Not having to invite you to come. This is your place. We're the invited guests. Your word promises us that the spirit of God inhabits the praises of your people. And so as we praise, you fill. You fill the space, the voids, not only in this room, but in our lives.
And to think that we're the invited guests. That because of Christ, we get to boldly enter the throne room of heaven with confidence and assurance to find grace and mercy in our hours of need. That what he's done, he's done. And it is over and it is finished. And now we are given the opportunity to worship you in spirit and in truth. Glory to your name. It's in the name of Christ we pray and all of God's people together said amen. God bless you. You can be seated.
Well, welcome to Crossland Community Church. We are a community of refuge and hope for all people. So glad that you're here. Guests and visitors, we're especially thankful that you've joined us today. We're just so thankful God led you here.
And all we're going to ask of you today is to please let us know you're here by filling out a guest card physically there in the card holders beneath your seat. You can pop one out. There's a pen there as well. You can just fill it out. And when you leave today, take it with you.
Now, if you want to just drop it off, you can in any. There's four mailboxes in this room. So as you exit, just pop it in one of those. But what you could do is just take it out the center doors and make a quick right. We would love to meet you. We've got a beautiful gift bag there. I think today there is, I know, I'm almost sure there. If there's not, I'll get you one. A coffee cup. And honestly, one of the greatest shortbread cookies you will ever put in your mouth. They're baked every week. We get them Thursday afternoon from a local baker. And they are spectacular.
Okay? So if nothing else, go get you some sugar. And we would love to thank you for being here. Now, you can do it digitally as well. Okay? All you got to do is point your camera towards the screen. If you're on the floor and look down at your feet, every seat has a QR code right in front of it. Up there in the low seating, you'll have to catch it on there. It's also on the back of your program. And it is also on that guest card that you pop out. There's a QR code there. Just hit the yellow link. It takes you to our link tree. The first one is give. The second one is guest. Fill that out digitally. Hit send.
Okay? And when you do, they'll get your name immediately on an iPad. Okay? And then if you want, you can go out and we'll have a bag waiting for you with your name on it. Okay? That would be great. We'd love to bless you and thank you for being here today. But as you know, we say it every week. Maybe this is your first time. We're not going to call you. We're not going to text you. And we're not going to email you. And we're not going to bang on your front door. I'm going to send you a letter this week thanking you for being here and asking you to please come again, praying over you and everyone within arm's reach of you the day, Monday afternoon when I get to sign those letters.
Okay? So, so great to have you. Well, this is Palm Sunday. We're so glad you're here. Palm Sunday is that day in human history when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ would enter Jerusalem physically for the last time. He would come in on the back of a donkey or a young colt as was prophesied in the Old Testament.
And so Jesus told a few of his disciples, go into town, there you find the colt, untie it and bring it to me. And they did. And as Christ was entering into Jerusalem, the crowds began to gather, massive crowds. And they began to cry out, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, which means praise you, praise you, praise you. The King is here.
And they began to lay down palm branches to show that they were being, demonstrating adoration and submission. They would lay, some were laying down their cloaks and their coats as the colt was walking by with Christ riding on the back of this colt. And what's amazing is when you think about it, did those people really know at that moment what they were saying, what they were praising? And the answer would be probably not.
Did they know that his entrance was to be crucified on a cross a few days later, a week later? No, I don't think they did. Did they have any idea that three days after that, he was going to raise himself from the dead? No, I'm pretty sure they didn't. And yet there was enough. They had seen enough. They had heard enough to believe enough that he was worthy of adoration.
And what they offered was simplicity. Just a palm branch. They didn't go cash out their checking accounts, if you will. They didn't, you know, pull their bed up and take all the secret stash and cash and throw it at kings like they did in that day and days after that. They didn't have to adore him with huge sums of possessions. Just a simple expression, a cloak or a palm branch.
And never did Christ look at them and say, you need to bring me more. That's not enough. It's not adequate. He loved what they did. And sometimes we get lost in generosity, but simplicity in an expression of adoration and submission is a beautiful expression of generosity.
