Jesus, The Same

Amen. All right, if you have your Bibles, turn with me to Hebrews chapter 13. And how many of you are thankful for God’s Word? How many of you need it? I do. When I’m not in His Word, I feel it. The more you’re in it, the more you realize how hungry you are. His Word is food. Amen.

Hebrews 13, starting at verse 8, and we’re going to actually go through the rest of this chapter. We are going to be wrapping up our study on the book of Hebrews, and it’s been such an awesome time together. I believe Suzie actually might be sharing another passage out of Hebrews coming up here, but we are coming to the conclusion of this wonderful book.

And I wanted to start in verse 8. And before we do, can we just lift our hands to the Lord and just begin to welcome Him and say, Jesus, would You come and speak to us through Your Word? Come and speak, as You always do. We need a word from You. Your Word is food to us. It’s life. And so, Lord, we receive it by faith, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The same yesterday, today, and forever

All right, starting at verse 8. It says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Isn’t that wonderful? I mean, we could literally spend weeks in that one verse. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” That means so much.

Number one, that speaks to the deity of Jesus — that Jesus is not just a man; He is God. And I think sometimes we lose sight of the fact, and people will even say, “Well, no, He was a good man,” or “He was a prophet.” And yes, He was those things, but He was also God. Not only was He born in a manger, not only did He live on this earth, not only did He pay a price or give a bunch of good teaching — He was before the world began. Before time, all creation was spoken into existence by Him. Scripture says all things were created by Him and through Him and for Him. And so this scripture, “Jesus the same yesterday, today, and forever,” speaks of His deity. He is God. He is God. And being God, He is unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

This also speaks of His faithfulness. You know, sometimes we read the Bible and we think of it as just a bunch of stories, and it’s like, “Cool.” But those things that happened in the lives of people — those healings, those miracles, the promises that were fulfilled — He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. He wants to do that in your life. The people that were set free — and you’re like, “Would Jesus do that for me?” Yes, He will. Why? Because He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He’s unchanging. His love for you will never change. Yes — it’s already been determined. The truth of God’s Word will never change; it’s already been spoken. Does this make sense? It is our anchor point. It’s our solid ground, that we can have a full assurance that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Which means not only is He God, He is available. He is full of love, and He loved me yesterday, and His love for me is not based on my actions. It’s not based on what I’ve done or what I will do. His love for me is unchanging. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. Yes.

And I think that in the church sometimes there’s this temptation to try to make Jesus more trendy. I don’t know where this happened, but how many of you know Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever? He’s always relevant. Yes, He’s always trendy. There’s no one more cool than Jesus. That’s why you’re going to spend an eternity at the throne worshiping Him. You’re going to want to be there, by the way. You’re like, “I can barely make it through a Sunday morning.” You’re going to want to be there, and you’re going to want to be close, and you’re going to want to worship, and you’re going to be looking at Him, and you will never lose a desire to just look at Him.

I mean, think about that. There are some cool people up there. I mean, there’s Abraham, there’s Moses, there are awesome people of faith. There’s Paul, there are all these people. There are angels. And you’re like, “Cool, cool, cool — but where’s Jesus? I have to see Jesus.” Does this make sense? He does not need to be made relevant.

Which means that there really is nothing new, or a new way to discover who God is. It’s already been laid out in Scripture. The way that we come to the Father is through Jesus the Son, and the way that we receive Jesus is through faith — faith in who He is and what He accomplished on the cross. And that is our entrance into eternity, into eternal life.

By the way, did you know that eternal life does not just mean that you’re going to live forever? Because the reality is there are people who will live forever but do not have eternal life. They are separate from God because they did not receive Jesus, the way, the truth, and the life. And so the reality is there is eternal life for everyone, but eternal life is being close to Him. It is being in His presence. He is eternal life. Do you get it? He’s eternal life.

And so Jesus is the same. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. It’s good. And that steadfastness, this unchanging nature, should affect our worship to Him and our walk with Him.

Hearts established by grace

And so I want to look at the next verses, starting at verse 9. It says, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him” — oh, this is good — “outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.”

