Look at what He's Done - Pastor Kipp Penrod

Thank you for listening to this message from

Lifehouse Church. My name is Jason. I've been

asked to give my testimony today. 26 years ago,

I accepted the Lord, put my trust in Him. I was

a Marine, and I lived a life that wasn't quite

so well. My walk with God wasn't a straight path.

There's a lot of turns, a lot of twists. Through

that pass, I found myself drifting away from

God and to God. But what I know is that God would

stay with me. He was faithful to me, showing

me his love and his grace and mercy. I was an

angry person, and God worked on my heart and

changed me, continually never giving up. changing

me to a better person, those that are closest

to me, seeing the change, recognizing it. And

I know that God is closer to me today than he

was 26 years ago. His love, his grace, his mercy

is extended. I'm Missy, and this is part of my

testimony. I struggled with... depression and

anxiety a lot um and i started coming here in

2017 to lifehouse my husband was in idaho at

the time and um i had too much anxiety to go

out there and be with him so we were apart seven

years and until kip finally got through to me

that i needed to be with my husband so i went

out there with a one -way ticket and it was a

lot of anxiety and i struggled a lot but the

lord got me through it and he just showed me

different things that um like fear is actually

false evidence appearing real and that it's okay

to make a wrong decision because god's gonna

get me if i and put me back in the straight and

narrow if i'm wrong Hi, my name's Sean. I'm relatively

new here to the Lifehouse family. The people

here are just amazing, the staff and just everybody.

I'm a two -time recovering alcoholic, and God

has twice brought me from the darkness of alcoholism.

He has saved my relationship with my 33 -year...

bride, Katrina Wieser, and he saved my relationship

with my daughters, Kayla and Carrie. And it just

goes on and on from there, especially over the

last year to six months. The things that he's

done for me is just unbelievable. And I can be

the first one to attest that you will not be

forsaken. My name is Nikki and this is my testimony.

My father, Mark Sunderland, was diagnosed with

a rare kidney disease only about six people nationwide

had and the doctors didn't know what to do. An

over 200 plus pound, over six foot muscular baseball

basketball star became skin and bones very quickly.

My world was rocked. It didn't become real until

the dialysis machines came to the house and tubes

were coming out of his stomach every night. My

mom ended up being a perfect kidney match, and

they had to go under some pretty intense surgery

my junior year of high school. I thought that

even though the kidney worked, we did think that

it was an answer to prayers. Unfortunately, my

senior year of high school, I was told that he

was gone and he had passed away while I was leading

worship at a youth group event. I had lived through

tragedy, grief, loss. and I continued to work

to heal, forgive, and sometimes I did search

for love and affection in wrong places. Even

though years have passed, people have come and

gone in my life. They have always taught and

shaped me to be the person that I am today. I

have been able to find my voice through worship

again, and I am able to picture my dad and Jesus

sitting in the pews while I am doing that, while

they are smiling. My mom was able to remarry

a man who had lost their spouse as well, and

we had gained more family. I continue to strive

to be grateful each and every day. My name is

Chrisanna, and before Jesus changed my life,

I thought I knew him. But honestly, it wasn't

until I walked through a really hard season that

I understood how much I needed a Savior. About

five years ago, I walked through a time of loss,

and one of the things I lost was a marriage I

had that ended abruptly due to betrayal and heartbreak,

and it was a really hard time. And I learned

how much I needed to lean on Jesus every single

day to get through that season. And honestly,

Jesus got me through it. He was my grace. He

was my peace. He never left my side. And I understood

how much I needed a savior in that season. And

now looking back on all the things I lost, I

really see how much I gained because of Jesus.

He has blessed me in a double portion. I have

this wonderful husband, Zach, who's about to

leave worship, who's the father of our kids.

And he's just one of many blessings that God

gave me. He restored so much that was broken

and healed me. And I'm standing here today knowing

that I wouldn't be here without him. my Savior,

and that's Jesus. What if the worst thing in

life that's happened to you isn't the end of

your story? What if the worst thing in your life

isn't the end of the story? What if the worst

sin that you've committed is not the end? What

if the biggest mistake that I've committed isn't

the end? What if the greatest loss that I have

suffered does not mean it's all over? What if

the abuse that you suffered will not define you?

