If you have a Bible, the book of 1 Corinthians, if you turn there, A.W. Tozer said this, The Holy Spirit never enters a person and lets them live like the world. And you can be sure of that, he said. Tozer said, The Holy Spirit never enters a person so that they can remain the way that they were.
The purpose of him coming is to bring change and transformation into our lives. How many are so thankful today that we don't just celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. The Sunday morning after we still celebrate the resurrection, Amen? Praise the Lord, glory to God.
1 Corinthians chapter one verse 18. For the preaching of the cross, Here at harvest church, we will always preach the cross. We will preach the blood of Jesus Christ. We will preach salvation and we will condemn sin.
Amen? Glory to God, glory to God. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. To those that don't know the Lord, the preaching of the cross is foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. Can somebody say praise the Lord? Glory to God, hallelujah. But unto us, it is the power of God.
In Revelation's chapter two verse 20 says this, I have been crucified with Christ. How many of you today can say, I have been crucified with Christ. In other words, you have laid down your life and you have died to self and have risen in newness of life in Christ Jesus. If that's you, shout hallelujah.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. Now that sounds foolish to those that don't understand. But see the Bible is talking about spiritual things so many times and those who don't have ears to hear or eyes to see related to physical things in the natural. And when it doesn't make sense or relate to them in the natural, they don't get it.
But what he's talking about is spiritual. I have been crucified with Christ. I've laid down my life, but yes, I'm still very much alive, very much alive, but I have crucified my flesh. It is no longer I that live it, but Christ that lives in me.
So here it is modern-day language today, it's this. I have surrendered to Jesus Christ. I don't do it my way no more. I don't seek my glory anymore.
I don't seek my fame anymore. I don't seek my pride anymore. I don't seek my ego anymore. I've laid down my desires.
I've laid down my will. I've laid down my passions and I've taken up the Lord's. That's what that's saying. And that's what he desires for each and every one of us.
Amen. Romans chapter five verse eight says it like this, but God demonstrates, God demonstrates. He proves to us, He shows us His own love toward us. How many know God has great love toward us?
For God so loved the world that He gave His own, He's whoever, believe on Him. We're not perish but have everlasting what? Praise the Lord. But God demonstrates His own love toward us in that while when we were yet sinners.
Is that talking to anybody? How many here were once a sinner? How many, no, I'm not gonna go there. All right.
God demonstrates His own love toward us that while we were yet sinners, what did He do? What did He do? He died for us. We hear people say things like this, well, I can't go to church because I am, no, He died for you the way you were.
But He died for you the way you were that you wouldn't remain the same. He died for you when you were lost in your sin so that you would not remain in your sin so that you would become more like Him. Amen, and that good, and that good. You don't have to be lost in sin and death.
We do not mourn, we don't have hopeless, we don't have to be hopeless like so many in the world because we have hope because of the blood of Jesus Christ. Colossians says it like this and Colossians do. Verse 14, having canceled the charge, or having canceled, I'm sorry, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness. He canceled the charge of our debt.
And you know what He did do it? He nailed it to the cross. He nailed it to the cross. He would say it like this, he bore it all.
And we'll prove that to you. First Peter, chapter two. First Peter, chapter two, we're gonna dig into this verse. We're gonna spend some time here this morning and we're gonna really extract some things out of this verse today that are so powerful to the body of Christ.
First Peter, chapter two. If you go to verse number 24 with me this morning. First Peter, chapter two, verse 24. This is what Peter says.
He Himself meaning Jesus. He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree so that having died to sin, we might live for righteousness. By His wounds, we have been, I quoted it to you earlier, we have been what? Healed, I want you to hear the power of that verse.
He Jesus Himself, He took upon Himself. He bore our sins in His body on the tree, the cross. So that having died to sin, He died to sin, we. Because of what He did, now we might live for what?
Righteous, He died to sin so that we can live for righteousness. By His wounds, we have been healed. Now there are moments in life when words fail to capture the weight of what somebody has done for you. Has anyone ever done something really amazing for you?
There have been moments in times in my life that I have had Susan and I have had individuals in our lives do something for us that literally has just blown us away, I mean literally in big ways astounded us, just literally astounded us. We've had people do such kind gestures to us that literally stopped us in our tracks. And if I told you all of them, you would probably think I'm just making this up as a pastor or maybe trying to prime you or pump you to get you to do something nice for me. It has nothing to do with any of that.
I'm telling you God is good. I'm trying to tell you today that God is good and God does things far and beyond what we could ever ask, think or even imagine. All throughout our married life, we have seen the hand of God. And there are moments when life just fails to capture the weight of the significance of what someone has done for us and you find yourself at times, even lacking the right words to express the gratitude or the thankfulness for what someone has done for you.