There’s a lot here. The reality that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever — it should change how you walk with Him, how you worship Him, how you live your life. And we see here from the beginning it says, “Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines.” Kind of going back to what we just said: He’s already established His Word. He’s already established the way into His presence, to be with Him. In other words, you don’t need to add to it.

And the world will say, “Well, you can experience the presence of God by doing this, by doing that, through rocks,” stuff like that. I don’t know — that’s His creation. Like, no, that’s not Him, right? So it says don’t be carried away by those things. Don’t be fooled. He’s the same yesterday, today, and forever. So be steadfast in this. Somebody say amen.

It says, “For it is good that the heart be established by grace.” How many of you know God wants to establish your heart? Yes. Isn’t that so good? Yes. I’m blown away by the amount of people that have anxiety and fear. And fear and anxiety literally is the absence of God. And so oftentimes people will try to numb the pain, or they try to bring a solution to their fear, or to the anxiety, or really whatever void is in them. And they will substitute things — substances, addictions, bondages, whatever. They will substitute this stuff for Jesus.

But Jesus is saying, “No, I want your heart to be established,” and that is by grace alone. Yeah. In other words, Jesus is saying, “I’ve paid for this. You can live in this reality where you do not need to be in fear. You do not need to have anxiety. I am peace. Let Me come in.” Amen.

It says, “not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them.” This is referring to the religious rules of what could or could not be eaten in that time. Remember who this was written to. This was written to Jewish believers, and the priests would look at them and they’d be like, “You don’t even look spiritual. You just eat whatever you want. You just worship wherever you want. What are we doing here? You don’t even have an altar.” How many of you know it’s not by rules? It’s not by what we can do. It’s by what He’s already done.

We have an altar

Not only have we received grace — look at this — “We have an altar.” These Jewish believers were being made fun of. They were being mocked because they didn’t look holy. They didn’t look like anything special. But they had received the greatest gift ever. “You don’t have an altar here on earth.” “We have an altar. We have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat.”

The author is encouraging the believers that are being put down for not having an altar, saying, “No, no, no. We have the ultimate altar, and that is the cross of Jesus Christ.” Our altar — what you come to, to receive the forgiveness of sins, what you come to, to receive life everlasting — what you come to is not just a building. It’s not just a place. It’s the altar of Jesus Christ. It is the cross itself.

And the cross is a symbol of death. It was actually feared in ancient times. In Bible times, when people saw the cross, there was fear there, because that meant someone was about to die. How many of you know Jesus not only died on the cross, but when we come to that altar, everything in us that is not of Him must also die? That’s the power of the cross. The author is saying, “We have the ultimate altar that gives us access into the presence of God, that gives us access to Him.”

It says, “For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp.” This is another example of Jesus fulfilling the cleansing of sin — that He was not only a sacrifice like the animals, which was temporary; He was the perfect sacrifice. The animals were burned outside the camp. “Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate.”

I don’t know how many of you have been to Israel, but if you go there — I would encourage it — it’s like everything that you have read comes to life. And the hill of Calvary that He died on — what they believe is the location — is not too far outside the city. But when He carried the cross, He didn’t die in the city. He carried the cross, and He carried it out of the gates, up the hill, and He died on Calvary. And just like those animals that were being sacrificed outside, the same way Jesus gave His life for us outside.

Let us go forth to Him

But I want you to notice this, the next verse. It says, “Therefore let us go forth to Him.” Jesus. I believe this is an invitation from the Holy Spirit, saying, “Go to Jesus. Go to Jesus.” You may have worries, you may have doubts, you may not fully understand it, but you have a way. Go to Jesus. Let us go to Him. Go forth to Him. He must be chosen by you. He’s already paid the price. He’s already laid down His life. He’s offered the forgiveness of sins. He’s made atonement. But you must choose to go forth to Him.

