0:00 This is based on the verse we did last week, our memory verse. We can turn there. Actually, the way we said it was a little bit different from the full verse. One of our young people actually said the full verse last week as they were sharing it. 0:23 So if you turn with me to Acts 13, verse 39. Acts 13, verse 39. And through him, that is through Jesus, everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses. 0:48 That was the part we didn't have in our verse. And through Jesus, everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses. And so it's good to know what are the things that we can be freed from the law of Moses. 1:09 Our external life can be a very, very good external life through the law of Moses. You don't steal. You don't kill. All of these external things you can do with the law of Moses. You can have a very, very good external testimony through the law of Moses. 1:29 And as I look around here, all of you, as far as I know, have a very good external testimony. And I was thinking to myself, you know, if I was to give a certificate for myself on my external life, this is a certificate that I was thinking about my external life. 1:52 External life certificate. This certifies that me, Ajay Chakravarti, has satisfactorily an external testimony. I have a satisfactory external testimony. But there's a disclaimer here. The disclaimer is this certificate does not certify his inner life, which only God sees. 2:15 So, if you want an external testimony, which I think all of us have, a certificate like this you can get and put it on your wall and say, you know what, I have a very good external testimony. What is this good for? Not very much. 2:30 When we stand before the Lord, God's not going to care for the external testimony of what we had. All this through this earth, it's fit for nothing. There is going to be one testimony that's going to be important on that day. 2:46 And do you know what that testimony is? It's not our external testimony. It's going to be our internal testimony. What was Ajay like on the inside? What was his thoughts, motives, and actions? Jesus spoke about this. And if you turn with me to Matthew. 3:06 Matthew chapter 23. And if you have your Bibles, open up to Matthew 23. 3:28 Verse 25. Matthew 23, verse 25. I woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but the inside is full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisees. First clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may be clean also. 3:51 So God looks at the inside of the cup and the outside. Man looks only at the outward appearance. If we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 16. 1 Samuel chapter 16, verse 7. It says, 4:14 1 Samuel verse 16, verse 7. But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his height or his stature, because I have rejected him. For God sees not as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance. 4:33 But God, or the Lord, looks at the heart. And so on that day when we stand before the Lord, every single one of us, God's not going to be looking at our external testimony, what others thought of us. He who sees everything that we've done in secret 4:50 is going to be looking at our lives in secret and judging us. Why is this very, very important? Because we could live our entire life thinking everything is okay because everybody said good things about us all throughout the week. 5:06 We hear good things. Oh, brother, thank you for this. Sister, thank you for this. You helped me here. All throughout life. And then when we stand before the Lord, the one thing that matters, which was on the inside, we didn't even take notice to. 5:22 Because we're so interested in focusing on the outside of the cup, that what God sees, we weren't interested. And so there's going to be two types of us in this room today. One, who cares about what others think about my external testimony. 5:43 How can I maintain my external testimony before others? And there's going to be others that are going to say, Lord, what do you think of my life? You see me 24-7. You see all the things I do. You know my thoughts. You know my motives. 5:58 You know my attitudes. You know who I've forgiven, who I've not forgiven. What do you think? Yes, everybody else may think something, but what do you think? And we can have a desire to please the Lord who sees in secret 6:15 or go away continuing to seek to have a good testimony before people. From the youngest to the oldest, we all do this. Many of us have a very, very good testimony in this church externally. 6:37 But if we think back about our life, even this last week, if we're honest, we know what was on the inside. And are we going to be willing to be honest before the Lord? Lord, I care for your opinion. And so I want to do what is right on the inside, Lord. 6:58 And when I look at the inside, I see things which others don't see. I see thoughts that are not clean. I see motives that are not clean. Maybe bitterness, anger, unforgiveness. All of this, yet on Sunday, we have a very good testimony. 7:22 This cup here, if you look at it on the outside, it looks very clean. But one thing that you don't know, which I can see, is what's on the inside. What do you think? What do you think is on the inside? Do you think it's clean? 