Happy Easter, first hymn this morning.
We actually have a hands, he lives of this.
If you need a handout,
just raise your hand or a Brother Zach.
He lives.
If you still need one, keep your hand up.
We'll get those passed out.
We'll go ahead and start singing there.
On the first.
(singing)
For this day, opportunity to gather together
for time of year where we can just set aside
and sacrifice of your son.
Pray that you would be with us for the service,
that our minds would be in the right place,
that you would soften our hearts to the message,
that you'd continue to just incline your ear
as we sing out praises boldly unto you,
and that you'd fill pastor with your spirit.
These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
- For our next hymn this morning, turn if you would to 33.
Christ the Lord is risen today.
Hymn number 33, three three today.
Hymn number 33, we'll sing there on the verse.
- Christ in grace, given us in Christ Jesus before again.
If you open up your bulletins on the inside,
the left-hand side there,
we have our service times listed.
Sunday morning at 10.30, Sunday evening at 4.30,
and our Wednesday evening Bible study
through Ecclesiastes at 7.00 p.m.
Below that, we have all of our soul winning times.
And yesterday we had our Easter mega soul winning marathon,
and we had 30 people show up for that.
So great turnout and 19 salvations.
So praise the Lord for that result.
Thank you for all who participated
and prayed for that event.
And then below is our year to date statistics
updated with our salvations here in the US.
Also brother Eric doing a great work over in the Philippines.
And so that brings us to 669 for the year.
So great results so far this year.
Below that we have our visitor card.
If you're a first time visitor,
we wanna extend a warm welcome to you guys.
Also we have some gift bags for first time visitors
that hopefully were handed out.
If not ushers, please make sure that our guests get those.
But if you are a visitor,
if you wouldn't mind scanning that QR code
and just leaving a record of your visit
so we can just have that, it'd be great.
To the right also we have our online giving information
if that's something you're interested in.
Then we have on the back our upcoming events.
We have April 12th, that is next Sunday evening.
We have our men's preaching night.
There is a sign up sheet in the back
if you'd like to participate in that, it'd be great.
May 2nd, we have another soul winning marathon.
This one's in Stillwater, Oklahoma.
And that is the OSU Soul Winning Marathon.
And that QR code there takes you to godresource.com/events
where you can sign up for that
and let us know that you're coming.
Then we have, let's see, May 9th is our Mother's Day Tea.
May 20th through the 24th is the Anti-Israel Conference
at Steadfast Baptist Church.
And then June 17th through the 20th
is our European Soul Winning Conference
in Frankfurt, Germany, partnering up with Faithful Word
and Steadfast Baptist Church.
So looking forward to those upcoming events.
Again, happy that you're here.
Just wanna let you know we're having a meal catered
right after service, so please do stick around
and enjoy some good Panda Express.
But thanks for being here.
That's gonna be it for announcements.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song together.
- Our third song this morning, number 36, Christ Arose.
Hymn number 36, Christ Arose.
Just remember a little slow there in the beginning
and then it picks up again in the chorus with the speed
and then we slow it back down when we go to verse two.
It picks up again there in the chorus.
Just watch 36, Christ Arose.
36 there on the first.
♪ O say can you see ♪
- Turn if you would to D8, turn number 28.
- 28, at the end of the Sabbath,
as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake.
The angel of the Lord descended from heaven.
He came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning
and his raiment wide as snow.
And for fear of him, the keepers did shake
and became his dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the men,
"Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen.
As he said, come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly and tell his disciples
that he is risen from the dead.
And behold, he goeth forth before you into Galilee.
There shall ye see him, and lo, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulcher
with fear and great joy,
and had run to bring his disciples' word.
And as they went to tell his disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, all hail.
And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him.
Then said Jesus unto them, be not afraid.
Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,
and there shall they see me.
And when they were going, behold,
some of the watch came to the city
and showed unto the chief priests
all the things that were done.
And when they were assembled with the elders
and had taken counsel, they gave large money
unto the soldiers saying, say ye,
his disciples came by night and stole him away
while we slept.
And if this come to the governor's ears,
we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught.
And this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews unto this day.
Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee
into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.
And when they saw him, they worshiped him,
but some doubted.
And Jesus came and spake unto them saying,
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father
and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever
I have commanded you.
And lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world, amen.
Let's pray.
Lord, thank you for the beautiful weather.
Thank you, Lord, for your goodness.
Pray, Lord, that you will pass her on to the spirit, Lord,
that you edify her with your word.
Pray, Lord, for soft hearts this morning,
that you may receive the message of life for her.
I thank you, and pray, amen.
- Amen, Matthew chapter number 28.
Let's start reading in verse one.
The Bible says in the end of the Sabbath,
as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,
came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
Behold, there was a great earthquake,
for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back the stone from the door
and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning,
and his raiment white as snow.
And for fear of him, the keepers did shake
and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women,
"Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus,
which was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen."
And they said, "Come, see the place where the Lord lay."
So the Bible just describes this most magnificent event,
and you can see the importance placed on this event.
I mean, the whole earth is shaking.
There's angels from heaven that are there,
and their face is as bright as lightning.
You know, when you see lightning strike,
how bright that is, that's just what their faces look like.
People are falling down as dead men, just in fear.
But the angels say to these women that came,
hey, I know you're seeking Jesus, that was crucified,
but hey, he is risen.
And this is the time of year where we give special attention
to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And that's the title of my sermon,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Of course, you know, at our church,
we really celebrate this every day
when we preach the gospel.
I mean, we're constantly talking about, emphasizing,
thinking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But I think it's a good thing
just to set one day a year aside
and just give special attention to this event
because it's the most important event
in the history of the universe.
And a lot of people are down on Easter today and say,
oh, you know, this is some sort of pagan holiday.
It's like, look,
we're celebrating the resurrection of Jesus here, okay?
We're not celebrating a bunny.
We're not celebrating something weird like that.
Like we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I got three points for you this morning.
Number one, the reality of the resurrection,
the reality of the resurrection.
There's a lot of false doctrine having to do
with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is a good time to address some of those things.
And really I wanna go back before the resurrection
to the death of Christ, because here's the thing.
We can't have a resurrection of Jesus Christ
unless Jesus actually died.
Now there are religions out there.
There are perversions of Christianity.
And the big one that denies the death of Jesus Christ
is Islam.
Who's heard that Islam rejects the death of Jesus Christ?
Only a few people have heard that.
Islam teaches, of course,
they act like they believe in Jesus.
