Left No Crumbs Pt. 2 - May Require Cleanup

So if you've got a Bible, you can open up to Matthew chapter number five, Matthew chapter number five. And we will jump in right now. One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up to the mountainside he sat down and his disciples gathered around Him. And He began to teach them His disciples. And he said this God blesses those who remember, God blesses those who are poor, and realize their need for him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. That's what we're talking about the kingdom of heaven. We're talking about how do we become people who inherit the kingdom of heaven? How do we see the kingdom come to earth, so that the will of God can be done here on Earth, just like it is in heaven? The Bible in Matthew chapter 18, says this, that God wants for us to say yes on Earth, and he's already said yes to permitted in heaven. If we say no on Earth, and he's already said, No, it's not permitted on heaven, or in heaven. Does that make sense? Everybody? God wants heaven to come to Earth. But he goes on to say, God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted. God blesses those who are humble for their See, they'll inherit the whole earth. God blesses those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied. God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy God blesses those who says, hearts are pure, for they will see God. God blesses those who work for peace, but they are called the children of God. God blesses those who are persecuted for doing what's right.
For the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs, God blesses you. Somebody say you,
God blesses you. Who is it that God blesses, God blesses you. When you see these things happen. When you prioritize these things in your life, God blesses those who God blesses those who God blesses those who God blesses those who God blesses those who God blesses you, when you become the who. But the only way we talked about last week for us to become the who, so that God can bless you, is for us to be able to cleanse our palate, to change our appetite from the things of the world, to the things of the kingdom, we want to see the kingdom come, we want to see the Kingdom Come and these things that God promises would be able to happen. They are no small things, they are no insignificant things. They are powerful things. These are things that God has promising those of us who would simply recognize our need for him who would allow the person of Jesus to breathe life into our spirit, that we might be able to experience the fullness of what He has for us. These are not small, they're not insignificant. But these things are only offered through those of us who will trust God.
Trust God, not ourselves, trust God, not our job, trust God, not our spouse, trust God, not our family, trust God not our workplace trust God not are you fill in the blank of the place where you might put your trust.
I know where I put my trust is in my work ethic, in my willingness to carry through things with excellence.
In some seasons, I have prided myself for being a perfectionist.
But I gotta tell you that as I lean into those things, I gotta admit that my trust in His in me and my ability, not in God in the kingdom.
I trust my hard work. I trust my ability, I trust, my decision making.
But that's not what God wants for us. He wants to deliver these promises of comfort. I love this promise of comfort. John, chapter 14 says that there is a promise there is a comforter that has promised us it's the person of the Holy Spirit.
which is the term Pericles, which means come alongside to help. The comfort that God promises is one come alongside to help. Not for you to go find help, but he's already set the spirit to come alongside you to help. So when we go back to our indulgences.
For help
what we're doing is we're relying on a temporary comfort. When we when we go late night to our computer for help, when we go to our, our smartphone for help, when we go to our addiction, our substance when we go to drug use, when we go to alcohol overuse, when we go back to these things, what are we doing, we're saying, I want the temporary comfort of what the world can provide, I'll never experience the fullness of the comfort that the Kingdom can provide.
Because the kingdom's comfort is someone the Spirit of God that will offer you spiritual health and pasture care. He nailed it. Earlier, as she transitioned, she said, we're not looking for natural help. It's not a natural giant that we're up against Sure, it might manifest itself in a natural place. But it is not a natural giant. And it's a spiritual giant, that we must address and attack spiritually, in order for us to really attain the comfort
that we're called to attain. So that we can be spiritually strengthened, so we can be spiritually encouraged, so that we can be spiritually consult,
it will manifest in a natural way, too.
He also wants to bring an inheritance that you and I are not really aware of. We think of inheritance only from a natural standpoint, and God does want to give us a natural inheritance. God has nothing. Right. He has no problem with blessing his people naturally, but he wants us to receive the portion that's assigned to us to attain by right as an heir. You and I, those of us who have recognized our need for him who realized I cannot overcome these places of sin on my own apart from the person of Jesus, I important spirit I need the person of Jesus, we've become sons and daughters, we become heirs to his throne.