What if the toughest moment in time that you

have had to endure will only lead to a fuller

life? What if becoming new in Jesus It means

that the worst thing that has ever happened to

you or in your life will not become your life,

it will not be the end, and it will not contain

you in any kind of way. What if the worst thing

in my life is only a stepping stone to an abundant

life in Jesus Christ? Jesus stepped out of the

grave over 2 ,000 years ago so that the worst

thing in our lives would not be the end of our

story. Maybe, just maybe, the very beginning

of it. Can we stand and give Him praise one more

time, especially if He has changed your life?

Come on. Give Him glory. Give Him glory. Amen.

Amen. Before you sit down, turn to somebody and

give them a high five. Say, He's alive. High

five and He's alive. Amen. High five and He's

alive. Took me all week to come up with that.

Come on. If you got your Bibles this morning,

I want you to turn to Matthew chapter 27. And

Matthew 27 · chapter mention

we're going to go to verse 45. And while you're

going there in Scripture, and they're going to

bring it up on the screens for you, if you don't

have a Bible with you, I'm going to pray. And

I'm going to pray that God touches our ears,

our hearts, and our mind as we get ready to receive

the Word. You ready to pray? Father, we come

to you right now in the matchless name of Jesus

Christ. God, we ask that you would prepare our

hearts, that you would prepare our minds. God,

that you would prepare our ears. God, that we

might hear your word. And God, that it might

be an overflow this morning in our spirit. We

give you praise. We give you glory. In Jesus'

name. And everybody said together. Amen, amen.

Listen, I want to give you just a few details

as we lead up to this portion of scripture, a

few details that lead up to the crucifixion and

the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And in the

course, in the course of one night, one night

before Jesus' crucifixion, Jesus is brought before

at least four religious slash political leaders

following his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane

while he's there praying and before the time

of his passion. He first ends up at Ananias,

the former high priest who holds an informal

inquiry. Then they move him to see Caiaphas and

the Sanhedrin. Well, Caiaphas is the high sitting

high priest at that time. All of them quite corrupt.

And Caiaphas brings them before the Sanhedrin,

which is, again, a group of leaders of Pharisees.

They convene in the middle of the night to bring

these false charges against Jesus to accuse him

of blasphemy. Because they don't want to do the

dirty work of taking Jesus out, they then send

him to Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor for the

area, who initially finds Jesus guiltless, but

Pilate doesn't know what to do with him. So he

sends him along to Herod Antipas, who is a local

ruler who questions Jesus, finds out that he's

not guilty and not sure what to do with him,

sends him back. to Pontius Pilate. And Pontius

Pilate reluctantly scourges Jesus. He has a Roman

scourging take place. And then because of the

pressure from the scribes and the Pharisees and

the high priest, he condemns them. He condemns

Jesus to death by crucifixion. As they pass Jesus

around from religious political leader to religious

political leader, back and forth over the night,

Jesus would suffer many beatings. He would be

punched without mercy. He would be spit on. His

beard would be pulled out. He would be beaten

down. He would be stripped naked. He would be

mocked. He would be slapped. And the soldiers

that were there would wear themselves out beating

on Jesus, literally would wear themselves out.

And if that wasn't enough, being punished in

this way for not being guilty, Pilate would order

Jesus to be scourged in an attempt to appease

these Jewish leaders. Many died during a Roman

scourging. A Roman scourging, what they would

do is they would take whoever was accused. They

would chain them to a cement column. Soldiers

who were skilled at what they would do in inflicting

pain, in the maximum amount of pain, they would

take a whip who had long thongs or long strings

attached to them, and those strings would be

embedded in the end with either lead balls, glass,

bone, shards of metal. And what these soldiers

would do in a scourging, they would whip the

person, and once it landed in the flesh, they

would tear backwards, ripping the flesh from

the bones, from the body. sinew and blood and

tissue would be torn away many times till there

was bone that was literally exposed from the

individual. The person who suffered a scourging

would have massive blood loss and their body

would go into shock. And the Bible says that

Jesus was so badly beaten that night that he

was unrecognizable as a man or a human. Once

the beating stopped, Jesus would be forced. to

carry his cross down the Via Dolorosa to a hill

called Golgotha, the place of the skull. So weary

from blood loss and shocked to his body, they

would pull a man named Simon out of the crowd

to help Jesus carry the cross to the place where

he would die. They would lay him on the cross.

