Yet Without Sin - (part one)

There is a life of which we can live through Christ Jesus, without sin.  This is because God made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we, who have known no righteousness, might be made the righteousness of God.  This is a beautiful message and revelation of God's plan for us through Christ.  I hope that you enjoy this spiritual truth.

Transcript

Pastor Rickey D. Dixon 0:03

As I say, we give honor to God tonight, the most high God. The one true living God to His Majesty our King, Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Oh God, and I thank God for the Holy Ghost. Thanks for God. The Holy Ghost is very vital, very important in this life that we live on this earth. The power source and the strength we need. The teacher who are things that we have no idea of. But the Holy Ghost has a way of teaching us through God's Word. I give honor to all of you, God's people, my brothers, my sisters, all over, uh, wherever you may be at this time, whether you be in Louisiana or Shreveport, Boisia, Spring Hill, Minden, Webster Parish, or in Michigan, whether you be, I don't know, in Detroit or Pontiac. Also, we thank God for even Sister Franklin in Sacramento, California. And to all those that are all over listening in during these weeks of our studies on these several nights that we have uh learning more about the Lord. Oh, yes. And tonight, uh, we just want to just get right into the word of God. I'm gonna deal with something tonight with the help of the Holy Ghost. Uh I got a feeling this, I'm not gonna get cover all this material in one night. This might uh just turn into, we'll know for the end of the session. It might be a two-part series. Uh, because I just have a lot of material, and I don't like to rush it. I like for uh us to get the full understanding. Uh and sometimes that may take some time and then never know. I'm I have sometime I'll be sidebaring and uh get another thought. Don't know who knows what the Holy Ghost is gonna say to me in the midst of me teaching. Uh, but we just might be looking at a two-part series on tonight. Uh, I want to first lay a foundation. Uh I pray you have your Bibles, have your Bibles tonight. We just thank God this also is uh first Tuesday of this month. We're in the month of December. Uh thank God he allowed us to live to see uh at least we can say we live to see all 12 months of this year. The Lord has kept his people. Now, whether we see the end of this month, that's in God's hand, but we have seen, we can say we've seen all at least all 12 months, with this first day of December being on a Tuesday. Um, but if you have your Bibles tonight, let's let's get into the Word of God and let's see what the Holy Ghost is gonna teach us tonight. Um I know already I'm gonna say some stuff that's probably not being used to being said uh when I get to, because it's something in Peter. Uh I'm gonna go to Peter. That's not my foundation, but I I know if I get to Peter tonight, it's something I want to bring. The Holy Ghost revealed something to me. Uh when I get to that, I will bring that out to it. And it might bring some awareness to uh the particular text in which Peter uh was discussing. Uh, but tonight, if you have your Bibles, that's the I want to lay a foundation with the with the book of Hebrew. Hebrews. I want to lay a foundation with the book of Hebrews. This is gonna be my foundation uh that I'm gonna try to build upon this particular one verse uh in the book of Hebrews, chapter four. In the book of Hebrews, chapter four. Uh I want to be talking about Jesus tonight, y'all. A lot of them be talking about Jesus and what he did. I want what I'm gonna be talking about tonight is we need to truly understand what it is Jesus has done in the area of what he went through in order for us to live sinless lives. I know that's that's hard for a lot of people to accept because you will have you got people today will tell you that you can't live this life without doing something. When they they tell me that something means some kind of sin. But I'm here to tell you the Bible contradicts that. And we should know that part of what Jesus has been trying to tell us through the Word of God and through the gospel is that through Him, there are things that are possible through Jesus that we have not truly realized for our lives because we fail to see or think that it's possible because we are still looking at it with earthly eyes, and we're still trying to understand it with an earthly understanding. But when you when you understand through the gospel and through the word of God what Jesus has done spiritually, a lot of things become possible when you believe spiritually by faith in what he has done, which will cause you, when you believe spiritually according to the word of God, and you will continue to feed upon that knowledge of his word, that knowledge of his truth, you will get to a point in your life, trust me on this, that you will begin to believe those things that the word of God says about you and I. That we can have through Christ Jesus, not ourselves, but through him and what he has done. And so tonight, what I'm gonna be dealing with is I want to show us that through Christ Jesus, we can have a life without sin. Because I gotta tell y'all, this sinning, this sin and stuff got to stop. This sin and stuff got to cease. Because if it does not, if we don't stop this sinning and this stuff we're doing, we're not gonna make it to the city. Because, but see, I'm I'm I want the word of God to help us or not because when we grasp what Jesus has done and begin to live accordingly and walk in it, we'll begin to see that yes, you can live right here in a sinful world, in a sinful environment, in a corrupt world, you can live sinless. But it's not you that's living sinless, it's the Christ that's in you. That's the foundation I want to lay tonight. Let me read my foundation scripture, then I'm gonna we're gonna deal with the text tonight. Hebrews chapter 4, verse 15. One verse, verse 15 of Hebrews chapter 4. Listen what the word of God says. He said, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmity. Here it is, but was in all points tempted like as we are. Jesus was tempted just like we are. But here's the catch, and here's what makes the difference when it came to Jesus being tempted, as which is gonna be the foundation of my