21 Days Of Freedom Part 2 | Walk Free Of Guilt & Shame with Chris Schlotterbeck

He is glorious.

Behold the one who has come to life.

Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.

To get connected or to give online,

you can go to connect.hcv.church

or give.hcv.church.

If at any time during this message

you feel called to make a change in your life,

text changeme to 970-00.

Thank you and enjoy the message.

Hey, good morning everyone.

So good to see you.

I just walked by the windows and saw that it was snowing

and you're all here.

So don't get up and run out.

Okay, it's not going to be a lot.

You'll make it home.

And if you're watching and joining us online,

thank you for welcoming us into your space.

So before I jump into our talk this morning,

I just need to discuss a few things.

First, our year-end giving letters were sent out,

emailed out Saturday.

So be sure to check your email for your online giving

statements from this past year.

Okay, if you do not receive it or did not receive it

or have questions, please see Tracy at the Welcome Hub today

and she will answer them for you and be able to point you

in the right direction so you get your year-end

giving statements.

First all, thank you for giving to our community of faith.

Okay, everyone, thank you.

Thank you for committing to it.

And I tell you what, I literally was in tears typing up

our year-end giving letter.

I always send out just kind of highlights from this past year

and it just blew my mind all that God did through us,

through our community of faith and how we just made

an impact in this tri-state area.

So thank you for giving to our church.

Second, there are no slides today.

Okay, somehow our computer got corrupted

and there will be no slides on your screen, unfortunately.

So please, if you could really use your outlines

and dive into them, because I may or may not be discussing

what is the hardest book in the Bible for many of you.

Okay, so as I'm discussing this and reading the scriptures,

be sure to pay attention and listen because I don't want

anything to go over your head because I feel like God's

really got something special for you this morning, amen?

And before we move on and really start,

is Katie Willems here?

Katie, Katie, oh there's Katie.

Katie's coming up here.

Hey Katie, could you come up here up front,

down here somewhere, appreciate it.

Katie is leaving for Africa tomorrow, right?

Today, she's actually leaving for Africa today.

She is going to serve in an orphanage, right?

In schools and orphanages in Africa

on a short-term's missing trip.

And I just wanna pray over her as she goes

and makes a difference in Africa.

Is it okay if we do that?

Could I have a few ladies join around her

and lay hands on her if you don't mind?

You can do it, come on, I appreciate it.

Anybody that feels led, thank you.

Holy Spirit, come.

God, we're just thankful that Katie is committed

and desiring to make a difference all around the world.

And God, I just pray that your spirit would go with her,

would go before her, God, protect her,

provide for her as she's just serving the needs

of those less fortunate in Africa, God.

May her words, may her example,

may her wisdom just be downloaded into those young people.

And more importantly, God, maybe you just use her

that signs, wonders, and miracles would come out of her

when she's praying for others and just sharing

the good news that you've placed in her heart.

Bless her, God, and fill her with your presence now.

In Jesus' name we pray.

And we all say together, amen, amen.

God bless you, Katie.

Thank you for your willingness to go

and serve all around the world.

Now, for the last two weeks, many of you know

I've been sharing with everyone gathered here

and online, of course, what God placed in my heart

for our community to face this year.

I felt him challenge us to go deeper

in our relationship with him.

To go deeper simply means to become more intimate,

to become more connected, to become more passionate

about Jesus.

Now, throughout the year, we're gonna be looking

at different areas of our lives that God wants us

to focus on and change based on Jesus' life

that we read about in Luke chapter two, verse 52,

when we read Jesus grew in wisdom, in stature,

in favor with God and all the people.

So simply stated, Jesus grew mentally.

He grew emotionally, he grew physically,

he grew in his relationship with God

and his relationship with others.

And we are gonna be looking at series throughout the year

that challenge us to do the same.

Last week we kicked off our 21 days of prayer

and fasting and I challenged all of you

to get out of the crowd and to focus on one aspect

of your life this month, right, for 21 days

and then join us as you heard Tasha say

at our freedom night on February 2nd

and experience what we believe God is gonna set you free

from whether it be a struggle, a sin, a habit, whatever,

on that very night.

And I also asked many of you, in fact all of us,

to fast, right, to give up something,

whether it be social media or food or a dessert or whatever,

to draw you closer to God and then not only fast

but read throughout the entire Bible in one year, right?

And I just wanna ask by a show of hands,

how many of you started with a fast

and a reading plan this year?

That's awesome, that's awesome.

Now that's your deeper, right?

That's you moving deeper in your relationship with Jesus.

Now another show of hands, just humor me,

how many of you have been here

for both of our gatherings in 2024?

Right, perfect attendance, you're getting deeper, right?

Maybe your goal should be that you make every gathering

all throughout the year.

Now don't forget our 6 a.m. prayer time is happening.

We've had excellent attendance this week

and it will continue for the next three weeks

with different leaders leading a devotional

as we pray for our church, our area, our nation,

and the world.

So as we continue this focus today,

I would like to share the scripture

that God put on my heart for this morning

as we look at walking away from shame and guilt.