They would pin him through his hands, typically

right at the wrist, at the base of the hand,

and through his feet. to the cross and would

raise that cross into the air, suspending him

between heaven and earth. He would literally

die from slow blood loss and asphyxiation as

his body weight pulled down upon his arms and

squeezed on his lungs. The only way a person

who was in a crucifixion could get air was to

draw themselves up on those nails, pull themselves

up. But it did not take long. For those who were

standing by and watching this gruesome torture

take place to begin to realize that the man on

the middle cross hanging between two actual criminals

was no ordinary man at all. Those standing by,

those who are witnessing this horror begin to

realize that Jesus really is someone else. He's

not just a man. He's the son of the living God.

And in Matthew 27, 45, it says this. Now from

the sixth hour until the ninth hour, there was

darkness over all the land. Jesus is on the cross.

From noon till 3 p .m., there is no sunlight

that shines. God eclipses the sun and darkness

falls in the middle of the day. And about the

ninth hour, Jesus cried out with a loud voice

saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabathnai. That is my

God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Some of

those who stood there, when they heard what he

had said, this man is calling, they said, this

man is calling out for Elijah. Immediately, one

of them ran and took a sponge, filled it with

sour wine and put it up on a reed and offered

it to him to drink. The rest said, let him alone.

Let us see if Elijah will come and save him.

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and

he yielded up his spirit. Jesus dies on the cross.

From the torture, from the beating, from the

bleeding, from the shock to his body, he draws

his last. And then it begins to happen. Verse

51 says, Jesus dies on the cross. The sun is

covered over for three hours. The earth begins

to shake as he draws his last breath. It begins

to quake. And in the veil, in the temple in that

area was a veil that was four inches thick and

was almost 60 feet long. That veil stood between

the Holy of Holies where the Ark of the Covenant

dwelt and out into the outer part of the sanctuary

or the temple area. And nobody went behind that

veil. As a matter of fact, only one time a year,

the high priest would go in to make atonement

for the people and behind that veil into the

Holy of Holies because God's presence dwelt there.

And God's presence was so stronger that the priest

would have to atone for himself before he would

go in and atone for the people. They would tie

a rope to his legs, to his foot, and he would

wear bells on the bottom of his robe. Because

if he went in there in an unworthy manner, the

presence of God would kill him. And they would

just drag him out of that place. When Jesus died,

the earth shook, and that veil was supernaturally

split into representing... the presence of God,

representing access for anyone to the presence

of God. Until that time, only the high priest.

Until that point, no one else could go in. Now,

Jesus pays the way. This was no ordinary man.

Look at what he's done. And it gets even crazier.

Matthew 27, 52 says this, and the graves were

open and many of the bodies of the saints. Now

this particular verse is looking forward just

about three days when Jesus steps out of the

tomb and says the graves were open and many bodies

of the saints who had fallen asleep, died previously,

were raised. And coming out of the graves after

his resurrection, they went into the holiest

city and appeared to many. Man, look what he's

done. The saints who died previously to this

point, the word of God says that when Jesus came

out of the tomb, they came out of the tomb. See,

those who had died previously to this point,

they went to a place that was called paradise.

They did not go right to heaven. There was a

holding place that was called paradise. And Jesus

goes in death and releases them. And when he

rises from the grave, they rise with him. And

they're walking around in the city. Now, I need

you to picture this just a little bit. Could

you imagine being in Jerusalem, right? The crucifixion's

taking place. Jesus has rose from the grave.