They act like they give honor to him as a prophet.
But here's the thing.
They believe damnable heresy about Jesus
because they believe that Jesus never was killed,
that he never died on the cross, that he never died at all.
So let me read-- this is from the Surah and Nisa in the Koran.
It says this.
"And for they're saying, indeed, we have killed the Messiah,
Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.
But they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him.
But another was made to resemble to him.
And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it.
They have no knowledge of it except the following
of assumption.
And they did not kill him for certain, rather, Allah
raised him to himself.
And ever is Allah exalted in might and wisdom.
So here's one great reason to be a Christian
and to reject Islam is because Islam denies
the death of Jesus Christ.
Which here's the thing, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ
is one of the most documented, well-known events
in human history.
And here's how you know that Islam is just
a stupid religion that is not based on reality or facts,
is they deny the fact that Jesus even died.
And here's the thing, the devil wants to deceive you
with religions like Islam, because Islam,
with their mouth, they'll speak positively
of a guy named Jesus, but here's the thing,
it's a different Jesus.
Because the Jesus of the Bible died on the cross.
And so preaching to Jesus that didn't die,
guess what, that's another Jesus,
that is a damnable heresy.
Now go to Luke chapter number 23, Luke chapter number 23.
You know, even many worldly scholars
and atheists acknowledge the historicity of Jesus
and the factual account of his crucifixion.
Like when atheists have better doctrine
about Jesus than your religion,
that's a good sign that you're in a false religion.
Look what the Bible says in Luke chapter number 23, verse 46.
And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice,
he said, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit."
And having said thus, he gave up the ghost.
So what does the Bible say?
The Bible says that Jesus died on the cross.
When you see in the Bible someone giving up the ghost,
that's a euphemism for them dying.
So Jesus' last words is, "Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit," and he died.
And of course, what's one of the reasons
that Jesus said that is because he knew
that God was gonna raise him again from the dead.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15,
1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
The Bible makes it very, very clear that Jesus died.
And we have to establish the fact that he really died
before we can even consider the fact
that he rose again from the dead.
1 Corinthians 15, look at verse number one.
It says, "Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you
the gospel which I preached unto you,
and which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand."
So he's about to define the gospel for us.
Verse two, "By which also ye are saved,
if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all that
which I also received, how that Christ,"
notice, "died for our sins according to the scriptures."
So look, the death of Jesus Christ is very important,
number one, because you can't have a resurrection
unless you die.
Number two, what's the whole point of Jesus' death?
The Bible says that he died for our sins.
He is our substitution for our sins.
So explain to me, in Islam,
how is it that you get your sins paid for
if Jesus never even died?
Of course, they would tell you it's by living a good life,
which is interesting how all false religions
tell you the same way to heaven,
by repenting of your sins.
It's interesting that the Catholic will tell you
going to heaven is by being a good person,
repenting of your sins.
And then Islam also tells you
that eternal life is by being a good person,
by keeping whatever commandments that they have.
But the Bible says Jesus died for our sins.
Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 11.
2 Corinthians chapter number 11.
Look what it says in verse three.
It says, "But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus,
whom we have not preached,
or if he receive another spirit which he have not received,
or another gospel which he have not accepted,
ye might bear well with him."
So notice the apostle Paul is saying,
"Hey, I'm worried for you guys
that just like the devil deceived Eve with his subtlety,
that someone's gonna come in,
the devil or some sort of false prophet is gonna come in
and use subtlety to deceive you
to believing and notice another Jesus."
Right, because the devil very rarely
is gonna convince people or trick people
with the church of Satan.
Now, believe it or not, it does happen sometime
because yesterday one of our soul winners
was out soul winning and this person said
that they go to some satanic temple in Oklahoma area
and it's just like, wow, you're a special kind of stupid
when you're literally deceived by that.
But you know, the devil's usually more subtle with that
and he comes at you not with the devil
or Satanism or stuff like that,
he comes at you with a perversion of the truth, right?
So Islam, they present Jesus
and they say, hey, Jesus was a prophet.
They say, you know, blessed be Jesus.
They say he was a good teacher.
They say that he's exalted up to heaven,
that he never died.
Oh, that sounds real nice.
But here's the thing, it's another Jesus.
And there's a lot of religions out there today
that will give lip service to the name of Christ,
but it is a different Jesus.
How about Mormonism, right?
Mormons will say, oh, we're Christians.
We believe in Jesus.
But you know what, they believe in a Jesus
that is a created being.
They believe that Jesus Christ has a beginning,
whereas the Bible says that Jesus is God.
The Bible says, hey, in the beginning was the word,
and the word was with God, and the word was God.
And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
We beheld his glory.
The glory is of the only begotten of the Father.
That's actually what the Bible teaches.
And so we gotta be careful to make sure,
hey, just because someone says the name Jesus,
Christian, Bible, God, that does not mean that they are saved.
And you know what?
Any religion that perverts the nature of Christ,
who he was, that is a false religion,
even if they're giving praise to him.
So we don't wanna fall into this trap
that's kinda going on right now in America,
where a lot of people are waking up to the evils of Judaism.
And they're seeing like, hey, of course, you know,
the Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah.
And so they look, well, maybe the Muslims are better
'cause the Muslims are giving him credit
and giving him praise, here's the thing.
These are both false religions
that'll take you to the same exact hell.
If you believe in Judaism and reject Jesus as the Christ,
you will go to hell.
If you believe in Islam and only think he's a good teacher
and not the son of God, you will go to hell.
Hey, if you deny that Jesus died, you are not saved.
You must believe the record that God gave.
Now go to, if you would, Romans chapter six.
Now why is it important to understand the death of Jesus?
Well, here's the thing.
There can be no resurrection without death.
There can be no Easter Sunday
without the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
There can be no atoning for our sins, except for death.
Now the Bible is very specific of what it's talking about
when it talks about the word death, okay?
It's talking about going to hell.
Look what Romans chapter six, verse 23 says.
It says this, "For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord."
This verse is not comparing and contrasting
a physical death and going to heaven.
What this verse is comparing and contrasting
is going to hell or going to heaven.
Notice these two things are pitted against each other.
"For the wages of sin is death."
What is that saying?
"Because we have sinned, we deserve hell.
And without a savior, we will go to hell.
Without our sins being paid for by some way,
we will go to hell."
But here's the thing,
the gift of God is eternal life through who? Jesus Christ.
Our Lord, who of course died on the cross.
Now go to Acts chapter number two, Acts chapter number two.