7:40 Or do you think it's dirty? You'll have to wait to find out. And so this is the question. Are you happy with an external testimony? 8:01 And we're probably each going to make a choice as we walk out those doors, whether I'm happy with an external testimony that everybody else thinks nicely about me. And I do as much as I need to, to maintain that external testimony. 8:16 Even though I see such uncleanness in my heart. And as I was thinking about, you know, when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, Jesus waited, the Father waited for 4,000 years, approximately, to send Jesus. 8:40 And after Jesus came to this earth, another 30 years, he was in Nazareth, going to the synagogue, week after week, hearing the messages that the Pharisees preached. And then 30 years later, he goes to Nazareth, and he's preaching. 9:03 What is the first sermon that Jesus is going to preach? After 4,000 years, the first sermon he's going to preach. And I was thinking, Lord, that's going to share a little bit of your burden based on what I see him preaching after 4,000 years, the first sermon. 9:23 What are you going to preach, Lord? So if you turn with me to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter 4. I see what Jesus was waiting, the Father was waiting to preach to those there in Nazareth. 9:43 If you turn with me to, it says that they handed over the book in verse 17 to him, and he found the place where it was written. So Jesus didn't just randomly open the Bible and look for a verse. He went and searched the verse, and he found a verse that he wanted to share on. 10:02 And it was verse 18, Luke chapter 4, verse 18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has appointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. And what is that gospel? He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, 10:24 to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. And so this was the longing that Jesus had for 4,000 years to share in Nazareth. And when he shared it, you see this. He came into a world, it says in John chapter 3, verse 17. 10:48 God did not send his son to condemn the world, but the world may be saved through it because the world was already condemned. God sent Jesus in a world that was already condemned. God sent Jesus into a world where people were captives. 11:05 Captive to what? Captive to sin. He saw people in captive to sin for 4,000 years and said, this is the message I need to come and share first of all. The Lord filled me with the Holy Spirit so that I can proclaim release to the captives. 11:24 Captive to the sins that were on the inside. They had an external testimony just like we do. What were they in captive to? The sins on the inside. He looked at a synagogue full of people with a good external testimony, but who had envy and pride and strife and anger and bitterness, unforgiveness. 11:48 Captive throughout the week in bondage. And he said, I'm come to set the captives free. I see you all bound by sin. You all look good on synagogue day, on the Sabbath. But he could see through them and saw what their greatest need was. 12:09 Their greatest need was to be set free from sin. And he sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind. Do you think this was only physical sight? In John 9, verse 39, I've come that those who do not see may see. 12:30 I don't think it was just physical sight. It was also spiritual sight. That people's eyes will be opened to eternal things. And again, to set free those who are oppressed. Oppressed by the devil. Oppressed by sin and guilt. 12:50 And the flesh. And proclaim the favorable year of the Lord. 4,000 years. This is the burden that came out when Jesus preached. Again, from our memory verse. In Acts 13, Paul, after he was commissioned by the Holy Spirit to go and proclaim, 13:13 what was the first message he preached? It says, if you turn with me to Acts 13, verse 14. They went to Antioch. And on the Sabbath day, they went to the synagogue, verse 14, and sat down. Verse 15. After reading the law and the prophets, 13:33 the synagogue official sent to them and saying, brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it. And so this is the message that he's sharing for the first time. What is the message? What we read. Our memory verse. 13:49 Verse 39. And Jesus will free you from the things you could not be freed from the law. I see you all in the synagogue with a good external testimony. But I know that you're in bondage to sins inside your life. Perhaps you're ashamed of it, even. 14:11 You're sitting there in the synagogue. You're sitting there at church. And you're ashamed. And that's why Jesus, that's why Paul, through the Holy Spirit, had this burden that people will be set free from the things that they couldn't be set free. 14:29 And today, as I, sometimes we hear, and you probably heard in the question and answers, and I hear those burdens from young people and old people writing, brothers, I have a question. I'm constantly found in bondage to sin. 14:52 I keep sinning over and over again. Is there any hope? I don't know if I've repented properly. I don't even know if I'm repenting right. I find myself again and again enslaved to sin. Is there any hope? And I read those, we read those, or you hear those in the Q&A sessions, 15:10 and, Lord, your burden was that people who are living in bondage to sin would be set free. That's what you came to proclaim release to the captives. And, brother, sister, young person, if you have a good external testimony in this church, 15:34 yet you know inside your private life, Monday to Saturday, your life is very different, you'd feel very concerned if somebody were to take the cup and tip it over, then there's hope for us today. 