You hear about that. You're walking down to get

yourself a Dunkin' Donuts, right? You need a

coffee in the morning. And a guy you saw die

last year, you attended his funeral, is walking

down the street right towards you. How many know

that'd freak you out just a little bit? Come

on, amen? It would me, right? I know I saw him,

right? You think you saw a vision. You thought

you'd see something. But the earth shook. Verse

54 says, let's go back to the cross. So when

the centurion and those with him who were guarding

Jesus saw the earthquake and the things that

happened, they feared greatly, saying, truly,

this is the Son of God. A heathen Roman guard

who knows nothing of the God of the universe,

knows nothing of the God of Abraham and Isaac

and of Jacob. looks at Jesus on the cross when

he dies and the earth shakes and the sun is blacked

out for three hours. And he doesn't say, hmm,

I wonder if that's the son of God, right? Or

he doesn't say, hmm, I wonder if that's a king.

Because right above Jesus' head, they put a sign

that said king of the Jews. He doesn't go, man,

maybe he was king of the Jews. He doesn't go,

well, I don't know, maybe he was just a great

man. Maybe he was a wizard. Maybe this, maybe

that. A Roman soldier who knows nothing of God

looks at him and says, this is the son of God.

He probably has a bigger realization at that

moment that he just killed the son of God, right?

They're already starting to say, look what he's

done. Look what he's done. And if you go on in

verses 55 to 65, they take Jesus' body down from

the cross. They put it in a borrowed tomb. And

the chief priests and the Pharisees who put Jesus

on the cross in the first place with the accusations,

they're worried. They're still worried. Jesus

is dead. He's in the grave. And they're still

going to Pilate and saying, you know, this guy,

we remember him saying something about rising

up three days later. Hey, Pilate, how about you

give us a couple guards? We're going to set a

couple guards outside the door. Of the tomb or

outside the tomb. And by the way, can we seal

that puppy up? Can we seal the rock that's there?

And they're trying to super glue Jesus in, right?

With death and hell. They're trying to super

glue him in. And they know he's no ordinary man

themselves, right? Pilate gives the okay and

they seal Jesus in the tomb and they place soldiers

outside of the tomb. Verse 28 and 1 says, now

after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week

began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary

came to the tomb. And behold, man, God was into

earthquakes right back at that moment, right?

And the earth, right? Great earthquake for an

angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came

and rolled back the stone from the door and sat

on it. God only had to send one angel back. That's

all he needed. His countenance was like lightning

and his clothes as white as snow. And the guards

shook for fear of him and became like dead men.

They passed out. They are out on the ground.

You do not stand in God's presence. You do not

stand in the presence of God's messenger. If

you don't know the Lord, he can put you on the

ground. Amen. If you do know the Lord, he can

put you on the ground. But the angel answered

and said to the women, do not be afraid, for

I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

He is not here, for he is risen. As he said,

come and see the place where the Lord lay. And

then go quickly and tell his disciples that he

is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going

before you into Galilee. There you will see him.

Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly

from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran

to bring his disciples word. Two ladies. How

many ladies? Jesus first appeared to the ladies.

Amen? Come on. Amen. And the ladies in the house

said? Come on. Come on. There we go. Yeah, you're

going to applaud. And as they went to tell his

disciples, behold, Jesus met them saying, rejoice.

So they came and held him by his feet and worshiped

him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid.

Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and

there they will see me. Jesus steps out of the

grave. An angel shakes things loose. He breaks

the seal. Jesus is already out of there. He does

it so the rest of the world can see. He shakes

it. He quakes it. He breaks the seal. He rolls

the stone away. And because Jesus goes in and

conquers death, hell, and the grave, because

he pays the price to do that, how many know we

can too? And can I tell you something? This is

only the tip. of the spiritual iceberg that begins

to break open at the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

It is only a small portion. If you've ever seen

an iceberg, and they put a picture up there of

one, right? An iceberg is a massive piece of

ice that's underneath the water, and typically

all you see is the tip. All you see is what's

sticking out of the top, this little portion.