The Bible teaches that when we sin,
the first time we ever sin in our life,
we have died spiritually and we are deserving of hell.
For the wages of sin is death.
That's speaking about hell.
As you're turning to Acts two,
Revelation 21, eight says this,
"But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable
and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers
and idolaters and all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death."
Right?
So going, being put into the lake of fire
is the second death.
What's the first death?
Going to hell.
That's the first death.
Some people will kind of say this.
I understand what they mean
but it's not technically accurate.
They'll say, "Well, the first death is physical.
The second death is spiritual."
That's not true.
The first death is actually spiritual
because hell is a spiritual realm.
Yes, it exists but hell is a spiritual realm that exists.
And you know what?
People that are dead, they go to hell.
What's the second death?
It's when they're resurrected at the great white throne
and cast alive into the lake of fire.
The second death is actually physical and spiritual.
I mean, they're getting resurrected in their disgusting bodies
and sent into the lake of fire
where they will burn for all of eternity.
And notice the Bible says,
"Who is worthy of the second death?
Is it only child molesters?
Is it only serial killers?
Is it only just the worst people?"
No, the Bible says all liars shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.
This is why everyone needs to be saved.
This is why every single person needs to make sure
they are 100% sure that they're going to heaven.
And this is why, by the way,
we go out soul winning and ask people that
because we're trying to show them,
"Hey, you need a savior.
You are in danger.
You are on your way to hell."
And look at what it says in Acts chapter number two.
It says, "Therefore, being a prophet
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him
that the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.
He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell.
Neither his flesh did see corruption.
This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses."
Why is it important to understand the death of Christ?
Because when Jesus died,
he experienced death in the biblical sense,
meaning that Jesus went to hell.
Why would Jesus go to hell?
A lot of people just make up stories.
It's like, "Oh, he went down there
and he was preaching to people
and he was giving them another chance
and he was bringing them out."
No, no, no, the Bible talks about people in hell
that they're gonna be burning for eternity,
that the smoke of their torment
ascended up forever and ever,
and they have no rest day nor night, the Bible says.
Once you're in hell, you're in hell for all eternity.
But here's the thing, our punishment for sin is hell,
so Jesus, he fully experienced death.
Yes, he shed his physical body,
but his soul also went to hell.
That's why the Bible says his soul was not left in hell.
Later today, I'm gonna take this Bible with me home,
and I'm gonna say I did not leave this Bible on the pulpit.
You know what that means?
It was on the pulpit at one point.
And it's just like, you just need to believe
what the Bible says,
not listen to these dispensational books and commentaries.
Just look at what your King James Bible says.
Jesus went to hell.
Why?
Because Jesus died.
Now keep your place there.
Hebrews two verse nine says,
but we see Jesus who was made a little lower
than the angels for the suffering of death,
crowned with glory and honor,
that he by the grace of God
should taste death for every man.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ
tasted death for every man.
One thing we can learn from that
is that Jesus died for every person, right?
We don't believe in Calvinism,
this limited atonement saying Jesus only died for the elect,
that he picks and chooses who's going to heaven
and who's going to hell before anyone had a chance,
before anyone even had a savior.
No, he tasted death for every man, the Bible says.
Calvinism is a wicked false doctrine.
But also, think about the word taste.
To taste something.
You know, if you ate a full Thanksgiving meal,
you wouldn't say like,
oh, you know, I tasted dinner tonight, right?
No, you just ate the meal.
Like you fully just partook of that meal.
But to taste something is to partake of something
for a very short duration, right?
You're going to Costco,
you're just getting a little sample.
You're just taking a little taste.
Well, here's the thing.
Jesus, he tasted death.
Why?
Because he was only in hell
for three days and three nights, right?
He died on the cross.
He went to hell for us.
He tasted death for three days and three nights.
But what does the Bible say?
His soul was not left in hell.
Hey, he spake this of what?
The resurrection of Christ.
You can't have a resurrection of Christ unless he died.
What does it mean to die?
It means to go to hell.
Now, I don't see why people think this is blasphemous.
I think this shows the love of God.
I think this shows how much God really had to pay,
how much the Father had to pay
in giving his only begotten Son,
who they shared fellowship and love
since before the foundation of the world.
I mean, could you imagine giving your child
to even just die the excruciating physical death
of the cross?
That would be horrific.
Now imagine knowing your child's gonna go to hell
for three days and three nights.
Well, for God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten son,
that whosoever what believeth in him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
That's the love of God.
And then of course, Jesus Christ,
the Bible says greater love hath no man than this
than that a man lay down his life for his friends.
And Jesus not only laid down his life physically
by shedding his body, but you know what?
He descended into hell for three days and three nights
and experienced the torture and pain of hell for us.
Look at Acts chapter two, verse 22.
Let's go back a little bit in this chapter.
It says, "He men of Israel, hear these words,
"Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you
"by miracles and wonders and signs,
"which God did by him in the midst of you,
"as ye yourselves also know.
"Him being delivered by the determinate counsel
"and foreknowledge of God ye have taken,
"and by wicked hands have crucified and slain."
See, he died, the Bible says, "Whom God hath raised up,"
notice, "having loosed the pains of death,
"because it was not possible
"that he should beholden of it."
What does the Bible say?
Notice, when were the pains of death loosed
for the Lord Jesus Christ?
It was when he was risen up.
It was when Jesus rose again from the dead.
Here's the thing, if Jesus, when he died,
if his soul was just in this, you know, soul sleep state,
this kind of unconscious state,
or if his soul went up to heaven,
why would he be in pain?
That doesn't make any sense.
What makes sense is that, hey, he's in hell,
he's suffering the pains of death,
but as soon as he's risen from the dead,
he's out of hell, he's resurrected out of hell,
and he is loosed from the pains of death.
Here's the thing.
Jesus was not down there preaching the gospel.
Jesus was not down there rescuing the captives.
Jesus was down there experiencing pain.
That's what the Bible says.
And when Jesus rose again,
he was loosed from the pains of death.
What a great savior we have.
Go to Luke chapter number 24, Luke chapter number 24.
Now, here's the thing.
It's also very important when we talk about,
number one, the reality of the resurrection.
First of all, he died.
He really died.
He really went to hell.
Also, his resurrection was a physical resurrection.
Jesus's resurrection was a bodily resurrection,
not just a spirit or a ghost, as some false religions teach.
Now, the Jehovah's Witnesses,
they are not like the Muslims.
They will say that Jesus died.
