Overcoming Shame

Hey, wasn't the baptisms amazing? Can we just thank God for the stories and I also want to just highlight a couple of personal stories that are happening within our church today. Stories at our Liberty Hill Leander campus where a young lady, Hannah Anderson, 29 years old, mother of two little children, was diagnosed with terminal cancer this week. But how many believe? We can believe that God is the God that can heal and deliver her. But what it has done is that today she's being water baptized at the Liberty Hill Leander campus and pray for Hannah. It's on Facebook, different platforms, but pray for Hannah. Pray for her family, her husband, her children. And then at about 10.06, as Reese is walking up on the platform at our Central Austin campus, Reese, our pastor there, he gets the word that his father had passed away as he's been sick in Boston. Reese was planning on going tomorrow as they were having to make the decisions, the final moments, the final days. But I know Reese was just asking God to take him home and so Reese, as he's walking up on the platform to preach, he got the text from the family that his father had passed away. Lord, I thank you that you're the God who is with us in our grief. And Lord, I thank you even today, Lord, that you're comforting Reese and his family. Lord, I thank you that you're comforting, even today, Hannah and her family. But Lord, we're also believing that you're the God of miracles and signs and wonders. Heal Hannah in the name of Jesus. Lord, I just thank you that nothing is too hard for you. And Lord, I do know in this room there are people, people watching, that God are going through maybe a sudden sorrow, a sudden situation. Lord, diagnosis, I thank you that you're the God who is with us, that in our grief you were grieved. Lord, I thank you that in our pain you were pained.

I thank you that Jesus, you are near to the broken. Lord, I thank you that you are the God who does all things well and you're never going to leave us nor forsake us. And all of God's people said, amen. One more time, can we just thank God for his mercy and his grace? And welcome to those that are new to our church and those that have been visiting. And many of you are new to our church since Easter, it's great to have you. And of course, we want to welcome our campuses that are watching and 13 correctional facilities and those that are incarcerated. You are not a project. You are not a problem. You're the people of God and we consider you a part of our church, Celebration Church. Can we just say hello to everybody that is joining us today? And I want to get right into the word as it relates to today's subject and topic and part of the series is where we are as it relates to the good news of God. But today's subject is probably something that I, in fact, I know deals, it's going to deal with all of us in our innermost being. It's what we all have to have to overcome because I really do believe that it is one of the primary thought today will be, it's one of the great weapons of the enemy. Let's begin though with this verse in Romans chapter seven, Paul, the apostle would write beginning in the 24th verse, wretched man that I am. And I don't think it came like in a very silent way. I think it was probably something he shouted out. Wretched man that I am. You ever done something that you just said, why did I do it? How many have ever said something that you, you literally are watching, you're watching an outer body experience of you going, I'm about to die because I'm about to say something to my wife that I should not be saying wretched man that I am. And she's going to say back wretched man that you are. And Paul is like wrestling.

Paul's not happy with himself. Paul is frankly kind of dealing with what we all have to deal with. And we'll get there in a moment. Who will set me free from the body of this death? This body, this flesh that we're in that he says, but thanks be to God. Notice the next shout. Thanks be to God. Wretched man that I am, but thanks be to God. Doesn't take him long to realize he's got to get back to God. Doesn't take him long that when he knows that he's a wretched man, he goes back to God. He works his way and makes his way back to where we all need to make our way. How many know you need to keep your account short? Don't go years. Don't go. In fact, don't go hours, man. Just go, God, I'm going back to you. So he shouts wretched man, verse 25, but thanks be to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. On one hand, and this is it. On one hand. I, myself, with my mind, am serving the law of God. I know what I want to do. I know where I want to go. But then on the other, I have this flesh. I have this body that I am involved with. My flesh has this law of sin. It doesn't want to keep the law of God. It doesn't want to do right. Let's go to another scripture. Paul would later say in Romans 8, 1, the next, of course, paragraph, chapter,