And what is simple for one is not as simple for the other. It's not the size of the gift. It's the size of our heart. It's the expression of adoration. And so let this day be a reminder. Whatever you lay down before the Lord, it's more than enough. It's a statement of adoration. It's a statement of submission.
Adoration. And what's amazing is these people would learn a whole lot more in seven days than they knew in that moment. And that's true with our giving. We will see so much more than we would have ever seen had we not given. Let's just give like that. It'll always honor the Lord.
Let's pray. Father, we love you and thank you. You gave it all. We give some. And the sum honors you, blesses you, the Bible says. We bless you, O our Lord. And so, Father, we want to keep it simple so that it's truly about adoration and submission, knowing that if Christ hadn't written into our life, we'd have died apart from you.
And let our gifts reflect that truth. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
A couple announcements, then we'll dive in. The One Degree devotional is available. If you did not get this emailed, it's because we don't have your email address. So you can pop out one of those guest cards, okay? Or you can hit the QR code and let us know an updated email. We would love to have that, okay? If you didn't get a copy in your email, it went out Thursday, just go out the center door. They're there on the guest services table. Please grab one.
We combined March and I did March and April together, okay? Relational and emotional because they're so inextricably linked. So this is the two in May. We'll go right back to financial, okay? Then in June, our spiritual, financial, relational, emotional, all throughout the year. And this month, we give you a couple of ideas, one of which you should apply. Just one. Don't apply them all. Choose one. Apply it, okay?
Tomorrow night, all of you that are 18 to 30-something, call night is back. Worship night and teaching tomorrow night right here in this room. Make sure you don't miss it. Great way to start the Holy Week. Bowling Green, new members gathering, is April 27th, okay? Right after the 11 o'clock service here on this campus in Building 2.
And so we need you to sign up so we know we have enough food for everybody and child care is provided as well. We'd love to know you're coming. Our next Spark Recess Moment, where we have a whole entire host of people that come here on a Saturday morning to provide care for any child or young adult with special needs. We'd love to have them. We can set the caregivers free for a few hours to go out and then just do whatever you want to do. Get your hair done, your nails done, go to the driving range. Whatever you want to do, go sit in a park. We would love to love on the kids, okay? So, sign up, let us know you're coming.
Now, last but not least, this coming week, okay, Thursday night is a Maundy Thursday service, okay? And that word Maundy means commandment, all right? And it will be a more, a quieter, emotive, worshipful experience where we'll serve communion and try and reconnect with that emotionally and spiritually, with that final night of Christ when he served his disciples and instituted the new covenant. You don't want to miss it. It is standalone by itself. It's not at all like sunrise service or Easter Sunday.
So, sunrise service is also a standalone service, okay? If you come to it, it will be different than any of our other Easter services, okay? So, Saturday night, we do a Saturday night Easter, which is identical to the 8, 9:30, and 11 on Sunday morning. If I haven't confused you, I'm sorry. I'll try harder next time. Thursday and Sunday morning are completely different than the Easter celebration, okay?
So, you can come Thursday night. You can come Sunday morning for sunrise, okay? We've already ordered 500 chairs because that's where we were last year. So, 500 of you get there early. You got a place to sit and then hang around for Easter. 9:30 folks, especially you. I need you to get here at 8 or 11, all right? This room will be packed at 9:30. So, please try and do the best you can to come later or earlier so it's easy for our guests. There will be no saving of seats, okay? When we're full, we're full and we could end up full before the service starts, okay?
And once we say we're full, we're not letting anybody in. So, if you had two or three seats you're saving and your mom and dad aren't here yet, when we say full, full, they're not getting in the room, okay? We did that at Christmas Eve and offended many members of our community that were coming here for the first time as they were turned away and then they watched other people come in. We're not doing that anymore.
So, we're going to say we're full long before there's a body in every chair, all right? So, just be ready for that. I'm trying hard not to offend you, but I'm telling you, full is full and when the security team calls it, that's it, all right? And there will be absolutely no way we'll break that, okay? I can't do that. It's just, we can't do that to the people that are coming, all right?