But imagine what Jesus did when he paid the price and he nailed our sins to the cross. That's amazing. Sacrifice is deep. Love is costly.
Mercy, mercy is amazing and it stretches the limits of human language. And yet in one single verse, the apostle Peter pulls back the curtain and he shows us the very heart and the core of the gospel. In case you missed it, I've got to read it to you again because it is so powerful. He himself, this isn't just theology.
It's not, this is substitution. It's sacrifice. This is salvation. He, he took upon himself.
He bore our sins in his body on the tree so that having died to sin, we might live for righteousness. And with his wounds we have been healed. So today we're going to take a look at this verse. Peter begins with the emphasis on he himself.
Notice this. Jesus didn't put this off on someone else. He didn't delegate this to someone else. It wasn't an angel.
It wasn't a prophet. It wasn't a system. It wasn't a church. It wasn't a ritual.
It was he himself. The very son of God left the throne room of glory, came to this earth, born of a virgin, grown up, lived a sinless life. And he walked the road to Calvary and he died for your sins and my sins. This points us straight to the personal and intentional act of Jesus Christ when he walked this earth.
He came for a reason. He did not delegate your salvation. He did not assign it to someone else. He did not source your redemption.
He stepped out of heaven and he wrapped himself in flesh and he walked straight toward the cross. And that's incredible news for you and I. And it echoes the prophecy of Isaiah where it says this. The suffering servant would bear the sins of many.
That's what Jesus did, the suffering servant. He bore the sins of many. How many are thankful for that? And it was always the plan.
Well, just a couple of you were thankful for that. Let me, how many are glad today? He bore your sins upon the tree. It was the plan.
The cross was not an accident. The cross did not become conceived in someone else's heart. It was the plan. It was an appointment.
See again, I'm telling you today, it's about perspective. How are you viewing where you are? It's about perspective. It was the plan.
It was the purpose. It wasn't an accident. It wasn't the worst thing that ever happened. It was a divine appointment.
And he did it for you and I. The word bore, he bore. That's heavy. It means to carry a burden, to take upon oneself something crushing, something crushing.
And what did he crush? What did he bear? Our sins. Listen, not his sin.
It wasn't his sin. Do you know why? Because he had none. He had no sin.
He crushed our sin on the cross. That means every lie. That means every act of pride. That means every hidden thought, every hidden emotion, every hidden scheme or plan, every failure, every act of rebellion.
All of it was placed on him upon the cross of Calvary. Come on, Church, think about that for a moment. The sinless one became sin. Paul said it like this in the second Corinthians 521.
He made the one who did not know sin to become sin for us. Wow. He stepped in. Has anyone ever stepped in?
What I mean is if you ever been in a situation or a circumstance where the Lord has stepped in, and he changed, and he transformed it, and he delivered it, and he healed it, and he restored it, he did something in your life. Have you ever been in a situation where somebody else stepped in and helped you? Somebody else was the hands or the feet of the Lord Jesus, and they blessed you, or they did something. I'm telling you, my wife and I have had people blow our minds.
There have been a couple of things that just happened recently. They just literally blew my mind. Somebody did something for me recently that just stopped me in my tracks. Somebody blessed Susan and I this morning.
We didn't come here expecting something, asking for anything, desiring anything. And somebody said, we need to be faithful to the Lord, and it blew me away. Why are you all looking at me like that? Doesn't God ever do anything like that for you?
Does God ever move like that in your life? Does God ever, I'm telling you, he's the same yesterday, today and forever, and there are moments and times where he just steps in, and I just picture like that, he just could get out of the way. Get out of the way. I'm in the room now.
Have you ever known anybody that walked in the room and they demanded the room, and when they walked in the room, everybody knew they were in the room, everybody understood they were in the room, because there was a weight that entered the room that came with them. There was an anointing that entered the room that came with them. I've been in some rooms where there have been powerful anointing, and you could not deny the anointing that was in the room. The anointing was strong.
It was strong. There was a story many years ago that Oral Roberts was going to a revival surface, and the plane and transportation was running late, and it was delayed, and the weather was bad, and they said he wasn't going to make it, and the pastors were on the stage. They were trying to figure out what they're going to do now, who's going to speak, because Oral wasn't going to be able to get there to speak, and so somebody else was going to have to speak, and they were trying to figure out who was going to deliver the message that night, whatever. And one of them spoke up, and he said, no, no, no, it'll be all right, Oral's coming.
And they said, no, no, no, you don't understand. They said that the flights are delayed, Oral's not going to be able to make it. He said, no, it's all right. He said, Oral's going to make it.
