The Testimony of His Sacrifice

Well, thank you very much, Mr. Hooser. Good afternoon to everyone. It's great to see all of you. Revelation 12. If you'd like to turn there. In Revelation 12, in this chapter, we see a picture of a woman. A woman who would now give birth to one who would become king of all kings.

The Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. And that may seem like a beautiful picture at first, but soon we see something very sinister awaiting this child. It's Revelation 12, verse 2. And then, being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven, Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns and seven diadems on his head. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and drew them to the earth.

And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born. So Satan was there to destroy Jesus Christ and His future rulership. And then this would culminate in the greatest battle that's ever occurred. The greatest battle that's ever taken place in the history of the world.

Because now Jesus Christ would meet Satan the devil. And in that temptation, Jesus Christ would be tempted as no man has ever been. And in meeting and overcoming every temptation that Satan threw at him, He, Jesus Christ, with all authority, turned to the devil and said, Get ye hints! And you see the devil had to obey. Because Jesus had conquered him. Jesus was his master. Jesus then and there qualified to be ruler, King of Kings, to rule the earth.

But then undeterred, and maybe even with a little bit more determination, Satan the devil would now turn his focus upon those that would follow Jesus Christ. Verse 12, it says, Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them, But woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea. For the devil has come down to you having great wrath, Because he knows now that he has a short period of time. And so the ones to whom God would call out of this earth. God's elect now. Those who follow Jesus Christ.

It's now our time. And all of God's chosen around the world to face Satan the devil, And our time to have victory over him. And we know Christ overcame him. But how can we, how can we, how can we as God's people survive this powerful evil being who's looking to devour us?

How can we stand to the end? Well, today we're going to uncover the answer to that. And what we're going to see is that these two Holy Days that are upon us, they hold great power within them. And great knowledge and understanding is to us being able to now face and overcome Satan the devil. We want to be part of this final group. So we want to then look at how to overcome.

So what did the life of these men and women look like that the Bible describes that we'll be standing at the end? You know, the Bible gives us understanding of the past, but then the beautiful thing is it gives us understanding of the future, of what is to come. And we see a description of those individuals. So we can look at them and see how they overcame. What were they made of? Who were these men and women? What was the very essence of what they represented?

Look at verse 10. Let's read about these individuals here. These are the overcomers. Verse 10. Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God, And the power of his Christ have come, This is Jesus Christ now overcoming. For the accuser of our brethren, who has accused them before our God, day and night, has been cast down.

Satan is defeated. Now look to see who is standing. Verse 11. And they overcame him, they overcame Satan, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives to the death. So let's stop there. So how did they overcome? How were they able to be left standing in the face of this great enemy? What says by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony.

And upon these two things then, they were willing to give their life up for. So we can now rest our perseverance to salvation upon these two things. We need to have a complete understanding. And again, as we do so, we're going to see that both of these things mentioned here, that these individuals have, directly relate to and are affected by the manner in which we observe the Passover in the days of Unleavened Bread. We're going to see, oh, how critical it is that these Holy Days that were upon us are in our ability to overcome. So first here, the blood of the Lamb. We know that without Jesus Christ's sacrifice, without that blood of the Lamb spilled in our lives, there would be no salvation.

No salvation. There would be no hope. No hope for a physical life after this one. No purpose. No rescue. No deliverance. No reason or way to endure. And so those that understood this, and those who endure to the end, had this understanding of the power of the blood of the Lamb, those left standing. These individuals understood the capacity and the authority and the force and the energy and the might and the weight of all that the blood of the Lamb represents.

And they will have a complete understanding. Those who are standing at the end of this sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what it's done for us, the washing of us, the making us clean, opening up the very family of God to us. Jesus Christ's sacrifice was complete. It was perfect. Nothing could be added to it. It was sufficient. It was total.

But yet, we see here that even with that perfect and complete sacrifice, there's something else here that those overcome in the end will have, something they will possess. These overcomers here, what is this? What is this word of their testimony? Well, it's incredibly profound. The word of their testimony, that means their word, their life will speak to, their life will make a decree of their testimony. And this word, testimony, here in the New Testament is the Greek word martyr, M-A-R-T-U-R, M-A-R-T-U-R, testimony. And it's translated witness, evidence, or proof.