Here we go. Week seven of a new series, of a continuing series called Something Greater is Here. One final announcement I forgot to tell you. These cards are available and we're going to start passing them out. We're going to have like a stack of them at the end of every row and you're going to take one or two and pass them down, okay? This is so easy for you this week to invite somebody, okay? You're going to put it in somebody's hand whether they come or not, okay?
You can put this in a mailbox. Just make sure you put their name on it, you know what I mean? So, it doesn't seem like some generic thing we stuffed in the mailbox. If you should get arrested by the federal government, we had nothing to do with you putting it in somebody's mailbox. I don't know what you're talking about. I would never encourage you to do that, okay?
Now, Wilk, thanks. How about Mr. Briscoe bringing this guy a bottle of water? Thanks, brother. So, take these with you, okay? Now, here's the thing I'd like to say to you. The two times that people will accept an invitation to church, most likely for unchurched, not going to church people, Christmas Eve and Easter, all you got to do is ask. All you got to do is ask.
All you got are you taking them to the lender? And you can't afford it, let us know. We'll reimburse you, okay? We'll reimburse you because if it's a $25 lunch for them, I don't know that we could put a price on their soul, all right? And so if you've got to take them to lunch, buy them coffee, wash their car, bribe them. Just get them here, okay, whatever it takes because we want to put them in front of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay, this Easter Sunday.
Take a couple of them, stuff some mailboxes. God love you for doing so. Something greater is here, and next week is the final in this series. The next series, just so you know, is called Before the Sun Goes Down. Very interesting study, a character study, and I can't wait to start that with you.
I don't know if you've even thought about it yet with everything else that's going on in the years, in this world. Some of you have thought about it because you just know it's going to hurt, and that is April 15th. Congratulations, tax day. Can you believe it's on Holy Week? Who planned that?
But here's the truth. Last night, President Trump was at the UFC, whatever number it was, down in Miami, and he was on an airplane at 2 a.m. giving an interview to, they call it a gaggle, a gaggle of reporters, like a gaggle of geese, and he actually signed an executive order last night. Did you know that? I know it gets lost because he signed so many, and this April 15th will be the last time any American ever has to pay taxes, and all of God's people said, well, amen, and I'm lying right here in the middle of church.
Can you imagine, like, never again, like this was it. This is the last time, the last time you'll ever have to pay, and doesn't it feel like a penalty? I mean, it's not a penalty because we do have nice roads and a really substantially important and significant military, and I'm a pro-blue, pro-blue, pro-blue. You gotta have police officers. I love the guys that put out fires. Like, I'm friends with their buddy of mine sitting right here, like, and I've told him before, if I'm ever in a deadly car crash, I want him pulling my body out. He's already promised he will definitely get me out of my burning house.
So, and I mean, I'm sincere, okay? In fact, I told the fire department because I've done so much with them that when I pass, and I'm serious about this, I want to be taken from the cemetery, from the funeral home to the cemetery on a fire engine. And they said, done. Chief has promised me that'll happen. Now, hopefully Chief is still Chief 40, 50 years from now when I finally pass. We don't know. You know, he might die before I do. I'm gonna make it 120. I don't know about him, but it is, but it's just this perpetual pain in the neck when you realize you just gotta, you gotta pay, right?
And when we talk about today, what we're gonna talk about is a greater sacrifice, okay? And when Christ comes, sometimes I think this flies, the depth and the breadth of it flies over our head. Now, no question, the reality that he is the sinless son of God certainly makes it a greater sacrifice, but that is not the totality that's there. There is so much more to this than you, I think we hardly ever get our heads around and the cognitive side of the Easter message is so profound and powerful.
Now, the crucifixion, emotive, meaningful. I'm not gonna denigrate that, but the truth of the matter is there's so much more. See, sacrifices have been being offered since the Garden of Eden. So it's important to understand this isn't the first one. When Adam and Eve sinned, God solved their nakedness by taking the life of a few animals, we assume, because he made a covering of animal skin for them.