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, what the keeping of the law cannot perform, it's weak, weak as it was through the flesh. But how many are thankful for the performance of God? God did it. God performed it. God was able, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh. That's why He was man. Yes, He was God, but He was also man. He came, though He was never in His nature as it relates even to His manhood. He came in the flesh, but He was never wronged or He'd never sinned. And the Bible says, and as an offering for sin, He condemns sin in the flesh. First Corinthians 15, again, a little shout, verse 57 and 58, Thanks be to God. I don't think Paul is, again, whispering this. You're seeing these, each one of these, I think, has some shouting in it. It's got some loud expression. Wretched man that I am, but thanks be to God. No condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 58, Therefore, those that are of the beloved, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Knowing that your toil is not in vain. If you haven't figured it out by now, you will, that the life of a true Christian and a true believer and a true follower of Jesus brings with it, though it is good and though it can be fun and though it can be a life that we are, frankly, to enjoy. But with this life often comes, and it is, a battleground. That as great as it is, there are going to be great battles. There's going to be great wars.

And of course, oftentimes, we want the fun factor. We want those good feelings, those good vibes, and we wonder after we get saved and we have those initial feelings of emotions that are wonderful and they correspond, frankly, to the Word of God. The Bible talks about the kingdom of God being righteousness, which produces peace, which produces joy. The joy of the Lord, frankly, is our strength. That is part of what we do experience as a result of following Christ and having this nature of Christ inside of our lives. But the reality is, the fun zone doesn't always last. And then we find ourselves wondering, where is the fun? And now we go from a fun zone to a war zone. Kind of like going to Chuck E. Cheese. How many know you go and you're having fun, and then the war? Let's take all these tickets and buy something with it. How many have ever spent thousands of dollars on erasers and whatever else you can throw away 10 minutes later? Jesus very clearly told us in John chapter 10, He says, the thief, the enemy, the devil. And of course, He does say, He just declares it. There's a thief, there's a demonic power, there's a force, there is a Satan. You saw it last night. You saw it again last night. My son was supposed to be in that event last night. My nephew was supposed to be in that event last night. We do believe, I do believe that as the world, the Bible says, as the day of the Lord draws near, there is a greater and greater intensity. The Bible says Satan knows his time is short and he unleashes wrath. It's a world that we're all aware of that is not just normal anymore. The conversations are not just normal. The fights are not just normal.

Sure, there used to be fights at airports and people struggling trying to get their tickets, but how many know now you can just go, whoa, here we go. This is going down. I'm in, I'm right here. I'm watching this. I mean, it doesn't matter, and we're seeing this, all of this, I really do believe is a demonic manifestation, the world that we're living in. And so it's very clear that Satan, of course, Jesus calls him a thief. He's a burglar. He's an intruder. He loves to mess things up. He wants to destroy, and what he wants to do, as Jesus said, he comes to kill, to steal, to destroy. I have come that you may have life, and life abundantly. I have come, and there's a couple of ways to look at this. I've come to give you eternal life. I've come to give you salvation, but I've also given you, and I want that abundant life to be the enjoyment of salvation. I don't want you to just be saved. I know people that are saved, they don't look like they enjoy it. You ever been around some people that's like, I'm going to heaven, Jesus is my Lord and Savior. I mean, they meet all the requirements if you say, if Jesus is Lord and Savior, do you believe he was the Lamb of God that takes away the sin, and they'll check all the boxes except their face has never found the joy. You need to tell your face that you're saved. Some people say, well, that's not how I see salvation. Well, that's not what God says about salvation, that when one person turns to Christ, all the heaven rejoices. It's a party.

