

  293. speaks better things over our lives, it not only

  294. secures our victory, it not only makes us whole,

  295. it not only establishes a new covenant, it does

  296. something else. And at first today was going

  297. to be our last day, but guess what? We've got

  298. another receipt next week. Here's what we're

  299. looking at today. It's the blood of Jesus that

  300. makes us holy. The blood of Jesus makes us holy.

  301. And I've got to tell you, I didn't grow up...

  302. I mean, my dad was a preacher and I grew up in

  303. church, but I didn't grow up... understanding

  304. and recognizing all that Jesus' blood did for

  305. me and purchased for me. I don't know if I wasn't

  306. listening. I don't know if I wasn't hearing.

  307. Because we can listen without hearing. Or we

  308. can hear without listening. Maybe I got it backwards.

  309. I mean, we can sit in church and hear the Word.

  310. But really not receive it. Not receive revelation.

  311. We receive information, but not revelation. The

  312. blood of Jesus makes us holy. Now that may be

  313. foreign to your thinking. Let's talk about it.

  314. Hebrews 13, 11 through 12. Listen to the Word

  315. of God. I didn't write this. The high priest...

  316. carries the blood of animals into the most holy

  317. place as a sin offering. But the bodies of those

  318. animals are burned outside the camp. Everybody

  319. say Old Covenant. And so, Jesus also suffered

  320. outside the city gate. Because Golgotha, It was

  321. outside the city gate. Jesus also suffered outside

  322. the city gate. And why did He do it? To make

  323. the people holy through His own blood. To make

  324. the people holy. He shed His blood to make you

  325. holy. Some of you got some straining facial looks.

  326. It's just reading the Bible, but we can read

  327. the Bible and not see things. Jesus suffered

  328. outside the city gate to make the people holy

  329. through his own blood. To make holy is the Greek

  330. word, and I'm not a Greek scholar, but hey, you

  331. can be. All you have to do is look up a verse

  332. and... Go to Bible Hub and look up the verse,

  333. what was it, Hebrews 13, 12, interlinear, and

  334. you can look it up and see all the words. So

  335. the word here, to make holy, that verb is, I

  336. always have fun pronouncing these words. That's

  337. why I put the pronunciation. So, you know, I

  338. found out going to New York every year for 14

  339. years. we pronounce things differently. Again,

  340. I would be cooking in our friend's kitchen and

  341. say, do you have any foil? I need some oil. And

  342. we finally got to the point where Lois, who's

  343. in heaven now, would say, you mean foil. That's

  344. what she taught. She taught like, foil. Oil is

  345. not full at all. She was an English teacher.

  346. But this word is hagiadzo. And these are the

  347. four ways you can translate it. To sanctify.

  348. Jesus suffered to sanctify you with his blood.

  349. Jesus suffered to make you holy with His blood.

  350. Jesus suffered and shed His blood to consecrate

  351. you and to set you apart. That's what the Word

  352. says. That's what the Word says. Separated. We've

  353. been separated. That word holy, you know, most

  354. of the time it's so religious we don't understand

  355. what it means. It means to be set apart. To be

  356. separated. To be claimed by God. To be reserved

  357. for His use. That's what Jesus did for us with

  358. His blood. See, sanctification and holiness is

  359. not simply behavior modification. I have a feeling

  360. some people in the room have spent years of their

  361. life, even if you're not there right now, you

  362. think that sanctification and holiness... is

  363. a behavior modification. But what did we just

  364. read? It's not a behavior modification. It's

  365. divine participation. And we have to participate

  366. with it. We have to acknowledge it. We have to

  367. receive it just like everything else that Jesus

  368. purchased with his blood. But we have to participate

  369. in God's work. It doesn't just happen automatically.

  370. Just like all these other things. It doesn't

  371. just happen automatically. Holiness is not merely

  372. separation from sin. Some people think holiness

  373. just means that you're set apart from sin. But

  374. holiness is sharing in God's nature. He's holy.

