Law and New Order | Pastor Earl McClellan

If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn with me to Zechariah, not kidding, Zechariah chapter number three, Zechariah chapter number three. It's my encouragement that you bring your Bible with you. I want to make sure we keep on opening up this wonderful text, this beautiful love letter from God to all of us. Zechariah chapter three, beginning in verse number one, it says, then he showed me Joshua. If you're having a hard time finding Zechariah, go to Matthew and go back a couple of books. Then he showed me Joshua, the high priest, standing before the angel of the Lord and Satan standing right at his side or at his right side to accuse him. The Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you. Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire? I could have called this snatched, but I didn't want to. Do you know the longest running animation show in TV history? Do you all know what this is? Simpsons. That's right. It's a Simpsons. Do you know, do you know the longest running live action TV drama in US TV history? Law and Order. That's right. Law and Order. Okay. We're talking about spinoffs and everything. Law and Order. Today we are looking at a text that I want you to see as a courtroom. I want you to see that we are entering in to this drama and I want you to disconnect yourself from and understand that you are sitting here at the trial. You're watching this thing happen. It is happening right there in front of you.

There is the prosecution. There is the defendant. There is a judge. All of this is happening right there in front of you. That's why today I'm titling this Law and New Order. I thought it was going to be cheesy, but I was doing it anyway. I'm like, it's the end of the year. Let's do this. Law and New Order. In this text right here, you've got the prosecutor, who's Satan, the accuser, and you have the high priest. Now, to us, maybe high priest doesn't mean all that much, but in the Old Testament, this is like the leader of leaders. This is the individual that represents God to the people and represents the people to God. To see the high priest in this text, he's not dressed in his fine, clean clothing like he would need to wear, especially when he's in the presence of the Lord. This high priest is filthy. He's dirty from head to toe. He is disheveled and this is not right. It would be like a surgeon going in for surgery and he or she does not scrub in. They go in for surgery and they're wearing dirty clothes. It'd be like you preparing for your wedding and instead of you having on clean clothes, you throw on dirty clothes. You would never do that for your wedding. In this text here, the high priest is supposed to be dressed like one of the lawyers, but instead he's dressed like one of the prisoners. He's filthy. It's as if he's been in the trash heap. It's as if before he came into the presence of the Lord, he went and was rummaging through

all of the garbage. This man is covered in head to toe with filth and disgust and dirt on him. And we're told some certain things are beginning to happen. The high priest now wearing what he's not supposed to be wearing or dressed dirty like he's not supposed to be dressed dirty is standing there in this courtroom and there is someone accusing him. We are told some things in this text and there's some other things we're not told. We're not told how Joshua got filthy. We're not told a number of different things. things. We're also not told what Satan was saying to Joshua. We're not told the words that he used, but we can use our imagination for that. Because you've been accused. You have been on the other side of Satan accusing you. You don't matter. You're a fake. Oh really? You think God will pick you? Oh, you think you think you can be used by God in that way? Oh, you think you'll have a good marriage? You? You know your family? Oh, so you think you're gonna be able to get ahead and break the cycles of generational poverty and brokenness and unhealth in your family? You're right. You're right. Not you. Look at you. Look at your hair. Look at your skin. Look at your gender. Look at your eyes. Look at your nose. Look at the school you went to. What makes you think you, not you. If you were actually a good leader, you know you wouldn't actually have to deal with that at work. You know, if you are actually, if you were actually called by God, you wouldn't be going through what you're going through right now. You know that, right? Something's wrong with you, and it's wrong to your core. It's not just a bad decision you made. You're the bad decision. That's who you are. We all at some point in time have navigated the the prosecution, the enemy coming at us and telling us we're a terrible mother, a terrible father, a terrible leader, a terrible person that we somehow do not measure up, and we've heard it in our ears, some of us, for so long. It's the reason we can't even trust people. It's the reason that you won't even join the church. You'll come. I'm not joining. It's the reason some of us work so much is we're trying to silence this voice. The