text tonight. Tempted as we are, yet without sin. That's it right there. And tonight, my text, I want to deal with this foundation tonight, and if it turns into a two-part series, the text will be yet without sin. Are we living? Have we we've been living with Jesus all these years, but can we can we say we are weak we are living yet without sin? Can we say in this holy life we claim, in this righteous life we claim, are we at a point in our life where we have arrived through Christ Jesus, where we are living yet without sin? Because if we can't answer that, or if we uh we know in our heart, no, we we still got some things we still hanging up with and and they're still tripping over and stumbling over, we need to understand, we need really need to hear the word of God tonight and what the word of God has to say. Because here's the thing about it so many for so long, and don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to tell our nothing, at least I'm not trying to, but it may be something getting knocked down. We got to stop thinking that the only reason that Jesus came down here on earth, born of a woman, we got to stop thinking the only reason he came was to die on the cross. We got to stop thinking, because that's not the only reason he came. That was the ultimate reason, and that was the ending of it all to ultimately die for our sin, but that was not the only reason that he came. But that's all we be talking about. That's that's probably been instilled in us more than anything else. Jesus died on the cross. Jesus died on the cross. Yes, he did that. But my thing is, he did, come on now. Do we understand that Jesus did so much more? He did so much more than that. And he came for so much more than that. We needed more than just him dying on the cross. One of the things we needed tonight is what we're talking about. We needed, we need to understand that he also came to be an example of how we're supposed to live. So you don't hear that about that. Before Jesus went to the cross, we need to look at his life as the gospel wrote. Look at his in the gospel of Matthew, look how he lived. In the gospel of Mark, look how he lived. In the gospel of Luke, look how he lived. In the gospel of John, read how he lived and carried himself. I want to show you in the word of God that he meant for us to follow in his footsteps. In other words, the way he lived upon the earth. We need to understand, he did that specifically for us to take notice of how he treated others, how he always honored his father, how he always did those things. He said this in the gospel. I always do those things that please the Father. Oh, yes. We need to understand the examples that he laid in living a holy life. The examples he left us living a righteous life. I'm gonna let the word gonna talk to us tonight. That's why I ain't gonna try to rush it. We need to understand Jesus came more than just to die on the cross. Before the cross, he showed us, he was trying to show us y'all how we should live. I'm also showing you the word of God tonight that Jesus, when he took our place, you're gonna see what the word of God said. God himself, you're gonna read this now because you're gonna hear it tonight because I'm gonna read it today. You're gonna see when I read to you what God Himself is gonna say, He made him to be sin, who knew no sin. That was for us. He had not sinned, but he took our place. And God made him to be sin, or took him, maybe take the to be the one to substitute and take our place in the area of sin when it came down to the point. But I'm also this, but more importantly than that, we say, well, Pastor David, what more important than that? I'm gonna show you more importantly through the word of God, that just like he took our place to be sin and he didn't know no sin. I'm gonna show you by the word of God tonight that God now expects us who knew no righteousness to take on the role of righteousness. Just like Jesus didn't know no sin. We didn't know no righteousness. But you're gonna see what the word of God is gonna show us that God expects us now to swap places with Jesus, where he swapped places with us and took on sin for us, we are to take on righteousness for him, even though we didn't know it, because he, through him, will teach us how to be right. Let's get the word tonight. Let me get the word tonight. Now, the foundation. The foundation of scripture is. But was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. I'm here to tell you, when the word, see, let me tell you something about God. Just in case I won't take for granted you don't know this. Know this if you don't know nothing else. God is a just God. I want you to understand what I'm saying. Hear me good. When I say God is a just God, that means God will not ever require nothing of us if it was not possible for us to do it. That would be unjust. And that would make him an unfair God, and he's not an unfair God. If the word of God says we can be something through Christ Jesus, the God would be unjust to tell us to do this if it was not possible for us to do it. So when the word of God tells you that Jesus was tempted just like we were, yet without sin, he's telling you also in that if you get Jesus in your life, you too can be tempted yet without sin, because you will have him who is sinless in you. You can't do it by yourself. It got to take somebody who ain't never sinned, and that's Jesus. But if you have him within you by faith and believe that his spirit will keep you from sinning, you too will be able to live a life yet without sin. Be tempted and won't even sin. Be done wrong and won't sin. Be talked about and won't sin. Be mistreated, betrayed, and you won't never sin. Or think you can get even with somebody because they'd have done wrong to you. Because he who is sinless, and that power of his spirit in you will compel you to stay the course and not yield to the sin of temptation. Yet without sin. Let me take you to the word of God. Let's go to the let's go to the book of 2 Corinthians. Let me build on this foundation and get as far as I can get tonight. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. In your Bibles. Let's get some of that. 2 Corinthians. And Paul, as he was talking to the church in Corinth, uh some things he said that ties in with uh with this sin life, this yet without sin life. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. I'm gonna start reading the verse 19 and probably go to verse 21. Listen at verse 19. To it, this Paul talking to the church. He said, to it, that God was in Christ. Know this. If you got Jesus in you, God is in you. Now it's gonna take faith to believe that because a lot of people don't want to believe that that's possible. But this is what the word of God teaches. This is what the Bible teaches. You ain't gonna never catch the Father without the Son, and you ain't gonna never find the Son without the Father. You can't separate them. And if they are in you, if Jesus is in you, the Father is in you. Now believe that as you want to, but this is what the word teaches. He said that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. Now, let me let me just pause. There's a comma right there so I can pause. Understand the, I know we always say God had a plan for man. God had a plan for man. Yes, he did. But ain't a mean of you saying he had a plan, I don't know what that plan was. But let me tell you what the word of God is telling us, a part of what that plan was, that God had and he was gonna bring about in the fullness of time. A part of the plan of God through Christ Jesus was that God, while in Christ Jesus and the Son and the Father, and the Father and Son, was that God was going to reconcile. He had a plan of reconciliation. To reconcile, to bring back that unity. Man was separated. But God had a plan. God has always noticed about God. He is family-oriented. He loves the fact having his family close to him. And he had devised a plan that one day through Christ, he was going to bring back or reconcile back unto him, his creation of mankind. Now, because of Jesus, he can do that. He was able to do that because of Jesus. Listen at the word of God. To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling, listen what he said. He said the world unto himself. God wanted man to have a relationship back with him. Yeah, he knew sin had separated man from him. Yeah, he knew man had disobeyed him, but God wasn't going to be satisfied with that. He was going to devise a plan through Christ Jesus that will one day bring man back into unity, back into relationship and fellowship with him. Didn't he do it? Yes, he's done it. Through Christ Jesus, we now, that's because that's because of Jesus. Well, we got fellowship back with God. Reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespass. That word imputing is a Greek word. It means God, the charge, we had charges against us. And God wasn't going to through because of Christ, he now didn't have to hold the charges that was against us through our trespasses and sin against us. So that's what he said. Not imputing or not charging us with what we were charged with. We were charged with death. We were charged with spiritual death and separation from God. But because of Jesus, he doesn't have to charge us with those charges, which cause us to be in a trespass state with God, not imputing their trespasses unto them. See, because of Jesus and what he did on the cross and shedding his blood and being an example for us, the charges have been wiped clean off the slate. In other words, God considered those charges paid in full through Christ Jesus. Listen to what he said, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation now that the charges have been dropped. Now that Jesus has paid the price, and as far as God is concerned, ain't nothing on the books that we still have to pay for because Jesus done paid the death. Now God can fully and completely commit unto us or speak unto our lives the word of reconciliation. In other words, God can say, yes, man can come with. You know what the Bible says? There is a mediator between God and man. And it is the man Christ Jesus. What Jesus has done has bridged the gap between. See, that's why now because of Jesus, the Bible tells us we can go before the presence of God now. We can go before God because of Jesus. Because there is no separation now. If you haven't repented. Of your sin, and if you haven't accepted what Christ has done for you. But if you have accepted what Christ has done and you have repented of your sin, you can go before the presence of God in Jesus' name. Oh, yeah. Because the charge, there's no charges against us, because Jesus has done it. He has paid it. Listen to the word of God. God has committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Means we can be reconciled or brought back into the unity and fellowship with our Father that we've lost through Adam. Listen at verse 10. Now then, now, in other words, now that thou has been taken care of, now then we are ambassadors. Look at that. We don't went from having charges against us and become because of Jesus. Now we we can be made ambassadors now. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead. Listen at this now. Be ye reconciled to God. Now that Christ has fixed it, well, we can come back to God and get back to God, you need to take advantage of that. Let me also say this. Man was never created to be his own person. If you understand what I'm saying, we all need to understand, we were created to serve God. We were not created to exist outside of God on our own because we cannot exist without him. So the the writer is telling us, giving us a bit of wisdom. Be ye reconciled to God, get to God. If you ain't got God in your life, you need to get him in your life. Because you ain't gonna make it without him. You're not gonna make it without God. Be ye reconciled to God. Take advantage of what Christ has done and fix it where we can come right back to the Father and stand in his presence and bless his holy name. Because this is why verse 21. Look at what God done did. He said, For he has made him. It is the script I was telling you about. For he has made him to be sin for who? For us. We were the sinner. But God made Jesus to be sin for us. Let me tell you why. Because as sinners, we couldn't even pay our own price. We couldn't pay our own debt. And because of seeing the spirituality of sin, the nature of sin, there was no man created or born that could go to God and pay this debt. Why? Because how can a how can a criminal or a person that's guilty make their own self right in the eyesight of God or the judge. It had to be somebody who had no criminal existence. In other words, it had to be somebody that was sinless. And