But before I read that scripture, let's open in prayer.

Holy Spirit come, God quicken our spirits,

quicken our minds that we can receive from you today.

It doesn't matter if there's slides or no slides

or scriptures on this screen, God,

penetrate our hearts, challenge us to change,

and make us more like your son Jesus.

And we're thankful for all that you do in our lives

in Jesus' name, amen.

So Matthew chapter eight, verses one through four,

large crowds followed Jesus

as he came down the mountainside.

Suddenly a man with leprosy approached him

and knelt before him.

Lord, the man said, if you are willing,

you can heal me and make me clean.

Jesus reached out and touched him.

I am willing, he said, be healed.

And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

Then Jesus said to him, don't tell anyone about this.

Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you.

Take along the offering required in the law of Moses

for those who have been healed of leprosy.

This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.

So we're going to be opening this morning

by simply taking part in a three question survey,

and I need your participation in it, okay?

I want you all in, in order for this to be successful.

And before we begin, let me remind you,

we're gathered as the church in a church,

so that means you can't lie, okay?

You can't lie.

So everyone be honest, every hand participating,

question number one.

How many of you, by show of hands,

whenever you have an issue or problem with your car,

that your first and initial response

is to take it to the shop?

Show of hands.

Take it to the mechanic.

Come on, hands up.

Let me see them, all right.

Not very many, very impressive, very impressive.

Don't panic, take it to the mechanic, right?

Just chill out, let them figure it out

so that you don't have to deal with it.

All right, question number two.

By show of hands, how many of you,

whenever you have an issue with your car,

your initial response is to go straight to YouTube.

Go straight to YouTube, YouTube University, right?

You don't need a mechanic.

You're gonna get on YouTube,

you're gonna push some buttons,

you're gonna shake some hoses, right?

You're gonna move things around.

You're gonna do everything in your power

not to take it to the mechanic, true or false, right?

And listen, if you're here this morning and you're a mechanic,

first, hear me out, I love you, I love you.

But there's some mechanics out there

that you simply cannot trust.

And quite often, that mechanic or those shops

deal with oil changes, right?

Why is it you go and you get your oil changed

and suddenly there's 62 other things wrong with your car?

Right, you pull up, you wanna get your car serviced, right?

Hey, just get me what I asked for, right?

Charge me the price that is advertised.

Don't come back around the corner, right?

Smiling, oh, oh, Mr. Schlatterback,

you know, my car's not even back together yet.

You need a transmission.

And we can fix that for $2,000.

It's like, look, your sign says 39.95.

That's what I'm gonna pay, okay?

So you can see where I land, right?

I'm in YouTube too.

Third, and probably the most critical group this morning,

how many of you, now many of you haven't participated yet,

so I'm very confused.

We must have a lot of mechanics.

How many of you, when there's an issue with your car,

your initial and first response is to go to your glove box

that has no gloves and pull out the owner's manual?

Show of hands.

Really?

That's pretty impressive, about eight of you, right?

Not very many.

All of you other people that did not participate

and I did not see your hands raised,

you must be mechanics so you can come look at my Jeep

directly after the service,

because it's making a weird noise in the front left wheel,

and I can't quite figure it out,

and YouTube is just not working, okay?

So this is an intriguing group.

Now hear me out, because it was the least amount of hands

that said you actually read your owner's manual for your car

and it's crazy because did you know

that your owner's manual is absolutely powerful, right?

There is power in your owner's manual.

Every button, every fuse, every plug,

how it all works is listed in your owner's manual

and we don't even read it.

We don't even open it.

We don't even open it, we keep it locked away

in our glove box with no gloves.

And it's intriguing because according to one survey

from Motor Trend, 75%, that's a lot of people,

of car owners have never opened the pages

of their owner's manual.

Now think about that, a book that has power.

It has pertinent and prescriptive information

for your vehicle that takes you to and from

your destinations and it stays locked, unused,

and unread in your glove box.

And I share that with you today because let's be honest,

if there was a book in the Bible that stays in the glove box

locked and unread, it's the book of Leviticus, right?

There are not too many of you that pull your life verses

from the book of Leviticus.

In fact, this is the book that is most often skipped

or at best, skim read because nobody reads the book

of Leviticus.

Where does it stay?

It stays locked in your glove box with no gloves.

So Leviticus, if we're honest, and I'm warning some of you,

is the book that will mess up your read through the year

in the Bible reading plan.

It will mess you up, it will jack you up, right?

Some of you have tried it before.

This is the year I'm gonna get through the Bible.

I'm starting it and you start off hot in Genesis.

You're full of excitement, you're getting the stories,

you're getting the names, right?

You get all the way to Exodus, you literally can smell

the Red Sea and you can see it partying.

And you're like, God is setting his people free.

Everything is moving in the right direction.

You're excited, you're passionate about the Bible

and then you get smacked in the face

with the book of Leviticus, right?

I mean, you've been there, the list, the regulations,

the restrictions, the grain offering, the guilt offering,

the burn offering, the trespass offering, right?

All these different rules and regulations

that make absolutely, positively no sense.