reason some of us work out so much is we're trying to prove to ourselves or to this accuser that I am somebody. That's the reason some of us are drinking so much or keeping so many secrets, hiding so many things that it looks like we have it all together, but we can't hear that accuser. Man, he doesn't let up. Not you. You're worthless. It'll never happen. You're done. It's only a matter of time. The Bible does not tell us what Joshua says. It gives no record that he responds at all. It does not tell us that Joshua takes up his case. We can only see that the enemy has these receipts, and he's calling on all the mistakes and brokenness and filth that he can see on Joshua, this high priest. And Joshua is under a tidal wave of accusation. A tidal wave of being berated. A tidal wave of you don't measure up. And Joshua can't say a word, so someone else does. Someone else speaks up. It's not Joshua that speaks up. In the text, it'd be cool if Joshua came from the ashes. No, no, no. There's no Joshua. All of a sudden, him turning it around. It is, look at verse number two again, because maybe you forgot. In verse number two, it says, the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, Satan. Joshua does not have to stand up for himself, because God stands up for Joshua. Some of us are so tired because we keep trying to stand up for ourselves, and I need you to know that you have a God in heaven that's standing up for you. You're fighting so many battles trying to prove yourself to everyone you've already been loved you've already been saved you've already been set apart the god of heaven says son daughter i got this one i've got you and i know you're filthy but i'm clean and i'm telling this enemy shut your mouth the lord rebuke you satan i pray that this makes its way all the way to your bedroom makes its way all the way to your car makes its way all the way to the private places when you go on your walks i pray it makes it to the spots where you know you're tormented i pray you hear the word of the lord when you drive past the place that you wish you did not have to drive past because it always reminds you of the thing in your past i pray that you would see that god is standing up for you in that moment and he says to satan the lord rebuke you you don't have to fight this battle yourself you have to fight this battle yourself so now uh the lord stands up to the devil gets in the way of joshua who's filthy and the accuser the judge steps in objection

and he's the one that's ruling this whole courtroom can i do a quick little um quick little off rant real fast okay this quick little offering um i'm so thankful my mom had me in church when i was uh growing up parents have you kids in church it's a good thing okay okay it's for later it's not just for now okay it's for later not just for now sports are good my kids are in sports too but gotta remember keep them in the house of god okay we're trying to raise them up okay not just at church to keep on being the church in in your house uh too so so my mom had me in church i'm i'm grateful that she did in my church growing up uh we have like a prayer meeting and in a prayer meeting uh it could go something like this sometimes beautiful i mean hearts of gold these people beautiful people and they're like lord we thank you so much that you're so good you're so faithful and then somebody in the uh the person praying would go and devil let me tell you you're you know start talking to the devil so in the prayer they're talking to the lord then in the same prayer they start talking to the devil i don't pray that way i think god hears it and understands when we do that but that's not how i pray when i pray i do not in prayer i talk to god i don't talk to the devil because the devil's not omnipresent so when we're in a circle and we're praying and we're talking to god he's everywhere the devil is not created being underneath the authority this is not an equal battle here god is the final authority so i don't begin to talk to the devil now i there is authority that the believer has do not get me wrong powerful authority because we're now representing god on this earth we are his sons and daughters ambassadors of another kingdom jot down luke chapter 10 if you want to you can read that a little bit later i'm not going to turn there right now luke chapter 10 verses 18 19 and 20 jesus talks to his disciples says hey man i've given you this authority and power you got this uh don't just rejoice about that rejoice that your name is written in the land book of life but you've got power you've got authority but then also jot down this this verse that can sometimes be missed in jude uh chapter one there's only one chapter in jude but jude chapter one uh verses eight and nine in jude chapter one verses eight and nine it talks about how there are some people that will slander celestial beings but it says even the archangel michael when he was dealing with satan said the lord rebuke you so i think the bible here is trying to teach us that when you and i are in a moment of prayer we can stand up with full assurance and we can say god i thank you that you're good in every place that there is darkness we declare the lord rebuke you we are speaking our authority because it comes from the god who loves us and is our father