And we can become partakers in his inheritance spiritually. And naturally, I love this. Also, naturally, he specifically the Bible says, has a land or a life for us, that will produce
for fruit.
suitable land a suitable life that will produce fruit our lives can produce and should, those of us who are in Christ should produce things that help us leave a legacy, not just naturally, but also spiritually, not just spiritually, but also naturally, it should be both, as we say both them.
So we used to say in the south, both of them.
Satisfaction is another promise that we see here. God will bless us with satisfaction means this supplied and abundance full, not wanting a surplus. Not many of us who live living lives that are full to a place of overflowing.
We're not satisfied. That's why we keep going back for more
mercy, the Bible says that God will bless us with you will not get what you deserve. And I know that culturally, this is not something that we're familiar with. Because even those of us who grew up in church, even those of us who are familiar with the things of God, we always think, well, I deserve to have it hard. I deserve this difficulty I deserve this. I I earned this. I got my way into this. And the truth is, yes, you are a dirty rotten scoundrel.
The truth is, all of us in and of ourselves are awful human beings. But the reality is, while we are God does not see us that way. In fact, he loved us so much. He loved you so much that yet while we were sinners, the Bible says He sent His Son to give his life for us. So you must not be as bad as you think you are. You must not be as bad as everybody told you. You were
Your life was worth the life of Jesus.
So you get mercy, not what you deserve, but the price that he paid.
I'm so thankful for that because it did love myself and I could never earn my way
into the righteousness that would take me to Heaven. Thank God for His mercy. The next thing that he promises is a vision that we will see God that specifically means Revelation, vision, to see and know God's works to become acquainted with them by experience. I know that a lot of churches and church people try to talk us out of experiencing the things of God, like the Spirit of God doesn't work today doesn't move today doesn't operate today. There's nothing further from the truth, because those of us who are in Christ, who recognize our need for him, who know that we are separated from him, but need to be reconciled to Him who are poor in spirit, the Bible says that He will bless them with vision to be able to see God. And that specifically means by experience.
We're not going to explain away the things of God, we're going to glorify the things of God. And when we glorify and exalt the things of God, we believe that God will bless us with more of the things of God that we cannot necessarily explain in a natural that we can't necessarily make sense of other than God did it. God did it. God did it. I wish you could have seen the way that I grew up. I wish that you could know the family situation that I grew up in. Because the only explanation for me being where I am today is the person of Jesus Christ. And the power of the Holy Spirit is the only explanation.
I don't deserve this. I didn't earn this. I just recognized my need for a Savior.
And I get to see the goodness of God and experience the things of God.
The Bible goes on to say that he'll offer us family. And I know that this is kind of taboo and frowned upon in a lot of churches like Well, yeah, Church says your family. Well, no, actually the churches in the Bible said that the Bible in Psalm 68, so that he'll take the isolated the lonely, and he placed them in families.
You get on social media, and everyone's Oh, yeah, I'll try to tell us we're family and that's the Bible. You church, people should read it.
You self proclaimed experts just read the scriptures man.
But this specifically means to receive a personal invite. What God calls you by name, is to say you're invited. And but not only invited in, you're invited in to receive a new name, the name of God over you, the names son, the name daughter,
to cover you. So he sees you no longer as a dirty rotten scoundrel, somebody that deserves death and disconnection for eternity. He sees you as a son, he sees you as a daughter, he sees you as somebody he loves to the person of Jesus, and the power of the cross.
And you cannot do anything to wipe that away or to take that away. He loves you.
We literally become heirs, the Bible says, Children of God, were adopted in were crafted in as sons. And as daughters aren't these things awesome. I mean, imagine living your life like this in a place where we are the heirs of God. I'm here to tell you today that it's possible. But I'm also here to tell you today that many of us are not living in this place
very often.
And I believe that this is what the Lord told me on the heels of last week's messages because many of us have left far too many crumbs behind. I mean, we've come to church man and we've gotten a little palate cleanse
we've gotten a low
palate cleanser. We've gotten our low
palate cleanser
but the problem is, we've got so much taste of indulgence in our lives.
We buy like Doritos.
When she likes to pretend in front of everybody you just eat your meals I
come to church on Sunday morning like yes, I have a
Few little struggles
you know, I
made a mistake last week.