And you begin to ask God, God, why is this in the Bible?

What does this have to do with me?

How does it apply to my life?

And in reality, it has so much to do with you and me.

See, if you just skim the surface of the book

and you never go deeper to why God put this book

in the Bible, you're never gonna step into the fullness

of God and all that he has for your life.

And I get it, it's much easier to read Genesis and Exodus,

but we all need some Leviticus because for much

of humanity, this sums up their lives, right?

For much of humanity, we like beginnings,

we like fresh starts, it's a new year, it's a new me,

and new beginnings are found where?

In the book of Genesis.

Exodus means to exit.

Humanity, what?

We like to be on the go, we like our schedules,

we like moving from one place to the other.

God is calling me to move on, I'm not being fed there,

it's time for me to run to something new.

But we don't like Leviticus because this is a place

where God gives us instructions with specificity.

Leviticus is the place of sacrifices.

Leviticus is the place where we don't get to offer up

what we think is good, we have to offer up

what God prescribes for us to follow.

But Chris, Leviticus is boring, I agree.

But sometimes we have to embrace the boring

because the boring is best for us.

Phoenix, he just turned four this past December

and he is enamored with TV.

You turn the TV on and he's watching a show

and he is dialed in, and I mean dialed in,

to the point where he's so zoned in,

if I yell, hey, Phoenix, it's time to read a book,

if he's dialed into that TV, he's gonna look at me and go,

no, that's boring, and he's back to the TV.

See, quite often what we have to realize is

when God takes us deeper, it's boring

because he calls us to fast from our comfort,

from our comfort foods, from our comfort shows,

from our comfort music, from what makes us feel good.

And sometimes we have to embrace the boring

and the lists and the instructions

because God is more committed to your depth

than your entertainment.

Did everyone hear that?

God is more committed to your depth in your relationship

than your entertainment, and there is power in this book

if you take the time to read it.

Because see, when you dig deeper,

you realize every phrase, every sacrifice,

every regulation was put there for a reason

because God is trying to give us a picture

of what our relationship with him is supposed to look like

and we can't keep Leviticus locked in the glove box

that has no gloves.

Did you ever think why is it called a glove box

when we never put gloves in it?

Well, it's called a glove box

because when cars were originally created,

there was not enough insulation.

In fact, for many, there was no roof, there was no windows.

So when you're driving the car,

you have that cold air blowing against your hands,

your hands go numb, your fingers go numb,

you can't even feel the steering wheel.

So you bought driving gloves

and you would drive with your gloves.

And then when you were done driving and you parked your car,

where did you put your driving gloves?

In the glove box, right?

But now fast forward to today,

many of us think that the glove box

is just a place that we keep our insurance, right?

Or if you're from West Virginia, you're protection.

But you know, that's not all of us.

But if we really dig into Leviticus, right?

Every ritual, every sacrifice in the book of Leviticus

points to a soon coming king that we just met

when I read about our miracle in Matthew chapter eight.

For us to truly understand what happened

in that miracle that God led me to for all of you today,

that miracle that this man was healed of leprosy,

we have to start in the book of Leviticus.

Are you ready?

Are you ready?

I feel like some of you are already bored

or you're afraid to dive into this book.

Are you ready to go into this book?

All right, here we go.

Our first thought this morning, God is holy.

Leviticus chapter 11, verse 45.

Leviticus 11:45

For I the Lord am the one who brought you up

from the land of Egypt that I might be your God,

therefore you must be holy because I am holy.

See friends, we have to realize the closer we get

to the holy God, the more we become aware

of our brokenness and our need for a savior, right?

Getting close to God is like getting closer to the sun.

We can lay out in June here in Maryland

on the beautiful summer day and be fine.

We may not even need sunblock,

but if we begin to move south,

getting closer and closer to the equator,

the more intense the sun becomes.

And if we don't protect ourselves, what happens?

We get burned, right?

God is holy.

He is set apart.

And we, if we're honest, we're sinful people.

So Leviticus begins to show us and explain to us

that God is holy.

Leviticus chapter 19 verses one through two,

Leviticus 19 · chapter mention

the Lord also said to Moses,

give the following instructions

to the entire community of Israel.

You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Okay, what does it, to say God is holy, what does it mean?

What does that mean Chris?

It means to be set apart, right?

God is distinct.

He is the one and only.

He's kind of like a toothbrush, okay?

Think about it.

Your toothbrush is holy.

There is no one else using your toothbrush, right?

Not even your spouse, okay?

When it comes to our bathroom in our house,

there is stuff, if I'm gonna be honest,

that is Jessica's that I had to borrow before, right?

For example, I've used her deodorant

just a couple of times, right?

It's strong enough for a man.

I tested it.

Couple of times, I ran out, so I had to test it.

It worked, right?

I've used her scented spray before.

I've used it because I was smelling rat

and had to run out to a meeting,

grabbed what I could find

and just started squirting it all over my body

because I'm gonna smell fresh, right?

I'm gonna smell fresh.

But listen, one thing I have never used

in our 26 years of marriage is her toothbrush.