  375. He says, be holy because I'm holy. Holiness is

  376. sharing in God's nature. It's aligning with God's

  377. will. It's choosing what God chooses. So it's

  378. not just separation from sin. Hebrews 10 .10

  379. For God's will was for us to be made holy by

  380. the sacrifice. Let this sink in. Receive God's

  381. Word today. God's will, His purpose in Jesus

  382. shedding His blood, God's will is for us to be

  383. made holy by that sacrifice. The sacrifice of

  384. the body of Jesus. Once and for all time. Look

  385. to the person beside you and say, it's a done

  386. deal. When Jesus died on the cross, is it done

  387. due? Is it done due? Once and for all? See, sanctification

  388. and holiness is union with God and participation

  389. in His holiness. I want you to think about something.

  390. God is three persons in one essence. It's the

  391. Trinity. God is Father, Son, Jesus, and the Holy

  392. Spirit. The Bible says and teaches that when

  393. we are in Christ, the Holy Spirit comes to dwell

  394. in us. Don't you know that your body is the temple

  395. of the Holy Spirit? Who's heard that verse in

  396. Corinthians? Don't you know that your body is

  397. a temple of the Holy Spirit? I want you to think

  398. about something. God is holy. The Spirit of God

  399. is holy. That's why we call Him the Holy Spirit.

  400. Do you think that the Holy Spirit could move

  401. into an unholy temple? I mean, I'm just... I

  402. know common sense isn't as common as it used

  403. to be, but I'm just trying to appeal to your

  404. common sense. Do you think the Holy Spirit could

  405. move into an unholy temple? That's why the blood

  406. of Jesus made us holy. Because if the blood of

  407. Jesus did not make us holy, then the Holy Spirit

  408. could not move in. Because we would be an unholy

  409. temple. Without the blood of Jesus making us

  410. holy. He wouldn't be able to dwell on us. He

  411. wouldn't be able to dwell on us. So our holiness

  412. is dependent on the blood of Jesus. So, I want

  413. to read three verses and talk about the fruit

  414. of holiness. The first thing we need to realize

  415. is the fruit of holiness. That means this happens

  416. because Jesus made us holy by His blood. is that

  417. God lives in us if we're in Christ. That's the

  418. fruit of holiness. God can live in us and He

  419. does dwell in us. Ephesians 5 .25 Christ loved

  420. the church. It's not talking about an organization.

  421. It's not talking about a building. It's talking

  422. about the called out ones. Christ loved the called

  423. out ones. He gave up his life for her, the called

  424. out ones. Why did he do it? What does the Bible

  425. say? To make her holy. Somebody smile. This ought

  426. to make you happy, happy, happy. Christ loved

  427. the church. He gave his life for her to make

  428. her holy and clean. Washed by the cleansing of

  429. God's word. So he shed his blood to make us holy.

  430. Make us clean. And then he washes us with the

  431. cleansing of his word. Being made holy was purchased

  432. by the blood of Jesus. Listen. We are a three

  433. -part being. You are a three -part being. You

  434. are a spirit. Everybody say, I'm a spirit. You

  435. are a spirit. You have a soul. And you live in

  436. a body. But you are a spirit. Because you were

  437. created in the image of God. And God is spirit.

  438. He's spirit being, spirit class. You are different

  439. than any other breathing thing on this earth

  440. because you are a spirit made in the image of

  441. God. You have a soul. So if you are a spirit,

  442. what is your soul? Your soul is your mind, your

  443. will, and your emotions. So we can even break

  444. it down further. Your soul is your thought life,

  445. your desires. I don't know if I can break down

  446. emotions. Everybody knows what emotions are.

  447. Your thought life, your desires, and your emotions.

  448. That's your soul. And you live in a physical

  449. body that you can pinch and go out. Okay? So

  450. at salvation, Your spirit was made completely

  451. holy because that's who you are. Some of us look

  452. at our thought life and we look at our desires

  453. and we look at our emotions and we come to the

  454. conclusion that we're not holy. But you are a

  455. spirit. You just have a soul. You're a spirit.