This means not only receiving life and salvation through Him, but this means walking through life available for the persecution that He also faced. Did you know that a life of following Jesus will look like the life of Jesus? Jesus said, “If they hated Me, they’re going to hate you. If they persecuted Me, they’re going to persecute you.” And sometimes one of the great evidences of “Am I actually following the Lord? Have I actually surrendered all to Him?” is: Does my life look like that?

You know, sometimes I’ll encounter rough situations, or things happen in my life that bring a disruption to my heart. Anybody else? You have those moments. And so oftentimes we try to say, “God, would You just take this away from me? Would You bring healing to this? Would You cover this situation?” And that’s an okay prayer, to say, “Lord, would You cover this,” because how many of you know we want the Lord in all things? But we’re almost like, “Lord, would You deliver me from this?”

And how many of you know Jesus Himself prayed this prayer? By the way, the night before He died, He was in the Garden of Gethsemane, which means the garden of crushing. It was where the olives were grown, and they would crush the olives, and out of the olives would come oil. In the same way, Jesus was crushed for us, and out of Him came the blood, and that blood brought about an oil called the Holy Spirit. But the night before He died, He’s in the garden, and He begins to pray to the Father, and He says, “Lord, if there’s any way, would You take this cup from Me” — you guys remember this — “but not My will, but Yours be done.”

Tested and pruned

And the church has been tricked into thinking that difficult things are not necessarily from God. Let me put it this way: God does not tempt us, but He will test you. You see the difference? We live in a fallen, broken world. There’s temptation everywhere. That’s not coming from God. But He will use that to test you. Why? So He can bless you, so He can accomplish His will for your life, so He can perfect you.

Scripture actually says there are angels all around watching those who believe, looking with anticipation at how they will conduct themselves in the face of persecution and difficult times. That’s interesting. The angels are literally critiquing you. They’re like, “They’ve been given everything. What are they going to do? I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do.” Did you know that Scripture also says that in eternity you’re going to judge angels based on their performance? I don’t even know what that means. What does that look like? If we’re going to spend an eternity doing these things, then there must be something that the Lord wants to accomplish with us here on earth.

And so oftentimes when difficult situations arise, we think, “God, deliver me.” But I would encourage us: Would you have the heart that is willing to say, “But not my will, but Yours be done”? Didn’t Jesus say that He prunes those He loves? He corrects those He loves. And really, the goal of pruning something is that it would bear more fruit, right?

I’m not good with plants. Like, literally, they all die in my house. They die. We’re terrible with it. We’re just not good. We tried. We have dead plants everywhere, okay? They’re not doing great. But one of the goals is — okay, don’t quote me on this — you’re supposed to take off the dead pieces so that the energy and the life can go to the pieces that bear fruit, that bring life. Does that make sense?

And Jesus is saying, “Listen, in the life of the believer, you’re going to be pruned. I’m going to take off the places that are dead, that should be dead. And maybe they were dear to your heart. Maybe they were close to you. But they weren’t from Me. And if you want to become like Me, if you want to fulfill My plan for your life, then let Me prune you.” Why? So that you can bear more fruit.

And so when I face difficult times, sometimes I’m like, “Did I pray for this? When I was raising my hands and I said, ‘Lord, I lay everything down; would You use me’ — is that what I was praying? Because this is really hard.” You guys know what I mean? Yes. The Lord prunes those He loves.

When Jesus spoke to His disciples about that, He said, “But you are already clean.” One of the ways that He prunes us is through His Word. When you read the Word and you read the Scriptures, it should challenge you. It should be difficult. It should be a sharpening in the spirit, making those rough places sharp. “Man, is that actually what it looks like in my life? What does Jesus mean there? This is hard to understand.” Ask the Holy Spirit: “Lord, would You teach me, and would You prune me, so I can become more like You?” Does this make sense? Yes.

All right. Therefore, verse 13: “Let us go forth to Him.” Let us go forth to Him. You are not coming to a church service; you’re coming to the Lord Jesus. You’re not coming to hear a message; you are coming to Jesus. You’re not coming to sing songs, or to do your due diligence, or to go through religious duty. If you want that, that is all you will get. You have the opportunity to come to the Lord Jesus Himself.