And so those that will endure to the end, then, will do so by giving this testimony of all that the blood of the Lamb represents. Everything about these individuals, everything about their lives, will give this testimony, this proof, this evidence of all that the blood of the Lamb does for mankind. These individuals will endure because they will witness this to the world. And if we want to be part of these individuals here at the end, then our whole life, then, must give evidence to this sacrifice. We are to be true and faithful witnesses of it. In the entire book of Revelation, virtually every chapter speaks of this triumphant testimony of God's people.

It's the testimony, the evidence, the proof of, and it's to be defended and spoken about and witnessed to and prophesied to every tongue, nation, and people. Our testimony, this testimony, is to be shown in the very essence of who we are. So we ask today, then, is our life this living testimony to God, to the world, I mean?

Does it give a proper evidence? Does it give a proper proof of Jesus Christ as our Savior? Will we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony? You know, the blood of the Lamb would have been shed in vain without this testimony then being shown in Christ's faithful followers. But this testimony would have been impossible without the shedding of this blood. So they go hand in hand, and this is how we'd are to overcome. And it says of these individuals that they loved not their life in this world to the extent of meeting death for the sake of giving this testimony.

So are we willing? We know what God's people are to face. We just read it. Those to whom keep the commandments and have this testimony of Jesus Christ, Satan is here. Satan has come to make war specifically with those. And with this motivated killer then, then the only way that we can overcome is on the account of, on the grounds of, because of, by virtue of, the shed blood for us.

That blood shed Satan's accusations. All those accusations he makes against us. Without that shed blood, those accusations would have been unanswerable. But with it, with that shed blood, then, that blood meets every charge. Every charge. And so our testimony then is to be an evidence of our victory over him, over Satan, by virtue of the blood of the Lamb. And so our testimony is to be evidence of that victory. And so we must have this testimony then confirmed in us. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 4. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 4, we'll read through 9.

1 Corinthians 1, 4 through 9. We see this beautiful testimony spoken about here. What it means to us. It says, I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Jesus Christ, by that blood, that you were enriched in everything by Him, in all utterance, in all knowledge. Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also will confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord.

God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. So if this testimony of Jesus Christ is confirmed in us, here's the promise. Then you will be confirmed to the end. It's a promise. Christ brought with Him this gift of salvation through His sacrifice, and we are to have it confirmed into us. Why? Well, it's because we represent now God and Christ with it. God first gave this testimony to Jesus Christ.

This is why He came. God the Father sent Him to tell us who the Father was, give evidence of the Father, show us who He was, give proof to the world of Him. He carried it first.

Now Jesus Christ then passed that commission on to us, and it's an incredible commission for us to then give evidence of proof of God, carry this testimony of who they are and what His perfect sacrifice did for us. Let's turn over to John 17 and see this. John 17 in verse 1.

Here in John 17, this is Christ just before His sacrifice, and He's not praying for the world. He's praying for a specific people to whom would receive His name now after He now departed to go back to the Father. He prays for those who would be witnessing and giving proof of His salvation through His sacrifice. John 17 in verse 1.

Let's skip down to verse 6. Here it is.

Now they have known all things which You have given Me are from You. For I have given to them the words which You have given Me, and they have received them, and they have known surely I came forth from You. And they have believed that You sent Me. So here's Christ. He's not praying for the world again. He's praying a specific prayer for those who He would be giving this commission to, to those whom would have this testimony then confirmed in them. Let's continue. Verse 9.

Can you imagine this, the responsibility that's been given to us? Can you imagine? We don't have to imagine because this testimony has been passed down through God's people generation after generation after generation. Each generation then has had to step up, step up and live a life worthy of God and Christ in representing this family. Step up to represent Him as the perfect Lamb. Step up to represent His sacrifice and His spilled blood. Because we don't carry this testimony for our own salvation. Verse 20.

And it says, I don't pray for these alone, to whom I've chosen first to carry my testimony, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The testimony that we carry, we do so for the world. Christ bore this testimony first. He bore His cross first, the perfect sacrifice. And now it's our turn to carry on and bear our own cross. This is our commission now. Testimony has been passed on to us. Are we prepared to do so? Are we prepared to carry and bear our own cross? Turn over to Luke 14. Luke 14 in verse 27. We're just going to read one Scripture here, but it's important for us to see these words. See these words that we're about to read. Feel the impact of them. Luke 14 in verse 27. This is quite a statement. And he says, Luke 14 in verse 27.