But that's not actually the reality of it isn't? Oh, no, the reality is when we sit in front of our computer
with the water cooler at work, we're talking about our buck.
What we're doing is we're creating quite the mess.
But then what we do is we put
we put our indulgences aside, and we make our way to church on Sunday
drink
the coins are power,
we have a moment with the Lord, and will.
No more sin in my life.
No more sent for me, right? My palate is now cleanse it so we feel like we're good. And we're
all cleaned out, I'm ready to roll. I could stand in front of everybody at church, and I clean and I cleanse and nobody knows anything. And everybody is fooled, except I still am living in a mess. Because sin while you try to control it, it ultimately only ends up controlling you. And then you got crumbs and residue left in your life. That no matter how many times you try to become a cleanser palette, you end up back at the bag
Am I alone?
If I'm lying, I'm dying
that's how sin makes us feel though, isn't it?
And then
I clean up because I'm coming back to church.
God give me a little pellet cleanse.
You know how no matter how many times we have our sights set on God.
We feel like we're stuck. And we keep going back to these places of sin.
We keep going back to these places of distraction. We keep going back to these places of pain. We keep going back to these and what we do is we track it all over the stage of our lives.
Right?
Here's what I feel like the Lord said to me is that these crumbs represent a lack of trust in Him.
And the reason that we can't trust him is because we don't know him. Well. The Bible says Trust the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will and all that you do. And he will show you which path to take. Don't be impressed with your own wisdom instead, fear the Lord and what turn away
from evil. Remember, last week we talked about repentance was a change of mind turning your back on the sin of your life. The problem is, as you're looking at the things of God, you they seem far away and you got this mess that reminds you Wow, God's far away. But this sin is close
God's far away but the sin is close
when you get a little further, and you get a little further, but they're still residue,
and all of a sudden you're back
then you clean up
but we don't we don't trust God. We don't trust God. We trust our own way. So in order for us to see the Kingdom Come
In order for us to see the Kingdom Come,
we must trust him first. We must trust Him always we gotta trust who he is. So we say who he is.
We gotta trust who he is. The Bible says that he's love, and he loves us.
And we know that his love and he loves us. But we don't trust that He loves us the way that he says he loves us, because our experiences
with our addiction with our pain, it only loved us for a moment. It only loved us for a season. It only loved us for a reason. We had to prove it. But God doesn't work that way. But because we have these crumbs all surrounded, we end up trusting in our own way, and we make our way back to the floor.
We don't trust what he says, God's Word is true. Not only who he is, but what he says. And if he says he'll do it, then he'll do it. We just have to trust that he will
not hear what I'm saying. So we're seeing God at His word. He said, I'll cleanse you with the person of the Holy Spirit. I'll fill you with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. I'll sustain you with the word.
But it doesn't happen the way that we're familiar with it. And so we make our way back to it. Because while we want to trust Him, we only trust them.
We got to trust what he says. Third,
you got to trust how he'll do it.
You gotta trust how he'll do it. We got to trust who he is. We got to trust what he says. We got to trust how he'll do it.
All of us hear God's voice.
And we think, Okay, this is how God's gonna do it.
I'm gonna bless you. And you think he's gonna give you this job and this pay and this family and all that, and it doesn't happen that way.
So you start to step in and you say, You know what, I'm gonna date this person. I'm gonna take this job. I'm gonna lead this way.
What are you doing? You're trusting in your own way. Now his way
What are you doing? You're leaving crumbs. You're leaving residue. You're leaving a mess. That's gonna need to be cleaned up.
Some of us have been walking in messin and mess our whole life because we don't trust God. Let me ask you a question.
When does trust start?
Trust doesn't actually even start
until you disagree with somebody
until you can't see something.
Until it's uncomfortable.
Trust doesn't even start until he says Matt take another step. I've got the water of the word for you.
I don't I don't see. I'm not sitting back and see this.
Trust doesn't even start
until I disagree until I can't see.
Or it's unknown. Y'all ever seen the movie? Aladdin? Yeah, of course. Yeah. greatest movie of all time.
The cartoon the oh gee version, not the like, Will Smith did okay. You know, I'm saying but I mean.