“Let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come.” In other words, believers are to understand that there is more than just this life. There is a life to come. And when we have an eternal mentality, it allows us to face rejection and persecution with hope.

The sacrifice of praise

Look at verse 15. It says, “Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.” This is everything that I’m trying to talk to you guys about. One of my passions, one of the biggest places in my heart, is that I would be able to teach you and to lead you into the presence of the Lord, because so often people just don’t know how to get there. It’s not complicated. It’s not difficult. It’s more about your heart. But so many believers don’t know how to actually enter into the presence of the Lord.

And that’s why when we gather together, I’m like, “Can we just right now lay the distraction aside, lift our hands to the Lord, and just begin to give thanks?” Yes. Because that’s the instruction right here. It says, “Therefore by Him let us continually” — how often? Continually. Continually. In other words, this isn’t just at church. This is in your house. This is in your car. This is when you’re at work. “Let us continually offer the sacrifice” — say “sacrifice” — “of praise.”

If it’s not a sacrifice, you’re probably not really praising. How many of you ever come to church and you’re like, “I just don’t feel like it”? Yeah, let’s be honest. I had like two people raise their hands. Please, come on. No, you come in and you were up too late, and you’re like, “I just want to go to bed.” Or you come in and you’re like, “Man, what a terrible week. I don’t even know if God is real. Nothing seems to be working for me. Is this even a thing?” How many of you know in those moments you have the opportunity to make the greatest sacrifice?

When it’s easy to worship, it means something. But when it’s hard, how much more does the Father accept that? “Man, they’re going through it. They’re being pressed. They’re being crushed. They’ve been lied about. They’ve been talked about. And yet their heart belongs to Me. They’re lifting their hands in worship to Me and giving thanks.” See, the sacrifice. Maybe you’re like, “Man, I don’t know if you want me to sing, because when I sing, it doesn’t sound good.” Then sing softly.

“Let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is” — notice — “the fruit of our lips.” Everybody say, “The fruit of our lips.” “Giving thanks to His name.” In other words, how many of you know the ways that we offer a sacrifice of praise? Number one, it is to be a sacrifice.

I was sharing this with some of our young adults in our group study: you only get one life to make sacrifice to God. It won’t be a sacrifice of praise when you’re in heaven. Again, you’re going to want to be there; you’re going to want to do it. You only get this life to make sacrifice to the Lord and to receive from Him. We only get one life to make sacrifice. And so when you don’t feel like it, you don’t want to do it — how much more precious is that to God?

But how do we offer a sacrifice of praise? Number one, it is by Him. Everybody say, “By Him.” By Him — meaning true worship flows from Him and back to Him, right? It comes from Him. The reason that we have an opportunity to worship, to come into His presence, isn’t by what we can do; it’s by the blood of Jesus. He’s paid the price for you to come into His presence. So true worship comes from Him, and we offer it back to Him. It is to be done continually.

And praise that pleases God — notice — comes from our lips, giving thanks. It’s not enough to just think warm, fuzzy thoughts. Listen, I’m not making the rules here. Worship is not just having warm, fuzzy thoughts in your heart toward God. It is continual praise, the fruit of your lips giving thanks to God. He wants to hear it from your lips.

This is significant. This is important, because Scripture says if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart, you will be saved. Saying it matters to God. It’s more than a feeling. It’s more than thinking it. We need to say it to the Lord, because something happens in the spirit when we do it God’s way. But something happens in our heart when we do it God’s way. Do you know what I mean?

That’s why one person can be in a service and they can be lifting their hands in worship to the Lord, tears coming down their face, they’re in the presence of God — and the person next to them can be on their phone. It should look like something when we give praise and worship to the Lord God’s way. And so let it be continually on our lips. Let’s lift up a sacrifice of praise. How? Through the fruit of our lips and the giving of thanks. Amen.

Doing good, and those who keep watch

Now look at this — look at another sacrifice that we can make to God. Verse 16: “But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” In other words, it’s not just how we worship together; it’s how we treat one another that moves the heart of God.