It's joyful. It's the expression of why we were created to be with him forever and ever. And Christ made that possible. But Satan loves, and of course, he comes in to steal, to destroy, to mar, to mess up, to pervert. That's what he is. And what is he trying to mar? What's he trying to pervert? What is he trying to keep you from? He can't keep you when Christ, of course, has, I believe, has called you, and he's picked you, and you're drawn to him, and you know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life. How many know that Satan cannot take that name? He can't take your name out of the Lamb's Book of Life, that he can't pluck you out of God's hand. But what he can do, and what he will do, is he may not be able to pluck you out of eternal life, but what he can do is to keep you from becoming the person that God has created you to be, so that in your own life, you begin to grow up into a mature man and woman of God. If he can keep you perpetually adolescent, if he can keep you in nursery school, if he can keep you in elementary school, Hebrews tells us, let's go on and get beyond the elementary principles of life. Let's just quit living in the same rotation of sins. The old theologians used to say, Christians are not people who rotate. We are people who march. We don't just keep circling. Deuteronomy says in chapter 1, we don't continue to circle the same mountain over and over. Let's move on. Let's grow up. Come on, turn to the person next to you and say, grow up.

Some of you didn't want to look at the person next to you, because they're going to act like a three-year-old and punch you in the face. You grow up. When we talk about this warfare, when we talk about this battleground, when we talk about what is oftentimes a war zone, I really do believe this is why he would tell us, Paul would write these words, the same Paul who just wrote, of course, Romans and 1 Corinthians and two-thirds of the New Testament. He says to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse 11, he says, I don't want Satan to take advantage of us, so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan. Notice what he says, Satan can take advantage, Satan can get a stronghold, Satan can keep you and I. The Bible says it, that he has, notice, a scheme, that last word there, that you and I would not be taken advantage of by Satan, for we are not to be ignorant of his schemes. That word there is stratagems. It's a Greek word for strategy. He's got a playbook, and he knows how to play this game. He's got a way that he can keep you and keep me from becoming what God has called us to be. He loves to pick people off, and he is a God, Satan, I should say, the God of this world, the Bible says, who loves to pick, and he loves to pick people off, and it's not a coincidence that as soon as you said Jesus, I want to follow you. It's not a coincidence that as soon as you said Jesus, I want you. your life, I want to trust you as my Lord and Savior, that all of a sudden you find yourself in a war, and that is something that you just need to understand. This is what you're a part of, because there is a war for your soul. There's a war for this world. But how many are thankful? Thanks be to God who's given us the victory. That's why Paul says, I know I deal with some wretchedness, I know I deal with some wickedness, I know that I find myself with these crazy thoughts, and I don't know why and where they

come from. And he goes, but thanks be to God. I thank you, God, there's no condemnation. God, I know that there is just this war that is happening, and the Bible says that he loves to take advantage of us by you and I being ignorant of how he does it. This is where I want to go with this message today, that the greatest weapon and the greatest scheme that often arrests us from moving forward, that will, I guess, say it like this, from becoming what God wants us to become ultimately, is this subject of shame. And of course, when we talk about sin, we talk about shame. How many know we've all sinned? The Bible says we've all sinned in what? Fallen short of the mark, the glory of God. We've all missed the mark. How many have missed the mark this morning before, in fact, it's just been one of those days? I know you did. Don't tell me you didn't. You did. We all did. There's thoughts. I mean, they're just things. And of course, we're not talking about, you didn't kill anybody on the way to church this morning, but you thought about it. I hit every red light, every red light, every red light, and I got behind every slow driver that's ever been, should not be allowed to drive in the history of the world. And we go to these thoughts. We have these ideas. Now, we all, the Bible says we've all missed. We've all sinned. That's the first way.