that was Jesus. The only person I know is Jesus. It had to be him who was sinless. This is why God, this is why God is speaking through Paul's sin when he's saying, for he has made him, talking about Jesus, to be sin for us, because we needed somebody to take our place. We needed somebody to pay this bill for us, to pay this debt for us, because we couldn't do it ourselves. Made him to be sin for us who knew no sin. Let me tell you something about Jesus. Jesus ain't never sinned, ain't never gonna sin. There's no sin even associated with him. He knew who knew no sin. Now, Jesus, why you do that? Let me tell you, let me say, I'm you I'm showing you a glimpse of what I just told you a few minutes ago. Just like he became sin for us, he in turn now wants us to be live a righteous life for him. We who knew no righteousness, just like he who knew no sin. Listen what he said. That we might be made what? The righteousness of God in him. Look at that. Now you if you don't you got to if you don't believe the word of God, I don't know what else to give you. God wants a righteous people. And here's a let me show you how potent the blood of Jesus and what he did is. Do you not know what Jesus did by him doing what he did yet without sin? The power of who he is and the power of what he has done is capable of making anybody, anybody who will to be righteous. And know this, we know it ain't gonna happen, but I'm gonna tell you this the power of it anyway. He has the power to make this whole world righteous. If everybody chose to be righteous, he has enough righteousness in him to make the whole world righteous. But we know everybody ain't gonna be righteous. We know everybody's gonna want to accept with Jesus. But I'm saying, nonetheless, he has the power to do that. Let me show you again. For he has made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. He didn't know no sin, but he's gonna die for sin anyway, because I'm gonna show you another script in a few minutes, because that's just how much he loved us. He did it, he said that we might, talking about you and I, that we might be made. See, what Jesus did, he made, because he died for our sins and shed his blood, do you not know he has made us righteous? Made might be that we might be, that word might mean that we might be, that means that you accept him. And even if you'd accept those of us who might accept him, we'll be might be made the righteousness of God in him. So when God sees you, if you got Jesus in your life, when God sees you, he sees the righteousness of his son. Not you. But you got, but because but he's gonna honor you because you have accepted the righteousness of his son. And because when God sees that you accept the righteousness of his son, he sees that you accept what my son did by dying for you, by shedding his blood for you, by going through his suffering for you. And by you to accepting what my son did, I will honor you. That's why he said, if you because see, that's showing God that you love his son, his only begotten son. And when you show God you love his only begotten son, the Bible teaches if you love my son, I'm gonna love you. I ain't gonna just love you. My father and I gonna come, we're gonna come live in you. Because you've shown that you love my son. And if you love my son, I love you. He said, if any man love me, my father will love him. And if you in order to love Jesus, you got to love what he's done for you. You got to know. First, you need to know what he done did for you. And know that he didn't just come to die on the cross, he came to shed his blood, he came to be an example, he came to show you how to live holy, how to live righteous. He wanted to instill his righteousness in us by him taking on the sin that we had. He takes our sin and he gives us his righteousness in the place of the sin. That's that's amazing to me. Because that's the only way we're gonna be made righteous is through Jesus. That's the only way we're gonna be made holy is through Jesus. It was because of him that we have been made righteous. Oh God. But I don't want us to don't forget about God has also spoke the word of reconciliation into our lives. In other words, he settled that enmity that was between God and man. Jesus settled that division and brought us back together. Other words, you can say he brought, Jesus brought back the harmony between God and man and reconciled us, brought us back together. The very thing that separated us from God, which is sin, Jesus took upon himself the sin and died and paid the price for sin, so that by his death, he removed the sin out of the way that was dividing man from God, dividing us from God. He settled that thing, and God accepted his payment. And once a payment has been made, there's no need for separation any longer. There's no need for there to be any division any longer. Because the price has been paid in full, and the one who accepted the price is satisfied because somebody who will sin less has paid the price. Let me bring something else out. I guess let's go to let's go to let me go ahead and and and show you something in Peter. 1 Peter. Let's go with 1 Peter. 1 Peter, chapter 2. We ain't going too deep, and we just go into the second chapter. Because I want us to see something. I want us to see something in this particular, this first letter that Peter writes to the church. 1 Peter chapter 2. Chapter 2. I'm going to start reading. I'm going to start reading at verse 21. I'm going to start reading at 21. This is something we need to understand. We need to understand this. I know we hear people say, we hear people say, Jesus done did it all. Jesus done did it all. He did it all. Well, let me let me just let me just clarify that a little bit. Don't y'all hate me. Don't get mad at me. Jesus has done all that he's supposed to do. Understand that. But don't be don't be misled into thinking that that's not something that we are supposed to do as well. Jesus, yeah, he has done all that he is supposed to do, but there's still some things that need to be done on our end, on our part. When it comes to, especially when it comes to how we live, we are obligated and responsible to live this life that he died for. We are responsible to accept and be obedient to the word of God and obey his truth in this life he died for. We are also to understand that the price he paid didn't just include him paying for the