Now remember the scene where they're going on the magic carpet ride. Aladdin looks back at Princess Jasmine. He says, Do you trust me?
She had a decision to make.
Do I trust him? The only way I can prove my trust is by stepping over the ledge and onto the carpet.
It wasn't until she began to trust him that he could sing. I can show you the world. Shining shimmering, splendid. Tell the princess No. When did you last? Met your heart? Come on, you know what I'm talking about. It wasn't until she stepped over the ledge onto the carpet. And he could show her that.
And it's not until you leave your mess behind stepping over the ledge that God can even begin to show you but here's how he does it.
He does it through confession.
James chapter five verse 16 says says confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you might be healed. The earnest prayers of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.
See, some of us been going through life man, we've been living for Jesus. But we just keep going back to our sin. Just keep going back to our indulgences.
We just keep going back and it's like all right.
We're undecided. We keep going back. Why? Because we have crumbs. We've never cleaned up.
Confession is a cleanup.
Confession as a cleanup. What's embarrassing pastor Matt and when I have addictions and I look good on the
on the outside, nobody's gonna be able to tell Oh, yes they can. They can, they can tell because you're not moving forward. They can tell because of the mess that you leave when you walk in the room, they can tell the only one you're fooling is you. The only one the enemy is fooling as you.
You don't have to tell everyone. But I believe that we should all tell someone
because it's not until we confess our sin,
that we can start cleaning up our mess.
Or
I believe you've called me to purity. You said that those who are pure in heart will see the Lord God forgive me for my impure actions. Give me Forgive me for the things that I'm looking at things forgive me for the things that I'm indulging in, forgive me, God for the things, the moments the times that I've sat on my smartphone for hours, entertaining thoughts and ideas that I should not be entertaining God I thank You that You've given me is only for my wife that I thank You that You've given me a heart only for my family. God, I thank you that you're purifying me, and that you're helping me clean these things up. God, I thank you that you have an inheritance for me that I don't have to cheat, I don't have to steal, I don't have to beg. I don't have to borrow, I just get to declare the things of heaven and declare in the name of Jesus, that you've got something more for me than this.
But it's not until you confess those things that the cleanup process begins.
And then there's still going to be a little residue on your shoes. And you're gonna have to go back and say God,
in my heart, I know that you created me for purity. I know that you created me for righteousness, God, you placed a hunger on the inside of me of thirst for righteousness. And I know that as a hunger and as I thirst for righteousness that I will see you that I'll inherit the earth
it's confession. So what we did was we created some space
that we might be able to confess again, to tell everybody, but I believe we should tell somebody.
Our prayer teams are going to come in just a moment. And as they do, we've created space for you to respond.
And you need to come up and say addiction,
drugs, alcohol, pornography, gossip, offense.
attitude.
I don't deal. Honestly, in my business, I've been stealing.
Whatever it is for you. I don't know what it is for you. I'm not gonna make stuff up for you.
For me, I told you,
I trust in myself.
I can do the work. I can bring the excellence
I can provide the environment. No, sir, you cannot
muster those who are poor in spirit, recognizing their need for God.
Because they'll inherit the kingdom.
I want to see us be Kingdom people.
Come on with you stand on your feet this morning.
Our prayer teams are coming. And as they do, some of your hearts are already stirred. I don't want you to think about it. I just want you to jump out of your seat right now. And I want you to come and confess the sin. They're going to pray for you. And as they do, I believe the Spirit of the Living God is going to heal you before you leave this place. And everything is going to change. I want you to move in Jesus name. I'm gonna pray as you're moving Father and Jesus saying thank you for all of our locations. Thank you for the people under the sun by boys who are being stirred by your Spirit to move to confession. And as they confess God, I praise you beat them right where they are. And as you do God that you would have healed their lives in Jesus name. Father, thank You that we don't have to lead the way that we came in. rely on ourselves. questioning whether or not we trust or can't trust God let us be confident who you are. And what you say
When
Jesus, amen
I can't believe
Thanks again for listening to today's message. For more information on all that God's doing it mercy city, where to share how the message has impacted your life. Visit us online at Mercy city, church or on social media.