And they started worshiping, and they're singing. Brother Lester, he's on the stage. Lester, he looks over at a young pastor beside him. He's passing my leg.
He says, OK, Oral's coming. He said, Brother, Lester, Oral. He's not coming. Brother, Lester, Oral says, OK, he's coming.
They're going through the worship service. The younger pastors are getting nervous, because the keynote speaker's not there. Right? Everybody came to see the keynote speaker.
The keynote speaker's not there. It's like having a wedding, and then the wine runs out. Cane and Galilee. The keynote's not showing up.
Lester Summerl said, it's already coming. The worship service just about came to a conclusion. Brother Summerl reached over and grabbed the young pastor and said, he's here. He said, Brother Summerl, he ain't here.
He said, he's here. He said, how do you know he's here? He said, because I feel it in my spirit. He just entered the building.
He's here. And they said about 10 seconds later, Brother Roberts walked out on the stage. And that young pastor was like, he said, Brother Summerl, how did you know? How did you know?
He said, because the anointing stepped into the building. The anointing stepped. I've experienced that. I've seen that.
I've witnessed that. I've been in worship. I've been standing in that front row. Worship in the Lord.
Matter of fact, I wasn't even in that front row where I was in the front row where George was. I was worshiped in the Lord one Sunday morning. And somebody walked through that back door. And as soon as they walked through the back door, I knew when they walked through the back door, the anointing walked through that door.
And I knew it was the need that we had here at the church. I knew instantly. And when that person walked in that back door, it was Pastor David. When he walked in that pastor, through that door, walked out and sent down the Lord, said to me, that's your new youth pastor.
I knew as soon as he walked through the door, I had snapped and I looked because I felt the anointing walk into the building. I knew the answer to the prayer and walked into the building. Come on, church. Come on, church.
And he's the same yesterday, today and forever. And he snaps in. And he took what was ours. And this is this is amazing.
Not only did he take what was ours, but he gave us what was his. He took what was ours. And he he came from heaven to earth to take our sins so that we could he came here so that we could go there. And then Peter says this on the tree.
Boy, there's so much in this verse on the tree. And what this does is it points us to the cross. A place of shame, a place of suffering, and of curse. Of curse.
According to Deuteronomy chapter 21 verse 23, it says this. Anyone being hung on a tree. Anyone being hung on a tree. I know I've read a lot of Bible verses this morning.
And if you're newer to harvest, somebody may need to give you a spiritual burp this morning because you're not just used to hearing a lot of Bible verses, maybe where you've come from. I've had people tell me. I've had people tell me they've gone through entire church services and not one scripture being read. I don't even understand it.
The Word of God is powerful. The Word of God is truth. The Word of God is what we need today. The Word is God will heal us, deliver us, and send us free.
Amen. It will lead us and it will guide us into all truths. Deuteronomy says, anyone, Deuteronomy 21, 23, anyone hung on a tree is under God's curse. And Jesus willingly went to the tree to hang on the tree.
And he didn't just die to die under a curse. The curse wasn't his. The curse was ours. You understand that?
He didn't die because of his own curse. He died because of the curse that was on us. And the cross wasn't just about physical agony, although it was unbelievable physical agony. Historians have said, not just Bible scholars, just historians have said that there has never been, there has never been a human death like the death, or like the death of Jesus Christ, the beating that he endured before he went to the cross of Calvary.
The amount of stress that his physical body was under, that the blood drops just came out, his blood came out like sweat. He was under such anguish physically. But we must not miss the fact that it was spiritual. It was a spiritual judgment.
The nails tore his flesh, but the weight of sin, it crushed his soul and he cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? But he entered the cross for the glory that was set before him. Because he knew that his death and resurrection would bring humanity back into right relationship with the Father and we would be dead then to sin. And we would live his unto righteousness.
Boy, that's good. Listen, he could have called the whole thing off. He could have called the Legion of Angels. He literally could have jumped down off of that cross.
He could have messed with their heads. He literally, every time they nailed his arm, he could have popped it right back off. No, do you understand the power and authority he had? Every time they nailed a hand to the cross, he could have popped it right back off because he had power and authority.
Those soldiers, those nails, those religious leaders and the people that called out for his death had no power over him. They didn't kill him, he laid down his life. He could have called angels, he could have stepped down. I don't know, sometimes I think weird things like that.
I think if that was me, I'd have done that. At least a couple of times. They had nailed me and I would have been like, no holes, no holes. I'd have probably been like, bam, bam, bam.