sin that was separating us from God, but that price also included he bought and paid for us. Because the Bible teaches that we have been bought with a price. Oh, yes. See, just because he paid the price don't mean you're free to do what you want to do. Now you have a responsibility to the one who paid your bill, who paid your price, who paid your bond to get you out. Now you owe him and what he wanted for us to live holy and righteous before our God. And that's why a lot of people get so mixed up and they they they get so uh confused in living a holy life because we still wrestle with and we still uh tug a war with doing what the Bible says and then still trying to do what I want to do and what I feel I want to do when your lives don't even belong to you no more. We have no, we let me tell you like this, and y'all just have to, this is rough talk and raw teaching. When it comes to you accepting Christ, you no longer should have no will. Not of your own. Let me say it like that. You know what Jesus said. And another, and being an example unto us, if we pay close attention to how he live, he said, My will is to do the will of him that sent me. Okay, now our will should be the will of him that paid the price for us. We supposed to have no will. Not um, not um, not our own selfish will, not our own, not what we feel we want to do. Listen, if what you're doing ain't in line with what the will of God is for your life, you you fall in the wrong will. Now we can accept that. You ain't got to accept that. This just me I ain't nobody. But I know what the word of God teaches. When it comes to Christ, when it comes to God and what his will is for our life, you're gonna find nowhere in the Bible where God says you're free to do your own will. You're gonna find in the word of God where he teaches us that we are to obey his will. To live according to his will. You're gonna find in the word of God with that, your will be done. Call that Jesus Himself. Hallelujah. The night before he got ready to go to the cross, pray hard that night. Ask Peter to come over, just pray with y'all, just pray with me one hour. Can y'all stay woke enough to pray with me one hour? Because I'm burning down them here, and he was won his brothers, his disciples, somebody to pray with him so he can grasp the strength he needed. But they cause, we know the story. They fell asleep, they couldn't hang like so many of us. Have a watch night series now and say, I'm in the floor sleep instead of praying. But Jesus was committed to the ones here who had sent him to do this job and to pay this price. And even that night, the human side of him wrestled with the spiritual side of him. And he did, he did pray, Father, take this cup from me. That's the human side didn't want to go through. But then him who is Jesus came to himself and said, Nevertheless, not my will. See, a whole lot of us don't even have not gotten to that point yet where we tell God, not my will, because we got so many things we think we want to do with this life that God, that things we want to do with the life Jesus done paid for. So many of us have not gotten to that that point in our life, that spiritual point in our life where we tapped into, Lord, I'm ready to give up anything that I want to do for your will to be done in the life. Jesus, not my will, but thy will be done. What he was telling God is, if your will is for me to drink this bitter cup and go to the cross, shed my blood, and die for me, Lord, I do it. Now, just as committed and dedicated to God as Jesus was, we too should be just as committed to Jesus when it comes to him telling us, I need you to be holy before this sinful world. I need you to live righteous before this ungodly world. Forget about what you want to do. I need you to be an ambassador. We just read that. I need you to be an ambassador for Christ, for me. And my answer, that the world still will know that Jesus exists. How many of us got people can say, hey, can anybody say who know you that they know Jesus, they can tell Jesus is still alive because of the Jesus they see in you? How many people can come, can tell others about your life and say that? We need to understand our will needs to be whatever the will of God is for our lives through Christ Jesus. I don't care if it's if he means for us to pray for those who nobody else want to pray for. To be a light in somebody else's life who don't want to shine no light on the light. Do y'all understand when the word of God says he brought us out of darkness into his marvelous light? Do you understand the metaphor for darkness? What darkness means? Darkness means sin. God, but sin is darkness. God brought us out of that. And he means for us, God means for us to allow him to let him have his way in us to use us to draw others. Just like he drew you out, he wants to use you as an ambassador to draw others out. But he can't do that when you're trying to do your own will. When you're trying to live your own way. When you don't want to obey God's will. Say what you want to say. God got some stubborn children. God got some disobedient children. That's why so many of us are getting chastised the way we're getting chastised. Because you, like he you remember when he told Saul when he when he knocked him down under the master role, he said, You kicking against the pricks. And so many of us are kicking against the prick, kicking against the will of God, kicking against holiness, kicking against righteousness, kicking against the word of God. Oh God. And you cannot win kicking against God. You cannot win kicking against Jesus. Just to be disobedient. His will must be done. Hallelujah. In our life, his will will be done. Because my son, the price he paid, my will must be done. Because he died for the whole world. And since he paid your price, you need to show him your appreciation by living for him according to my word. And become righteousness. When you were so sinful, so wicked, his blood has been so powerful that it will it is powerful enough to make you who were so sinful and filthy and nasty, his blood is powerful enough to make you the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. And you need to live that righteous life. Because there's too many more people that are still not saved, still have not come into the light. We owe him to live our lives for him. And this is what Peter is trying to get us to