It’s not just our worship. It’s not just the lifting of our hands. It’s how we treat one another, how we love one another, how we care for one another. Will you stop and listen to somebody? Will you actually hear them and pray for them when you’re annoyed, when you’re bothered, when you don’t have the time?

You know what amazes me? When Jesus ascended into heaven, He stopped because somebody said, “Jesus.” He stopped His ascension into glory because somebody called on Him. I think we can find it in ourselves to stop for somebody when they just want to say hi, when they want to connect, when they have something that’s on their heart, right? Because this brings honor to the Lord. This is a sacrifice to God.

Verse 17 says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.”

This is a sobering reality that I live with, that I’m often reminding myself of: there is a day that I will give account to God about how I cared for you, how I watched out for you. What were my motives? What was my heart? Did I lead them? Was I a shadow of this culture, or was I a reflection of Jesus? I take that very seriously, because I have to stand and give an account.

And that’s what Scripture is saying here. Listen, there is a weight here. And there are those that the Lord has put into places, that He has anointed to preach, to teach, to proclaim the gospel, to pastor, to lead, to take care of His church. And with that weight, we must recognize that because I am committed to steward well, it is profitable for everybody when we come together with humility to live according to the Word of God.

I’m so thankful that I’m a part of a church that doesn’t nag me every single second of the day. There are pastors that get emails after every sermon, and I’m like, “Can we just hear the Lord?” It’s not about what I’m speaking; it’s about what the Holy Spirit is speaking through me to you. Amen. But it’s saying, listen, if you want these times to be profitable, come with humility and with a reverence toward the Lord, and come with an open heart — that, yeah, nobody’s perfect, but God will use imperfect people to accomplish His will and His purposes. And that is where we find life.

Verse 18 says, “Pray for us.” This is the author of Hebrews. He’s saying, “Would you pray for us?” I love how the author is so bold to say, “Listen, I’ve literally written this book to you with the authority of God Himself, but I’m asking urgently: Will you pray for us?”

How many of you know it is important — just because maybe it looks like things are going well in the church, or things are happening — how many of you know it is important to pray for the church? It’s important to pray for those who are leading. It’s important to pray for the leaders of our nation, of our country. Did you know it’s important? It doesn’t mean that you agree with everything, but this is the posture. This is the heart. He’s saying, “Listen, you want it to be profitable for you? You want it to go well for you? Then pray.”

I’m so moved, because there are groups that I know regularly do this. We have groups that gather together, and one of the things that they always do is they say, “We’re going to pray for our church.” How many of you know we need that? Anything significant that happens in a spiritual atmosphere happens because of prayer. And so we need to be praying. Amen. Yes. And so I’m confident that every good thing that this church has experienced is a result of people praying, and I’m confident that every good thing to come will be a result of people praying.

And so I want to close with this. Can we stand together? And you can come on out and play for a little bit. I want to end with this benediction that comes at the end of the book of Hebrews, and I’m going to just ask that we keep our attention on the Lord. Can we just close our eyes and just lift our hands to the Lord? I want to pray this blessing over us today. Let’s lift our hands and let’s just receive from the Lord, because I believe the Lord is speaking this over us today.

It says, “Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”

And just with your hands lifted, I just want to pray. Lord Jesus, would You open our eyes to You? Lord, many of us have been walking in darkness for far too long. We’ve entertained darkness rather than entertained the light. You are the true Light. You are eternal life. And Lord Jesus, I pray, Lord, that as we come to You, Lord, as we go forth to You — the One who gave it all for us, the One who was crucified outside the city — Lord, that we would be people who run to You, Lord, who surrender to You, who are transformed by You, Lord Jesus, into who You’ve called us to be. Lord, that we would not be consumed by this world, but, Lord, that You would fill us by Your precious Spirit, Lord Jesus.