Now, they deny he died on the cross.
They think he died on a torture stake,
something like that.
But the Jehovah's Witnesses do deny
that Jesus bodily rose again.
They say that it was only spiritual.
Let's see what the Bible says.
Luke chapter 24, verse 36.
And as they thus spake,
Jesus himself stood in the midst of them
and saith unto them, "Peace be unto you."
But they were terrified and frightened
and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
So notice, the disciples on the road to Emmaus,
they actually thought in their mind
that this was a spirit,
that this was some sort of resurrected spirit.
But notice they're wrong.
Verse 38, "And he said unto them,
why are ye troubled?
And why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself handle me and see
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones
as ye see me to have."
Here's just a fact.
Jesus, it was not a spiritual resurrection.
Jesus's resurrection was physical.
It was a literal carnal resurrection.
That's why he's walking up to his disciples
and he can perceive that they think he's a spirit
and says, "Hey, why don't you go and look in my hands?
Why don't you look at my feet,
see the holes from where he was nailed to the cross?"
I mean, these disciples were terrified, right?
Because they knew that Jesus died.
They knew that he was nailed to the cross.
And then they're seeing this,
what they think is an apparition.
They probably see the holes
and they're like, "This is a ghost, this is a spirit."
And he's like, "No, no, no, feel me, touch me and see me."
Because a spirit has not flesh and bones
as you see me to have.
There's more proof.
Look at verse 40.
"Thus spoken he showed them his hands and his feet.
And while they yet believed not for joy,
and wondered and said unto them,
'Have ye hear any meat?'"
So their minds are just blown.
They're just absolutely shocked.
And it says that they're not believing for joy.
So I don't know, they're just like,
"I can't believe this, like what's going on, right?"
But he says like, "Hey, I'm hungry.
Can you, can you give me some meat, please?"
Verse 42, "And they gave him a piece of broiled fish
and of an honeycomb and he took it and did eat before them."
Guess what?
A spirit is not eating fish and honey, right?
But you know what?
A man is and Jesus Christ was resurrected
in his physical body and that physical body,
you know, the blood started pumping again.
You know, his digestive system started working again.
He's ready to eat again
because he actually rose again from the dead.
Go to 2 John chapter number one.
2 John chapter number one.
Now, we talked about the,
we're talking about the reality of the resurrection.
Hey, you gotta have the death.
You gotta have the physical resurrection.
Well, why is that important?
Because here's the thing.
Without those things, there's no salvation.
There's no hope for going to heaven
without Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection.
2 John one verse nine.
Notice what it says.
Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.
Look, if you deny the death of Christ,
if you deny the physical bodily resurrection of Christ,
you do not have God.
You do not know God.
You are not saved.
The Jehovah's Witnesses are going to hell.
The Muslims are going to hell.
Why?
Because they're transgressing the doctrine of Christ.
He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ,
he hath both the father and the son.
And notice what our reaction should be
to these false prophets.
It says if there come any unto you
and bring not this doctrine,
receive him not into your house.
Neither bid him God's speed.
For he that bideth him God's speed
is partaker of his evil deeds.
Hey, you know, we're not gonna bless Muslims.
We're not gonna bless the Jehovah's Witnesses.
We're not gonna invite them into our house
and let them teach us their false doctrine.
No, if you bless false religions like that,
you're a partaker of their evil deeds.
What is the evil deed of false religion?
It's sending people to hell.
The Bible says you are partaking in that
when you bless false prophets.
That's why it makes me so mad today
when Christians get up and say,
oh, since the Jews are bad,
let's team up with the Muslims
because at least they give respect to Jesus.
No, no, no, they're transgressing the doctrine of Christ.
And Christians that are making any excuses for Muslims,
God is gonna punish them
for being a partaker of their evil deeds.
And the fiery hell that people are gonna burn in
for all of eternity because of following Islam
or Judaism or Jehovah's Witnesses,
you're being a partaker of that wicked act.
So you know what?
Pissed be upon Muhammad, right?
Hey, we don't respect or honor Islam.
We say it's a disgusting false religion.
They worship a pedophile.
They should be excommunicated from America.
You know, Jews and Muslims should not be welcome
in our country because we don't wanna be a partaker
of their evil deeds.
Get the hell out of our state and country.
Go to 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
The resurrection is our only hope for salvation.
If you deny it, you are for sure not saved.
Look at 1 Corinthians 15 verse 12.
Now if Christ be preached, that he rose from the dead,
how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead?
So these people are just denying resurrection in general.
They're denying that there will ever
be a resurrection of the saints.
They're denying that this is even possible.
And he's like, hold on a second, Jesus resurrected.
How are you saying there's no resurrection?
Verse 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead,
then is Christ not risen?
He's like, let's do a little thought experiment here.
If resurrection is not a thing, if there's not
a rising again from the dead, well,
that means that Christ himself didn't rise from the dead.
What does that mean?
And if Christ be not risen, then our preaching is vain,
and your faith is also vain.
Hey, if Christ didn't rise again,
then our preaching is vain.
What does that mean?
Empty, meaningless, pointless.
It's saying, hey, our faith, the Bible, our preaching,
our soul winning, everything that we're doing
would be completely pointless.
And don't a lot of fools in this world think that what
we're doing is pointless, right?
Don't the atheists think, hey, Easter is pointless,
it's silly?
Well, here's the thing, if Jesus did not rise again
from the dead, then they would be right.
But of course, we do know that He rose again from the dead.
But notice it says in verse 15, yay,
and we are found false witnesses of God,
because we have testified of God that He raised up
Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be,
that the dead rise not.
He's like, well, then we're false prophets, then,
if Jesus didn't rise again from the dead.
For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.
Notice, you are yet in your sins.
So if you're trusting in anything
other than the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
you are yet in your sins.
It doesn't matter how good of a life a Muslim tries to live.
Without Christ, they will go to hell.
And that's the same for every single false religion.
Then they also, which are fallen asleep in Christ,
are perished.
See, we know that those who are saved,
who have died as believers in Jesus Christ,
the Bible describes them as being asleep.
Right, hey, someone that's asleep,
they're gonna wake up again, right?
Someone that's dead, you don't expect that.
But hey, believers in Christ, when we die,
we are actually just asleep.
But he's saying if there's no resurrection,
then they're actually perished.
Verse 19, if in this life only we have hope in Christ,
we are of all men most miserable.