15:56 Because if we're interested in cleansing the inside of the cup today, we're not interested in just covering it up, then there's hope for us. Because Jesus came not for the righteous, that means externally righteous, but for sinners so that they may repent. 16:17 So that they may repent. Repent of what? Not their external testimony, what's inside. What nobody else can see, what God can see. So the church is not only a family, but the church is also like a hospital as well. And those who say, 16:33 I'm sick, Monday to Friday, Monday to Saturday, I see a different life. Lord, I'm sick. Lord, can you help me? Jesus said, yes. I come for those who are sick. Those who don't want to pretend everything is okay, but are willing to open up and say, 16:53 you know what? Everything is not okay. I want to turn over the cup and show you what's inside, Lord, because I want to deal with it. I want your opinion of my life, not what others see externally. I'm not satisfied for that. 17:05 I want you to be happy with me and your opinion of me. I want to live for you, Lord. I don't want to live for the opinions of others and what they see of my life. For everyone who says that, there's hope because Jesus said that. 17:20 I want you to turn to Luke chapter 5 so that you can read that verse with me. It's in Luke chapter 5, verse 31. Or verse 30. Luke chapter 5, verse 30. And you can say the Pharisees are those who had a cup that was clean on the outside, 17:43 but not on the inside. And began grumbling at his disciples, at Jesus' disciples, saying, why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners? Verse 31. And Jesus answered and said to them, it is not those who are well 18:01 or have a clean cup on the outside who need a physician, but those who are sick, those who recognize that the inside is dirty and they need help to clean the inside. I have not come to call the righteous or religious or externally righteous, 18:19 but sinners to repent. Verse 32. And you read, if you turn with me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5, verse 2. A man who was living in a terrible situation. 18:40 He was lame. And for 38 years, he tried to get better. Now there was in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, a pool which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticos. In there lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, 18:59 waiting for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then went first after the stirring up of the water and stepped in was made well 19:12 whatever disease they had, which they were afflicted. Verse 5. A man was there who had been ill there for 38 years. Verse 6. When Jesus saw him laying there and knew that he was already there, been there for a long time in that condition, 19:29 he said to him, Do you wish to be well? Do you wish to be well? And I believe that's the question that the Lord's asking each one of us today. Ajay, do you want to be well? If you want to be well, I will show you how you can become well. 19:52 But I need to know, are you happy with the life you have? For this man, he had been there for 38 years, trying so hard. He wanted to go, and then there would be a stirring. Sometimes like for us, we go to a meeting and I, 20:10 this is the stirring that I'm going to get, and everything's going to change. And then we go back. No. No. Jesus asked him, can you make yourself well? No. He didn't ask him, can you make yourself well? What did he ask him? 20:28 Do you wish to be well? Do you wish to have the clean inside of the cup? Are you okay with the outside being fine? And imagine if that man said, you know what? It's terrible, terrible life, trying so hard for 38 years, but I've just gave up 20:48 and I decided to settle with it, live with this state I am. And I don't know if some of you are there. I've tried so much to be set free from these sins, anxiety, the lust of the eyes, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness. I've tried for so many years 21:08 and I don't know if anything with my circumstances is ever going to change. If you're there, God's asking you, not if you want to change. Do you want to be well? Do you want, I mean, do you want to, do you want to be well? 21:28 And the answer is either yes or no. But some of us may answer, just like this sick man did. Verse seven, the sick man answered and said, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but when I'm coming, 21:43 another steps in before me and so I'm not healed. I tried over and over and over again for 38 years and it just doesn't work. and if you're in that place today, there's good news. Jesus can help us 22:03 if we do want to be well. The question is, do we want to be well? Are we willing to show the inside of the cup to the Lord and say, Lord, I want my inside to be, I am willing. I want to be well, Lord. I don't want to pretend anymore. 