In fact, you can't be saved until you acknowledge, I'm a sinner. God, I accept it. I know who I am. I can't save myself, only you, the sinless one. But the next, what comes with sin, is what often never comes off of people's lives. And that's the shame. That is what I believe ultimately is one of the greatest advantages, one of the greatest schemes that Satan uses because instead of living as sons and daughters securely in Christ, we are still living like slaves because of the shame. It's the prodigal who came back to the father as he did what he did. You know the story. If you don't, he would waste on his life, the inheritance, the blessing. And he said, I just want to go back. I've sinned against heaven. First thing he said, I've sinned against heaven. I've sinned against heaven. I've sinned against my father. See, that's what you got to understand. For you to be reconciled to God, you got to understand who you need to be reconciled back to. And so he said, I'm going to go back because I've sinned against heaven, I've sinned against my father. And as he makes his way back, he just simply says, let me just be a slave. I just want to be saved. I just want to be in. I don't want to be out. I want to be in. I just want my name in the language book of life. And the father said, that's not salvation. My salvation is to remove all the shame off of your life.

And some of us live in that residue of shame. And instead of living as sons and daughters, we live with this fear. And of course, a slave can't live in boldness. Slave can't live in confidence. A slave doesn't live in peace. A slave doesn't live in joy or acceptance. And what ends up happening, what is shame? Shame is, I didn't just do wrong, I am wrong. Guilt says, I did wrong. I did bad. I missed it. I was off. But shame says, you are that which you did. Shame says, I am wrong. I am bad. And I can never change. And I do believe that what Christ came to give us was a way out. And that difference, of course, guilt and shame are two different levels. And God does give us conviction. How many know he convicts us of what is wicked, what is wrong? So that we can be led into, of course, forgiveness. But what ends up happening is that we end up taking on the lie of shame. And we end up making that our identity and our person. And it ends up becoming our point of view. And we end up living with this lens. And we see everything through the lens of shame. instead of the lens of the cross of Christ and His sacrifice. One of the great promises in the book of Isaiah is when he said in Isaiah, it's actually the messianic promises of the resurrection, fear not, as a result of the resurrection, fear not, you will not be put to shame.

Fear not, fear not, let not shame have its grip on you. Do not feel humiliation or humiliated, you will not be disgraced, but you will forget the shame, and this is where it often begins in our lives, the shame of your youth. The shame that comes, often times, through decisions that we made, the shame that came and of course youth being also a type and a picture of the past. Many of you were raised with a mom and a dad, a narcissist mom and a dad, that in the way that they parented you brought shame to everything that you did, because they carried shame, because they were shameful, and therefore as a result of the shame that often is passed from one generation to another, that one kind of parenting style often times that just inflicts shame, what ends up happening is that is something that lodges inside of you, and everything you look through in that lens of shame just continues to drive you to this very day. But what it does more than anything else, it keeps you from becoming what God ultimately wants you to know, is that He has not just come to set you free from the shame of your youth, He's not just come to cleanse you, He wants to crown you with honor. He wants to crown you, He doesn't just want to accept you, He wants to celebrate you. My father was wonderful, my mom and dad were wonderful people, but as a kind of a, just an analogy, my dad and I, we'd go play golf, my dad was a really good golfer, he was probably a better gambler than he was a golfer. He was a good golfer, but he would use golf to make money, to pay for the golf club and the country club. He used to say, dad, why don't we get to play, why don't you play with me? He says, son, do you like this country club? I said, yeah, I do. He says, well, I've got to pay for it. I said, well, you have a job, you're a football coach, the NFL football coach. He goes, I know. He says, but if I don't make money, I can't have this life, which means you don't have this life, which means we can't play together, because I can't make money off of you. And I went, okay, sounds good to me. So anyway, that's what happens when you have a dad from the depression. But my dad, as he would teach me how to play golf, in a small way, he would say, that shot, if I made a bad shot, he'd go, you're an idiot. I'm like, why am I an idiot? Because I looked up. Well, he says, idiots don't look up. Now, I know my dad, and I know he loved me, but I know what was bleeding out of his mouth was often probably what bled out of his father's mouth. And that is, watch, guilt is in relationship

