Pastor Dean Hackett + Communion
Sermon Transcription:
Father, I know you've got a word that you have special. You've been talking to me about breakthrough, breakthrough, breakthrough, and I believe that this is a breakthrough moment for some in this house today, Lord. There are individuals here that oh just need breakthrough in their life, and you are intending to give it. And I thank you for that, Lord, in the mighty name of Jesus. Would you put a hand over your heart right now and would you pray this word with me? Lord Jesus, I yield to your Holy Spirit to work in my heart now. May your word, the great scalpel, work in my heart, do surgery in my heart, and bring breakthrough into my life. I yield to you now, Lord. Amen.
When Jesus made his triumphant entry into the city of Jerusalem and the crowds were gathering and throwing their garments on the ground in front of him, and throwing palm branches on the ground in front of him, and crying out, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord!" He was fulfilling the prophecy of Zachariah 9:9 that reads, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey, a colt, the foal of a donkey." That prophecy that had been given just centuries before was now fulfilled. He was entering the city where crowds of thousands had gathered into the city for the Passover, the Pesakh, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the priests were going to test him for the next four days, finding him to be without blemish. The Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world was going to be sacrificed on Passover, but he had to be tested that week.
Well, one of the things that happened in the midst of that week, on one of the days, a small group of Greeks, that is, Hellenic Jews, came to Phillip and said, "We would see Jesus." Phillip went to Andrew and said, "We've got these Hellenic Jews here that want to see Jesus." Phillip and Andrew together went to Jesus and said, "There are these men here that want to see you." And Jesus' response seems out of place, almost odd, but it had a purpose. Together, everyone read out loud. John 12:23-28 "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, let him follow me; and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, him my Father will honor. Now, my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? "Father, save me from this hour?" But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." What an odd response. That would be like someone coming to your best friend and saying, "I would like to meet him or her," and they bring that person to you, and then you start into this odd, but not so. Jesus was saying to them, "You don't really know who you've come to meet. You don't really know my identity and my purpose. My identity declares my purpose, and furthermore, my identity and my purpose declare your identity and your purpose." And then Heavenly Father, again from heaven, declares his affirmation and his encouragement to his son.
This had happened before, three years earlier, at Jesus' baptism with John the Baptist. Remember when Jesus was baptized and was lifted up out of the water? There came the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove and sat on Jesus. And then, here comes Father's voice from heaven, declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." It happened again on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James, and John, when the elite three went with Jesus to the top of the mountain, and he was transformed before them. Heavenly Father spoke again, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him."
Now, Father, a third time, is declaring his affirmation and encouragement of his son. But there's something interesting that happens in scripture in the life of Jesus. The first time Heavenly Father declared his affirmation of his son, Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness for 40 days of fasting and prayer. And at the end of those 40 days of fasting and prayer, here comes Lucifer to tempt Jesus.
What was his temptation? He didn't come and say, "Wow, do a miracle." He didn't come and say, "Wow, walk on water." He didn't ask, he didn't do any of that for temptation. How did he tempt him? Two of the three temptations came this way: "If you are the Son of God..." First one, "Turn this stone to bread." Second one, "Throw yourself down, and God will protect you." If you're the Son of God, Lucifer came tempting Jesus by way of his identity. Are you really the Son of God? Now, I don't know about you, but I find that really odd.
I mean, he was with Jesus in eternity past. He knew Jesus created him. He knew. And yet, he's testing Jesus in his flesh, the man Jesus. Remember, Jesus is 100% man, 100% God. He's testing Jesus in his humanity. "If you really are the Son of God..." And then, following that, what does he do? He tests Jesus' purpose. "Jesus, fall down and worship me, and I will give you all these kingdoms." Now, the sad part is, they were his to give, because Adam and Eve had committed high treason.
They had been the stewards of all of God's creation. They committed high treason, and now he held that stolen authority and power to give it. But wait a minute, Jesus' identity and purpose had already been declared. Remember, King David wrote it in Psalm 2: "Why do the nations rage? Why are their leaders making a great uproar?" This is my paraphrase. You might want to look and read it in your own scripture, but he says, "Why? Why are they doing this?" He said, "I am having a laughing fit in heaven, because I have already established my king on his throne. I have established my son. Today have I begotten thee. Listen, ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the kingdom will have no end." Jesus' identity declared his purpose, and Lucifer came tempting him in his identity and then his purpose. Jesus didn't lose track; he didn't get distracted; he didn't question and doubt. In fact, multiple times Jesus Christ declared both his identity and his purpose.