22:26 The beautiful thing is, it says in that verse, or memory verse, through him, everyone who believes can be set free. Through him. It's only by Jesus that we can be set free from all these sins. No matter how hard we try 22:46 or how the Israelites tried using the law, they could never be freed. They could have a very good external testimony, but for the sins inside, they could never be freed. Jesus knew that and he could see through it and he said, 23:02 you need someone to set you free. Just like Moses set them free from Egypt, Jesus can set us free from the sins that bind us. Only him. You might remember what John the Baptist said. I can baptize you as many times as you want 23:18 in water, but there's one thing I can't do for you. I can't baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. Jesus must do that. The same thing here. Jesus is the only one who can set you free from sin. You shall know the truth 23:36 and the truth shall set you free. And so, it's beautiful that Jesus has made promises to us. If you turn with me to 1 Corinthians, there's one thing we must know about the promises of God. They're not for everybody. So, 23:55 if you say the promise is not working for me, you need to see if the promise is first for you. And so, it says here in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 1, it says, for I do not want you to be unaware brethren or brothers. 24:14 So, who is he talking to? He's talking to those who are children of God. For those who are children of God, 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 1, he says, these are the promises that you have. And he says in verse 13, for the children of God, 24:36 no temptation has overtaken you that is common to man. God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide you a way of escape so that you will be able to endure it. 24:53 Every single temptation that you and I face as a child of God, again, if you're not a child of God, then there's no promises that you can claim. I can't give you this promise if you're not a child of God, but if you are a child of God, 25:08 I can give you this promise that no temptation that you'll ever face will be more than you can bear. And as we look at our lives, some of you may go through job losses. When will the Lord allow you to go through a job loss? 25:26 Only when you're able to bear it. not a day before you're able to bear it, God will allow you. Maybe some sickness, maybe some situation, maybe a family situation, maybe a work situation. Any situation that you face as a child of God, 25:46 God has put this promise. Ajay, you'll never face it until you're ready to bear it. And then you might be able to face it, but not before that. Young people, every single one of you, Jesus was a young person just like you. 26:02 Are you tempted with your eyes? Are you tempted with your mouth, with your tongue? Do you believe Jesus was tempted? Yes. Exactly as we are tempted, he was tempted. Will Jesus allow a temptation 26:23 as a child of God for you that would be too much to bear? What do you think? Yes or no? I see some nods. God's word says he will never let us be tempted beyond what we're able to bear if we're his children. And so we can be confident 26:44 that if God allows a temptation in my life this week, that it's not going to be something that I cannot bear. If I say that, Lord, you gave me a temptation that I cannot bear, what am I saying? That God's word is not true 27:00 and this temptation is too much for me. I say, Lord, you're true. Let everyone else be a liar. You will not allow me to bear a temptation that I can't bear. And Jesus, in Hebrews chapter, if you go to Hebrews chapter 4, 27:19 verse 15, for we do not have a high priest, Hebrews 4, 15, who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. He is tempted in all things as we are. And so as I go through 27:36 situations in my life, I can say, Jesus, you were tempted just like me. And now I have something for each of us to do. Each of you can do this. Think of a temptation you went through, either today, this morning, or something that you went through 27:54 this last week. Think of that temptation. Everybody has a temptation that they thought of? Okay, I see a few nods. Okay. Now remember, Jesus went through all temptations, just like you. That same temptation, he also faced it. 28:13 That exact same temptation that you went through, he faced it. And he says that he is able to understand what we're feeling. When you're tempted with your eyes, he knows what that feels like. When you're tempted to say something 28:31 with your tongue, he knows what it feels like. When somebody says something mean to you, and you want to say something mean back, Jesus knows how that temptation feels like. It's a wonderful thing to know that every single temptation 28:47 we face, that Jesus knows what it feels to be tempted. He understands what that feels like, what that pull feels like. But, he says, he was tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 29:07 I faced the same temptation you faced, Ajay, but I didn't sin. Jesus, can you teach me how you face that temptation in your life, just like I'm facing right now, and how you didn't sin in that situation? Can you help me, 29:23 Lord? It says in Hebrews 2.18, Hebrews 2.18, just before he says in verse 16, he does not give help