And ships know this because they won't go too

close because they know they'll crash because

there's a massive piece of ice underneath. That's

what the resurrection of Jesus Christ is. We

read it here, but Jesus steps out of the grave

and there is so much more happening. There's

so much more to all of what Jesus did. Yes, he

conquers death, hell, and the grave. And we can

as well, right? Yes, he pays the full price for

God's wrath on sin. And he takes our place in

that. Yes, Jesus is stepping out of the grave

and offers cleansing from my sin, freedom from

guilt and shame removed right by his broken body

and his spilled blood. Yes, now I'm exonerated

of all charges as a result of my sin in the course

of a holy God. Now I'm free. Yes, Jesus set me

free through salvation and in him and sends the

Holy Spirit to live within me. These are just

a couple things. Holy Spirit comes and resides

in those who follow Christ. He's a guide. He's

an encourager. He's a coach. He's a convictor.

He's a convincer. Yes, he promises me to never

leave me or never forsake me. Yes, eternal life

in God's kingdom is now mine. Yes, kingdom citizenships.

My papers are stamped. They're sealed. Amen?

Come on. And they're mine because of the redemptive

work. One day, I will go to a place. You will

go to a place in Christ. Where there is no death,

there's no sickness, there's no godly decay,

and there is no aging. Praise the God. Roy, if

you're over 50, say amen. Come on. All you young

people don't even know what we're talking about

yet. And the list goes on and on with the iceberg.

But I want to circle you around back to just

one scripture that I read earlier. At the very

end. Matthew 28 .10 says this, and Jesus said

to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren.

Say my brethren. Go to Galilee, and there they

will see me. Jesus resurrects from the grave,

pierce the two women, right, Mary Magdalene and

the other Mary, the Mary of James and Joseph,

and tells the women to go to tell the disciples,

tell my brethren. Brethren, here is not just

a term of endearment. That's not what this is

just right here. This is not Jesus coming out

of the grave and saying, what's up, bro? All

right? He's not just coming and saying, what's

up, bro? I busted out. That's not what he's doing

here. That's not the kind of term. And even this

terminology he's using, brother or brother, it's

not even in the context of like what you might

see with a group of military people, right? Who

have been through combat together. They've been

through strife and struggle together. They've

been through war together. And they're brothers,

right? They're a band of brothers. Oh, no, no,

no. This goes so much deeper than that. This

runs so much wider than this. Because at the

cross and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus

purchases. our adoption into the kingdom. Not

just, hey, what's up, bro? Look what he's done.

Through the cross and the resurrection of Jesus

Christ, I can be adopted into the family of God.

Not metaphorically, literally adopted in. One

of the most astounding privileges offered to

you and I. Through Jesus as Lord and Savior is

that the Father adopts us into his family. Brothers

and sisters of Jesus. Following the resurrection.

Jesus says this to his disciples. He's not talking

to them as students. He's not talking to them

as mentees or trainees or underlings that are

underneath him or not even servants. He calls

them brothers. Tell them. I'm alive. Jesus purchased

my heavenly adoption papers when he stepped out

of that grave. He paid an enormous price to do

it. He paid with his blood. I don't know if you

know this or not, but the average cost of having

a child in the United States of America right

now is somewhere between $2 ,500 and $3 ,000.

The average out -of -pocket cost for a private

adoption in the U .S. is actually between $40

,000 to $85 ,000 and more. Jesus paid way more.

He paid all of it. He gave his life for ours

so we could be adopted. The Father adopts us

as sons and daughters through the finished work

of the cross of Christ, through faith in him.

One of the most mind -blowing scriptures you're

ever going to read in the Bible is in Romans

Romans 8:15

8, verse 15. It says this. So you have not received

a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead,

you have received God's spirit when he adopted.

Say adopted. Adopted you as his own children.

Now we call him Abba Father. That's daddy, by

the way. All right? Daddy God. For his spirit

joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's

children. And since we are his children, we are

his heirs. In fact, together with Christ, we

are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share

his glory, we must also share his suffering.

Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to

the glory we will receive that he will reveal

in us later. Heirs. Heirs carry the family name.

Heirs have legal rights to the family's estate.