So right in the garden, the system of being restored to a right relationship with God, a system for being redeemed and covered by God required the shedding of blood. And by the time you get to the book of Hebrews, we learn that in the absence of shed blood, there's no forgiveness of sins, right? And so, but it wasn't just in the garden. As soon as there's a Cain and an Abel and this incredible controversy that happens between the two of them and why one of the brother's sacrifice and offering was more pleasing to God was because Abel offered the first of his flock while Cain offered some of his produce.
Now, had Cain offered the first of his produce, it would have been pleasing. But that which was ultimately pleasing was that which was first. You read it. It's in the Bible. That which was first, and it was a flock, which means it was an animal, which means it had to die and shed its blood. So there's two times in the first several chapters.
And then we get to Abraham when God calls Abraham and says, I'm going to bless you and I'm going to make a great nation through you. The cool thing about sacrifice is it wasn't just payment. It was also ratification. It would ratify the covenant. In Genesis 15, Abraham was still kind of concerned, not concerned, but confused by the promise of God that all the nations of the earth and his offspring would be numerous.
And he came to God and said, I don't understand. And God said, okay. And he shows him and Abraham believed God. And then God ratifies this beautiful covenant that he enters into by getting Abraham to get a number of animals, a variety of different animals. Okay. And all of them were to be killed. I know it's just to hold on and shed their blood. They would put them on the ground and then birds as well. You didn't have to cut the birds and you put a track on one side and a track on the other. Otherwise, you're just making a walkway with the animals.
And the Bible says, and God caused a dreadfully dark sleep to come over Abraham. And while Abraham was sleeping, the Bible says a flaming pot and a torch passed through these two sides, this walkway of animals that had been sacrificed. And the reason for that is in that day, that's how you ratified a contract. If you had a piece of land and I needed to buy it and I made you an offer and you said, yes, I'll sell it to you. The way to ratify the contract before it was finally executed was to put down these animals and both parties would walk through it. Thus saying, if I don't come through, you can do that to me.
Well, Abraham never had to walk through it. He was in a deep, dark, and dreadful sleep. Only what is the methodology to ratify a covenant with God? Sacrifice. Think about Moses. My gosh, the entire book of Leviticus, the entire foundation of the Mosaic law is sacrifice.
So it's important to understand that he was not the first sacrifice. In fact, he's not the first sacrifice that satisfied the wrath of God. He's not the first sacrifice that created redemption. He wasn't the first sacrifice that created restitution and reconciliation between God and his people. They've been doing that literally when Christ came for 4,000 years. Then when Abraham's 2,000, the Mosaic law, 1,500 years they were doing it. In fact, they were still doing it the Friday that Jesus would die a painful death. It was the Passover. They're still offering sacrifices.
So it's important that when you think of the greater sacrifice, it isn't just that he's the sacrifice. That's true. You're not the only one. And he's going to accomplish some things that no other sacrifice ever did or ever could. And it's those things that we most often forget, okay? Yes, is it for the payment of sin? It always has been. That wouldn't make it greater.
Okay? Make it different will make it greater. So there's something to say, and I will tell you, I believe this, that that which makes it greater, not just different, is where the power to live a different life lies. That in the cognitive experience of understanding why it's greater, you can actually begin to live differently, okay?
So this, like, this is so simple, it will fly over your head. We can give God, our life to God because Jesus sacrificed himself for us. Another Easter message. I know, you're right. And that's the problem is we just let it fly over our head. Today we're not going to do that, okay? Because we're not going to look at the crucifixion. We're going to look at the distinctive difference of why his sacrifice is greater than 4,000 years of sacrifices that preceded his, that did accomplish what God wanted them to accomplish, okay?
Now, here's just, I just sat down and wrote this, so take it for what it is, okay? In one moment, these are my words, in one moment in human history, God was going to once for all accept a once for all object via the once and for all method so that each person who believes can once and for all be made holy and perfect, be redeemed and rescued, restored and renewed once and for all.