to, angels, but gives help to those who are descendants of Abraham. He says in verse 18, 29:45 for since he also was tempted in that which he suffered, he is also able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. So the next time when we go through temptation, whether with our eyes, whether with our tongues, whether with unforgiveness, 30:04 without every type of temptation we face, we can say, Jesus, you were tempted exactly like I was tempted. How did you overcome this temptation without sinning, Lord? Fill me with the Holy Spirit and help me so that in this situation 30:20 I don't fall into sin, Lord. Through him, everyone who believes, through Jesus, everyone who believes is freed from the things that they could not be freed from. and so Jesus is able to help us. And I think about that time 30:37 if you turn with me to Matthew 14. Matthew 14. We're called to walk as Jesus walked. And in Matthew 14, Jesus was walking on the water and he wasn't sinking. 30:59 Matthew 14, verse 28, Peter said to him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come into the water. And he said, come. And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came towards Jesus. Verse 30, but seeing the wind, 31:14 he became frightened and began to sink. And he cried out, Lord, save me. Lord, I'm about to fall in this situation. I see you walking on the water, Lord. I also want to walk in the water as well. I don't want to be drawn down 31:29 by sin. And if as we're sinking, Lord, help me. You were tempted, you're tempted by these waters to sink, but you didn't sink. Help me, Lord. And it says, wonderful. Verse 31, it starts off with the word, immediately, Jesus stretched out 31:48 his hand and took hold of him and said, you of little faith, why did you doubt? Through Jesus, everyone who believes, everyone who believes can be freed of the things they couldn't be freed from. And we too, like Peter, 32:09 can cry out, Lord, you were tempted just like me, Lord. I'm going through a situation, I feel I'm sinking, Lord. Let me not stumble, Lord. To him who can keep us from stumbling, Lord, hold my hand, Lord, at this time, Lord. 32:24 Help me, show me the way of escape in this situation. who does God help. God can only help me and give his grace 32:44 if I'm humble. If I'm proud, no matter how much God wants to help me, it says in 1 Peter 5, verse 5, God is, God is opposed to the, God is opposed to the proud. 33:06 1 Peter 5, verse 5, God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. And it says in Romans 6, 14, Romans 6, 14, Romans 6, 14 says, 33:29 for sin shall not be master over you for you are not under the law but under grace. If I look at my life and I see, Lord, sin was mastering over me, that means I didn't receive your grace and the reason 33:51 I didn't receive your grace was because I was proud. I was proud and so I could not receive your grace and so I fell. And if I'm honest with the Lord, Lord, I find myself falling into sin. I'm a slave to sin. Sin is a master 34:08 over me. If my eyes ask me to look at something, I look at it 100% of the time. I never say no to it. My tongue says to say this word to someone. I do it all the time. Who's my master? Sin is my master. And I say, Lord, 34:24 I don't want to fool myself. If sin is my master, that means I've not received your grace. And if I've not received your grace, there's only one reason I didn't receive your grace. It's because I'm proud. I'm proud. 34:44 There's an incident that happens in, if you turn with me to 2 Kings 5. 2 Kings 5. This is Naaman going to Elisha and asking for healing from his leprosy. 35:06 And this could be the way we are as well. 2 Kings 5, verse 9. So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha. And Elisha sent a messenger to him, Go and wash in the Jordan 35:22 seven times and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean. Verse 11. But Naaman was furious and went out and said, Behold, I thought he will surely come out to me. Great man that I am, Naaman, warrior. I'm here, 35:42 great man. This man of God should have came out to me and ministered to me. I'm so important. I thought he would come and he would call on the name of the Lord, wave his hand and cure the leper. And then he's saying, What about this river 36:01 in Damascus and that river? He's using his mind and reason. He said, Go dip yourself seven times. Instead of that, he's like reasoning, Isn't this better? Isn't that better? When a person is given instructions from a godly man 36:19 or from the Lord or from authority, you can see whether there are ones who are humble or not. This man, if he was humble, he would say, Okay, he said to go dip seven times. Who am I? I'm just a leper. Let me go and dip seven times. 