NCF South City Sunday 6th 2008
Text: Hebrews 10: 19-28
I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God who came and lived among his people, full of grace and truth. He who died and rose again from the dead, the only one who is now seated at the right hand of God for the sake of the church, his body. May his grace and peace be with you as we open our hearts and humble ourselves before him. Holy Spirit, lead us! Amen.
If the blood of animals were sufficient to cleanse us from our sins and our troubled consciences, I would have been the most clean and holy person in this room. Years ago, goats, dogs and chickens were killed and their blood was sprinkled on me, on my parents, on my brothers and sisters. It was to protect us, to bless us and to cleanse us from our sins, and I continued until the day when God opened my eyes and my heart to understand that the only protection against witchcraft spirits and power, against death and curses upon my family, was by the blood of Jesus. His blood cleansed my conscience of sins and evil working in my heart. I can testify today that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away. Behold the new has come. And all this is from God. Why? Because in Hebrews 10 it says this:
“16 This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Then the writer continues:
"17 Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”
Praise God that he committed himself to do those things in us, in you and me. If you still struggle with what is in your heart, and where the desires of your heart are taking you, God is still patient with you, knocking at the door of your heart, asking you to open the door, no matter the level of dirt, dust, ugliness and mess in your heart, and life!
My friend, open the door and surrender to Jesus. It is a wonderful experience, one which will lead you to a new life, new vision, new dreams, and new purpose and goals in life. You will live for your creator and serve him with joy.
But after you have been saved, justified and transformed by God, another battle very soon rises up against what God is doing in your life and against what God intends to do in you and through you. God is blessing you forever and he wants you to be a channel of blessing for others. That is the plan of God for you, for your children and for your community.
A strong and powerful wind of opposition will rise up. It will seek to deceive you, to attack you and even to kill you. It will seek to dry up the dreams, the vision and plan God has for you, for your family, for yours brothers and sisters in the faith. And sin is going to be the destroying virus of your life.
Sins will stand against you, your flesh will stand against you, the world will stand against you and satanic forces will stand against you. You may ask, “How then can we in victory finish our journey in this world? How then can we do the will of God? How then can we be sure that our salvation is certain?”
First of all, know that we are saved by grace alone. We are not saved by good works, though we are saved to do good works. The Bible also says,
“nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God is the one who will fulfill his plan in the lives of those who believe in him. God’s love for you and for me is so strong and so powerful that it will stand against the power of your sins and your flesh. It will stand against the evil in this world and against Satan himself.
God’s commitment will take us to the final point; we will cross the river despite any storm, and we will cross the sea despite Pharaoh and his army behind us. God’s people, the Church, will get to promised land, because God has already said, “Let my people go!” We have to go, we have to leave Egypt.
The blood of the Lamb is separating us from the power and dominion of Egyptians. The blood of the Lamb brings us from slavery to freedom, from the rule of Pharaoh to the kingship of Jesus, the Humble King. Today the blood of Jesus brings us from the rule of sin to the rule of love, compassion and justice.
For sure, we will struggle with sin, but we will no more be defined by the power of sin. He is taking us to that place through the blood he poured out, and we can leave the land suffering, injustice and oppression, to go to the land of freedom. He is taking us back to God himself and to be friends and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. From the land of sin he is taking us to the land of holiness.
Because of that, therefore brothers and sisters,
“19 Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Because of his blood, because of the Great High Priest over the house of God, the Church, we can allow the Holy Spirit to bring up all the dirt and mess, both seen and unseen. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, transparent, without trying to cover ourselves before God. He knows who we are. Don’t go to the doctor and try to cover your sickness. You will go home sick and you may die.
“Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.” Wait a minute, Macklann! “Cleanse us from a guilty conscience?” Yes, a guilty conscience! Sometimes I am troubled by my guilty conscience, because of what I have done in my life. Perhaps you understand. And the only place I can go to get peace and freedom is at the feet of my Savior, Jesus. Where I can say,
“2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
“3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
“4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51).