to your actions, but shame is your identity. And that is what often is the greatest scheme that Satan uses. You didn't just have a bad action. You didn't just have a bad day. You didn't just have a bad moment. You didn't have a bad decision, a bad choice. You just didn't save what you said. You are that. And you begin to believe the lie, and you begin to buy into what shame is, and that is, you will never forget. You can never be released. You can never be forgiven. And that shame, and this is what shame does, it soils you. It stains you. It sticks with you. It spreads. It goes global. And when it begins to speak, it actually speaks lies. It speaks stories. And you begin, here's the other thing, you begin to believe the lies. And just as soon as you get a breakthrough, just as soon as you see some measure of success, just as soon as maybe an answer to a prayer, or just as soon as something good starts working for you and for your family, a voice, whether it's internal or from somewhere else, begins to say, no, we know who you really are. We know what you really are. And there is this constant lie that I am dirty. I am disgusting. I cannot be forgiven. That's shame. Oh, you would say, I know God loves me. I know He has forgiven me. But you have this constant consciousness that you can't get out of your thing. See, this is what happens, and our reaction with shame is that we're dirty, we're disgusting, but let me also tell you what it does. It shrinks you, and it begins to cause you to want to disappear, to go away. It begins to change, and of course, what it does is it changes your thinking. It changes your vision, your perspective about yourself, about others, about the future, about God. In other words, shame always brings into question God's love, God's view, God's opinion, and everything in life is dependent upon vision. Everything in life is your point of view, and when you have this soil of shame as a result of that which happened in your past, whatever that might be, or those words of shame and those experiences of shame, and now you begin to carry and you continue to carry that point of view begins to dictate how you see everything. This is why oftentimes with shame comes blame. That's why with shame comes insecurity.

That's why with shame comes the lack of confidence. That's why with shame comes fear. When it comes to sin, of course, I believe that the ultimate weapon, as Satan does want us and does do what he can, as we know the seriousness of sin, but this is why Paul comes back over and over as it relates to sin. He goes, I know there's no condemnation for me in Christ Jesus. He shouts at it. That's why he shouts back at it. There's victory in Christ Jesus. Oh, wretched man that I am. Oh, man that I don't want to be, and then immediately on the heels of that, he confronts it, and he says, I'm not going to let this lodge in my mind. I'm not going to let this lodge in my spirit. I'm not going to let this lodge. I'm not going to let this live. I'm not going to let this have residence in me. I know what Christ has done for me. Thanks be to God who has given me the victory. It's either real or it's not. It's either true or it's not. He's either set me free from it or he hasn't. The reality is, is that some of us, some of us just, yeah, yeah, and then we're defeated. And we become people who, frankly, instead of taking our stand, and it doesn't matter when this happened, and it can come along the way, instead of us taking our stand and our position rightfully as sons and daughters of God, as God told us to be, bold, and to come boldly to the throne of what? Grace. Because it is not about anything that you have done or anything that you will do. It's on what he has already done and what he did for us at the cross. This is the mark.

This message, this topic, this subject is going to be the difference of whether you bring, watch this, not just yourself to heaven, but will you bring heaven to this world? Because Satan ultimately knows if he has an opportunity and a door to bring shame and embarrassment and those questions that come with shame and embarrassment and reproach into your thinking, into your belief, into your point of view, it will keep you from being what God has called you to be. Guys, I have no business on this platform based on a past. Some of you are like, talk to me about it, what is it? I don't know what it is anymore, because I'm in a sea of grace. I am not on this platform because I deserve it, and nor can you be on the platform that God has for you because you deserve it. I just believe what God has said, and that is the difference. That's the point of view, and when you see what Christ did, that's why Paul says there's no condemnation. Yes, there's conviction, but there's no condemnation. God sees all of us in Christ. The moment you take and you present your life in Christ, you take out of yourself into Christ, you trust Christ as Lord and Savior. When you're in Christ, you are clean, you are clear, you're perfected, you're new. He has severed you. He has forgiven you, but he has severed, it's illegal. term. It's a legal power. No more. The past. The power of sin. The Bible says in Romans chapter 5 verse 1, therefore having been justified by faith. Justified by faith. Justified. Right with God. That just means right with God. You're right with God. Right with God. Right with man by faith. Therefore we have peace with God through what? Through going to church more and more. No. Through our Lord Jesus Christ we have this peace. Through whom? It's a person. It's not a program. Through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith. This faith brings us into this sea called grace. We're in grace in which we stand. In which we don't just stand. We rejoice. Do you notice? Notice the progression. We don't just stand. We rejoice. We exalt. We boast. We brag if you will. In other words