36:40 Even though he had leprosy, he had still this. You give me a couple of explanations of why I should dip there seven times. And you should come out to me. Not me coming to you. You come out to me. I'm a big man. And then his servant 36:57 came and kind of gave him some good counsel. Verse 13, Then his servants came near and said, My father, had you the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you have not done it? How much more when he says to you, 37:13 wash and be clean? So he went down and dipped himself seven times. And he was, according to the word of the man of God and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean. It says that Jesus humbled himself 37:32 being obedient. This is in Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 he says, Jesus humbled himself by being obedient. There's a very close tie between my humility and my obedience. When God says something in my life, 37:53 Ajay, I want you to go set this matter right. And I say, but it wasn't completely my fault. It was a little bit my fault, but some part of that fault wasn't mine. Or I give an excuse or I give a justification. I'm like, 38:08 I'm like Naaman. But isn't this river better? A humble person will say, Lord, you asked me to go and apologize? I'm going to go and apologize. I'm going to set that matter. A humble person will be able to do exactly as God told them 38:23 to do. If an authority says, I want you to go do this or authority says, I want you to do not do this, they'll say, okay, the authority said it, I'm not going to do it or I'm going to do it. Whatever the authority tells me to do, 38:36 I'm going to do it. We do that when the police officer says, give me your driver's license and registration. You don't ask him, oh, why are you asking me my drivers and registration? You don't ask that. But are there authorities 38:52 in your life when they tell you to do something, you're like, oh, why now do I have to do that? A humble man will receive, will be obedient immediately. Another thing, a humble person 39:12 will not get offended. When a person corrects them, they will not get offended. If I get offended when I'm corrected, I'm proud. Another area where I see in my own life where pride is, is the two people who went to pray 39:32 in Luke 18. Luke 18. Because Jesus, after he says the parable, he says, one went home humble and one exalted himself and went home. verse 13. 39:55 Luke 18. 13. No matter what condition we are today, we can go home humble people. Even if we've had tremendous failure in our life, we look back at our life and we say, Lord, I failed in secret in so many ways, Lord. Nobody else knows 40:14 about it, but you do. But I want to be honest with you today. There is much hope we can leave this meeting with. It says here, these two people also went to a meeting just like we did. In verse 13, but the tax collector 40:30 standing some distance away, even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his chest saying, God be merciful to me, the sinner. The sinner. In verse 14, I tell you, 40:50 this man went to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself, how did he humble himself? He didn't look at the Pharisee and say, Lord, look at that Pharisee 41:07 who's judging me. He didn't say that. He looked at himself and he saw the sin in himself and said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. He saw the inside of the cup and he didn't like it. And he said, Lord, I want to be honest. 41:23 I don't want to look at that person or this person. My inside of the cup is terrible, Lord. Have mercy on me, Lord. You may be thinking, Lord, I believe, Lord, that you have hope for me, Lord, but like that man went 41:45 and said, Lord, help my unbelief. Maybe you might be here. Lord, I know my life. I know what I'm going back into. Maybe it's Monday morning, your workplace or a home situation. Or some temptation you're going to walk into 42:01 and you're like, Lord, I know all of these things that I've been bound by. These sins in my heart that I've been in bondage to, Lord. Maybe you're struggling there. And so I want to share something as a word of encouragement 42:19 because he says in that verse, through him, everyone who believes. So I want to leave everyone with faith this morning that not only that we know that Jesus can save us, but that we have faith. And so I wanted to share about this. 42:42 This is a question that Jesus asked the blind man. Do you believe that I'm able to do this for you? He asked the blind man and the blind man said, yes, Lord, I believe that you're able to do it. Do you believe that you can help me 42:56 with gossip and envying and backbiting with the sins of my eyes, the sins of my tongue? Do you believe that I can help you with grudges, bitterness? It's interesting. People have grudges and bitterness for years and they can't 43:15 put it away. Maybe today is the day that you can finally put that unforgiveness and grudge and bitterness away and God can set you free. And you're like, Ajay, but it's been binding me for so many years. This is a man who is bound. 