now there are some moments where i do think it's appropriate to talk to the devil on thursday um a couple thursdays ago we have our lyman bible study here uh in dallas uh there's also one in frisco or starting one in san antonio uh here here soon uh the guys were together and there was a homeless lady that came up this is how i'm remembering the story told to me and she just needed some things so the guys gave her a coat and a blanket you know just being the hands and feet of jesus in a beautiful way and then this lady turns to the guys and says hey pray for me get the devil out of my head well in that moment You can without a shadow of a doubt stand in front of that woman, just like Jesus stood in front of those demoniacs and had all these moments in scripture. You could say every demon that is oppressing and messing with this daughter of the king, I come against you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord. You walk into a room that when you go home for Christmas, maybe the house is dark and it just feels off. You say, Lord, everything that's in this house that's unlike you, I command that to go in the name of Jesus Christ. I think that your glory and your power lives here. We walk through our house. We anoint our doors with oil. The oil is not the thing that makes it special. It's just a sign of the Holy Spirit. I put in the sign of a cross too. This is not voodoo. This is me saying, God, I want you here. I want your power. I want your glory and I thank you that you rule and reign over every single bit of darkness. You do not walk in fear. You do not walk in intimidation.

You are a king. You are a queen. You are a son. You are a daughter of Almighty God and you have the authority of heaven behind you. The Lord rebuke you, Satan. Get off my kids. Get off my family. Get off my mind. Get out this home. Let me get back on the ramp. Back on, okay. Quick little, went to Bucky's. Now we're hopping back on. Okay. Now back on, go to verse number three with me. Go to verse number three. Verse number three. Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes. We already heard this. He was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel. The angel said to those who were standing before him, take off his filthy clothes. Then he said to Joshua, see, I have taken away your sin and I will put fine garments on you. Then I said, put a clean turban on his head. So they put a clean turban on his head and clothed him while the angel of the Lord stood by. Verse number three, I want you to see that he's still dirty but God is still drawing him close.

That God did not wait for him to get clean before he rebuked the enemy and he did not wait for him to be clean before he stood in the gap for him. While he's still dirty, God is fighting this battle. You and I got plenty of friends thinking I'll come to God when I get my life right. When I get cleaned up. That's when I'll get it right. This man is the high priest. He's so elite. This man is ESPN top five. He is coming out of high school. He could go right to the league. He's at the pinnacle. He is at the top of his class. And even someone who's at the top ends up dirty and God does not even wait for the one who should, quote, unquote, know better to clean himself up. God steps in for that person before they can clean themselves up. So he's still dirty. Now as he's still dirty, you can jot down this verse too, real quick, Romans chapter 5, verse number 8. It says, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now a moment begins to happen and he says, hey, you know, take these clothes off and put these other things on. I'm not going to turn there now. I wanted to but for the sake of time I will not. Ephesians chapter 4, you can jot this down, Ephesians chapter 4 verses 22 through 24.

That whole chapter is just amazing. We're probably going to go through the book of Ephesians sometime next year. It's so, so good. But Ephesians chapter 4, verses 22 through 24, it talks about you and I taking off the old clothes and putting on the new clothes. Because some of us have given our lives to Jesus but it's like you haven't let these clothes be taken off. So you keep living with the old stuff. So he's trying to paint a picture here, you were one thing, you're going to be something else. You were going one way, now you're going another way. This is the imagery that is happening here. But in the text, it then says, put a clean turban on his head. And this jumped out at me, this jumped out at me. Let me see if I got this picture. Let's see if I got this picture. Yep. So, I tried GPT'd this. You know, put it in my description. And the high priest would wear, I actually had a very elaborate outfit that the high priest had to wear. Every piece of it meant something. The ephod, the colors, all of it. But there was this turban that was on his head. Now, in this text, this vision that we're seeing from Zechariah, the high priest, he's filthy. And then the Lord says, and this Lord is what they would call a theophany, it's a self-manifestation of God