Remember, he's in Jericho, and as he's going through Jericho, this little short guy that was a tax collector, who had stolen from everyone in town, had climbed a tree to see Jesus coming through. Jesus stops, looks at him, and says, "Zacchaeus, I want to have dinner at your house today," shocking everyone. He goes and has dinner with Zacchaeus, and somewhere in that meal, Zacchaeus' heart is moved, and he receives Jesus as Messiah. He humbles himself and says, "Jesus, I want you to understand, I've got a new heart. I'm going to pay everyone back, plus I'm going to give them restoration." Jesus says, "Today salvation has come to this house. Listen, for the Son of Man, declaring his identity, the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost." He declares his identity and his purpose.
But before that day, there had been another visitation. One evening in secret, one of the Pharisees comes to see Jesus. His name was Nicodemus, and he says, "Jesus, Jesus, listen, you've got to be a man sent from God, 'cause no one can do the things you're doing that hasn't been. You've got to be." Jesus said, "You've got to be born again. What? You've got to be born again. What are you talking about? This is so crazy. Can a guy climb back in his mother's womb and be born? What? What are you talking about?" Jesus said, "Are you a leader of Israel and you don't get it? Except a man be born of the Spirit, he can't enter the kingdom of God. Except a man be born of the flesh and of the water, he's got to be born again. Nic, Nic, I'm Messiah, and I've come to tell you, you must be born again." And then he—listen, you say, "Where do you get that?" Listen, because just a few verses down, what does it say? "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Jesus again declares his identity and his purpose.
Right on the night Jesus is betrayed, they finish the Passover Seder, they leave the upper room, they walk across the Tyropoeon Valley, they either go over or around the Temple Mount, cross the Kedron Valley, go partway up the Mount of Olives to an Olive Grove called Gethsemane, the site of the olive press. Jesus loves to go there and pray. That night, His heart's going to be pressed beyond measure, His perspiration will become blood as He's praying in such agony that the capillaries are beginning to burst. And His agony, finally what Adam and Eve lost in the Garden of Eden, in the Garden of the Press, Jesus wins the victory back: "Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." Amen.
But on His journey from the upper room to the Garden of Gethsemane, He has this conversation that's recorded for us in John 14, 15, and 16. And in that conversation, Jesus says, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions"—many Hupas. He's declaring an engagement. You see, Jesus is declaring His identity and His purpose: "Hang on, as many mansions, as many Hupas. I go to prepare a place for you. I'm the bridegroom, and I'm going to my Father's house, and I'm preparing the Hupa. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also. I'm going to come get you, and we're going to get married. Whether I go, you know, and the way you know."
Thomas said unto him, "Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?" Jesus said unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me." He declares His identity; He declares His purpose. Paul wrote it this way in Colossians 2:9-10: "And in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him who is the head of all principality and power." Jesus' identity declares His purpose, but His identity and purpose declare our identity and purpose. And that's where Satan always tempts us. That's where he tempted Adam and Eve. Eve, you know, God's not being faithful to you. He's hidden from you. If you eat of that tree, you will be as God, knowing good and evil, tempting her identity, tempting Adam's identity and his purpose. God had already said to them, "You're blessed. Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue it, take dominion." See, He had already declared them to be the steward of all of His creation. He had already given them the authority. They had it all. Their identity was made in the image of God. But Lucifer came, tempting them, and because they lost faith at that moment and they questioned their identity, they lost vision of their purpose, and they gave in to the enemy. And he always comes to you that way. He will always tempt you in your identity, and when you lose focus on your identity, your true identity in Christ, you will forget your purpose, and you will settle for fig leaves instead of the Garden of Eden.
So, what is your identity? Your identity starts with a cross and goes through a tomb and comes out a new creation. What should we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, who are dead to sin, live any longer therein? "Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Reckon ye therefore yourselves also to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord." You were crucified with Him; you were buried with Him, but you have walked out with Him in newness of life.
You are a new creation in Jesus Christ. That's your identity. But the enemy will always try to get you to go back to the old man, to the old woman, and carry that shame, and carry that guilt, and carry that condemnation. But that's not your identity. You've got to remind him. It's kind of like my cousin, who taught me to smoke cigarettes, my cousin who taught me to do many immoral things, my cousin who taught me how to steal watermelons at night. My cousin, who, well, you get it. He taught me all these, yeah. He was three years older than me, four years older than me. I was visiting him one day, and he said, "Remember when you—" And he began to rehearse some of the old things we used to do, and I go, "I've never done that." He said, "No, no, no, remember—" I go, "I've never done that." He looked at me and goes, "What?" I said, "That's the old Dean, and he's dead and buried. He doesn't live anymore. This is the new Dean. I've never done that." And he looked at me so weird; he thought I was crazy. The good news is, a year before he passed away, I got to lead him and his wife to Jesus. Hallelujah. And he looked at my brother, who's also a pastor, he pastors our Church of God in Spokane. He looked at my brother and said, "I wish I'd known this 50 some years ago." Yeah, yeah. See, we're a new creation. That's our first identity. It starts there. We are a new creation in Jesus Christ. Amen. If you didn't recognize it, I quoted to you Romans 6:1–11. That's your identity. That is who you are in Jesus Christ. How many are glad about that? That's your identity. Hallelujah.