there's no insecurity. And he says I know I am in grace because of my faith in what Christ did as the Lamb of God satisfying what in man needed to be satisfied. That which you and I could not do which is to satisfy God by keeping the law. By you and I performing the law. By you and I being what man was originally supposed to be. Perfect. The Bible says you and I could not do it. God did it. He answered God's request for a man. He answered, satisfied the pleasure of God. I don't bring pleasure by my performance to God. I bring pleasure to God by my faith in the Son who performs for me. Do you see that? If you don't see it, that's not your point of view. I'm just going to tell you what you're going to end up doing. You're giving him a door. You're giving him an opportunity to continue to sow these seeds of doubt and questions about you that you don't belong. And that when the enemy comes, notice how Paul takes it a little bit further. He says I can boast. I can rejoice. I don't have any threats in my spirit. Oh, it went down on the ground. I was wondering. I was about to question God's love to me if I didn't find those. He says I don't just stand but I have this exaltation. I have this glory because I have hope and I know that God is the God who has for me glory. And then he noticed the connection. He says so when I find myself in tribulations, I don't wonder if God loves me which often happens because of your shame or if you're shame based, if you have this residue of shame when tribulations come you begin to wonder God do you still love me? Are you against me? Why do I have this? Why am I going through this? Why did this take place? He does not say I struggle in my tribulations. He goes I know that God because of what he's already accomplished for me on the cross all things work together for good. He goes I actually in tribulations notice the next word after the word tribulations I know that tribulation is going to bring about something good like perseverance and proven character and character is going to produce hope and I know at the end of this battle, at the end of this trial, at the end of this season I know one thing I am firmly established in Christ and therefore whatever trial whatever tribulation whatever comes my way I know one thing I'm not going to be disappointed. I'm not fearful of the future. I am not going to be ashamed because I know who I am. I know where I'm seated with Christ in heavenly places. I want to just bring a little thought here in a book of Ephesians when you talk about husbands, wives and children you don't find Paul the apostle dealing with the practical

means of life husbands, wives, children, family all the things that you deal with regularly until chapter six. He is speaking from chapters one through five primarily of this thought seated with Christ in heavenly places. Many of us want teaching on being good parents, good husbands, good wives I'm all for that but don't get it out of order. You can't be a good husband, good wife and a good father and all the things that you want to be in your life until you know that you've been seated with Christ in heavenly places. Until you know that he's a good God and he's got great things for you. See this is why we have to have what the Bible gives us the proper prescription for you and I to be what God has called us to be. He says, Pastor Joe, you need to preach more on husbands, wives, children, chapter 6. I get that. But that is just frankly the icing on the cake. Because when you look at that whole book in context, he is having to say over and over, bringing this principle to the people of God, who they are and what their identity is because of what Christ did on the cross and was proven by His resurrection. Am I up here by myself? I don't agree with what I'm talking about. And if you got to understand, this is why he goes, I don't care what comes my way. That's why Paul could be in the prison of Rome and write the book of Philippians. We just went there. Paul takes his prisons and he turns them into books of rejoicing. But when we have our battle, let me just tell you, because of the shame, we don't have the perspective that Paul has and we don't have the perspective that God has. One of my very good friends tells me the story of his life. At the age of almost 13, his mom gave him a rifle as they lived up north in Dakota. And as that rifle was given to him for his 13th birthday, he was showing his friend that rifle and he was on the top bunk, his friend was on the top bunk and my friend was on the bottom bunk. And he thought all the bullets were out of the gun and he accidentally set the gun off and the gun went through the top bunk and went through the jugular vein of his best