in the Old Testament. In this self-manifestation of God, many scholars will believe that this is actually the pre-incarnate Christ that is showing up in this moment, in this vision with Zechariah. So, here is the pre-incarnate Christ. That's why he can take away sins. It's not just some little fat baby angel. Here is God saying, I've got the authority to do this. And what I'm going to do is I'm gonna put a clean turban on your head. This high priest turban has this Hebrew phrase that means holy to the Lord, holy to the Lord. Meaning, this person who I put this on is set apart for the Lord, belongs to the Lord. Does not belong to himself or herself, belongs to the Lord. Holy to the Lord. This is the turban that God places on Joshua, even though Joshua was filthy, God now says, no, you're holy to me. I was reading this and what jumped off the page at me is how we treat each other. Husbands and wives, you know how you can get on each other's nerves? Husbands and wives, you know how you can get on each other's nerves? Okay. Roommates, you know how you can get on each other's nerves? You know, you got friends, you're like, oh man, we were good, but now, oh my God, I can't stand it.

You know how this happens, you know, just life happens. Some of y'all going home in this holiday season, the people that get on your last nerve, you know, people at your job? Yeah, some of y'all are like, yes, brother, yes. Oh my God. So you hear this clean turban. I want you to see, husbands, wives, roommates, friends, that when you're interacting with this person, I want you to see God placing a clean turban on their head that says that person is holy to the Lord. Tell me if you're able to cuss somebody out when you see on their head holy to the Lord. Tell me if you are able to devalue, disrespect, tear down somebody when you look at them with a clean turban on that says holy to the Lord. Tell me, parents, when your kids are getting on your last nerves at times and you see on their head a clean turban that says holy to the Lord, that yes, our emotions might be saying one thing, but now I want to come into alignment not with what my emotions say or what the world says. I want to come into alignment with what God says about this person in front of me. They are holy to the Lord. This past week in Dallas, it was beautiful. We had our Christmas outreach and this Christmas outreach, as we are, the people were getting in line at 6 a.m. For gifts. 6 a.m., we didn't open until 10 or 11 o'clock.

They're in line at 6 a.m. waiting because they cannot, they don't have the means and resources to be able to provide a Christmas for their kids and grandkids. In Shoreline City, you've given, you've prayed, and we're able to go out and buy all these gifts and create this amazing, beautiful experience. The moment I pulled up, I saw the line beginning to wrap all the way around the school, and then I see Shoreline City's serve team, people who have gone through join. I see them with aprons on. I see them outside, walking up and down the aisle with people waiting, and they have a clear tray, and on the clear tray are these beautiful white cups, and in those beautiful white cups is hot chocolate with a little toothpick with a marshmallow across the top of it. just to make it perfect. And they're walking up and down the aisle saying, I'm so glad you're here. Would you like some hot cocoa? We'll be opening in a little while. What were we doing there? We were seeing a clean turban on every single one of these people saying you are holy to the Lord. You might not have a lot of money right now, but you're holy to the Lord. I know you might feel devalued

because you got to wait in line, but you're not devalued. You're holy to the Lord. We just want to remind you how God sees you. Heard some of our teenagers got together and some of the leaders of our high school and went to a ministry on Saturday and they were there washing the feet of homeless people. Giving them food. Why? We're seeing a clean turban on them that says you are holy to the Lord. You might sleep under a bridge, but you are holy to the Lord. People might walk past you, but you're holy to the Lord. Why do we hold signs at all of our locations and have people at the doors smiling big when you walk in grumpy or you've been through the parking lot like dang, I wanted to park someplace else, but now I had to park all the way over here. But there are these people smiling big. What we're doing is we're putting a clean turban on you saying you are holy to the Lord. Why do we have people and kids right now, they're watching babies and we're not babysitting. What they're doing is saying every child, three months old, five months old, five years old, 11 years old,

you are holy to the Lord. We are putting a clean turban on you. Why do we want you being the church in the world at your job, at your home? Because you are the ones that go out and let the world know you are holy to the Lord. We are putting clean turbans on people. This is what God did in this moment. Now, can we keep on digging into this text just a little bit more? Come on, go with me to verse number eight. Go with me to verse number eight of Zechariah. Chapter three, verse number eight. Listen, high priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you who are men symbolic, watch this, of things to come. I am going to bring my servant, the branch. See the stone I have set in front of Joshua. There are seven eyes on that one stone and I will engrave an inscription on it says the Lord Almighty, and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. Okay. Have y'all seen Zootopia 2? Okay, it's good, okay, it's good. It's good. I'm not going to mess up the movie for you. It's worth it. You're an adult.