And whosoever does not bear His cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. It's a requirement to bear our own cross. Do we understand what this is saying? You know, first century Judea certainly did. When they heard these words, this wasn't some trivial statement. They understood what bearing your own cross meant. They had seen it. They had seen those dragging their own cross, their own, this huge cross with them through the streets surrounded by Roman soldiers. Because they knew where those individuals were dragging it to. They were dragging it to be nailed to it. They were dragging it to be crucified upon it, to die upon it. So what is Jesus Christ saying here? A true disciple of His must be willing to pick up His or her cross and carry it. How far? Well, until they nail it to you, if so be. And so a true disciple is willing to give witness of, proof of, take on, carry. This testimony that's been now passed on to us, the testimony that Jesus Christ began. You know, the world says, turn on any Christian radio station. I do it from time to time. Hear what's being preached. The world says, don't attempt to carry your own cross. Anybody that does so is trying to imitate Jesus Christ. Obviously, they don't fully understand what the sacrifice, that it was complete, that it was done. They're trying to add to it. Carrying your own cross seemingly diminishes Christ's sacrifice because you're attempting to do something yourself. What is our Savior saying here? Just the opposite. He says, after accepting me, as your Savior, a true disciple then will pick up His or her own cross and bear it for the rest of their life. Becoming a living sacrifice, living evidence, living proof of the perfect sacrifice. They're by giving this testimony and proof to the world. Turn over to Romans 12. We know this scripture, Romans 12 verse 1. But there's a word hidden here in Romans 12 that speaks to what we're speaking about right now. Romans 12 verse 1. See these words. He says, We are to prove this through our life. We are to show evidence of the perfect sacrifice. That you may prove. This is why we become a living sacrifice. You may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. We are to be a living sacrifice, living evidence of it.

So what kind of evidence have we been then putting forth? What kind of living sacrifice have we been sending up to God? It's our life, a living sacrifice then, that is acceptable. It says here in verse 1 that we are to be a living sacrifice that's holy. A living sacrifice that is acceptable to God. And so when we come to the Passover tomorrow, we're coming as living evidence of Him. The sacrifice, will it be accepted? Well, this understanding is actually given in the Bible of what is and what is not an acceptable sacrifice to God. And it's actually borne out in the lives of two brothers. Those two brothers are Cain and Abel. And we can see through those brothers this example of what is and what is not an acceptable sacrifice to God. Let's turn back to Genesis 4 in verse 1 and see this. Genesis 4 in verse 1. What we're going to see here is that Cain's sacrifice, what he brought to God, was not accepted because of how and the manner in which he gave it. And we're going to see that his sacrifice wasn't given with a proper heart. And we're going to read this incredibly tragic story here of two brothers. And I want us to think about as we're reading this, how this relates to us and what we've been offering up to God in our lives. Looking to see if it's acceptable, this sacrifice. So this is Genesis 4 in verse 1 through 5.

Now Adam knew Eve, his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain and said, I have acquired a man from the Lord. And she bore again, this time his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of the sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in the process, the time came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. He also brought of the firstborn, Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat.

And the Lord respected Abel and his offering, but he did not respect Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his countenance failed. So let's stop there. Let's think about what we just read here. So Cain was Adam's oldest son. Abel was the second. And Cain was a farmer. Abel was a shepherd or a herdsman. Each of them brought an offering to God. And what's important to establish here as we're looking at this is that God can see the heart.

And he accepted Abel's offering, but did not accept Cain's. We find something interesting here in how the offerings are described, how Cain's offering is described in comparison to Abel's here. Because we see in the description, the distinction in their hearts. Of Cain's offering, he says, Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground.

Okay, not something, not a very special description here. And some fruit of the ground. But ah, look at Abel's offering here. Abel brought that of the firstborn of the flock, and of their fat. Fat portions of some of the firstborn. He brought the first. He brought the best. So these descriptions aren't quite telling. They reveal the differences and speak to the manner by which they gave from the hearts.