Like, next April, no taxes. It's done. Now, y'all, you're already feeling an emotional connection to that, aren't you? Like, that would change my life. Exactly. Right? And that's the power of this. So, we're going to be all over the book of Hebrews, predominantly 9 and 10. It's all in your program.
Here we go. The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves. So, what you do see the Bible is saying is that which preceded Christ, it's kind of the word for typology. It was an indication that something else was coming, but that which was, was adequate. It was adequate.
Every year on the day of the Holy Day of Atonement, the high priest will enter into the Holy of Holies. He will take the blood of purified animals and sprinkle it on the mercy seat of God, and then Israel was good for another year. And then on the Holy Day of Atonement, the high priest would go in, take the purified blood of it, sprinkle it on it. They were good for a year.
So, if you will, in a very derogatory, please don't strike me dead way, April 15th and the Holy Day of Atonement had some similarities. It came every year, and every year, somebody had to pay. Year after year after year. And if you pay your taxes as you should, as a good citizen, the Bible says pay your taxes, then you don't have to worry until April 15th next year. But guess what happens April 15th next year? You gotta pay your taxes. Get it?
This is the whole thing about the sacrificial system. It was a shadow of that which was coming. For this reason, this system can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.
Okay? It could provide forgiveness. It could reconcile your standing. It could once again offer redemption. It could do a lot of things. That's one thing it couldn't do. And the writer's gonna tell you, for if it did, then why on earth we continue to do it?
Like, if this year, on April 15th, you paid your taxes, and they called and said, that's all you owe for the rest of your life. You'd be like, well, praise God. Right? But it doesn't do that. And these, while sufficient, while adequate, right, they did provide what God said it would provide.
Okay? It could never do a couple of things that only Christ could do. Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered if perfection could have been accomplished? Get the question? Like, if it perfectly and permanently achieved what God was going to do in Christ, then why'd they keep doing it? Because if they kept doing it, it was either one of two things. You really didn't believe God when he said once and for all.
Okay? You just didn't believe it. Or you just were so afraid that it was too good to be true. There's no way. There's no way. I gotta participate. I gotta offer something. I gotta continue. No, you don't. Stop. No, you don't. You don't have to do that, right?
For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. So do you want to see one of the reasons why people still walk around with guilt in their soul for sins that have been forgiven? Because they don't understand the depth of what happened.
They think their sins have been forgiven and yet they walk throughout life and they cannot forget them. Because they don't understand they don't understand the greater aspect. They don't understand the greater aspect of the death of Jesus Christ. They walk around with guilt and guilt and guilt, but that doesn't make any sense.
If he once and for all died for the sins of the world and for you, and you're never going to get another tax bill, why do you feel guilty about that which has already been paid for? Think about it. Honestly, if the IRS said, you're done, this year you're done, you're going to feel really bad about those years you really weren't that honest on your tax return?
You're going to be like, you're not going to feel guilty. You're going to be like, I got away with it. Right. See, how free are you? What's lingering in your heart and soul? Unlike the other high priest, he being Jesus, does not need to offer sacrifices day after day. First for his own sins, because he never sinned, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all, and this is very important, you'll see in a second, when he offered himself.
Again, I'm not making this up. You just got to read God's word. This isn't a hard one to teach. It's right there. Once for all, he offered himself. Again, for the 4,000 years preceding that moment, there was no such thing as a once for all. It was annual. We got to do this every year. We got to do this every year, especially in the 1,500 years that preceded this of the Mosaic law.
He did not enter, and this would be the Holy of Holies, by means of the blood of goats and calves, but guess who did? The high priest. This isn't to denigrate. This is God's system. God said, okay, here we go. Once a year, you get the blood of bulls and goats and calves and rams. One man, one day, once a year, who has to be a part of the priestly family, gets to enter the Holy of Holies. Just him, nobody else. Sprinkle blood on it. We're good. This was God's plan, okay?