  456. You're a spirit being. So your spirit was made

  457. completely holy at the moment of salvation, declared

  458. holy by God, not based on your performance, based

  459. on Jesus' blood. But there's a work of sanctification

  460. hopefully, is progressing and happening in each

  461. one of our lives and we're all on that path,

  462. but we're all at different places. So in our

  463. home group in Romans, we've been studying, hey,

  464. don't get all messed up if somebody's not in

  465. the place you are or somebody's ahead of you

  466. or behind you. Don't get all messed up. Start

  467. comparing yourself to each other and judging

  468. each other. But the work of sanctification and

  469. holiness continues in our lives beyond salvation

  470. because we're getting sanctification and holiness

  471. in our souls, in our thought life, in our desires,

  472. in our emotions. Sanctification and holiness

  473. is the transformation of our souls. And how did

  474. the verse say it happened? Through the Word.

  475. The cleansing of God's Word. Let's continue.

  476. He did this, Jesus did this, to present her to

  477. Himself. He made the called out ones holy so

  478. that He could present the called out ones to

  479. Himself. as a glorious church. And I can't preach

  480. the series that we did right before this one

  481. on the glory. But I'm going to make some statements,

  482. and if you're not sure on that, you can back

  483. up further on the podcast. It's the joy of having

  484. visitors. I love it. He did this. Jesus shed

  485. His blood and suffered to make us holy, to present

  486. us to Himself as a glorious church without spot

  487. or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, the

  488. church that caught out once will be holy and

  489. without fault. So here's some more fruit of holiness.

  490. The fruit of holiness is that we can become a

  491. people of glory. The glory of God is the manifest

  492. presence of God. The glory, that word glory means

  493. weighty. So here's the deal. God wants to present

  494. to Himself a church who are a people of glory.

  495. A people who are carriers of the manifest presence.

  496. presence of God. Because God used to be on earth,

  497. his connection with people was through the Holy

  498. of Holies and the Ark of the Covenant. And now

  499. we are the temple of God when the... when the

  500. curtain was rent and split in two from the top

  501. of bottom, now we are the people of God. We are

  502. the temple of God. The Holy Spirit is tabernacled

  503. in us, so we are carriers of the manifested presence

  504. of God to make a difference in this world. It's

  505. a bad preacher that can't preach himself happy.

  506. 1 Peter 2, 9. Now this is talking about you.

  507. God said the same thing about Israel, but in

  508. 1 Peter 2 .9, He's talking about you and me.

  509. You are a chosen people. You've been called out.

  510. Right? You are royal priests. Not just the priests

  511. down the road at the Catholic Church. Listen,

  512. not just the pastor. You are royal priests. What

  513. does a priest do? A priest represents God to

  514. other people. He's the connection. You are a

  515. royal priest because you are the connection between

  516. God and the 100 ,000 people up and down Highway

  517. 27. You are the connection. Some people think

  518. just the preachers is a connection. This isn't

  519. talking about preachers. You are a chosen people.

  520. You are royal priests. And guess what? You're

  521. also holy. You're a holy nation. Holy. You're

  522. God's very own possession. It's the same thing

  523. we're talking about. Jesus made us holy by His

  524. blood so that we would be a holy nation. Not

  525. just individually holy, but holy together. Connected

  526. together in family. In Christ. We're a holy nation.

  527. Caught out ones are a holy nation. Why? Look

  528. at the person beside you and say, why? Why are

  529. we a holy nation? One version even says we're

  530. peculiar too. We're peculiar people. We're a

  531. little different. We're supposed to be a little

  532. different. We're supposed to be a lot different

  533. actually. Peculiar. Why? Well, here's the result

  534. that God is after. As a result, you can show

  535. the others, you can show others the goodness

  536. of God. For He called you out of the darkness

  537. into His wonderful light. God's a good God. And

  538. His plan for us is that we will be so connected

  539. to His goodness that when other people see us,

  540. when they listen to us, when they look at our

  541. lives, they see the goodness of God. They don't

  542. see our ability, our influence. That's not what

  543. it's about. I want people, when they look at

  544. me, they can say, God's a good God. There's some

  545. people from my past that if they were watching

  546. me today, they'd say, God's a good God, because

  547. there's no way that boy, no way, no way. I used

  548. to be friends with him. No way. I went to college

  549. with him. I took speech class with him. And all

  550. of a sudden, he didn't show up. I mean, we were

  551. supposed to give our first speeches in speech

  552. class. And that boy, talking about myself, he

  553. dropped the class and quit coming. Because he

  554. was too intimidated. to stand up in front of

  555. 20 people and give a speech that he had already

  556. prepared and made an A on it with the teacher.