43:36 Turn with me to Acts chapter 12. Acts chapter 12. And when Luke was writing this, Luke was the one who wrote the Acts of the Apostle, He could have just said Peter was in prison and the angel came and set him free. He could have just 43:56 said that, but he took so much pains to describe how he was bound. It says that there was four squads of soldiers assigned to this one prisoner. There's one prisoner who's unarmed, a fisherman, and there were 16 people, 44:15 guards, all with weapons, assigned to guard one helpless prisoner. They had already killed James. There was two guards, you read later on, that was there. Two guards attached to him 44:36 24-7 with chains attached to both arms, and he's sitting there completely helpless. and if I were to go to one of those guards and say, guards, is there any chance for Peter to escape tonight? What do you think they would say? 44:54 It's impossible. There's 14 armed men guarding one unarmed prisoner with multiple gates and an iron gate leading to the city. It's impossible. Our lives, if he escapes, all our lives will be taken 45:15 in his place. That's what the stakes are. Yet, there is no way he can go through all these gates and guards and chains and everything and escape. Even if we were all to sleep, it was impossible for him to escape. I believe that's 45:34 how they probably all went to sleep that night. It's impossible. But was it impossible? No. God did send an angel, opened up the, the chains fell off, he went through 45:54 past one guard, past the second guard, past the iron gate and was released and he's like, he's like, is this really happening? Am I really free from the things that I was bound by all these years? Was he free? 46:14 Yes, he was free. There's a promise and I wanted to share this with you. It's in Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49, verse 24. Isaiah 49. verse 24. 46:36 Can the prey be taken from the mighty man or the captives of the tyrant be rescued? Do you feel like a captive today by sin? And this is the question that, in verse 25, 46:56 what is the answer from the Lord? It's not just yes. It says, surely, surely thus says the Lord, even the captives of the mighty man will be taken away and the prey of the tyrant will be rescued. For I will contend with the one 47:13 who contends with you and I will save your sons, and I put sons and daughters. He will save our sons and daughters. God will contend with those who hold forth. Just like Peter was held in a jail cell 47:33 with multiple soldiers, which was an impossible thing to escape, and God did it. And the same God is saying, I will set you free from those captives who are mighty captives, captors. I'll set you free and I will save your sons and daughters. 47:52 I say, Lord, it's in your word and you caused me to hope in your word and I take this promise for every single one here in this church especially. I say, Lord, do it, Lord. Do it for every single one of them. Even if they're 48:09 like Peter and feeling hopeless today, this morning, and they're coming, Lord, the outside is very good, Lord, but the inside's not that good, Lord. I see a lot of sin in my life, Lord, but I believe what you did for Peter 48:24 you can do for me. And it's beautiful. We'll go back and close with the verse that the promise that we've been memorizing. Acts 13, verse 39, and through Jesus everyone who believes is freed from all things 48:44 from which you cannot be freed through the law of Moses. And then it goes on to say in verse 41, behold, you scoffers and marvel and perish. Verse 41, for I'm going to accomplish a work in your days, a work which you will never 49:03 believe, though someone should describe it to you. I'm going to do something in your days which even if somebody told you in advance, you would not believe it. Peter, they're going to release you from this prison cell. Do you believe it? 49:18 It's hard for me to believe. There's so many soldiers around and everything like that. I don't think it's possible. But did God do it in his life? Yes, he did. Is God going to do something in your life and my life in these last days 49:34 that we cannot believe, but he's going to do it? I believe so. I believe he's going to do this for us also. That we will each be able to be freed from the things we could never be freed through him. Let us pray. 49:54 Oh, before I pray, do you want to see what's inside? Yeah. Actually, how many think it's clean? Raise your hand. Ah, only a few people think it's going to be clean. How many people think it's going to be dirty? Ah, a lot of you. 50:11 Actually, you guys are right. It's dirty inside. So, let's pray. Heavenly Father, I thank you, Lord. You gave that promise, Lord, that everyone who believes through you will be freed from the things that they could not be 50:29 freed from. And you said you were going to do something in our days that even if it was told to us in advance, we would not believe. Something so great and so marvelous. And I believe this is one of those things, Lord, that we will 50:42 be set free from these inner sins that have been binding us for so long, Lord. You're going to set us free, Lord, even if it's as complicated as how it was for Peter in that jail cell. Lord, you're going to set us free, 50:56 Lord. I believe you will do it, Lord. There's nothing too difficult for you, Lord. We're going to rest in the everlasting alarms that can break every captive free. You're going to save our sons and daughters, Lord. We want 51:06 to come to you in faith, Lord. You made heaven and earth. Is there anything too difficult for you, Lord, no matter how much they feel the pull of sin and the discouragements of the past, the failures of the past, that you will 51:22 put a faith in their hearts, Lord, that you're going to do something in their life like you did for Peter, like you did for Paul, Lord, that you will do something in our days, Lord, setting us free from sins that have bound 51:33 us for so many years, Lord. I pray that you'll do that, Lord, for every single one of us. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