Abel came humbly, hoping that God would accept his offering. We won't turn there, but Hebrews 11 verse 4, actually speaks of this offering here. And it says, by faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. It wasn't about the actual thing that they offered, right? Fruit versus animal. But he says, by faith he came. Abel did. And he was considered a righteous man. So the Lord looked down upon Abel in his offering, and he approved of it. But of Cain's, he did not. So Cain was very angry. His face was downcast. His countenance fell. Think of the attitude that that displays. It seems that he thought that God should just accept whatever offering he gave.

But what kind of thought? What kind of effort? What kind of prayer did Cain put into his offering? He should have came. He should have came with the understanding that God is the sovereign, Lord, Creator, the giver of the harvest. All things belong to him. Cain's offering should have been an expression of praise, honor, worship, thanksgiving, effort for all God had done.

And so God could not look down upon Cain's half-hearted offering, showed in gratitude, maybe even pride. So let's continue here. So God's now going to speak to Cain. Verse 6. So the Lord said to Cain, and this is important, see how God responds to Cain here. He says a lot about God's patience with us.

So the Lord said to Cain, why are you angry? And why, as your countenance fell, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not well, do well. Well, then sin lies at your door, and its desire is to have you, but you should rule over it. Stop there. So again, what's on display here is this loving, merciful God. He came with this gentle rebuke, with words of wisdom. I can almost picture the Almighty God getting down to Cain's level and saying, Cain, this first seven moment, if you do what's right, if you do what's right, Cain, will you not be accepted? He knows I'll accept you. He knows I'll accept you with open arms. And again, He doesn't mention the type of fruit or the amount of it. God's looking at the heart. God doesn't need the fruit. He's looking for your heart. He wants your heart. He wants all of it. He wants to see what's behind this sacrifice that we're giving up to Him. So He's speaking to Cain in Himself. He says about the sacrifice, Cain, if you do well, don't you know you'll be accepted? So then, if we do well, we will be accepted. How the gift is given tells a lot about the gifter. And so as we bring our bodies now as living sacrifices to God, asking Him to accept our sacrifice, what heart will He see behind it? Will He see a heart that is like Abel's? Given with humility, praise, honor, worship to God? Showing our knowledge of all that He's done for us? And you know, God gave Cain the opportunity here to see His fault, opportunity to turn from the no doubt destructive path that God could see that He was on. This was Cain's opportunity here to examine his own heart and say, I'm so sorry, Father. You're right. Please forgive me. I didn't give it in the proper manner. But Cain didn't honor God in his sacrifice nor in how he responded. He allowed anger to come in. He gave up. He gave into the sin. He did not do what's right. And sin was waiting for Him. And you better believe that sin and its originator are waiting for us. Those to whom are carrying the very evidence of God, the very evidence, the very testimony of what His sacrifice represents.

Satan has come to make war with those specific people. He's looking for us to slip up. He's waiting for those moments in which we ignore the power of the Holy Spirit and where it's guiding us. Those moments in which we ignore that and give into, then, the power of our human desire.

Sin is crouching at our door and it desires to have us and it's patient. And so it's no coincidence, then, that the Days of Unleavened Bread follow the Passover. Our response to the spilled blood, in response to that, we now put the sin out. We're no longer slaves to sin and we put righteousness in. That's who our slave is.

Righteousness, thereby being that testimony, that proof of His sacrifice. Let's finish up this tragic story here with just verse 8, this sin that tore two brothers apart. Now Cain, verse 8, now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field. That Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

You know, God was right. Sin was at Cain's door and it devoured him. God turned Cain over to his debased mind. He turned Cain over to his sin. And if we're not successful, if we're not successful in having growth, spiritual, mature growth toward getting the sin out of our lives, there may become a time when we're turned over to it and we're no longer looked then to carry this testimony.

We're no longer looked then by God and Jesus Christ to carry their evidence. So seeing this terrible occurrence here and its conclusion, then I know we all want to put forth an evidence in our lives that is an acceptable sacrifice to God. We want to do this. But in thinking about that, it's difficult. It's difficult to reconcile sometimes because the very thing that took Cain out, we have. We have sin. And we want to come tomorrow night to observe the Passover in a worthy manner, understanding and representing and respecting and giving it the reverence that it deserves.

But we're still coming tomorrow with sin in our lives. So knowing that we're bringing this with us, how can any of us put forth a proper testimony of Christ's sacrifice? How can any of us come as an acceptable living sacrifice to our Father, worthy to take on the symbols of His very broken body and spilled blood? Let's think about this broader.