  557. But I dropped the class. Now people are like,

  558. I wish he would shut up. People need to look

  559. at your life and listen to you talk. and see

  560. the blessings of God all over you in such a way

  561. that they say, God's a good God. That's a fruit

  562. of holiness. We become a people who display the

  563. goodness of God. We're displaying the goodness

  564. of God. So how do we apply this truth? How do

  565. we apply it? First of all, we have to acknowledge

  566. and accept. The identity of being holy and set

  567. apart. That may just shake up your thinking.

  568. It might shake your religion. It might be like

  569. kicking over a sacred cow, the way some people

  570. say it. But listen, we've got to acknowledge

  571. and accept the identity of being holy. We've

  572. been made holy by the blood of Jesus. Could you

  573. dare say, I am holy? Or does that shake you up

  574. on the inside? Does that kind of tear you on

  575. the inside? Well, you've got to come to the point

  576. where that doesn't tear you on the inside for

  577. you to say, I'm holy. I'm set apart for God.

  578. That's when you really acknowledge it and accept

  579. it. It's when you can say it and it don't just

  580. come out, ooh, I shouldn't be saying that. Participation

  581. is required. How are we going to apply this?

  582. For the sanctification of our souls. Participation

  583. is required for the continued work of sanctification

  584. in your soul. We've got to yield fully to God.

  585. Not just partially. We might be good at yielding

  586. partially, but we've got to yield fully to God.

  587. We're good at being hearers of the Word. We've

  588. got to be doers of the Word. Because His work

  589. in us is in direct proportion to His Word. We're

  590. good at being inspired. You know? That's most

  591. of what happens. I've been in over 800 churches

  592. in 31 states. Most of what happens is people

  593. are inspired. We've got to move from being inspired

  594. to being transformed. We've got to move from

  595. being inspired to being transformed. It's good

  596. when your wife is taking notes and wants you

  597. to say it again. What else do we need to do?

  598. We need to pursue God. Pursue God and pursue

  599. God's presence. Because I spent so many years

  600. of my Christian experience pursuing behavior

  601. change. Where I thought that was the most important

  602. thing for me to do. and be better and quit doing

  603. that and do this. And it had reduced down to

  604. just my performance. This whole thing is supposed

  605. to be bigger than that. We need to pursue God's

  606. presence, not just behavior change. I want you

  607. to stand up. We're going to make some bold proclamations

  608. together. according to what the Word of God has

  609. said. You ready? We're going back to third grade.

  610. Does anybody remember third grade when the teacher

  611. would say something and you'd repeat it? You

  612. want to read it? Let's just read it all together.

  613. Don't repeat it. Let's just read it. You ready?

  614. One, two, three. I have been made holy by the

  615. blood of Jesus. I partake of His holiness. I

  616. am set apart to God and for God. God dwells in

  617. me and works through me. I am holy and righteous.

  618. Let's say that one again. I am holy and righteous.

  619. I walk in holiness and unhindered fellowship

  620. with God because of the blood of Jesus. We've

  621. got to align our words with truth. We have to

  622. align our words with truth. Not just our thoughts,

  623. but our words with truth. Let's say it one more

  624. time. One, two, three. I have been made holy

  625. by the blood of Jesus. I partake of His holiness.

  626. I am set apart to God and for God. God dwells

  627. in me and works through me. I am holy and righteous.

  628. Say it again. I am holy and righteous. I walk

  629. in holiness and unhindered fellowship with God

  630. because of the blood of Jesus. That's what the

  631. Word says about you. That's what the Word says

  632. about you. You may be seated just for another

  633. moment. I know you thought we were leaving. We've

  634. got a few more things. The blood of Jesus makes

  635. us holy, separates us to God, and brings us into

  636. union. Union with his life. Union with his holiness.

  637. This online worship experience was brought to

  638. you by the friends and partners of Eulation Church.