And Lord, I pray for a peace that can only be found in You, Lord. Let it come upon every person here today. I command fear and anxiety to be gone in Jesus’ name, and let peace come, in Jesus’ name. Fill us with Your Spirit, Lord Jesus. You are the Good Shepherd, the One who leads us, the One who calls us. Jesus, You said, “My sheep hear My voice.” Lord, give us ears to hear You. Lord, that this would become a real thing. Lord, we don’t want to do fake things. This isn’t about going through the motions. This isn’t religion, Lord. This is an opportunity to have relationship with Jesus.

So Lord, we surrender to You today. We surrender to You, Lord. We choose Your way and not the world’s way. We choose Your Word. We choose Your truth and not the world’s truth. Lord, would You make us complete in every good work? Lord, would we live surrendered, in a way where if there are things in our lives, Lord, that need to be pruned — Lord, would You give us hearts to surrender everything to You? Because You’re a good Father who wants the very best for us, who wants us to bear fruit, who wants to give good gifts, who wants to bring blessing. But Lord, there are places in us, Lord, that by Your Spirit need to be cut off. But Lord, I thank You, Lord, that the grace is there, that healing is in Your wings, Lord, that You are the lifter of our heads, that You are our strength and our song, Lord Jesus. We worship You, Lord, and we ask for more of You. Lord, that we would live in a way that is well pleasing to You, that invites You, that welcomes You. There is none like You, Lord Jesus. There’s none like You. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord.

An invitation to receive Jesus

With every head bowed and every eye closed: if you are here today and you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life, and you would like to do that today, I’m just going to have you look at me and just raise your hand. We’re just going to pray a prayer together this morning. If you’re here and you want to give your life to Jesus and say, “I want to respond to this; I don’t want to go another day without Him” — if that is you, I want you to just look at me and just quickly raise your hand. We’re not going to call you out, but I would like us to pray this prayer together. Can you just look at me right now? Amen. Amen. Thank You, Lord.

So what I’m going to do is I’m going to ask us to pray this prayer out loud together. Just repeat after me, in a voice loud enough for the person next to you to hear. But remember, it says if you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. That is why we do this. We need to declare it. We need to confess Him as Lord. So let’s do that now. If you raised your hand, or maybe you wish you had, let’s just all pray this together in faith. Ready?

Heavenly Father, I thank You for Jesus. I thank You for loving me so much that You sent Jesus to die for me. I receive Your love today. I receive what You’re offering me. I don’t want to wait. There’s no better time than now. So, Lord, I give my life to You. I declare that You are the Lord of my life, that You are the Son of the living God, that You came and lived a perfect life, that You died on a cross, that You took my sin and it was buried, and You were raised to life, that I might have life with You forever. And now, because I believe, because I confess that You are the Lord God Almighty, I am now a child of God. My old life has passed, and I am a new creation, covered by the blood of Jesus — life with You forever. And I receive that in Jesus’ name, and I declare that I am born again. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord.

Now let me pray over you. Lord Jesus, would You pour out Your Spirit on every person? Would You pour out Your Spirit right now, Lord? Would You fill us afresh, Lord Jesus, Lord, that we would know You? Lord Jesus, You said, “I will ascend to the Father, and I will send a Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will come, and you will receive power to be a witness” — you will receive power to endure this life, not because of your own efforts, but by the power of My Spirit — “and you will do signs and miracles and wonders. The works that I do you will do also, because I go to the Father.”

And so, Lord, would You come and fill this place? Fill every person with Your Spirit to overflowing. Empower them, Lord, to live a life unto You that is pleasing to You, Lord Jesus. Lord, where there are addictions, Lord, break those in Jesus’ name. Lord, that those addictions would be gone in Jesus’ name, that they would be void, that they would be absent. And Lord, would You fill every person with Your Spirit? Replace the addiction and the bondage of the enemy with the Holy Spirit, in Jesus’ name.

And Lord, would You bring healing by Your Spirit to every wounded heart, to every mind that is sick? Lord, would You bring healing? Touch us, Lord Jesus. We receive it. Say, “I receive Your Spirit. I receive it.” Lord, You said, “Ask, and you will receive.” So, Lord, I ask for more of Your Spirit. Fill us, Lord, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen. Can we thank the Lord this morning for His Word?

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.