I Have The Receipt: The Blood of Jesus Speaks Better Things

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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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