Go see it. You can say it yourself, that might be weird, but it's a good movie. We read here in this text that this high priest Joshua and this whole thing that's going on is symbolic of things to come. That's what the text tells us. It's symbolic of things to come. In Zootopia 2, there is an extra credit scene. You gotta wait, where all the credits go? You gotta keep on waiting, keep on waiting. You don't have to do that in a Marvel movie. Waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. Okay, boom, here it is. There's a scene. In the scene, there is a carrot. Carrot gets taken away from the windowsill, and then there is a feather that floats down onto the windowsill. Boop, gone. Scene ends, then we leave. Real quick, this little feather coming down, this little extra credit scene tells us this is Zootopia 3 coming. It's coming. Now, we have not seen the movie, but the creators have seen the movie. So they put something in this movie that's symbolic of something that's to come,

because what's going to come later on will have something to do with feathers and birds. Can I tell you that this text right here is letting us know that all of this is symbolic of something that is to come, that there is a high priest that is coming one day, and this high priest, this branch, this stone, all of this that's happening is a sign that there will be a day that the sins of the entire land will be taken away in a single day. That what was happening in the Old Testament could just cover sins, but it could not remove them. But there was a day coming that sins would not just be covered, but sins would actually be removed and it was gonna happen in a single day. Can I tell you, we are living in that day today. That's the day that Jesus got on that old rugged cross and removed the sins in a single day. Look with me in Hebrews chapter number nine. Hebrews chapter number nine. It says this, I got verse number nine. I'm gonna read all these verses and then we're gonna get out of here. It says, this is an illustration. Hebrews chapter nine, verse number nine. This is an illustration for the present time indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.

The writer here is talking about the Old Testament whole system. They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings, external regulations applying until the time of the new order. But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands. That is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the most holy place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean, sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemished to God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death so that we may serve the living God. All of this that was happening in the Old Testament was a picture of something that was gonna be happening in the future where the sins, your sins and mine, would be removed in a single day. Um, can I take another little off-ramp? It's a kind of little off-ramp here, okay? Back to Bucky's.

Um, can I tell you that there are clues God has given in your life that you and I missed? That he was actually, as the creator, working some things out for the future and you didn't even know he was working those things out? My wife, she loves fashion, okay? She loves to shop, she does. I thought it was a demonic stronghold in her life. I rebuked the enemy, I did, I did. Didn't work. And with her loving fashion, she's been like this since she was a kid. Been like this since she was a kid. She just always loved fashion. So, when we first got married, she was wanting to shop for clothes. I was like, that was not really in the budget. So we talked about it and she got a part-time job at this place called BCBG, okay? It's a clothing store. I don't think it's in existence anymore. She goes to BCBG and she worked there because she could get the discount and she liked the clothes. So essentially, when she got paid, she gave that check right back to BCBG, okay? I'm convinced we were losing money in this whole deal. I'm convinced of it. But she's working one day, one shift, maybe two shifts. One day she is there and she hears all this commotion and all her coworkers are like, what, are you serious?

You just had a baby? No way, how are you in those jeans already? No way, no way, no way, no way. And then the lady says, yes, I have twins, but I just adopted them. And then the coworkers run over to Onika, they go, oh my goodness, Onika, you and Earl are wanting to adopt. This lady, she just adopted too. So Onika goes over and she's talking to this young lady and she says, yeah, me and my husband want to adopt as well. And then the lady says, well, my adoption agency, they're gonna actually be here in like a couple of days. The caseworker that I work with is gonna be here in a couple of days. Do you wanna meet with them? We're like, sure. So we're in Austin, Onika and I at the time, and we sit down at breakfast with these couple of caseworkers who are a part of Gladney Center for Adoption. And we sit down with them and we have this beautiful interaction. And then we decide, okay, we're jumping on this journey. This is a lot more emotions and thoughts in all of this, but just to speed up the story, we sit down with Gladney and two and a half years later. Years later, we got this cute, little, fat, scrumptious guy, Grayson, that comes into our life. Now, when Onika's younger,