You know why?

Because it's holy.

Her toothbrush is her toothbrush.

My toothbrush is my toothbrush.

And hear me out, I will kiss her at any time during the day,

but I'm not using her toothbrush.

It's holy and it's set apart for her use only, right?

Do married couples agree with that statement?

Thank you, if not, you're just weird, right?

Just being honest here this morning, come on.

God says, I am holy.

I am set apart.

And this is the challenge we find in the book of Leviticus.

How do we get close to God?

And not only get close to God,

how do we remain close to him

once we're in that relationship, Leviticus 20?

You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy.

I have set you apart, there it is,

from all the other people to be my very own.

See, God calls his church to be set apart.

And to be set apart means we have to what?

We have to get close to God.

And to get close to God requires a sacrifice,

which leads us to our next thought.

See, this is amazing because it's all gonna come together.

A mediator is needed to make a sacrifice.

See, we have to realize that sacrifice

is an event that happens in a moment.

And in order to make a sacrifice, we need a mediator

because we're not worthy to make a sacrifice on our own.

Let's read Leviticus 4, 13 to 16, 22 to 23, 27 to 28.

If the entire Israelite community sins

by violating one of the Lord's commands,

but the people don't realize it, they are still guilty.

When they become aware of their sin,

the people must bring a young bull

as an offering for their sin

and present it before the tabernacle.

The elders of the community must then lay their hands

on the bull's head, slaughter it before the Lord.

The high priest will then take some of the bull's blood

into the tabernacle.

If one of Israel's leaders sins by violating

one of the commands of the Lord, his God,

but doesn't realize it, he is guilty.

When he becomes aware of his sin,

they must bring as an offering a male goat with no defects.

If any of the common people sin

by violating one of the Lord's commands,

but they don't realize it, they are still guilty.

When they become aware of their sin,

they must bring an offering for their sin,

a female goat with no defects.

Now notice, in all the instances,

a high priest was needed

in order to bring a sacrifice to God.

Leviticus outlines for us

that we needed someone ordained and called

to handle the sacrifice.

That is why it's called Leviticus,

from the tribe of Levi.

And you couldn't just pick to be a Levite.

You had to be born into it.

It had to be in your jeans, you know, Levi jeans,

form-fitting, the original blue jean.

And I'm just kidding.

The high priest is always born into the role

of making sacrifices for the people

because we need a high priest to make a sacrifice

to give me proximity to God,

which means to bring us close to God.

Fast forward to today.

We come into proximity or closeness with God

through our one and only mediator named Jesus.

First Timothy two, five through six, we read this.

For there is one God and one mediator

who can reconcile God and humanity,

the man Christ Jesus.

He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone.

This is the message God gave to the world

at just the right time.

We needed a mediator, which leads us to our next doll.

Sanctification then is the process of becoming different.

See, you need the sacrifice and the sanctification.

It's a both and.

What is sanctification?

It's the process of staying close to God.

Remember the sacrifice was an event, a one time thing.

Sanctification is a process that we walk through.

It will take place in our lives

as long as we're living on this earth.

As long as we're walking,

we're always going to experience sanctification or change.

And it doesn't matter how spiritual you are.

Maybe some of you had communion for breakfast.

God bless you.

That is awesome that you did that.

Maybe you entered into the holy of holies

as you were worshiping in this place this morning.

God can still do a work in your life.

It doesn't matter how holy you think you are.

Here's the reality, there's always gonna be spots.

There are thoughts that come into our mind

during the normal day when we look in the mirror

and think where did that come from?

Because it was not pretty.

Others of you cut someone off

on your way to Hub City this morning.

And not only did you cut them off

when they blew their horn at you,

you may have turned around and used a finger.

Some of you on your way to church this morning

got in a fight with your spouse, right?

The point, the point, God is not done with you.

All of us are in the sanctification process

and this is why we will never arrive.

We'll never be Jesus.

There was only one perfect spotless individual

and his name was, wow, how about some participation?

Can I please get a round of coffee for everyone

for first service?

Every new day is an invitation to go deeper

and to continue taking steps, getting closer to God.

Sometimes, of course, we fall down

but I wanna encourage you, don't stay down,

get back up and keep moving forward

because we are in a relationship with Jesus.

He desires that we pursue purity, right?

This is how we become different.

The process of becoming pure means that God

has to outline it for us.

What is clean?

What is unclean?

What do you eat?

What shouldn't you eat?

Where do you go?

Where can't you go?

Leviticus 11, two through four, nine through 10,

13 and 20.

Give the following instructions to the people of Israel.

Of all the land animals,

these are the ones you may use for food.

You may eat any animal that is completely split hooves

and chews the cud.

You may not, however, eat the following animals

that have split hooves or that chew the cud,

but not both.

The camel chews the cud but does not have split hooves

so it is ceremonially unclean for you to eat.

I've never eaten a camel, thank God, I don't want to.

Of all the marine animals,

these are the ones you may use for food.

You may eat anything from the water

if it has both fins and scales.

Never taken from salt water or from streams.