I mean, the apostle Paul is sacrificing everything
in his life to preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
He is suffering, getting beaten, getting shipwrecked,
getting stoned, multiple disciples are getting killed,
Christians are being martyred.
He's dedicating his whole life to serving God.
He's saying if Christ has not risen from the dead,
then we are of all men most miserable.
Right, 'cause the atheist mentality today is,
hey, you only live once, right?
You only live once, so you know what?
You just need to do whatever makes you happy on this earth.
You need to find the most pleasure you can,
and that's why they'll say, hey, let's take drugs,
let's drink alcohol, let's go fornicate, let's go party,
let's go just enjoy this life,
because all we have is this life, so they think.
Whereas Christians, we're saying, hey,
let's deny the flesh, right?
Hey, let's serve the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's not do whatever we wanna do on a Sunday morning.
Let's not sleep in and just hang around.
Let's go to church and serve the risen Savior.
Let's go sing about the risen Savior.
Let's go read the words of God.
Let's go preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
But you know, if we're doing this every day of our lives,
if we're dedicating our whole lives to serving Christ,
and he's not risen from the dead,
then aren't we of all men most miserable?
If life really is just this fleeting life
that you only live once and we spend the whole thing,
you know, serving a lie,
wouldn't that make us the most miserable people, right?
But here's the thing, that's obviously not the case.
He's just doing this thought experiment here.
He says, but now is Christ risen from the dead
and become the first fruits of them that slept?
For since by man came death,
by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
He's like, hey, Christ is risen from the dead.
And you know what?
We brought death into this world by sinning.
So we had to have the perfect Son of God die for our sins,
but he didn't stay dead.
He rose again from the dead.
So number one, we're talking about the reality
of the resurrection.
Number two, the reliability of the resurrection,
the reliability of the resurrection.
You know, one of the best points that we could look to
as to the reliability of the fact that Jesus rose again
was the multitudes of eyewitnesses
that saw the resurrected Lord Jesus.
You know, when you have hundreds and hundreds
and hundreds of people that see something
with their very eyes,
that's a good chance that it's real, right?
Flat earthers who don't believe, you know,
the Artemis program here.
You just got hundreds of people watching this thing take off.
It's like CGI, right?
Okay, you had hundreds of people
see the resurrected Lord Jesus.
Look what it says in 1 Corinthians 15 verse one.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you,
which also you have received and wherein you stand,
by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory,
that which I preached unto you,
unless ye have believed in vain.
For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures,
and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures,
and that he was seen of Cephas.
Who's that? That's Peter.
Then of the 12, 12 apostles.
After that, he was seen of above,
notice 500 brethren at once,
of whom the greater part remain unto this present,
but some are fallen asleep.
So notice at one point there was 500 Christians
that witnessed the resurrected Lord Jesus.
And he says, hey, the greater part of these people
that saw Jesus, they are alive and remain to this very day.
He's basically challenging readers of saying,
hey, go check this out, what I'm claiming.
You can go talk to these people
and you can just find witness after witness
after witness after witness,
500 witnesses that are all going to say,
yeah, I saw Jesus Christ risen from the dead.
I saw the holes in his hands, in his feet.
We touched him, he ate a meal.
We saw this happen.
I mean, folks, that is not something
that's easy to fake, right?
And obviously we're 2000 years later,
but at the time this was written,
you could check these things and verify these things.
And you don't want to know why Christianity kept going,
exploded throughout all the world,
turned this world upside down.
And Christianity now is the greatest, biggest religion
in the history of the world because Jesus rose again,
because he actually rose again.
After that, he was seen of James,
then of all the apostles.
And last of all, he was seen of me also
as of one born out of due time.
You know, think about how stupid a person would have to be.
How absolutely moronic you would have to be
to sit here and have hundreds and hundreds of witnesses
of something that were there, that partook in it,
that saw, and you're just like, no, it didn't happen.
It's like, this is called the atheist.
And you know what the Bible says?
That the fool that's said in his heart, there is no God.
And by the way, commercial break,
don't be someone that denies reality.
Because you know what you are when you deny reality?
A fool, an idiot, a moron.
It's like you got 500 people who see the resurrection.
Oh, it didn't happen.
You're an idiot, you're a fool.
You need to get some wisdom.
So we see the testimony of witnesses.
Go to Revelation chapter number one.
We're talking about the reliability now of the resurrection.
Not only do we have the testimony
of multiple witnesses of man,
how about the testimony of Jesus Christ himself?
That's a pretty reliable witness, isn't it?
I mean, if Jesus Christ himself is making a claim,
I mean, that should supersede all other claims as well.
Look what he claims of himself in Revelation one verse 17.
John says this, "And when I saw him,
I fell at his feet as dead."
Isn't that what happened when the earth shook,
when Jesus rose again from the dead,
people fell down as dead.
"And he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, 'Fear not, I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth,'" notice, "and was dead.
And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen."
And have the keys of hell and of death.
Oh, did Jesus really die or was he taken up to heaven?
Let's ask Jesus.
Jesus said he died.
And you know what he says?
"That I am he which liveth."
I live, but I was dead.
What does that mean?
Jesus is saying, "Hey, I rose again from the dead."
That's a pretty great testimony to listen to.
That's a pretty good witness to give heed to
when Jesus himself says, "Hey, I live and I was dead."
And now, of course, he's alive forevermore.
Go to Psalm 16.
Psalm chapter number 16.
There's so many witnesses pointing to the veracity
of the resurrection.
You got the eyewitnesses of man.
You got the witness of Jesus Christ himself.
How about the witness of the Old Testament,
specifically Psalm 16, written over a thousand years
before the resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Now, what if someone wrote something,
predicting something in exact detail
that's gonna happen over a thousand years later
and then it happens?
It's probably the word of God, folks.
Look what Psalm 16 verse 10 says.
It says, "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell,
neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption."
Who is the holy one?
That's Jesus Christ.
And he's speaking prophetically, David is here,
saying you're not gonna leave my soul in hell.
He's really speaking of Jesus.
And thy holy one, he's not gonna see corruption.
What is that talking about?
You know, dead bodies,
when they die, their bodies decay, right?
And you just, someone dies, you put them in the ground
and their flesh starts to decay
and eventually they just become a pile of bones, right?
But Jesus Christ, his body saw no corruption.
Well, how is it if he died 2000 years ago
that Jesus's body has not corrupted?
'Cause he rose again and he ever lives.
Now here's the thing, it's not just my opinion
that this is talking about Jesus
because the New Testament gives commentary
on this very verse.