But listen, you're also chosen and adopted. See, the amazing thing about an adopted child is how different it is. They're chosen by their parents. For us, our three kids, we got what came out. Now, the good news is they're great. Two of them have been missionaries. One has been in Croatia 25 years. The other's been, this October will be 20 years. She's been in Croatia. We have two Croatian sons and a Bulgarian daughter. We raised some really tough kids. They couldn't get Americans; they had to go to Eastern Europe and get some tough ones. But adopted, see, God knew you. He had you written in a book, and He knew you and He chose you. Ephesians 1:4, I'm going to start at verse 4. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy without blame before Him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." God chose you and God adopted you to be His son and daughter. That's your identity.
But see, so often, we take our identity back to our earthly heritage only. And for some, they grew up in a wonderful, godly home, and that's a wonderful thing. But what they do is they go, "Well, of course I act this way. After all, I'm Irish. So, I lose my temper." Or they go, "Well, of course, because I'm—" whatever. And they excuse some of their flaws and some of their behavior that displeases Father because of their earthly identity. Or others, because they didn't grow up in that kind of a home, they walk in this bondage of molestation or rape or abuse or rejection or divorce or an absentee father or whatever. And they live in that bondage. They live in that victimization. They're not free because they only go back to their identity, to their earthly lineage, and they have forgotten that they have been born again and they now have a heavenly Father who loves them and has never treated them that way. A heavenly Father who gives them mercy and grace, a heavenly Father who chose them and adopted them and made them a whole new creation and gave them a whole new identity. And so, now, they have a whole new life to live, a life of victory, a life of overcoming, and not victimization.
Your identity is you're seated with Christ, and you're blessed. You're seated with Christ, and you're blessed. Ephesians 2:6 says, "And He hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 1:3 says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." You're seated, and you're blessed.
I've got a question for you. What are you doing under all that burden? What are you doing under all that condemnation? What are you doing under all that heaviness? What are you doing under that despair and depression and despondency? What are you doing under those feelings of abandonment? What are you doing down there? You've been raised up and made to sit with Christ in heavenly places. You are not defeated. Listen, dear ones, adversity, trials, testings, offenses, that is life. Everyone gets that. Remember what Jesus said, "In this world, you will have trials. You will have trouble. You will have tests." Right? That's normal living. Abnormal living for a disciple of Jesus Christ is defeat, discouragement, despair, despondency. That's abnormal. Why? Because Jesus Christ has raised you up a new creation and seated you with Christ in heavenly places. And for a child of God to suffer depression and discouragement and despair and all that stuff, all that negativity, that means they have forgotten that Jesus is in the boat. Have you ever thought about that? The disciples are afraid they're going to sink. Jesus is in the boat. How are you going to drown, Jesus? He made the lake; He made the water. And if nothing else, He will make it a highway and walk on it. How are you going to drown Jesus? Got a question for you. Is Jesus in your life? Is Jesus in your heart? If Jesus is in your heart, how do you defeat Jesus? You're seated with Him in heavenly places. How can you be defeated? And in all of these things, we are more than conquerors. Amen. But you've got to remember your identity. When you forget your identity, now you're subject to all that other stuff. Come on, right? But when you know who you are and you remember your identity, ah, yes.
So, let's take a moment. I'm going to jump ahead, guys, because I could keep you here till three in the morning. What's your purpose? Jesus gives us three things that I'm just going to share with you. There's more, but I'm just going to share three of your purposes in life. The first one's found in Matthew 22 when the lawyer came to Jesus and said, "So, what's the greatest commandment?" Jesus looked at him and said, "The greatest commandment is, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy strength, and the second is like it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. This is the first and the greatest commandment. Upon all these hang the law and the prophets." Your first life purpose is to love God with all your heart, soul, and strength. Love Him with all your being. And the second is to love your neighbor.
You know, if we could just get this really working, all the crisis that's going on in the US right now would be done with. It'd all be done with. All the craziness that's going on in our campuses would be done with. If we just loved, just love, just love, just love with agape love. Well, that's a whole 'nother teaching that you'll have to jump onto my podcast to hear.