understand. You got to do about 1 Peter, chapter 2, verse 21. You need to accept that it's a call on our lives. Oh, yeah. See, when Jesus paid the price, when Jesus shed his blood. When he went through temptations, yet without sin, and made it possible for us to be reconciled back with the Father, a call was put on your life. Listen, I read, let me read it to you. For even verse 21, 1 Peter 2, 21. He said, But even hereunto were you called, this is why you were called. This is why. Because Christ also suffered for us. You've been called to suffer. You've been called to go through. You've been called to be an ambassador. Because Jesus suffered for you. Now it's time for you to suffer something for him. Because Christ also suffered us. Listen with that. He suffered us, but he did it at the same time. Look what the word of God said, leaving us an example. He went through all that, but still was able to maintain living his life for an example to show us how we ought to behave our sin. How we ought to live. He suffered at the same time was teaching us by an example. Listen what the Bible said. Because Christ also suffer us, leaving us an example. Not just leaving an example, but that ye should follow. Well, I'm gonna follow Jesus, follow in his steps. In other words, that means live the way he would live. Right now. Let me just get on down. Let's get it wrong. Right now, what Jesus expects out of us, what God expects out of us, is to live on this earth as though Jesus was living completely through us. Everything we do should be as though Jesus was doing it through us. Everything we say should be said as though Jesus was the one saying. I'm gonna show you. And the word of God is gonna show you for a minute. Jesus didn't speak with no guile in his mouth. And some of the stuff we let come out of our mouth, that ain't Jesus talking. I might as well have told you. That ain't Jesus talking. Because the word of God just, I just got out of this, just this one scripture already. Leaving us example, that means if Jesus left an example, y'all, that means he left a pattern of living of how we supposed to live. By the example, an example means by the way he lived. We saw, we see in the gospel how he treated the disciples. We see in the gospel how he treated other people. We see in the disciples how he would treat his enemies. Come on now. Jesus didn't let his enemy cause him to lose his focus on being an example for us. That ye should follow, not your way. See, when you if you follow Jesus, you ain't got time to follow your way. You ain't got time to follow your lead. He said follow his steps. He didn't say follow your steps. He didn't say follow your best friend's steps. He said his steps. That means how he lived. And I know for a fact, you ain't got to ask nobody this. I know Jesus lived holy. I know Jesus lived righteous. I know Jesus lived to please his father. I know he did that. Because the word said. But he did all that. He did it, number one, because he loved his father. But another thing we didn't say, he did so that we, who weren't even in existence at the time, one day when we read the Bible, when we read the gospel, we can still see how he lived. And see, some of us, some of us are guilty. Because we know what the word says, and still, we know what we done read about the example that Jesus, how he lived while he was on there, and we still won't do it. We guilty. Because you can't say you don't know the truth. Because you done read it, you done heard it. And I'm gonna let me just go, let me just go hit this nail all the way deep. Do you not know the Bible says he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him, it is a sin. And then what we're talking about tonight, yet without sin, but if you know to do right and don't do it, you know to do right. The Bible considers that's a sin in your life because you know better. See, it's one thing, you see, we can't fall above it. I don't even know, I didn't know, I don't know nobody. No, people always make excuses. No, uh, ain't no Jesus being away with all them excuses. And when all we stand before God, ain't gonna be no such thing as no excuse that God will accept. He accepted no excuses. The Bible teaches that. You doing what you want to do because that's what you wanna do, not because you don't know, because you know, but it's gonna be a testimony against us when we stand before God. Oh God. Pastor Washington preached the message Sunday. About there's gonna be some books open. The book's gonna be open, and and we need to understand, they're gonna reveal everything that we've done or didn't do while we walk this earth. So, see, there's no excuse in why we're doing what we do. Why are we doing what we doing? See, some of us, see, here's the thing about it, some of us know, I'm finna show you the word of God all this help. I'm gonna bring this, we're gonna get wrong tonight. Some of us, even in our own homes, don't even know how to talk to our husband or our wives. See, if you ain't started, if you can't do it in the house with the people you live with, don't even know how to talk to our children. Grandchildren, if you don't know how to do it in your house, how you gonna know how to do it abroad? And you can't show love in the house. You can't show love in the house, but you fake that fake persona, that fake act when you get out in public like you so this and so that. Who is you fooling? You ain't fooling God. And you ain't fooling the Holy Ghost. Oh no. You better ask Ananias and Sapphira. You ain't fooling the Holy Ghost. We got listen, let me tell you, only thing God accepts, we need to understand this one thing. The only thing God gonna accept is right. He accepted no wrong. Only thing God accepts is right, and that means according to what his word says is right. Not our righteousness, not what you think is right, not what you think, what you feel. When the Bible speaks of righteousness, that means what God considers to be right, not man, not you and I. Because our righteousness is just fit like filthy rags. It ain't nothing to God. And and just like Paul, he said, oh, wretched man, we just wretches without God. Oh, God. You have been called, there's a calling on our life. What's the calling? To live holy and righteousness in this dog world? Because you represent it ain't about the world, it's who you're representing in the world. Who you represent. Because