I'll read for you Acts 2.31, this speaking of David,
he, David, seeing this before,
spake of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
that his soul was not left in hell.
Neither his flesh did see corruption, right?
So the dispensational will say,
show me the death, burial, and resurrection
in the Old Testament.
No, no, no, it was a different gospel in the Old Testament
and it's only in the New Testament
that we have the gospel of Jesus.
No, no, no, the New Testament says,
hey, just so you know, Psalm 16,
written over a thousand years ago,
that was talking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That's a pretty great proof.
When documentation over a thousand years
before the event happens says, hey,
Jesus Christ is gonna raise again from the dead.
That's an amazing proof right here.
Now, if you would go to Matthew 28,
Matthew 28, you know, you think about Jesus,
by far is the most famous person who's ever lived.
And even when he was alive on this earth,
he had incredible notoriety, crowds following him.
I mean, Herod literally tried to kill him
when he was a baby.
Herod demanded that all the infants
under two years old would be killed
because he was trying to kill the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus was a known figure.
The government knew about him.
The leaders knew about him.
The religious leaders knew.
All the people know.
Look, if the most famous person in human history died,
there's gonna be people that want his body.
Don't you realize that?
If Jesus died, the most famous person, they want his body.
Well, here's the question.
Where is his grave today?
Where's the headstone for the Lord Jesus Christ,
the most famous person who's ever lived?
You're not gonna find it.
You see an empty tomb because he rose again from the dead.
That's another great proof.
How about this?
Another great proof that he rose again from the dead
is the gospel accounts.
The gospel accounts because the gospel accounts
is four of them, obviously, and they have harmony,
but they do have little bit of differences in their details.
And to me, that actually goes to show the veracity
of those documents because if they all said
the exact same thing, you would think,
hey, these witnesses are getting together.
They're getting their story straight.
They're trying to make sure all the details align.
But when you read the four gospels,
you read, yes, there's harmony in the truths found therein.
But sometimes there's a little extra detail in one story.
There's sayings that are only in one gospel
that aren't in another.
Why?
Because they're real historical documents.
Because they're recording real historical events.
How about the record of women being the first to find
the risen Lord Jesus?
If these were just men trying to create a false religion,
trying to just trick people, would they really say, hey,
here's the first people that found Jesus Christ, women?
Let's just be honest first, think about that.
That would not be the case, right?
They would say like, I found him, right?
I outran him, I did this, I found him.
No, it's just like, look what the Bible says
in Matthew 28 verse one.
In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
Two Marys, two ladies came and were the first ones
to see that empty tomb.
You know, why is that important?
Because it goes to show this is not some concocted story
because no one would do that, right?
And if this was some sort of concocted story,
you wouldn't constantly see in the four gospels
all the failures of the disciples.
Like, do you really think that Peter and John
couldn't have gotten together and Peter's like,
hey, can you kind of leave out the part
where I denied Christ?
Can you leave out that part where he called me Satan, please?
Where he's like, get thee behind me, Satan?
Like, if they were actually faking this,
you wouldn't see just constant issues,
problems, failures of the disciples.
Oh, Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief.
He's like, hey, how long have I been with you?
You still don't understand.
I'm not talking about the leaven of the bread.
I'm talking about the doctrine of the Pharisees.
Like, they would take that kind of stuff out, right?
But you know what, they don't because they're real events.
Now also, of course, just another point
is just the powerful spread of Christianity,
that today it's the largest religion in the world.
Why is that?
Because there is an empty tomb, my friend.
Go if you would to John chapter number 11.
John chapter 11.
Let's talk about number three,
the response to the resurrection.
So we talk about the reality, the reliability,
the response to the resurrection.
Let's talk about first,
what should the response be to the resurrection
for those who are not 100% sure that they're going to heaven?
Look what the Bible says in John 11 verse 21.
Then said Martha unto Jesus,
Lord, if thou hast been here, my brother had not died.
Of course, Martha's brother Lazarus died, verse 22.
But I know that even now, whatsoever thou will ask of God,
God will give it thee.
Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again.
Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again
in the resurrection at the last day.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead,
yet shall he live, right?
So Jesus just says like, hey, I am the resurrection.
I am the bringing back from the dead unto life.
And notice how you obtain that life.
He says, he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live.
You know, who are we gonna listen to today?
The false prophets of this world,
guys like Stacy Shiflett getting up and telling you,
oh, you wanna have eternal life?
You just gotta repent of your sins.
You just gotta be a good person.
You just gotta tithe to my church.
You just gotta follow the commandments.
What does Jesus say?
He says, he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And you know what?
Before you believe in Jesus Christ,
you are dead in your trespasses and sins.
Right, in Romans chapter number seven,
the apostle Paul says, hey,
I was alive once without the law,
but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Right, sin was resurrected in me.
Sin revived in me.
And now, when you sin, you have that death in you.
You have that sentence of death in you.
But it says, he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Notice, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.
And it's not the elect.
It's not the special chosen.
You know, the gift is offered to all.
It's whosoever believeth in me.
It's not, well, you don't understand.
I used to live a really sinful life.
I lived a really messed up life.
He says, hey, whosoever will may come.
He says, whosoever liveth--
I mean, you've got to be alive.
Once you're dead and in hell, it's too late.
There's no coming back from that.
But hey, whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.
And notice, verse number 26.
He asks for a decision.
He says, "Believest thou this?"
He doesn't say, hey, whosoever liveth and believeth in me
shall never die.
Are you ready to repent of your sins?
Are you ready to walk an aisle?
Are you ready to turn over a new leaf?
Are you ready to give up the drugs?
Are you ready to give up the alcohol?
Are you ready to surrender your life to God?
He just says, no, believest thou this?
And by the way, this is how you get someone saved.
You get them to believe.
You get them to change their mind.
And we're talking to people.
We preach the gospel.
We preach the death, burial, and resurrection.
Hopefully you do.
Don't ever skip that in your gospel presentation.
And then we bring them to a point saying, hey,
before you were trusting in your works,
before you were trusting in Islam,
before you were trusting in Mormonism,
I've shown you the resurrection and the life.
I've shown you the Son of God.
Then you bring it to this question, believest thou this?
Believest thou this?
And guess what?
If you believe that, you are saved.
Doesn't matter what kind of sins you had in your past,
present, future.
Doesn't matter what you do in the future.
Hey, believest thou this?
If you believe on Jesus Christ, you are saved.
Don't doubt your salvation this morning,
even if you already saved.