And so, Jesus, you know, he didn't need that blood. He took his own, but he entered the most holy place on the count of three. Ready? One, two, three. Who are you talking to? Come on, put something in it. One, two, three. One, two, three. You ever think about that? Like he entered the Holy of Holies. It's over. How do you know? He tore the curtain from top to bottom, and he entered by his own blood, thus obtaining an annual redemption.
Now, what it says, it changed. It went from annual to eternal. Like there's nothing left to be offered for your sins. Why do you keep trying to pay a tax that's already been paid? I promise you, on April 16th, none of you are going to call the IRS and say, you know what? I think, oh, you owe another hundred bucks. You don't owe us anything. I'm sending you a hundred bucks anyway. Just be careful.
If you do, just make that check out to Greg Farrell. Just bring it to me. Like who does that? Nobody, right? And if you can just translate that to your spiritual life, why do we walk around as though there's still something less to be paid for what it is we have done? And guess which sins are also included in this? The sins that you commit after you're saved. Not just the ones before. Because guess what? Every sin you ever committed was in the future of the moment in which he died for you.
So he died for all your future sins in the moment he died. And it's eternal redemption. Another passage. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.
There's about 12 different times from chapter 7 to the end of 10 where the writer of Hebrews uses that terminology. Once for all, once for all, once for all, once for all, once for all, once for all, once for all. To try and drill and drill! home and to the minds of Jewish Christians. That that system you used to live under was adequate, more than sufficient to provide annual redemption and reconciliation in the eyes of God. But that system is no longer necessary.
Remember we saw it last week, that it is outdated, that it is inferior, and it is now obsolete. Now we know why. Because Christ stepped in once and for all. There is nothing left. The process has been fulfilled. The requirements have been met. It is over. You don't have to walk wondering whether or not your sins, that's why his sacrifice is greater. He put to end a 4,000 year process. It's now 6,000 years today, okay?
No more annual. We can be cleansed once for all because Jesus has sacrificed himself once for all. The process has been completed, which is beautiful. But it's not just that, okay? Here's another great thing. But those sacrifices, the ones that we've been talking about in the law, are a, there's the word, I don't know what to tell you, an annual reminder of sins. It's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take them away.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, now you're seeing the comparison, right? The law and Christ. The law and Christ. Sacrifice an offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me. With burnt offerings and sin offerings, you were not pleased. Why? Because they can't do what Christ alone can do.
It's not that they were inadequate. They just weren't capable of being the ultimate fulfillment. Then I said, here I am. It is written about me in the scroll. I have come to do your will by God. This is one of the things that completely sets it apart from every other sacrifice. Christ is the only thing sacrificed to God that willingly initiated the process.
There was never a bull or a goat or a ram that volunteered on the Passover to be slaughtered. Those animals in the Garden of Eden, I promise you, did not raise their right hand and say, God, kill me. I'm good. Take my blood and skin and put it all over Adam and Eve. Never happened. I promise you that Abel's flock did not volunteer. It was not a self-initiated thing by that which was sacrificed.
You see that with Abraham because he's in a deep, dark sleep. They just, they didn't sign up for that. You really think all those animals for 1,500 years during the Mosaic law era where it was an annual reminder, any of them volunteered for this? Not one of them. And yet it was the will of God for his life. And he knew it. Here I am, send me.
And when was this decision made? Well, read Revelation 13:9. Before the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God was slain. Before there was anything, he already agreed to do this. His idea, his initiative. And that's why passages like this are so profound. Because he willingly gave his life, willingly. He was not a pawn. He's not a victim. It's deeply emotional.
I'd encourage you, read Isaiah 53 several times this week. Take you five minutes. That's the emotive side of it. It is really grueling to read that it pleased God to crush him for my iniquities. That's what we'll do Thursday night. We'll mourn the fact that it had to happen because of us.