no matter what God place us, wherever you go, you got to represent him. I don't care if he tells you to move to Alaska, if he tells you to move to China, you still got to represent Christ no matter where you go. You still got to live holy no matter where you go. But we can't do it in our own home. Some of us don't know what it is to have holiness in your home. Because we're too busy got the devil in there. He said, for even if you you were, this is what you was called to be. To represent God. We were called to be representatives of God on the earth. Adam messed that up. Don't get wrong, but we can't blame Adam. We're doing stuff on our own. I ain't got nothing to do with Adam. But here's the thing we need to focus on. Jesus done fixed it where we can go back to being representatives with the call to do God's will on our lives. Because Christ also suffered us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. And if you ain't following Jesus' steps by doing and living like he would live, you live in wrong. You live in filed. If you ain't living according to following the steps of Jesus, whose steps who you think you followed? The devil. Because if you ain't following, if you ain't following Jesus' steps, whose steps you think you following? It's got to be the devil and the world. All the flesh. Either one is all wrong. Listen to verse 22. He says, this talking about Jesus. And that's the point I want you to understand. This this text that I'm reading to you about what Peter wrote, keep this focus. I'm leading up to something. This is talking about Jesus and what he did concerning sin. Keep that focused. Because when I get to the last verse, I'm going to show you something. Listen at verse 22. He said, Who did no sin? We've already established what we know Jesus ain't done no sin. Neither was God found in his mouth. See, another example of Jesus was he didn't let any and everything come out of his mouth. Uh-oh. Let me say that again. Another example of Jesus, that he was trying to be an example and show us that we don't have to let everything come out of our mouth. Because the mouth can unleash some ugly things. The mouth can say some ungodly things. And like I teach, I've been teaching, we ain't got to be careful because words, when you let words come out your mouth, they come out into the spiritual. And you don't want to speak nothing in the spirit realm that you don't need to say. Whether it's about your life or about somebody else's life. Jesus knew when to keep his mouth shut. Not that he didn't have control of his mouth, but see, you gotta understand now, he wasn't doing this for him. It wasn't that he needed to keep his mouth shut, but in the fact that he was being an example for us, he was actually showing us that we were gonna have to know how to keep our mouth shut. And not letting no gal come out of our mouth. See that gal that's flip-flapping, deceitful and talking things you shouldn't be saying, being cutting and crafted, and how you say what you say to other folks, talking behind people back, see. Jesus let none of that stuff, he didn't let his mouth even that feel even come into it, come off his mouth and his lips. Just because somebody was doing him wrong, just because he was suffering for us, he still didn't let that make him talk ugly. How many times we don't went through something and talked ugly? And if somebody said something that we didn't like while we were going through it, we said something to them ugly. Lord help us. But there's a place in Christ Jesus. That he will, if you let him, he will get you to this place in him. That when you go through times of stress, times of despair, times of discouragement, times of testing and temptation, times of anger, that his spirit will produce such a calmness in you that you don't even have a desire to get even with somebody that just said something ugly to you. Amen. You won't even have that desire. Because, see, hallelujah, the holiness and the and the righteousness of who he is, his spirit comes over you. And it would compel you. Let me tell you, there's a place in Jesus, there's a place in God that's their spirit in you will just simply compel you to do what's right no matter what. You will just have an unction, an urge that you're gonna do right no matter what is done to you, or how it's done to you, or how it's said to you. You gotta come. That spirit of God is so powerful. See, that spirit of righteousness to do right can be so strong in you that you won't even have no desire to fight back in an ugly way or an ungodly way. And they really gonna think something wrong with you. But see, the world can't understand. See, there's a level in God, see, if we just, if we would just disconnect from, see, a lot of people think you gotta be disconnected from the world, disconnect from that, but I say this. I agree with all that, but I think the main disconnection, we need to disconnect from our own selves and our own ways. Because there's a level in God, y'all, we are never gonna tap into until we get us out the way. We're gonna never tap into that level. It requires you totally dying to yourself. If you understand what I'm talking, I'm talking, I'm talking spiritual. Totally dying to your will, totally dying to your way, totally dying to your ideas and how you see things until you get to that level where you completely die to yourself. You never will tap into. Let me let me say it like this. Y'all remember when Paul said, when Paul said, I'm dead. He said, but yet I live. He said, but it's the Christ. See, you got to die to yourself in order for you to become come. There's a level of life in Christ. See, we're living in Christ now. But we fail to understand that there's many levels of life in Christ. You see, where you're at now right now, this feels good, but I'm here to tell you there is greater. Oh, you love where you're at right now. Don't get me wrong, it's good, but I'm here to tell you there is a greater level of life. I'm talking about the kind of life that God talks about, the kind of life that Jesus talks about. Not this life that this world knows about. This is far beyond this life that the world knows about. There's a level of life in Christ when you have died to yourself, that you will be, if things will start over, I mean things will start being revealed to your spirit that you never even imagine.

Speaker 1 1:01:02

Oh, God.