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
The answer is yes, you are saved.
Verse 27, I love her answer.
She saith unto him, "Yea, Lord, I
believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which
should come into the world."
That's the right response to hearing the gospel.
I believe, right?
She believed, therefore she spoke.
I believe.
John chapter 6.
Go if you would to John chapter number 6.
Look at verse 39, "Jesus said, 'And this is the Father's will,
which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me,
I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again
at the last day.'"
Notice God's will is that whoever is saved, that Jesus
is not going to lose those people.
You know, it's such a silly idea to act like you can lose
your salvation, because what you're kind of saying is that,
you know, your will is stronger than God's will.
And sometimes people try to use these logical fallacy games
with you to try to get you to just deny the Bible.
I mean, the Bible says, "Hey, whosoever liveth and believeth
in me will have everlasting life, will have eternal life."
He'll raise them up at the last day.
God says you can never lose your salvation, right?
Then man comes along and says, "Well, hold on.
If you can't lose your salvation,
does that mean you don't have free will?
Oh, you're saying we lose our free will?
You don't have free will?
But here's the thing, we do have free will.
But here's what I don't have.
I don't have a will that could supersede the power of God.
Because look at what God's will is.
And this is the Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me, I should lose nothing.
You know, if I just willed to jump to the moon right now, I can't do that.
Even though that may be my will, honestly.
Like that probably actually is my will.
Or if I just willed to climb back into my mother's womb, it's like, oh, free will doesn't exist, because you can't climb back into your mother's womb.
It's like, no, no, no, there's physical limitations.
There's limitations on us as human beings.
And you know what?
Once you're saved, you're in the Father's hand.
And no man can pluck him out of my Father's hand.
Verse number 40, "And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
Notice, it's not just seeing the Son.
It's not just saying, like, oh, yeah, there was a guy named Jesus, and we're just going to believe, you know, facts about Jesus.
No, you see the Son and you believe on Him, meaning you're trusting in Him.
You're relying on Him.
People will try to straw man what we teach about salvation by saying, oh, you think you could just say the name of Jesus and that you're going to heaven?
No, no, you have to actually believe.
And you know what?
You're not going to fool God.
God knows if you believe in your heart.
But if you do, you will be saved.
You have everlasting life and you'll be risen up again at the last day.
Our bodies will be resurrected someday.
John, chapter number three, verse 16.
You know, everyone who believes in works-based salvation,
they really should not be celebrating Easter today
because the resurrection of Jesus has nothing to do with their plan of salvation.
And you know how I know this?
It's because I'm a soul winner and I go soul winning and I ask people,
"Hey, what do you think it takes to get to heaven?"
Be a good person, repent of my sins, go to church, live a good life.
You know what never comes out of their mouth?
Oh, Jesus died for my sins.
Jesus was the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus died.
Jesus rose again from the dead.
And because I'm trusting in that, hey, I'm going to be risen again someday too.
That doesn't come out of their mouth, why?
Because they're not saved.
You know, any church that teaches works of salvation should not be celebrating Easter today.
Because you know what, Easter belongs to the saved.
Easter belongs to the Baptist because we actually believe in the resurrection.
Look at John 3 verse 16.
"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."
Most famous verse in the Bible.
What does it say we have to do to be saved?
Believe on Him.
Maybe it became the most famous verse for a reason.
Because God wanted to make sure, hey, this is the most succinct, clear, you know, crystal clear way to show people how they're saved is by believing in the Son of God.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned.
But he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
The Bible puts these two groups of people against each other, those who are condemned, those who are not condemned.
Why are some people condemned?
Because they haven't repented of enough sins?
Because they haven't gone to enough church services?
Because they haven't fully dedicated their life to the service of God?
No, it's because they don't believe.
And again, what does it mean to believe?
To trust, right?
And, you know, I was just thinking about this.
Go if you would to 1 Timothy chapter number one.
1 Timothy chapter number one.
Because a lot of people say, "Oh, well then I'm good because I believe in God."
And I just also believe that it's by works.
Oh, I believe God's real.
I just also think you have to live a good life.
But here's the thing, you've got to let the Bible define what it means to believe.
Okay, look at 1 Timothy chapter number one.
Let me see the verse I'm looking for here.
Okay, verse 12.
This is the Apostle Paul.
He says, "And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that He counted me faithful,
putting me into the ministry, who was before," so before He got saved,
"who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious.
But I obtained mercy," why?
"Because I did it ignorantly."
In what?
Un-belief.
Now, here's the thing, before the Apostle Paul was saved,
and imagine you're having a conversation with the Pharisee of the Pharisee,
Saul, before he was Paul.
And you ask, "Hey, Saul, do you believe in God?"
You know what he's going to tell you?
"Yeah, oh, I believe the Torah.
Of course I believe in the Father.
Of course I believe in God.
I believe in Jehovah.
I believe in the Old Testament."
But what does the Bible say?
What was the state of being that the Apostle Paul was in before he was saved?
The Bible says, "I was in unbelief."
Because here's the thing, it doesn't matter if you believe God is real.
It doesn't matter if you believe Jesus is a real person.
It doesn't matter if you believe whatever.
Look, if you're trusting in your works, you don't believe God.
You're not trusting God. You're trusting yourself.
You may believe he's real, but you know what? You haven't put your trust in him.
And so anyone who's not saved, hey, they're condemned. Why?
Because they've not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
And people say all day long, no, I believe. It's just also by works. Let me help you.
You don't believe. You're trusting in yourself.
And hey, the apostle Paul at least had the humility to say, hey, before that I was an unbeliever.
I was in unbelief. People need to have some humility to get saved today.
Go to Romans chapter number 10. Romans chapter number 10.
What is the response to the resurrection?
Well, here's the response for those that are unsaved. You say, okay, Jesus rose again.
How do I put my faith in him? How do I put my trust in him?
Romans 10 verse 9. That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Hey, how is it that you put your faith in Christ as you call upon him? You use your mouth.
This is why, hey, we go soul winning and we explain to people the gospel.
We show them, hey, this is different than what you believed before. Have you changed your mind in that?
Great. Let me show you how you can put your faith in him. Let's call upon him right now.
Let's pray and ask him to save you. And those who actually believe, you know what they do?
They call upon the name of the Lord. For there's no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
It's the same plan of salvation whether you're Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, white, black, man, woman.
Hey, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
What is the response to the resurrection for the unsaved? You need to call upon the name of the Lord.