But you must never eat animals from the sea

or from rivers that do not have both fins and scales.

They are detestable to you.

These are the birds that are detestable to you.

You must not eat winged insects

that walk along the ground, they are detestable.

And then Leviticus 11, 24 to 25,

the following creatures will make you ceremonially unclean,

which means don't touch.

If any of you touch their carcasses,

you will be defiled until evening.

If you pick up their carcasses, you must wash your clothes

and you remain defiled until evening.

God doesn't call us to go deeper

and then look like everyone else

because if you look like everyone else,

that just means you're shallow.

If you're gonna go deeper,

it means that your life will look different

than other people.

Shallow people are all the same.

Did you see what she was wearing, sister?

Did you read what they posted?

Can you believe they posted that?

Did you watch that TikTok on how to live your best life?

Did you read that news report?

Now I'm not saying we should not be aware

of what is happening in the news or in our culture,

but if we're gonna go deeper with God,

we need to see things from a spiritual perspective,

from a kingdom of God mindset.

We have to be aware that we have an adversary

that tries to cause division in our families,

division in the church, and division amongst people.

Thus the reason the political circus

is about to begin this year.

Division, because when division happens, who wins?

The enemy, the enemy wins.

We have to realize deeper looks different.

God says, I am holy and I want my people to be holy.

Therefore your life will look different

than anybody else's.

So he starts hitting them with different instructions,

what you can eat, what you can't eat.

God cares about what you put into your body, right?

What you can touch, what you can't touch,

because God knows about germs

and what they will do to a community.

Many of us are experiencing the power of germs this winter.

It's a negative aspect.

He even gives details to them about childbirth

because God cares about his creation

and how humanity is born

and what we produce on this earth.

In chapter 15 of Leviticus,

it gets a little nasty just being honest with you

because it begins discussing the bodily fluids

that come out of our bodies

because there's some negative things

that can impact different people.

And all these different details and regulations

that calls us, right, to look up to God and say,

God, why am I reading this?

Why do you care about this stuff?

God is teaching us this principle.

You can't compartmentalize God.

God refuses to be regulated to a Sunday morning gathering.

He wants every single part of us.

But for so many Americans,

they regulate God to a Sunday morning experience

when in reality he says,

you can't live off that Sunday morning experience

for the six days to follow.

You need me every single day.

That is consumerism.

Don't be a consumer.

I want all of your life.

I want every aspect and every detail.

And what's intriguing about our scripture this morning

is that to understand what the healing

of the leper really meant

is to understand what leprosy is

and this is discovered in the book of what?

Leviticus.

In fact, we find two chapters dedicated to skin.

Two chapters where God speaks to Moses and Aaron

about what to do when someone has a defilement

in their skin, Leviticus 13, one through three.

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,

if anyone has a swelling or a rash or discolored skin

that might develop into a serious skin disease,

that person must be brought to Aaron the priest

or one of his sons.

The priest will examine the affected area of the skin.

If the hair in the affected area is turned white,

ooh, and the problem appears to be more

than skin deep.

It is a serious skin disease and the priest who examines it

must pronounce the person's sermenly unclean.

More than skin deep.

Now I know this has nothing to do with you,

but I know that Rudy and I are thankful

that we're no longer living under the old covenant.

See, during this time period,

there was no medical community,

therefore the high priest had the responsibility

of checking any pimple, blemish, spot, or rash

that was protruding with pus, okay?

Listen, I thought my job was tough,

but if I was responsible for making all these sacrifices,

killing all these animals,

and then I'm responsible for checking your rashes,

no thank you, I'm outta here.

Thank you Jesus for making another way.

That's all I gotta say.

Because the last thing I wanna do is examine your skin.

In fact, I really don't wanna examine anything on your body.

And the next time you get injured,

side note, okay, but a little truth to it,

the next time you get injured

or you're struggling physically with an injury,

simply communicate with words your need of prayer, okay?

I don't need to see a picture of your infected rash,

of the hole that is bleeding profusely from your forearm

and showing me this white pus infected blemish.

Listen, if you speak it, I will trust your words, okay?

I don't need to see an image and I will pray for you

by your words being communicated to me, amen?

I don't need to see it.

The point, we need others to assist us

in our relationship with God,

which leads us to our next thought.

See humanity, you and I,

we're not qualified to examine ourselves.

Leviticus 13, three through four,

the priest will examine the affected area of the skin

if the hair in the affected area is turned white

and the problem appears to be more than skin deep,

it's serious.

And the priest who examines

must pronounce that person unclean.

The priest will quarantine that person for seven days.

See the principle we discover in the book Leviticus

is that we often skip over it

and we avoid it because none of us are qualified

to do a thorough examination of ourselves.

Because if we examine ourselves, you know what?

We're always gonna give ourselves a pass.

Oh, we're good.

All of us are gonna say, it's not that big of a deal.

I don't need advice.

I don't need to see a doctor.

I don't need to change.

Listen, I know myself, okay?

We don't have the wisdom.

We don't have the intellect to know what is a big deal

and what is not a big deal on our own.