Speaker 1:01:03

Because you have a lie to yourself. See, see, John the Baptist put it like this. I must decrease, and he must increase. The more you let yourself decrease and die, trust me on this, the more you will become more alive and more alive in the things of Christ. Oh, we can't. See, we get satisfied with the touch, with the little touches we get every now and then. Well, I'm here to tell y'all, it's greater. There are greater touches. Hallelujah. There are greater levels. If you women to follow in his steps, see, you ain't gonna get there if you don't follow in his steps. That's what he's trying to tell you. If you follow my example, if you follow my steps, follow behind me is gonna lead you somewhere. See, follow behind Jesus, Lord Jesus. Do we understand what follow behind Jesus if you want to? You gonna come. Jesus don't lead. Oh God. I wish I'd help somebody understand what I'm trying to say. There are places Jesus, he don't want you to just be behind him like you play, like we used to play follow the leader. No, following him is leading you somewhere. And that's gonna be to a place and a level in God you've never been. Oh God. But we kicking rocks, and when we we we hindering our own selves because we come, we get so at ease at what we at and we get so slowful, and we get so satisfied with just where we at right now. And you ain't never gonna read in the Bible what Jesus is limited to just where you are right now. He ain't limited. He's unlimited. And if you would just follow him, and then he's following his steps. I was watching them, let me sidebar for a minute. I get excited. I be sitting up sometime watching these old black and white military pictures. I don't know which one I was watching. I'll just be paying attention to what they're doing. I just and this came in my mind, it stuck in my mind, when this group of soldiers was behind enemy lines, and they came across an open field, and they they knew it was a good chance that the enemy had buried landmines in the field, but you couldn't tell where they were. But one of the main guys who took point, he was saying he said this, and it stuck in my head. He said, follow me and step where I step and walk where I walk. And that's what Jesus is telling us. If you just step where I step and walk where I walk, you might avoid the landmine of life that have gotten so many of us blown up. What they call them things, bouncing bed, I think, with them bums that just jump out the ground. But anyway, a whole lot of stuff is out there to attack us. But don't you not know you can never go wrong following Jesus? Can't do it. I'll follow Jesus, giving this book, get in the book, and follow the word. And he, following him and his example, and his steps will lead us on a path of protection. Because gee Jesus, the reason why I know he'll protect us, I know we can't go unfollow him, because you ain't got to never worry about Jesus. You being led by Jesus into sin because he was sinless. He even leads you to no sin, so you know following him gonna always lead you to righteousness. He said there was no God found in his mouth. He did no sin. Verse 23. Who when he was reviled, it's another thing. This is an example, Jesus telling us, who when he when he was reviled, that's a Greek word. I'm gonna get to it in a minute. Revil not again. Now, the Greek word revile means when a person uses abuses and contentious language, speaking. In other words, cussing you out about something, calling you bad names. Jacob, know this if you don't know nothing else. They call Jesus a lot of bad names. But you ain't gonna never read what he Return bad language or bad names back to them. And some of us got some of the foulest mouths. And that's not Jesus speaking out of us. See, a lot of people think, well, I ain't used no cuss word. You can still talk ugly without even saying am cuss word. And that's not Jesus. When that happens, that's not Jesus speaking through you. Because Jesus, he don't, the Bible said when he was reviled, when he was cussed out, when he was talked hard to, when he was talking man, he did not return them saying. Ain't that what the book just said? When he was revived, revived not again. In other words, you know, a lot of us especially colored folk. We believe in if somebody says something to me, I can say it back to them. But that ain't what the Bible teaches. We got to get away from what this cultural stuff that goes against the word of God. Black folk, we already got to give people two pieces of our mind. We can't just let folk get the best of us. Don't let nobody dish you. Come on now. That ain't what the word teaches. They disrespected Jesus all day long. But he kept his focus on what his father had sent him here to do. And I'm telling you, I'm telling you whether you want to do it or not, I'm telling you, on behalf of Jesus, we are required to do what he wants us to do and say what he wants us to do. Because no matter what nobody says to us, we are required to uphold this calling on our lives to live holy and righteous in this world. No matter what is said to us, no matter what is done to us. And see, some of us right there, we can't handle it, we don't know how to handle it because we got still got, see, we still got self is still alive in a lot of us. We ain't dead to self yet. Because if you were dead to self, you could understand and receive what I just said. Because here's the thing about it, and then too, if you love Jesus, if this is what my master require of me, this is what I will do. See, that's when you love Jesus, that's when you done die to yourself. That's when you talk like that. Not talk on your breath, oh yeah, Pastor, but I don't know. Somebody say something to me, I'm gonna say, Well, you do you. Do you, but I'm gonna do Jesus. I'm gonna do the word. Because, see, I love him. Because I'm gonna finish the read you in a few minutes. He loved us before we even loved him. Matter of fact, I'm gonna show you the word of God where he decided to die for us before we even ever thought about loving him. When we were his enemy. And if he loved me like that, I got the sense enough to know that it's enough of God in me to love him back. Why? The Bible says he suffered for me. Why I can't suffer for him? Why I can't go through for him when he went through for me. And he's still doing stuff for me because he's on the right hand of the Father right now, interceding for me. Yes, yes. That's what my Bible says. So the stuff I need to go through for him, you trying to tell me I can't go through it. Verse 23 says, Who when he was reviled, he revived not again.