For that matter, all of God's chosen were not worthy because all of God's chosen then had sin in their lives. Yet, God of several of them said that they were His friend. Even of one, God describes as one of them as a man after his own heart. God said that about a man, one of His true disciples. They all had sin, yet those of God's true disciples then had their place secured in the first resurrection in the kingdom.

How? How did God's then disciples then, those who have had Christ's testimony truly confirmed in themselves, still give evidence and proof of the Lamb? When we read about all the sin that they had in their lives, how can that be? How do we reconcile this? As we come to the most solemn holy day of the year tomorrow, how can we be an acceptable living sacrifice to God?

Well, the answer is in two words. The answer is that all those who have been chosen and truly had this testimony of Jesus Christ confirmed in their hearts. They all had one thing. Two words. Fervent desire. Fervent desire is the key to overcoming in the end. Fervent desire is the key to having Christ's sacrifice truly be confirmed, that testimony to be confirmed in our hearts. Fervent desire will be the difference between putting forth an acceptable living sacrifice or not. All of God's chosen had much sin, but all of them had much more desire to overcome it. David, a man after God's own heart, incredible sin, incredible sin, but an incredible desire to overcome it.

Psalm 51. Let's turn there. Psalm 51. We have to read this prayer, I think, every year. Read it several times. Psalm 51 and verse 3 will start off. David here properly discerned the sin in his life. That fervent desire here is displayed in this prayer. This is the desire that we need to be a true testimony to God. Psalm 51 and verse 3. He says, For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

I acknowledge it. I bring it forth. It's always before me. Against you, you only have I sinned and done evil in your sight, that you may be found just when you speak and blameless when you judge.

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, you desire truth in the inner parts, and in the hidden part you will make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, that I shall be made clean. Wash me, and I shall be made wider than snow. Make me hear the joy and gladness that the bones you have broken may rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your Holy Spirit from me. Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not make your Holy Spirit take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me by your generous spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners shall be converted to you.

Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue shall sing aloud of your righteousness. I will be that proof. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall show forth your praise. I'll be that testimony, for you do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it. You do not delight in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, and a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, you will not despise. Let's stop there. Purge me, wash me, cleanse me, have mercy upon me.

Hear me, O Lord, you desire to have your truth in the depths of my inner parts. Help me to give that to you. I want to give that to you. Take my selfish heart and rip it out. Give me a new heart. Take my life, Father. I want to give it to you. Help me be that true, living sacrifice.

This is the prayer that we need. This is the desire that we need before tomorrow night. Fervent desire, growth, maturity, show God this desire when He looks down. And if we don't have this fervent desire, we need to dedicate our lives to getting it. Just like David, we must reach this place of truly internalizing the absolute nothingness of who we are without God, without this spilled blood of the Lamb. Fervent desire. This was the key element in all of God's true disciples. This is how they had that testimony confirmed in their heart. So we see this example in manner and degree by which we now must come and face the sin in our lives. And we must have this time with God here that's displayed with David. We must go to a place, sit down, meditate on the sin in our lives. Go to a closet, go somewhere alone, meditate, write it down, list it in your mind, ask God to bring it all forth. Ask Him to show you the sin that you're not even aware of. Bring it all to the forefront. And then just sit in it. Sit in it a moment. And then ask, talk to God, and tell Him how you think you got there. Talk to Him about it. Talk to Him about how far you've come and have gone from Him in His way. And you may say, I don't know if I feel comfortable with that. I don't know if that seems spiritually productive. It seems depressing. The sorrow that that no doubt will bring up if I do that is too much to bear. But you see, true repentance begins with our understanding of our need to change. True understanding must come from us facing our sin, acknowledging it, and acknowledging our true need to be rescued from it. This is the beginning. This is the first step in becoming a proper, true evidence of this blood of the Lamb. And when you're bringing this sin to God, again, it will no doubt produce incredible sorrow, but it's the beginning. And what it will do is bringing it to God, it will have incredible results. This sorrow that it will cause is good, and the Bible calls it godly sorrow. Let's turn to 2 Corinthians 7 verse 9 and read about this very action and this act of bringing it all to the forefront. 2 Corinthians 7 verse 9, it says, Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. So this is the sorrow we need and want as we're acknowledging the sin in our lives. And the moment we do this, the moment that we bring it to the forefront, bring it all to the forefront, acknowledge it before God, on our knees, with our head down, humbly. The moment we do this and something incredible begins to happen. Look at verse 11. Verse 11. For observe this very thing, that you were sorrowed in a godly manner. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication. In all things you proved, in all things you proved yourself to be clear in this manner, in this matter. You've given evidence, too. So we see this description of godly sorrow and the incredible results from it. This exercise of bringing the sin forward and acknowledging it before God. This is what we want, that sadness that will be evoked from that to produce here. But you see there's another step. Once we've brought all this sin forward, then what do we do with it? We can't just continue to sit in it. Where do we go from this place of feeling extreme sadness? Where can we go to find the help to then lift it from us? Well, the key is found in Hebrews 4, verse 14. Let's turn there.