Boop. Do you know, historians have written, the Melchus, one of the soldiers just stopped the spear and Jesus aside. They say that he was losing his eyesight. And when he stopped the spear and the side of Jesus, the blood flew out and hit him in the face and his eyesight was instantly healed.
And he instantly became a believer in who Jesus was and he went around telling people and the Romans didn't like that. The Romans didn't like that. And so you know what they did do him? Anybody know what they did him?
They plucked his eyes out because his eyesight was healed. Do you know the religious leaders sought to kill Jesus, Lazarus after Jesus raised him from the dead because as long as he was alive, the story would live. They sought to kill him because he was raised back from life. Boy, wait, this is amazing, isn't it?
So historians say that they plucked out his eyes. That didn't stop him. He kept preaching. So you know what they did to him next?
Anybody know? Some of you have told this, but some of you know it. They cut out his tongue. So they plucked his eyes out of his head.
The blood of Jesus healed his eyes. They plucked his eyes out. He still went around preaching. So they cut out his tongue.
And you say, well, why didn't Jesus just put his eyes back and he said, why didn't Jesus just put his tongue back in his mouth? Because I'm going to tell you the greater miracle that happened. They cut his tongue on his mouth and his speech was perfectly fine. He continued to preach the gospel of Jesus without a tongue.
No eyes and no tongue. He kept speaking the gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that powerful? He could have done anything.
And he can do anything. Can we turn down that air again? Or we're going to have to start hand-nied. He had blankets.
We're going to have to give it electric blankets. Well, we have a difficult time regulating this thing. Believe it or not, there's only said on 70 degrees. And it was like it was hot.
And then they turned it down to 68. He could have stepped down. But do you know what held him there? Do you understand what held him there?
It's called L-O-V-E love. Boom, boom, boom. Love held him to the cross. Our salvation, your salvation, my salvation held him to the cross.
The glory that had been set before him held him to the cross. So that we might die to sin. Did you catch that? So that we might die to sin.
He bore sin. So we could die to sin. He took sin so that we could die to sin. Our salvation is far more than just forgiveness.
It is freedom. Oh my. We're not only pardoned to catch this. We are pardoned to be changed, to be transformed.
Sin no longer church has dominion. I'm here today to tell you your chains have already been broken. They've already been broken. Already been broken.
Lazarus was called out of that tomb. And you know how he came? He came out like this. You know why?
Because he was wrapped in grave clothes. And the first thing Jesus told him to do what? Was unwrap him. Because even though he resurrected him, even though he brought life to him, had he not been unwrapped.
There's a spiritual analogy here, folks. You got unwrapped from what you've been wrapped in. You got to be set free from what has bound you. Lazarus was bound by grave clothes.
He was alive. Jesus had resurrected him. There are many that filled buildings on days like this who've been resurrected and given newness of life, but are still bound to the grave clothes they wore before they were resurrected. Come on church.
When Christ died, something happened. Something incredible happened. Something powerful. Our old self was crucified with him.
And guess what? That means you and I are no longer slaves to sin. No longer slaves to sin. You are no longer defined by your past.
No longer bound to your old nature. The cross just didn't deal with the penalty of sin. It dealt with its power. He hung on that cross so that you and I could be set free.
And then Peter said it like this. That we could, because of what Jesus did, we could live for our flesh. Didn't you glad Peter said that? No, he didn't say that.
Peter never said he did that so we could live to our sin or we could live to our flesh. God forbid, here's what Peter said. Are you ready? That we might live for righteousness.
That was a big moment. You know, that was a really big moment. And you should be excited about what he's done for you. He said that we might live for righteousness.
That we could live for righteousness. Church God never removes something out of our lives without replacing it with something greater. We died to sin so that we might live righteous. It's a new direction.
It's a new desire. It's a new identity. Oh, I don't know about you, but I am so glad for that. I'm so glad I don't have to keep going down the same direction that others that came before me went down.
I'm so glad that I don't have to continue to go down the road that others in my lineage and my family went down prior to me. I'm so thankful that there was a new direction. I'm so thankful that I have a new desire. I am so grateful that I have a new identity.
I'm not bound to that. It doesn't matter who they were. It doesn't matter what they did. It's what he did.
And I have a new identity, a new desire. And I'm going in a new direction. And so can you. Righteousness is not just something we are declared to be.
It's something ready that we are empowered to live. We're not just declared righteous, but we are. But we are empowered to live righteously because of Christ. Listen, all because of him.
Ready? Here's the good news. We can walk differently. We can live differently.
We can live differently. And it's not just about modern terminology in our culture today where we would say something like, well, it's ready. Let me put my code. If I can.
All right, there. It's not just about behavior modification. It's a heart transformation. That's what it is.