friend at the age of 13 and was killed. Interestingly it just led his best friend to Christ six months before. My friend would tell you for one year, for one year after that, the shame, he would go from school to his closet because he didn't deserve to have fun, he didn't deserve to be happy, he didn't deserve to enjoy life, he only deserved judgment. And he said, nobody came to get me, nobody told me that it wasn't my fault, and he said I became a murderer in my own mind and no one rescued me, no one came to get me. Some of y'all feel like you're in a closet, some of you feel like you're in a place that as much as you want to rejoice, as much as you want to celebrate, as much as you want to enjoy and enjoy and rejoice with God and all that God's doing and knowing that your name is written in the last book of life, you've got that encounter, that experience, that story that Satan hangs over your head. This is why you shout. This is why Paul shouts, and let me give you a scripture because let me just tell you, the enemy is going to bark at you and he's going to screech at you as the scripture says in the old King James Version, the screeching voices of the owls and the vultures. He is a screamer, he screams at you at night, shame, shame, shame, if it was an abortion, if it was a rape, if you were violent, he screams dirty, dirty, dirty. Paul says, I know where this voice comes, thanks be to God, I have not just one day to have the victory, I have the victory. And my friend took the scriptures and shouted his way out as a 14-year-old boy from that darkness. And he said, to this day, that's why I believe God has given me, he would say, a heart to carry the gospel for God says there are people in captivity who no one will go and help get out of those closets. And he goes, that's why I live with such passion to tell somebody, you don't have to live in shame. You don't have to live in embarrassment. You don't have to live in reproach. You don't have to live with that stain that won't come out, but the reality is it has

come. And I know some of us in our days of youth, our stories, and those stories just are, they're there. And I'm not saying that they can always not have a remembrance or that there's not this kind of thought that pops up, but how many know we have the victory over those thoughts and we take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. So I want to give you a little another story before I just close some points. In the book of Numbers chapter 23, Israel, God's people, type in a picture of the church as they're coming and going into the promises of God. The enemy, the thief, the warfare around the big context of this story is through this false prophet, these false words, curse Israel, judge Israel, condemn Israel, bringing in to the journey of them arriving safely as sons and daughters. And when all of this was taking place, the book of Numbers tells us as this, as this lie, this false prophet was hired to bring judgment. The Bible says the word of the Lord comes back and this is what was declared. I can't declare in Jacob or nor is there observed misfortune or sin or wickedness or filth. I don't see when I see Israel trouble, though they were troubled, though they gave God trouble. He goes, but I don't see them as trouble. I don't see them as wicked and evil. I don't see them in a situation of shame for the Lord, his God is with him and the shout of a king. Oh, God brings them out of Egypt for he is with. The reason why you are not going to get over that shame is you won't shout back to the enemy. That is not who I am. I am a child of the living. You got to shout it back. I am not a rich. I am not a waste. I am not sad. I am not pathetic. I am not a mistake and I have been redeemed. And I'm just telling you while I'm speaking, you know, those stories, you know, those faults, you know, those mistakes, but the Bible tells us God shouts at us on the cross. It is finished. And that shout of the king, when he says the shout of the king, when the enemy, when Satan was trying to prophesy a lie to Israel, he says, there's a shout of the king. There's something greater inside of them than my cursing. That's why the Bible says in first John chapter three in verse 20, our heart knows we, when our heart says you are condemned, but it says in first John three 20, but God is great. How many are thankful that God is greater than our heart? God is greater than our sin.