Hebrews 4, verse 14. We're going to see this next step. And it all leads back to the perfect redeeming blood of the Lamb. This testimony that we are to be of it. Hebrews 4, verse 14 through 16.

Hebrews 4, verse 14.

Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but in all points, tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

What a powerful message this is. What a powerful passage. What is this saying here? This is the next step. You see, it's not acceptable. It's not enough to allow ourselves just to then stay in that place of disgust and sorrow from our sins.

We must move forward. We have a commission to do. We have a job to do. And so Christ is saying here, once you've truly looked at the innermost places of your hearts, once you've done that, and then you have that fervent desire to change, bring it to me.

Come to me. Come to my throne of grace. This is the place you will find the help that you desire. This is the place where you need to go. When we say from that moment, Father, I don't even know if I can ask for forgiveness again, but this same sin that I continue to commit, it's the same sin. I can't even ask you for forgiveness again.

I'm not worthy to be evidence of you. I'm not worthy to show the world. What am I showing the world?

I'm not worthy of that. At that moment, when we start to have those things go through our mind, Christ says, wait right there. Stop. Do you know who you're speaking to? He says.

I am the high priest. I was tempted. I know how you're feeling. I know what you're going through.

Come to me. Pour out your heart to me in my throne of grace. This is where you'll find the help that you need to finally overcome it. Overcome that captivity. It's a true captivity that some of this sin has on us.

He says, this is where you come. Use the power of my blood. Use the power of my sacrifice.

This is the place you need to come. When you're feeling unqualified to carry this testimony, come to this place and I will give you the spiritual hope. I will give you life again.

It says, come boldly. This is not a demand for forgiveness. It says, come boldly with that fervent desire to understand what this sin is.

Come boldly, just as David did. This is all those who have carried this testimony. Come boldly to find the answers.

And if you do so, you will find them. You will find the answers to overcoming the sin.

Come to this throne of grace. He will give us that deeper understanding of it and the strength to finally break free.

Sin has seriously damaged mankind. It's tore even brothers apart.

Sin separates us from God. Sin will keep us from enduring to the end.

The 1st Corinthians said, the sacrifices of God, what we are presenting up to Him in our life, the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a broken and contrite heart.

These, O God, you will not despise.

So we, just like David, we offer up this broken and humble heart to God.

And He looks down and while He despises the sin, He will not despise our heart.

He will see the desire behind it to overcome it.

And He will make us wider than snow. All is forgiven. He brings life back to us.

All of us must find this fervent desire. Find it. Ask God for it. Bring it to the Passover tomorrow.

And if we do so, then we will be an acceptable sacrifice to God.

He will make us clean if we so desire it and restore us completely.

And this is actually borne out in a beautiful example of a leper, a leper being made clean in the Bible.

So let's turn over to Matthew 8, verse 2.

Matthew 8 and verse 2, we're going to see this through this story of a leper here, detailed in Matthew 8.

We're going to see a pure heart and a desire of an unclean man to be made clean.

This was His desire.

Matthew 8. Actually, we'll start off in verse 1. Matthew 8 and verse 1.

When He had come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him.

And behold, a leper came and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.

Then Jesus put out His hand and touched Him, saying, I am willing, be cleansed.

And immediately the leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus said to him, See that you do not tell no one, but go your way.

Show yourself to the priest and offer the gift that Moses commanded as a testimony to them.

You know, a leper certainly brings to mind a sick, a diseased, a disfigured man.