We not only have the freedom to confess our sin to God, but we have this same freedom to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another.
My dear brother, my dear sister, don’t be discouraged because of where you are right now. Don’t lose hope because of what is going on in your life right now. He is able; God is able to carry you through.
For sure you will fail, for sure you old nature will rise up and drive you to foolishness. For sure we will misunderstand each other, prejudice and sins will tend to separate us from one another. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
Your failures do not disqualify you from coming to God; He will not send you out because of your sins. He may discipline you as a good Father, but he will not crush you down. God loves you.
When there is sin in your life, don’t try to hide it; don’t flee ever from God or from your brothers and sisters. We are all sick and God’s hospital is for us.
I was involved in the life of a friend, counseling and praying with him. Suddenly, he stopped coming to church and I was wandering what was going on. He would not return phone calls or e-mails. One day, I met him and he was embarrassed to look in my eyes. I asked him what was going on, and he said, “Well, I hate myself, I am ashamed of my life, I failed God and I failed the church. That’s why I can’t come.”
I looked in his eyes and said, “If you failed him, he never failed you, and he never will fail you because he already paid the price. And,” I added, “you are not alone struggling with sin. We all do.”
That is why the author of the book of Hebrews says in verse 25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We need God in our daily lives, but also we need each other. We need God and each other not only on Sunday, but every day of the week. Make sure you are part of a small group or a house church for prayer, study and fellowship. If you are not involved in a house church, please meet Randy before you go. He will direct you.
For those who want to go back to Egypt, who don’t want to move forward, who don’t want Jesus to rule over them and show them the way, and bring light, truth, and salvation in their lives, I have bad news. No more blood in the land to protect them against death. If you decide to go back to your old master, if you made up your mind to go back to your old way of life, you are in serious danger. If you decide no more to put your faith in Christ alone for your salvation and your sanctification, you are driving in the wrong direction and going into the land of death. You are heading toward the highway of misery and confusion, with hell for your destination.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.… 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Unless you repent and confess your sins, bad days are coming. It not possible to do evil and get away with it like that. The sins of this world took the Son of God to the cross. God paid a high price.
Unless you confess your sins and repent, you will face the wrath of God.
Unless you come back to Jesus and humble your heart, my friend, the dark age soon will overcome your life.
You can try to cover up who you are, and pay money to your lawyer to walk away free from your wrongdoing. You can keep secret what you did against the weak, but the end of the game is coming soon. Then, all the deeds of our lives will come up in the light.
Jesus first came to save his people. He is coming again to judge this world. There is too much evil in the city, too much injustice in the land of humanity, too much oppression in every corner of the earth. In my own heart things are still not right all the time.
Thousands upon thousands of people are crushed down by the powerful hands of the unseen powers, both locally and globally. At micro level it can be the through abuse or taking advantage of people in your house or at your work place.
At the macro level, people are participating openly—without fear of God at all—in the destruction of lives, helping them to kill each other every day, exploiting the poor.
One great example of injustice and oppression at macro level: Do you know that some of the companies who are making cell phones are taking almost for free the “Coltan mineral” necessary in the fabrication of cell phones, in places like Congo, central Africa, leaving behind them poor people without food and shelter, but helping them buy guns for war. You can Google “Coltan mineral” and read for yourself the truth about the great injustice done against people. You can go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and see the reality of oppression.
Orphans and widows forced to become aliens in their own country. Where are you God?
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
Most of us probably never faced such suffering and injustice, but I want you to know today that your brothers and sisters all over the world are facing this every day. And since we are a family, called by God to live out the message of his kingdom, we can be partners with God, both right here in Saint Louis and over the whole world.
Why? Because we are saved to do goods works, not to go back to Egypt, and by his grace, He will take us to the very end.
39 we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Those who believe in the finishing work of Jesus on the Cross. He said it is finished! Come and eat! Come and drink! He did it for you: It is a gift from God.