But that's your life purpose. Do you love? And I find it interesting, in 1 Corinthians 14, the Apostle Paul makes it clear: you don't pursue spiritual gifts. Yes, you earnestly desire them, but that's not your life pursuit. Your life pursuit is love. That's your life pursuit. Pursue love and earnestly desire spiritual gifts. Here's a second one. John 14:12-14. Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you..." Now, Jesus wasn't stuttering there; he was using a Hebrew idiom. In Hebrew grammar, when a word is repeated, you're giving it exponential power. In Isaiah 6, when the angels are flying and crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty," they're not stuttering. They are saying, "Almighty God is holy to the third power." And here, Jesus is saying, "I'm telling you the truth to the second power." We'd say it this way: "I'm telling you the truth; it's absolutely the truth." What is he saying? "Truly, truly, I say to you, he that believeth in me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to my Father."
If you want to know about the greater works, go to John chapter 5; He'll explain it. He'll explain it in John chapter 5 when he's talking about Himself. Almighty God wants you to understand something: your first life purpose is to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. And then, He wants you to bring the same works into their life that Jesus brought into your life. The works that Jesus did, you should be doing. Do I dare ask you: what is it like on the job site with you? What's it like being in the office with you? Do you bring Jesus to the workplace? Do you bring Jesus to the marketplace? Do you bring the works of Jesus? Do you bring power there? Do you bring the power of prayer? Do you go early enough on the job site to walk around and pray and pray for your coworkers? Do you get to the office early enough before anyone else is there and you pray and you walk through the workstations and you pray for your coworkers? Do you make a difference in your marketplace, in your workplace? When you go to Fred Meyer or Safeway or wherever you go and shop, do you go with prayer on your lips and believe God has a divine appointment for you there? There may be somebody there in a wheelchair that God wants you to get them out of that wheelchair in the name of Jesus Christ. What do you do? "Well, Pastor, you've got to understand—" No, no, no. I understand one thing you said: I believe in Jesus. Jesus said, "If you believe in me, do the works that I do."
Here's your third one: it's found in Mark 16:15-18. This is how you can do the one in John 14. Jesus said this. He said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He that believes in me shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned. In my name, they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Jesus said, "He that believes, this is what he does."Do you pray for Almighty God to use your hands, to use your feet? This is your life purpose, dear one. This is why you are here. Your identity and your purpose, all of it determined by the identity of Jesus and His purpose, now set you up for your true identity and your life purpose. Are you walking that out?
So, I have two questions for you. My first question for you is this: do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior? Have you been born again? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt if Jesus Christ were to come back in the next hour that you're ready to meet Jesus? Do you know for certain Jesus lives in your heart and life? If you'd say to me, "Dean, I don't know that for certain, but I want to know. I want to receive Jesus into my heart and life before I leave here tonight," I want to pray for you before you leave here, because Jesus wants to touch you by His mighty power and give you eternal life.
Here's my second question: if you'd say, "Pastor, Jesus lives in me. I know Jesus lives in me. I have no doubt Jesus lives in my heart and life," may I ask you a question: are you living by your true identity and fulfilling your life purpose? Are you still living in victimization? Are you still living in doubt and condemnation and in that uncertainty most of the time? You're not living out your life purpose. Tonight is the night for you to say, "Enough! I'm throwing off that old identity. I will no longer live in those old grave clothes. I'm not going to live in those old grave clothes one more day." Look right here: when Jesus was crucified on the cross, your old woman, your old man was crucified with Him, died on the cross. When they took Him off that cross and they wrapped Him in grave clothes and laid Him in that borrowed grave, He knew He'd only need it for three days, and then Joseph could have it back.
On the Sunday morning when Peter and John ran there—and young John outran old Peter—when they got there, what did they find in the tomb? Most people say, 'Nothing.' Oh, yes, they found something. They found the grave clothes. Not Jesus, but the grave clothes. Jesus was off over in the garden having a meeting with Mary Magdalene. But in the tomb were these old grave clothes, and wrapped up in those old grave clothes was your old life in the grave, to live no longer. Buried with Him, to no longer live. And when you live by victimization, when you live in condemnation, when you live in the guilt and the shame of the old life, you're just going back to the grave and putting on those old grave clothes, and as a new creation, you're walking around in those grave clothes, and they stink. And so does your life as a disciple. It stinks up your office place, it stinks up your workplace. And God wants you to go back to the grave and throw those old grave clothes back and leave them there, and walk in newness of life, in your true identity and your life purpose in Jesus Christ. Amen. Come on, give Him a praise. So, I'm going to ask you to say, 'Enough.' Enough. Say it with me: enough. Enough. Tonight, I'm throwing off those old grave clothes, and I'm going to walk in the newness of life. Amen.
-Pastor Dean Hackett