This would be someone that you would avoid all contact with. So if there is a biblical definition of unclean, well, then the leper certainly painted the perfect picture for that.

It's often used as insight to our own condition as we are spiritually unclean.

So what can we glean here from this leper? Well, first we see, He did not wait for Jesus Christ to come to Him for healing, did He?

He had this fervent desire and He sought out the Lord. He sought Him out. He seeked Him out.

And then what did the leper do when he first found Christ? It says he came and worshipped.

He worshipped before asking for any help. This faithful act of simple worship, what he was doing, was showing his heart to our Savior.

First and foremost, it opened up to Him, began to worship Him, and to acknowledge Him, glorify Him, because He knew all that Christ was.

And then the leper spoke. First words out of His mouth show His heart. He said, Lord, if you are willing.

The word, if, this is a sentence of a faithful appeal to God and His will. His will be done.

Not His own desire, not something from His own wishes. If you are willing, you can make me clean.

This word here, can. You can make me clean. Again, this is not a demand. It's a statement. It's an acknowledgement of His understanding of the power that Jesus Christ had.

And what a humble way to ask here. It really leaves the control up to Jesus Christ. It doesn't show any expectation.

This humility, this willingness to follow, despite if Jesus Christ decided to heal Him or not.

It's a beautiful way to approach.

And then, Christ put out His hand and touched Him. Think of this. This is a leper. This is a leper.

No one, no one would touch these individuals. So this thing showed something more than just healing.

Jesus Christ truly cares. He truly loves these individuals. And us, He loved this leper.

And I can just imagine that this leper may have not been touched. Physical touch, physical contact for many, many, many years.

I picture Jesus Christ reaching out to Him, maybe touching His face.

I can imagine the leper just kind of closing His eyes.

Feeling, feeling the touch and the love of our Savior. And Jesus Christ can reach us, wherever we are, whatever depths we found ourselves in need of rescuing.

He can reach us. And He will. And Christ said, then, He said those words, I am willing. And that's a promise. I am willing. It's a promise to you and I. He was willing to give His life for us. He was willing to sacrifice His life.

And then Christ says these words here, be cleansed.

And those words then can speak to how we are to live our life after receiving this incredible healing from Christ's sacrifice. I can picture Christ still holding the leper's face and looking into His eyes and saying, be cleansed. Be cleansed.

In other words, telling the leper to live a life now that's evidence of the healing I've just given you.

Respond to this healing with the life that shows your understanding of what I've done for you.

In conclusion, let's turn to Romans 8.

We want to leave ourselves with a little bit of strength, a little bit of encouragement.

We started off with a little bit of fear, knowing that Satan the Devil is down here with us. That's fearful.

But here in Romans 8, we're going to get a little strength here. There's nothing to fear. With the blood of the Lamb. And if that blood is our testimony, if this is testimony that's confirmed in us, then nothing will prevent us from enduring to the end.

Nothing. Romans 8, verse 31.

What then shall we say to these things? All that we've read about. What shall we say to these things?

If God is for us, this is what we should say. If God is for us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare his own Son, but delivered him up for all of us.

How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Tell me, who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore has risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us, you and I.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Shall tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril of the sword? For it is written, For your sake we are all killed all day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Let's stop right there. This is what it's all about.

Jesus Christ, with Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb, sacrificed for us.

Then we are accounted as well.

Just like Christ, accounted for as sheep to the slaughter because our testimony is Christ's testimony. Everything about our lives then gives this testimony, this evidence of God and the Word and the blood of Jesus Christ, the perfect Lamb, because we know it was spilled for us.

And so one day, one day, we will be one of those at the end who endure, who conquers Satan with the blood of the Lamb and the Word then, the evidence of it, the Word of our testimony.

We will be one of those who conquers Satan because we've allowed ourselves to be conquered by God.

Verse 37, Yet in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, for I am persuaded, Here it is again, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor present things, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, Satan the devil, nothing, nothing, will separate us from the love of God, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Live a life. Live a life of sacrifice. Be that true evidence of the perfect sacrifice.

And nothing will keep you from me, He says. You will be part of that group at the end. It's a promise. You will be confirmed in the end, if you do so. So let's observe tomorrow night this incredible Passover and come with a humble heart and a fervent desire as we honor this perfect sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.