and she has this leaning towards fashion, someone might think it's just about fashion. But it was symbolic of something else that was to come, that God says, I'm gonna give you a desire for this thing, so I can have you at the exact place you need to be, so you can meet the exact person you need to meet, so that you can bring the exact child into your life that I've called to come into your life. Can I tell you that God is your producer? Can I tell you that God is your director? Can I tell you that he's the creator of your story? And I'm praying in the name of Jesus, that the next chapter and the next version and the next film of your life is better than you could ever possibly imagine. I am speaking utter breakthrough and anointing and strength over your life. I am praying that the sequel to your life is better than you could ever possibly imagine, because God, in his graciousness and his kindness, is leading and guiding into all truth and putting you at the right place at the right time with the right people, so that you can make it on earth as it is in heaven and be the hands and feet of Jesus in your generation. Let me get back on the ramp. Back on the highway. Matthew chapter one, and we're done. Matthew chapter one. First book of the New Testament.

I think we're going to verse number 20, I think. Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife. Matthew chapter one. Because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. Everybody say Jesus. You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. As I land this plane here, Joshua and Jesus are the same name, just in different languages. So in Zechariah, we're talking about the sins being removed in a single day. Again, all of this is symbolic of something that's to come. And these names, Joshua and Jesus, they mean the Lord saves. So in Christmas, we are celebrating the arrival of the one who will fulfill this Old Testament prophecy that the sins would be removed in a single day. Law and new order. Go ahead and play my sound again, play my sound again. We got it? Oh. Let it be in Jesus' name. Hey, in just a moment, we're going to have what I would consider definitely one of the most important moments of our time together.

This is not our time to try to leave or move around. It's our time right now just to focus in our gathering, because there are some people that are about to make the most important decision that they could ever make. So I'm going to invite up our campus pastor at all of our locations, just so that we can have this holy moment together as a family. Eric, come on up. Pastor Earl, thank you so much for that message. Pastor Earl, thank you so much for that message. I love how he connected our lives to like a movie or a film. And we're all of us are in different scenes of our life. And I want to take a moment for us to just pause and reflect on what's the scene that you're in and where should your heart posture be towards the Lord? Because I think there are some of us that are here today and it's like, okay, it's the holidays. This is a good time for me to just do an alignment check to make sure I'm right with the Lord. But I think there are some of us today where it's like, I actually need to repent. I need to turn around. I need to completely change my direction so I can get in alignment with the Lord. So what we're going to do is I'm going to ask everybody in the room to go ahead and bow your heads and close your eyes. We do this just so you can focus,

those who are joining us online, just so you can focus. Where are you at? Where are you at? Do you feel distant from the Lord? Do you feel dirty? I think today can be a day where you can be brought near, you can be cleaned up. That's the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So if you're here today and you're saying, yep, that's me. I need to give my heart to Christ. I need to repent. I need to turn around. Or maybe you're even going to rededicate your heart to Christ. Maybe there was a time in your life where Jesus was first and you're like, you know what? I've kind of got off a little bit. And as I'm about to go into this next year, I need to get realigned. This is your moment. So I'm going to ask you to do something very simple, but I also think it's something very bold. I'm going to ask you on the count of three to just shoot up your hand saying, yep, that's me. I want to surrender my life to Christ. Are you ready? One, two, three. Shoot up your hand. It's beautiful. I see hands all over this space. It's beautiful in the balcony, in the back. More importantly, the Lord actually sees this moment. He sees your hands. So church family, we're going to do this together. We're all going to put our hand over our heart. I want us to say this prayer out loud together. Say, dear Jesus, thank you for forgiving me all of my sins. I admit I've made mistakes, but today I give you my heart. I give you my life. Give me the power to live for you. In Jesus name. Everybody said, amen. Come on, you can lift your heads and clap our hands for those who gave their heart to Christ.