We have to humble ourselves and go and see the priest, okay?

Communicate with God to examine

whether this is a major issue or not.

And that's why I always encourage you

to go to God in prayer.

And this is why so many people don't like the church

or they run from community.

Anytime someone calls out a spot, a wrinkle, or a blemish,

discusses an issue, even when it's done in love,

people act all church hurt when in reality,

they don't want anyone dealing with their spots.

Because we like our spots.

And the beauty of this text is that it's telling us

that we're not qualified to examine ourselves

because we're always gonna blow it off

because we like to compare ourselves to others

as a means of lessening our own sin and our struggles, right?

I cheated on my taxes last year,

but at least I didn't rob a bank.

I'm not an addict.

You know, I just need to smoke a joint at night

to take the edge off.

It just brings me down, right?

We always are going to give ourselves a pass.

There's always a reason that we do the things we do.

And have you ever noticed that whenever we have

a health issue, right?

Whenever something's going on, the first thing we do,

for many of you, is you go to WebMD

and then you get all freaked out

because it says could lead to cancer.

So immediately you call your doctor

and you schedule an appointment.

Now here's the crazy thing about going to the doctor.

When you roll into the doctor's office,

you'll straight up strip down bare naked

and be like, hey, check this out, I got an issue.

Can you please look at this and tell me what's going on?

And then we have the audacity to just say

we don't trust God when in reality,

we can put our faith in the medical community.

God bless the medical community, I love them.

But how many of you have actually paused

and asked your doctor, hey, where'd you go to school?

What kind of grades did you get?

What exactly did you study, right?

How many of us have ever done that?

I've never done that before.

I just put my faith in the doctor

that they're gonna look at my blemish

and tell me, oh, it's just a little rash,

put a little cream on it and you'll be fine, right?

When in reality, our doctors could have walked

right off the street, put a white lab coat on

and said, oh, you're good.

But yet we won't trust God.

We won't put our faith in God.

I wanna encourage you this morning.

It's time to let go of your pride

and receive an examination.

It's time to let go of your attitude

that you got it all together

and allow God to really search your heart.

And this is what would happen when a person

would go and see the priest regarding a skin issue.

The priest would examine the spot

and then that person would have to go into isolation

for seven days to determine how deep and severe

that skin issue was.

Now imagine those seven days of isolation.

You're separated from your family,

you're separated from your community,

you can't talk to anyone and you're wondering

how deep is this rash?

I don't know about you, but I thought,

man, I would be praying real hard.

I would be desperately asking God to move in my life.

One thing I know about those seven days, right,

is I would not care about anyone else and their issues.

In those seven days, you're not gonna be worried

about someone else's skin.

During those seven days of isolation,

you're not gonna be worried about the gossip online

or the new news line, right, or the drama in your family.

And God is trying to highlight for us

that we need to be focused on our own skin.

We need to look in the mirror and be honest

about our relationship with Him, not everybody else's.

It's not about where everybody else is

because we're all in different places.

The point is, are we moving forward

in our relationship with Jesus?

See, shallow people worry about everybody else's issues

and are not worried about their own.

And God is calling our community of faith to what?

Go deeper.

And see, after seven days, the person with the skin issue

would return to the high priest for examination.

And if it was just a rash, they would be cleansed.

But if they say it's more in skin deep,

that means they had leprosy.

And ladies and gentlemen,

that would be the darkest day of your life

because leprosy was the greatest defilement of the skin.

Leviticus 13, 45 to 46.

Those who suffer from a serious skin disease,

listen to this, must tear their clothing

and leave their hair uncombed.

Sorry, ladies.

They must cover their mouth and call out,

unclean, unclean, as long as the serious disease lasts,

they will be ceremonially unclean

and they must live in isolation

in their place outside the camp.

We have to realize that in the Old Testament, leprosy,

leading to our final thought, number five,

leprosy was a metaphor for sin.

Leprosy was a metaphor for sin.

Leviticus 14, 19 through 20, then the priest,

listen to this, this is for the leprosy.

Then the priest must present the sin offering

to purify the person who was cured of the skin disease.

After that, the priest will slaughter the burnt offering

and offer it on the altar along with the grain offering.

And through this process,

the priest will purify the person who was healed

and the person will then be ceremonially unclean.

The point is, leprosy was a metaphor for sin

because of the way it works.

Now think about it.

Let me share with you about leprosy a little bit.

Leprosy is something that starts absolutely insignificant.

But then all of a sudden,

it works deceptively into your body

and then it spreads before it devastates you completely.

And that's the way sin works in our lives, right?

It always starts out, oh, it's not a big deal.

It's never a big deal when we sin.

And we have to realize, friends, the enemy is not stupid.

He is always going to make it seem like it's not a big deal.

Why?

1 Peter 5, 8, stay alert.

Watch out for your great enemy, the devil.

He prowls around like a rurulon looking for someone to what?

Devour.

It's not a big deal, right?

It could start out as a thought that lingers too long.

Where did that come from?

It could be that you're scrolling on a page and you look at a picture too long, right?