It is a heart transformation. It's not about. It's not about behavior modification. When the heart changes, then the behavior changes.
And if the behavior isn't changing, the heart hasn't changed. Come on, church. If the behavior doesn't change, then the heart has not been transformed. Then Peter says this by his wounds we have been healed.
He closes with this powerful declaration. You have been. That's past tense. You have been.
That's it's already done. You get that. You have been healed. Not you might be.
Not you could be, but that you have been. And can I tell you that this healing, this healing is first and foremost. Are you ready? Spiritual.
This healing that Peter talks about is first and foremost, spiritual. Sin is the deepest disease of the soul. And Jesus is the only cure. Through his wounds, our guilt is removed.
Our shame is removed. Our relationship with God is restored. And yes, God still heals physically. But the greatest healing is reconciliation with the Father.
The stripes on his back became the source of our restoration. Isn't that good? So the question is, what will you and I do today with the cross? There are many that don't want to talk about the cross anymore.
They don't want to talk about the wounds anymore. They don't want to talk about the blood anymore. They don't want to talk about the Holy Spirit anymore. But I'm here today to tell you, where would we be without the body and the blood of Jesus Christ?
Where would we be without his death and resurrection? Church, you cannot stand to the foot of the cross and remain unchanged. God forbid, Paul said to us, he bore our sin. He took our place.
He paid our debt. But the question is, will we live like it? Do we live like redeemed people? Do we live like people with a new direction, with a new plan, with a new desire?
The question is, will we continue to live in the sin that he died for? Or will we accept that in walking righteousness that he's provided? The cross, it stands as an incredible invitation to the sinner come and be forgiven to the broken come and be healed to the believer come and be transformed. Why?
Because he bore it all. He bore it all. And because he bore it all, here's the glory. Here's the amazing thing.
Because he bore it all. You don't have to. Because he bore it all. Worship team, will you make your way back to the platform this morning?
Listen, his destiny was the cross. His purpose was you and I. What drove him was love. The reason, the reason was you and I.
The reason was to bring us back into right relationship, to bring us back into right standing with the Father so that we could live righteous. Isn't that good? Isn't that good? Oh my goodness.
Let me go the whole way back to the beginning and read that to you again. Let me read it to you again. First Peter, first Peter, verse 24. He himself bore our sins in his body on that old tree so that having died to sin, so that he paid the price, we, you and I might live for righteousness.
By his wounds we have been healed. Come on church, come on church. Give him a shout of praise this morning. Hallelujah, Hallelujah.
Come on, will you stand with us today? Will you stand with us this morning? You got something really good for us here at the end? If you don't go back a look what the Lord has done again, that always gets him going over here.
What a great way to end the service though, huh? I'm feeling like, wow, we've been in the presence of God. How many have ever been somewhere in you left and you thought, oh boy. See, we should never leave the meeting place.
And this is just a meeting place. This isn't the house of the Lord. You and I are the house of the Lord. This is just a building we meet here.
We are the temple of the Holy Ghost. But what a great way to leave the gathering house. Feeling like we've been in the presence of the Most High God. Amen.
No one that he saved us, that he killed us, that he delivered us, that he set us free. And a songwriter said, he walks with me and he talks with me. Come on, how many believe that today? Cause he's the same yesterday and forever.
He's still walking, he's still talking, he's alive. Amen. Father, in the name of Jesus, seal your word in the hearts of every hearer today. Oh, what you did for us, that you bore in your body our sin.
You took upon yourself our shame and you died on that old wooden cross, knowing that if you died and finalized the payment for our sin, we could live righteously. Father, I thank you so much for that today. God, may we walk with hearts of thanksgiving, with lives of gratitude, knowing that you paid the price for sin and death that we didn't have to. And we can leave here today free because your word says whom the sun sets free is free indeed.
God, let your words settle in our hearts and our minds today. And may it stir us unto righteousness. May it stir us unto right living, following after your heart and your desires. Thank you today, Father, that there are those that are leaving this building today to never be the same.
Because of your word, their lives will never, ever be the same. If you're here today and you've never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, today's a great day to do that. Just call out to him and say, Jesus, I need you. I believe you are the Son of God.
I give you my life. I give you my life. And I'm asking you to come in and to be my Lord and to be my Savior. And if you do that, he'll come in.
And then get a good Bible and read. Go to church and worship him and pray to him and find somebody to be a mentor to you that can help lead you and show you the way. There is no other way. There is no other way.
Do you know the early church was called the way? Before we were called Christians, the early church was called those who were in the way. They were in the way, the way of Jesus. How many want to be in the way?
The way of righteousness. God bless you. Thank you for being here today. Come on church.