But at the end of the day, he's not a victim. He's a willing participant. And that's why these passages like John 10, man, read this. This will blow your ever-loving mind. We'll see a little bit of this next Sunday. They came. Jesus very clearly stated, nobody takes my life from me. Nobody. I lay it down only to take it back up again.
No one took his life. He gave it. How about in Mark 10:45? And it's also in Matthew's gospel that Jesus would say this, I have not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as... to give my life, not to have my life taken from me as a ransom.
That's what happened from the garden to Gethsemane. You took the life of an animal. Here, radically, it's the giving of a life. And guess what he had in mind when he gave his life? You. The initiative of Christ was so that once and for all, you could be done with the power of sin in your life, the penalty of sin in your life. We know we need heaven to get away from the presence of it, but he gave his perfect life because he knew when he gave it, rather than having it taken from him, you and I could get to live in the once and for all reality that you never again have to worry about once you confess Christ, accept you're a sinner, repent of those sins, and receive him as your Lord and Savior.
Don't you worry about payment for sin anymore. There's no more annual reminder. It's an eternal process that was done once and for all for you. It's crazy. But then you begin to think about, well, how does that affect me? Right? It's all about me. What is, like, okay, what? Right?
And what happened because of this once and for all, self-initiated, willingly, coming, it wasn't like he came and God talked him into it. He knew coming. How many times did he tell the disciples, I must go to Jerusalem and die. I must go to Jerusalem and die. I must go to Jerusalem. Peter finally steps in and said, I don't think so.
And what's the Lord got to say? Get behind me, Satan. He knew exactly what was going to happen and when it was going to happen. So, how does it affect us? Well, by that will. What will? We just saw that will. The will of Christ to willingly come, to offer the once and for all sacrifice that could forever fulfill the process. A bloody, nasty process that lasted really 4,000 years until he came. Up to the day he came, they were still doing it.
And the will of God for his life was to put an end to that. Right? And by that will, we have been made holy. Holy. Like, for so many people, and the Pharisees were one of them, holiness was something you did. When Christ came, holiness becomes something you are. You are holy.
Even when you behave in a very unholy manner, that's what's causing that guilt. That's what's causing that remorse in the soul of a follower. You know you're living beneath the standard for which God has created for you. And that standard was given to you because you are holy. Now, go be holy.
Okay? Like, you are immediately forever, once and for all, declared something in the moment through the... How do we get there? Not through behavior. Through belief. And it all is available through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus. Now, how many times did he have to sacrifice his body? Once and for all. That's it. It's over.
Just like this declaration is once and for all. You are made something. See, transformatively when you think about it, you and I get to become what Christ was. Holy. And it's going to matter in a sense. And it happened through the sacrifice of Christ.
I mean, I don't know how to make it any clearer. Once for all. You're never, ever going to have money withheld from a paycheck again. You don't owe the government a dime, no property taxes, no federal income, no social security, no state, no city taxes, period. You're done. Once and for done. Done. It's over.
And quit walking around feeling guilty that other people are still having to pay taxes. Where there's a way for them not to have to pay taxes. Right? Think about that. You got to believe in the IRS. Please don't ever do that. But that's how radical this really is to be, to cognitively understand you really are, you really are free, and you really are all holy.
This gets even crazier. For by one sacrifice, He is made perfect for the next year. He's already made you perfect. You're trying to become something you already are. That's why you're so frustrated. That's why you're trying to keep up. That's why you're setting unrealistic standards for yourself, because you think everybody else around you, and they are sadly, judging you based upon your performance.
Are you keeping up or not keeping up? Keeping up or not? Are you getting it done? You're not getting it done. You're like this. You're not that. I'm better than you. You're worse than me. Walk into work tomorrow and go, you know what? I'm perfect. And they're like, well, you didn't finish your task on Friday. Doesn't mean I'm not perfect. I'm still perfect.
And when you know you're perfect and the world no longer, see, you'll then work from a very different place. Your standards will be intrinsic rather than external. You're going to want to be everything God made you to be. You're going to want to be holy, which is predominantly not behavior. It's about standing. It's about status.