Heirs carry the authority, the privilege, right,

and all the rights that the family can impart.

And in our case, we're not just heirs of some

other father figure that's out there somewhere

in the world that decided to adopt us. In our

case, we're heirs to a king. And not just a king,

the king, the king of the universe. We share

in his glory and we share in his suffering. We

need to get our heads around what Jesus did for

us. Look what he did. God, Jesus leaves heaven.

He leaves the throne of heaven and comes to die

so that I can be adopted. The father sends his

only son to die so that he could have more sons

and daughters. Full of privilege, rights, and

benefits. This is incredible on a Resurrection

Sunday. Worship team, if you'd come. Why is this

so incredible? It is one thing to be invited

to a home or into a kingdom. It is another thing

entirely to be a son or a daughter of the king

or that home. If after service today, you would

happen to drive to my house and pull up into

my driveway and just sit outside my garage door

and try to hop on your phone and jump on my Wi

-Fi, if you tried to find that, do you know what

would pop up on your phone or your device? My

Wi -Fi is called Kip's Kingdom. Yes, I named

it. All right? Yeah, if you drive up in my driveway

sometime, you can just try to hop on your phone.

It'll say Kip's Kingdom, all right? And by the

way, it is password protected, so you're not

getting in. And the reason I made it that, because

I'm the king, and Dixie's the queen in our house.

It's our kingdom, right? It's a small kingdom.

It's just a house. It's a little house. But it's

our kingdom. And it's one thing if I would invite

you to come in for a meal. And we would do our

best. If we invited you to come in for a meal,

well, Dixie would cook the meal because I'm a

terrible cook. But she would come in. She would

do her best. She would bring her best meal forward.

We would do our best to wait on you and serve

you. We would do our best to entertain you along

the way. And that's a wonderful thing. But how

many know that's a very different thing than

if you're a child of mine? Amen? I'm sorry, you

get rights. If I know you really well and I invite

you to my house, I'll even let you root around

my refrigerator, right? Get in my cabinets. But

my children and my grandchildren, they got rights.

My children and grandchildren can come into the

house. They can grab anything they want. They

can use anything they want. They can get the

keys to my car. Not the five -year -old, but

my children can. They're adults. They can get

the keys to my car, take it anywhere they want

to. As a matter of fact, I got official documentation

at a lawyer that one day when I draw my last

breath, everything I have is theirs. I'm going

to give it all to them. Everything I got, everything

in my bank accounts, everything sitting in my

garage, everything sitting in my house, and they

can do whatever they want with it. It is one

thing to be invited. It is another thing to be

a son or daughter of the Most High God. Amen?

Come on. You got to know that. It's an entirely

different thing. I'm going to ask you to stand

this morning. Let me read you one more verse.

1 John 3 says this. See how very much our Father

loves us? For he calls us his children, and that

is what we are. But the people who belong to

this world don't recognize that we are God's

children because they don't know him. Dear friends,

we are already God's children, but he has not

yet shown us what we will be like when Christ

appears. But we do not know that we will be like

him, heirs. For we will really see him as he

really is. And all have this eager expectation

will keep themselves pure just as he is pure.

One day when Jesus returns for his, those who

are saved, we're going to see who we really are

in Jesus as heirs. We've barely began to scratch

the surface of the iceberg of what that means

in our hearts and lives. Jesus paid this. on

the cross, and when he stepped out of the grave.

And what if the worst thing in your life is not

only not the end of your story, but is an opportunity

for the Heavenly Father to pull you into the

family and adopt you into his kingdom and give

you full rights and privileges that God has for

you? What if today for you, if you don't know

Jesus, is adoption day? Amen? New birthday. New

birthday. What if the worst thing that you've

ever done is only the catalyst, or the worst

thing that's ever happened to you is only a catalyst

for the Father to come in and restore back to

you everything that the enemy's stolen? What

if that's the case? A king who holds endless

resources for healing in his hands, and he's

waiting to lavish it on his children. He's waiting

to do it. Look what he's done. Look what he's

done. It's incredible. www .lifehousecog .com.