Amen
Macklann
Text: Hebrews 10: 19-28
I greet you all in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God who came and lived among his people, full of grace and truth. He who died and rose again from the dead, the only one who is now seated at the right hand of God for the sake of the church, his body. May his grace and peace be with you as we open our hearts and humble ourselves before him. Holy Spirit, lead us! Amen.
If the blood of animals were sufficient to cleanse us from our sins and our troubled consciences, I would have been the most clean and holy person in this room. Years ago, goats, dogs and chickens were killed and their blood was sprinkled on me, on my parents, on my brothers and sisters. It was to protect us, to bless us and to cleanse us from our sins, and I continued until the day when God opened my eyes and my heart to understand that the only protection against witchcraft spirits and power, against death and curses upon my family, was by the blood of Jesus. His blood cleansed my conscience of sins and evil working in my heart. I can testify today that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away. Behold the new has come. And all this is from God. Why? Because in Hebrews 10 it says this:
“16 This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.”
Then the writer continues:
"17 Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. 18 And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.”
Praise God that he committed himself to do those things in us, in you and me. If you still struggle with what is in your heart, and where the desires of your heart are taking you, God is still patient with you, knocking at the door of your heart, asking you to open the door, no matter the level of dirt, dust, ugliness and mess in your heart, and life!
My friend, open the door and surrender to Jesus. It is a wonderful experience, one which will lead you to a new life, new vision, new dreams, and new purpose and goals in life. You will live for your creator and serve him with joy.
But after you have been saved, justified and transformed by God, another battle very soon rises up against what God is doing in your life and against what God intends to do in you and through you. God is blessing you forever and he wants you to be a channel of blessing for others. That is the plan of God for you, for your children and for your community.
A strong and powerful wind of opposition will rise up. It will seek to deceive you, to attack you and even to kill you. It will seek to dry up the dreams, the vision and plan God has for you, for your family, for yours brothers and sisters in the faith. And sin is going to be the destroying virus of your life.
Sins will stand against you, your flesh will stand against you, the world will stand against you and satanic forces will stand against you. You may ask, “How then can we in victory finish our journey in this world? How then can we do the will of God? How then can we be sure that our salvation is certain?”
First of all, know that we are saved by grace alone. We are not saved by good works, though we are saved to do good works. The Bible also says,
“nothing can separate us from the Love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
God is the one who will fulfill his plan in the lives of those who believe in him. God’s love for you and for me is so strong and so powerful that it will stand against the power of your sins and your flesh. It will stand against the evil in this world and against Satan himself.
God’s commitment will take us to the final point; we will cross the river despite any storm, and we will cross the sea despite Pharaoh and his army behind us. God’s people, the Church, will get to promised land, because God has already said, “Let my people go!” We have to go, we have to leave Egypt.
The blood of the Lamb is separating us from the power and dominion of Egyptians. The blood of the Lamb brings us from slavery to freedom, from the rule of Pharaoh to the kingship of Jesus, the Humble King. Today the blood of Jesus brings us from the rule of sin to the rule of love, compassion and justice.
For sure, we will struggle with sin, but we will no more be defined by the power of sin. He is taking us to that place through the blood he poured out, and we can leave the land suffering, injustice and oppression, to go to the land of freedom. He is taking us back to God himself and to be friends and brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. From the land of sin he is taking us to the land of holiness.
Because of that, therefore brothers and sisters,
“19 Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.”
Because of his blood, because of the Great High Priest over the house of God, the Church, we can allow the Holy Spirit to bring up all the dirt and mess, both seen and unseen. Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart, transparent, without trying to cover ourselves before God. He knows who we are. Don’t go to the doctor and try to cover your sickness. You will go home sick and you may die.
“Having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.” Wait a minute, Macklann! “Cleanse us from a guilty conscience?” Yes, a guilty conscience! Sometimes I am troubled by my guilty conscience, because of what I have done in my life. Perhaps you understand. And the only place I can go to get peace and freedom is at the feet of my Savior, Jesus. Where I can say,
“2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
“3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
“4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51).
We not only have the freedom to confess our sin to God, but we have this same freedom to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another.