It will start small and then it will leak or break into your integrity.

It always starts small.

We think we can handle it and then it starts working deceptively into our hearts,

into our minds, and we don't even realize how deep it is coiling up inside of us.

Leprosy was so debilitating that it would attack a person's central nervous system.

And it would go deep inside of that person.

As a matter of fact, leprosy can lay dormant from anywhere from four to eight years before

anyone saw a symptom, not even realize what it was doing in their very body.

It works deceptively and then it spreads suddenly quickly.

It spreads faster than you realize and suddenly leprosy is over the entire body.

Now I always heard and I was one of them that have taught you that you can't do it.

I've taught you, right, from different teachers and preachers that leprosy causes people's

limbs to fall off.

But we never know why.

We just see this person with one arm walking around, right?

We never know why.

It's because what did leprosy attack?

The central nervous system.

And people infected with this disease literally could not feel their limbs.

As it started to spread, a person literally could have their hand in a fire and have their

hand melted off and they wouldn't even feel it because they lost all sensitivity in that

hand.

And that is how we know it's gotten deep.

That is how we know when sin is deep in our lives.

You know when?

When we don't feel convicted anymore.

When we are not convicted of sin anymore, that means it's suddenly gone down deep inside

of your heart.

At one point you used to weep.

At one point you used to be up front on your knees asking for forgiveness and now suddenly

there's a sin inside of you that doesn't even cause you to change.

There's no more conviction.

But the more we remain in our sin, right, what happens?

The less sensitivity we have towards it.

And then suddenly we find ourselves devastated by the results.

Destroyed marriages, right?

Sicknesses, disease, bad choices, bankruptcy, you name it.

Leprosy was to be alive but dead.

And at the same time this is the picture that God has given us of what sin does to our lives.

It starts out insignificant, no big deal.

It works deceptively inside of us so that we ignore it.

It spreads quickly and it devastates completely as Isaiah 59 2 says, but your iniquities have

separated you from your God.

Your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not hear.

And this doesn't even include the social ramifications a person would experience.

Think about it.

They're completely isolated from the community.

They're completely isolated from their families and then they hang out with other lepers.

Any time a leper got close to another person that was clean, they would have to cover their

mouth, they have to put on their mask, rip their clothes and shout out, unclean, unclean.

Imagine now hear me out.

Imagine the shame of shouting out your issues everywhere you walked.

Everywhere you went, if someone got close to you, you would have to shout out what you're

struggling with.

Imagine that.

I mean, the enemy has already been beating you up over this secret sin of your life.

Could you imagine having to walk down the street, walk in the HCV and shout, right?

I'm addicted to porn.

I cheated on my wife.

Imagine that.

And we can't laugh because it's not funny.

It's serious.

This was a picture of what leprosy and sin do to our lives.

And think about it.

Our skin, our mind and our bodies, they're all connected.

There's a reason you get a pimple when you're stressed out.

Why?

They're all connected.

Our skin is connected to our emotions and it's connected to our mind and how we feel.

And God is the greatest psychologist and dermatologist because he goes deeper than the skin and deals

with our what?

Our hearts.

And the shame we deal with started out in the book of Genesis.

It's going to blow your mind.

We're putting this all together.

We're literally going from Genesis all the way to the New Testament in one sermon.

Think about the ramifications of sin when Adam and Eve first disobeyed.

What happened?

The first time humanity did not feel comfortable in their own skin, what did they do?

They hid.

And they did what?

Covered themselves with fig leaves.

At that moment, their eyes were open and suddenly they felt shame at their nakedness so they

sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

Right?

Fast forward to today.

They cover themselves with social media posts and images that I'm living the best life ever.

We cover ourselves with designer clothes because we're not comfortable in the value of our

own name and our own identities.

They cover themselves with leaves and they hid.

And then in verse 21 we read, and the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam

and his wife.

After they made fig leaves to cover themselves, God made them garments of skin or clothes.

And if you read past that too fast, you miss the understanding.

Where did God get the skins to cover Adam and Eve?

I mean, he did not just suddenly make skins out of nothing.

He didn't just grab them out of the sky.

Oh, I just grabbed them from Jupiter and put them on Adam and Eve.

He had to, what?

He had to kill an animal.

He told Adam and Eve that the day they ate the fruit of the knowledge and good and evil

that they would what?

Die.

And he meant what he said because that connected to his word.

He meant it.

Someone had to pay the price.

There had to be a sacrifice for the proximity but because God loved Adam and Eve enough,

he didn't want them to die, the first murder in Genesis was not Cain killing Abel.

It was God who killed an animal.

And we read past it so quick that we don't even catch it.

Adam and Eve had to watch that animal die, then watch God cover them with its skin because

it was a picture of what he was going to do when Jesus died on that cross.

And it's all coming together.

Jesus died naked and ashamed to cover you and me and that is why we can lift our heads

to God and praise him for what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Every lamb, every bull, every turtle dove that was sacrificed in the book of Leviticus

was just a picture of the foreshadowing of the lamb of God that was coming to take away

the sins of the world.