Now, holy people do holy things. I get that. But this is about being the type of sacrifice required. Like, you become what Christ was, and Christ was able to fulfill the standards of God for a once and for all sacrifice, and that's what you become.
So, if God were to re-institute, if you will, the sacrificial system, you would be a viable sacrifice. You would fit the bill. You would meet the standard. In fact, the Old Testament only required that the animal be without blemish. That's it.
See, because God in the Old Testament, both in, I think it's Habakkuk, I know it's for sure Malachi, he's getting on the priest. He's like, why are you bringing me your blind animals? You're bringing me your blind, your cripple, and your lame animals. You're bringing me the worst, not the first. Knock that stuff off, because I don't take. If it ain't perfect, I don't take it.
And that's you. And what's holding you back is your thinking. And it's time to realize that He sent all of His Son to die for all of you. That you might then take all of you and do what Jesus did. Live for God.
Listen, I'm not promising you that when you accept Christ, you're immediately gonna feel holy and perfect. It's a cognitive journey that has to be embraced, but you can't deny it just because you haven't experienced it. Because that's utter nonsense. I take that at absolute face value. That is undeniable truth. You are that. God doesn't, he really doesn't care what your opinion is or mine. Really.
And all those people who wanna send me emails and say, well, you know what you're doing, Pharaoh? You're gonna tell people it's all right for them to go out and sin and do whatever they wanna do. I never said that. And the reason I don't have to is because I trust the Holy Spirit.
And I know that's not what you're going to do. Because when the Spirit of God gets in you, it is going to become miserable for you to continue to sin. And there is no more miserable person on the face of the earth than a redeemed sinner who continues to sin. Because the Spirit of God is in you, he will make you miserable, he will do to you what God did to Abraham, he will bring about a dark and dreadful sleep.
You will have the worst nightmares of your life. All for what reason? Because the Spirit of God is gonna shake you and say, you belong to me. You're living way beneath the level for which you were recreated. Knock it off, right? Why doesn't he do that to lost people? Because he's not in them. That's why.
No, I'm gonna just lay it out as it is. You claim that you're a sinner and that Christ is the Savior. He died once and for all and you're in the all and you accept that death, you're saved. You just confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord. And then immediately, you're holy and perfect.
And then you join us on the road of trying to be like that. We're already it. Now we have to go live like it. We don't live like it and become pleasing. That's the Pharisees. We become like it. Then we go live like it.
Let's pray together. Father, we love you. And I believe there are those in this service and online who will hear this later, who are at our other campuses that need to respond. That they have been afraid to come to you because of who they were, what they've done, how they feel about themselves, what they think about their lives, how displeasing they must be to you.
And that's because they're not approaching you through Christ. Why don't you do it today? Respond to the Lord in this moment. Raise a hand. Praise God Almighty. Who cares what anybody next to you thinks. Raise a hand and say, it's my day. I'm going to become holy. I'm going to be made perfect. Today's my day. I'm going to offer my, think about that, offering yourself to God, holy and pleasing.
Maybe it's not a hand, you just can't do it. And again, it's not for me to see. And just lift your head up and look towards the stage. Just look in the direction. And God will know what you're doing. He'll know how you're responding. Again, it's not for crossing. We don't count these heads. We don't. We don't. It's not our business.
We're to proclaim the truth and encourage you to embrace it. Just respond. And let's pray. Father, for those who have responded, they've heard the message, Lord God. They're repenting by responding. They're receiving by responding. And now because they've responded, they've just been made holy.
And they are for now and forever perfect because there's no other sacrifice coming. There was a once and for all. And it's done. Amen. And once we're in, it's eternal, not annual. Father, we love you for who you are. We worship you for what you've done. It's in Jesus' name we pray. And to all of God's people said, amen.
Let's give God a hand clap of praise in his house today. Amen. All right. Don't forget about this Holy Week, okay? May the God of heaven richly bless each and every one of you. We'll see you Thursday night. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
on Apr 13, 2025