My dear brother, my dear sister, don’t be discouraged because of where you are right now. Don’t lose hope because of what is going on in your life right now. He is able; God is able to carry you through.
For sure you will fail, for sure you old nature will rise up and drive you to foolishness. For sure we will misunderstand each other, prejudice and sins will tend to separate us from one another. The Bible says in Proverbs 24:16, “For though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again, but the wicked are brought down by calamity.”
Your failures do not disqualify you from coming to God; He will not send you out because of your sins. He may discipline you as a good Father, but he will not crush you down. God loves you.
When there is sin in your life, don’t try to hide it; don’t flee ever from God or from your brothers and sisters. We are all sick and God’s hospital is for us.
I was involved in the life of a friend, counseling and praying with him. Suddenly, he stopped coming to church and I was wandering what was going on. He would not return phone calls or e-mails. One day, I met him and he was embarrassed to look in my eyes. I asked him what was going on, and he said, “Well, I hate myself, I am ashamed of my life, I failed God and I failed the church. That’s why I can’t come.”
I looked in his eyes and said, “If you failed him, he never failed you, and he never will fail you because he already paid the price. And,” I added, “you are not alone struggling with sin. We all do.”
That is why the author of the book of Hebrews says in verse 25, “Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We need God in our daily lives, but also we need each other. We need God and each other not only on Sunday, but every day of the week. Make sure you are part of a small group or a house church for prayer, study and fellowship. If you are not involved in a house church, please meet Randy before you go. He will direct you.
For those who want to go back to Egypt, who don’t want to move forward, who don’t want Jesus to rule over them and show them the way, and bring light, truth, and salvation in their lives, I have bad news. No more blood in the land to protect them against death. If you decide to go back to your old master, if you made up your mind to go back to your old way of life, you are in serious danger. If you decide no more to put your faith in Christ alone for your salvation and your sanctification, you are driving in the wrong direction and going into the land of death. You are heading toward the highway of misery and confusion, with hell for your destination.
26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.… 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Unless you repent and confess your sins, bad days are coming. It not possible to do evil and get away with it like that. The sins of this world took the Son of God to the cross. God paid a high price.
Unless you confess your sins and repent, you will face the wrath of God.
Unless you come back to Jesus and humble your heart, my friend, the dark age soon will overcome your life.
You can try to cover up who you are, and pay money to your lawyer to walk away free from your wrongdoing. You can keep secret what you did against the weak, but the end of the game is coming soon. Then, all the deeds of our lives will come up in the light.
Jesus first came to save his people. He is coming again to judge this world. There is too much evil in the city, too much injustice in the land of humanity, too much oppression in every corner of the earth. In my own heart things are still not right all the time.
Thousands upon thousands of people are crushed down by the powerful hands of the unseen powers, both locally and globally. At micro level it can be the through abuse or taking advantage of people in your house or at your work place.
At the macro level, people are participating openly—without fear of God at all—in the destruction of lives, helping them to kill each other every day, exploiting the poor.
One great example of injustice and oppression at macro level: Do you know that some of the companies who are making cell phones are taking almost for free the “Coltan mineral” necessary in the fabrication of cell phones, in places like Congo, central Africa, leaving behind them poor people without food and shelter, but helping them buy guns for war. You can Google “Coltan mineral” and read for yourself the truth about the great injustice done against people. You can go to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and see the reality of oppression.
Orphans and widows forced to become aliens in their own country. Where are you God?
32Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. 33Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.
Most of us probably never faced such suffering and injustice, but I want you to know today that your brothers and sisters all over the world are facing this every day. And since we are a family, called by God to live out the message of his kingdom, we can be partners with God, both right here in Saint Louis and over the whole world.
Why? Because we are saved to do goods works, not to go back to Egypt, and by his grace, He will take us to the very end.
39 we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
Those who believe in the finishing work of Jesus on the Cross. He said it is finished! Come and eat! Come and drink! He did it for you: It is a gift from God.
Amen
Macklann
posted by Macklann at 7:31 PM
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