And God is greater shout. Some of y'all need to quit listening to the lie, the voice of the let that shout come out of you. Because when he says, I tried to prophesy, I tried to curse, I tried to destroy, but there came out of them that shout of the joy, that shout of the king is the shout that I am right with God. My sins are forgiven. I'm clean. I'm holy. I'm right. I don't belong on this platform, but I have a greater voice that puts me on this platform. And that is I'm forgiven and I'm redeemed and I'm his boy. And if you don't get this, I'm just telling the enemy is going to do what he intends to do in your life. And that is to keep you not from eternal life, but bringing eternal life to a world. Paul, the apostle says, first Corinthians 13 is not on your nose. Paul says, when I was a child, I acted like a child. I behaved like a child. I reasoned like a child. But when I became a man, I put away what childish things, those things that happened to me as a child. That literal word there I put away means to rip up by the roots. I mean, no, you got to get angry at some weeds in your yard. Listen, I am the best Monsanto weed killer in my neighborhood. I did it again. Yes, I just die. I spray everything. I'm just telling you, I spray. I don't have a weed growing again. offense or any kind of war over and over I'm gonna tell you when it comes to shame some of y'all need to spray what God gave us that is his victory you are not a failure you're not a mistake you were not who and what happened in your life you have been redeemed it's time for us to shout listen some of us need to shout forgiveness I free them I let them go I'm not gonna be bitter you need to shout back the Word of God it is written that's what Jesus did he shouted thanks be to God who has given us the victory and that's why he says those four things he says be steadfast in 1st Corinthians 15 be steadfast shame will try to move you shame is gonna try to take away your perverse your perseverance then he says be immovable in other words stand still and no it's good you've been redeemed then he says abounding in the work of the Lord you know what that means be zealous because what Satan wants to do is to pull you out of serving God and being a part of his church and he just says you just deserve to go to church but you can't be the church oh no be zealous to serve be a part of the dream team be a part of what God wants to do

and then lastly he says be encouraged that your labor is not in vain which means God is gonna pay you and he's gonna pay everything back that the enemy has stolen how many believe that God wants to erase watch this I was the greatest blackboard eraser student in the history of second grade at James Madison Elementary School of Middle Louisiana when the teacher said who wants to erase the blackboard how many remember how many remember those boards back in the day I'd race it as powerful as fast but you know those old blackboards you could still see the residue you could still read here's what Christ did for us he erased us with his grace he erased all of our sins and all of our past and all of our shame with his grace and guess what not one speck of dust because the Bible says when he comes back he's coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle guess what you are as a member of the body of Christ you have no spots and you have no wrinkles with every head bowed and every eye closed how many today would say Lord I want your perspective of my life I don't want how I see my past my shame I want God today an eraser today I'm going to take the eraser of the Holy Spirit God I want your point of view of my life that I am your son and I am your daughter I am beautifully accepted in your love let me see your hand all over this place how many needed this who could use this message and parents some of you use shame to train your child you speak out of your own shame let God heal you today Lord today I thank you that you're shouting not in anger not in wrath but mercy and grace Lord today you're calling us to yourself Lord I pray right now over this church a beautiful eraser which was performed on the cross you sacrifice and God because of that blood that was shed for us Lord I thank you that there's no shame I am NOT based on my past I am based on who my God is and I shout Jesus Jesus I receive you and I rip up even right now Lord I will not allow any shame in any of the past to have its way in my life God thank you I am NOT wretched I'm not weak God I am a follower I am your child say this with me Lord Jesus I could shout today and I'm forgiven I am healed because I have a king inside of me Lord I declare I have victory over the world

over sin over shame over the past I am who you say I am Jesus I give you the glory give you the honor all of God's people shouted come on can we just thank hey stand to your feet real quick Abby hey we're gonna do something we're gonna do something some of y'all need to shout hey you need to shout don't tell me you can't shout I saw you shout listen I saw you shouted at Mardi Gras some of y'all old people Led Zeppelin or whoever you're listening to but listen we need to shout victory that we have been forgiven past, present, and future because of the blood of Jesus. On the count of three. One, two, three. Come on, let's give God the glory.