And if you feel like you can't bring your issues to Jesus, then you haven't fully realized

that Jesus died for those issues.

He doesn't want us to deal with it on the surface.

He wants you to go deeper and to deal with the shame and guilt that's in our lives.

And it's interesting whenever you read about leprosy in the scriptures, you never read

about someone that was healed from it.

You read they were cleansed, which means when we feel dirty, when we're struggling in our

sin, Jesus makes us feel what?

Clean.

And in the Old Testament it's going to blow your mind, you ready?

In the Old Testament, you'll never see anybody get to do what was prescribed in the book

of Leviticus regarding leprosy, right?

Only Naaman and Miriam were healed of leprosy, but they didn't follow the prescriptions because

it came before.

But in the Old Testament, you never read about a priest offering a sacrifice for someone

cleansed of leprosy.

So you got all the Old Testament after Leviticus, right?

And then you got the 400 years of silence.

And God, why is this regulation in the Bible?

It never happened.

It seems like there was no hope, no meaning, no cleansing for all these hundreds of years

until you read Matthew chapter eight, and it all comes together.

Large crowds follow Jesus.

A man with leprosy comes and approaches him, kneels down.

And think about it, that man couldn't even come to Jesus.

He was supposed to be separated.

Lord, the man said, if you're willing, you can heal me and make me clean.

Jesus reached out, touched him.

He says, I'm willing.

Be healed.

And instantly the leprosy wipe disappeared.

Now notice what Jesus says.

Don't let anyone, don't tell anyone about this.

Instead, go to the priest and let him examine you.

Take along the offering required in the law of Moses for those who have been healed of

leprosy.

This will be a public testimony that you have been cleansed.

Jesus is more than willing to heal you of all your hurts, hangups, and addictions.

Hear me out, friends.

Don't allow a damaged church person to lead you to believe that Jesus is not compassionate

and willing and loving and wants to set you free.

Then Jesus tells the man with leprosy to what?

Go to the priest.

Why?

Go to the priest, make the offerings necessary.

Why?

Because everything prescribed in the book of Leviticus that we never read or never understand

was written for this encounter in Matthew chapter eight so that Jesus could be, I'm

the one.

I'm the one that came to set you free, which leads us to our action steps.

Walking free of shame and guilt.

Number one, real simple, these are gonna go quick.

Confess you're wrong.

If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse

us from all wickedness.

If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no

place in our hearts.

We gotta go to God, right?

Jesus is inviting us to submit to him and go all in.

Now hear me out.

If the shame you are experiencing is due to the wrongs committed to you by someone else,

forgive that person and then ask God to lift that burden from your heart and minister hope

healing and restoration.

It's one or the other.

Leading us to our next step.

Counter lies with truth.

Listen to the power found in these scriptures.

Colossians two, he canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by

nailing it to the cross.

In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities.

He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

The enemy has no right to lie to you.

Romans 10, for it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with

your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

As scripture says, anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.

Isaiah 61, instead of shame and dishonor, listen to this, you will enjoy a double share

of honor.

You will possess a double portion of prosperity in your land and everlasting joy will be yours.

How many of you want a double portion?

I want a double portion this morning.

That's what I want because our world needs more joy.

Number three, memorize Romans 8 one.

Dang it.

I wish I had this one on the screen so we could read it together.

Oh, we do?

Let's go guys.

You ready?

Sky Bible, we're all going to read it together and read it with authority.

Can we do that?

Here we go.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving spirit has freed you from

the power of sin that leads you to death.

See quite often what happens though is we feel shame because we worry about what other

people think about us.

Don't worry about what other people think about you.

Focus on what God says about you.

And there is no condemnation and you are free.

Memorize that verse this week, which leads us to our last step, make amends when possible.

So if you're presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the temple and you suddenly remember

that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice, go and be reconciled to that

person and then come and offer your sacrifice to God.

And this is challenging.

I get it.

But it opens the door for God to change the lives of others through you seeking forgiveness

from them.

James 5, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so you may be healed.

The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

You know, I just, as we close, two things.

Read your owner's manual.

It's important.

I just sensed that there would be people here this morning that struggle with shame and

guilt.

And you just, you do.

It's just a part of your life.

And here's the reality, you don't have to stay there.

God is inviting you to walk away from it.

Just like that man with leprosy, he walked away from Jesus.

He went and presented himself to the priest.

And imagine that priest, they haven't seen anybody healed.

And suddenly there's someone healed.

Will you stand with me?

Holy Spirit come.

So two things first, if you haven't prayed the prayer and you're not in a relationship

with Jesus, let's do it.

Let's do it right now.

Okay?

We do it every week.

It's just a part of our community of faith, part of our gathering, and we will continue

to do it as long as I'm pastoring here.

Because it's your means to start your relationship with Jesus.

Let's pray.

Jesus, I'm broken.

I'm full of doubt.

Shame.

Regret.

I'm sinned.

Change me.

I believe you're God's son.

I believe you died for me.

Make me new.

Set me free.

Fill me with your Spirit.

Help me to serve others in Jesus name.