You need to put your trust in Jesus Christ. You need to trust in his death, burial, and resurrection
as the total payment for your sins. Not thinking you have to help him out with your good works.
Not trusting and keeping the commandments. Going to church, living a good life, being baptized.
No, you have to call upon him in faith. And when you do that, the Bible says you'll be saved.
Thou shalt be saved. Go to 2 Corinthians 5.
Now, what about the response to the resurrection for the saved, which I believe that's probably everyone in here this morning.
Is you're saved. So it's like, well, what's the point for us then?
And talking about the resurrection, we've already put our trust in him. We're already saved.
You know, one reason is that we just want to give glory to Jesus.
You know, is that all right every once in a while just to give some glory to the Lord Jesus Christ for his sacrifice, for his resurrection?
You know, we should do that. Absolutely.
Notice what it says in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 14.
It says, "For the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge that if one died for all, then we're all dead."
And remember, what is death? It's going to hell, right?
And Jesus, he died for all. He went to hell.
They're saying we're all dead, saying hey, everyone without Christ is on their way to hell.
Now it says in verse 15, "And that he died for all, that they which live,"
this is not saying those who are alive physically, this is saying those who are saved.
He says, "And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him which died for them and rose again."
What does the resurrection remind us of?
It's like, hey, we were dead, we were on our way to hell, Christ died for us,
and you know, because he rose again, now we have that eternal life.
We have that eternal life that we can never lose.
And so hey, while we live in this body, you know what we should do?
We shouldn't live unto ourselves.
We shouldn't go through the day-to-day life only caring about our needs,
our desires, our wants.
You know, we should live unto him that died for us.
We should live unto him that rose again from the dead.
You know, the resurrection Easter is a good reminder for you to get your butt awake,
wake up in this world, and realize that you're on this earth to serve God.
You're not here on this earth to work your job, to watch your sports,
to go play your games.
You know, you're here to serve God.
Jesus, rise again from the dead to give us life and to give us life more abundantly.
And it's like, why didn't we just go get beamed up to heaven after we got saved?
It's because now we're supposed to live unto Him that died for us.
Christ is gone. He's in heaven.
He's seated at the right hand of the Father, ever making intercession for us.
Who's left on this earth? We are.
We are the light of the world now.
Go, if you would, to 2 Corinthians 4, 2 Corinthians 4.
Now, there's a really beautiful carnal example in this universe that pictures what I'm talking about.
Look what it says in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 3.
This is in the context of preaching the gospel, being a soul winner.
It says, "But if our gospel be hid..." Sorry, verse 3.
"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost,
in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not,
lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ,
who is the image of God, should shine unto them."
So, hey, God wants the light to shine to this world.
And what is that light? That's the light of the gospel.
That's why the Bible says if our gospel is hid, it's hid to those that are lost.
What is the devil's goal? The devil's goal is to cover that light.
The devil's goal is to blind the minds of those that believe not.
Why? So that they will spend eternity in hell.
God's will is that the light would shine forth.
Notice what it says in verse 5, "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake."
Notice, is Jesus preaching the gospel today? No, the Bible says we preach Jesus Christ.
And notice, we're not preaching ourselves our works, we're preaching Jesus Christ and we're making ourselves servants, right?
So we're not living unto ourselves, we're living for God and we're living for other people.
Here's where the picture comes in, it says this, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us."
Let's break this down a little bit, in verse 6 when it says that God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.
What is that referring to? That's referring to Genesis chapter 1, right?
Where God said, in verse 3 of Genesis 1, and God said, "Let there be light, and there was light."
So 2 Corinthians 4, we're kind of doing a throwback to Genesis 1, he says that God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.
So light is going to be a spiritual picture here of what we're going to talk about.
Now, go if you would, keep your place there, and go to John chapter number 1.
So God, he created physical light, and the physical light in this world, what does it represent?
It represents the Lord Jesus Christ.
And so it's so funny, you know, people that are atheists, that hate Jesus, every single time you see light,
you're seeing the light of Jesus.
You know, you're seeing a spiritual representation of Jesus Christ.
God gave us the sun, isn't that funny?
The sun in this universe, and this sun, you know what we see it do every single night?
It goes down, and then the next day what happens?
It rises again, it comes up, and every single time you see a sunrise,
God is picturing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I mean, day unto day uttereth knowledge, and night unto night's speech,
the heavens declare the glory of God.
I mean, I just love astronomy and the sun and the moon and the stars.
Here's the thing, because it just gives glory to God.
I don't understand what people's major malfunction is.
The Bible says that the creation gives God glory.
And it doesn't matter if other people are giving it glory.
They objectively give God glory in and of itself.
And that big, bright, brilliant star in our universe, the sun,
every time it comes up over the horizon,
it's picturing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It's picturing the light of Jesus Christ.
Why do I say that? Look at John 1 verse 6.
"There was a man sent from God whose name was John.
The same came for a witness to bear witness of that light,
that all men through him might believe.
He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light.
That was the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
So what is light? Light is a picture of Jesus Christ.
You know, the sun is a big picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The sun goes down picturing the death of Jesus Christ.
The sun comes up picturing the resurrection.
Now, the sun out in the day, Jesus often talked about, "Hey, walk in the light while you have the light."
Walk as children of the day. We're the children of the day.
You know, work in the day.
Well, here's what the Bible says. You don't have to turn there.
Jesus said in John 9 verse 5, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."
And just as sure as while Jesus is in the world, he's the light of the world.
You know, the sun comes up during the day for 12 hours and the sun is the light of the world.
But then what happens? The sun goes down and night comes, right?
Just like Jesus died and spiritual night came, you know?
Jesus now, he's in heaven, he's not here in this world to bear witness of the light, to preach the gospel.
But what happens? When the sun goes down, there's another light that comes up called the moon.
Now what did Jesus say in Matthew 5 verse 14?
He says, "Ye are the light of the world, a city that is set on an hill, cannot be hid."
Let's go back to 2 Corinthians 4. So look, the sun is out, picturing Jesus Christ.
He's the light of the world. The sun goes down, picturing Jesus leaving this world.
What comes out? The moon. You know what that pictures? That pictures you and me.
That pictures soul winners. Why? Because Jesus was the light of the world.
Then He goes away. Now the moon is the light of the world.
It gives light while the sun is gone, just like what we're supposed to do is say,
"Hey, we are ambassadors for Christ. We're supposed to beseech you in Christ's stead.
Be ye reconciled to God." God's not going to come preach the gospel door-to-door to people,
but here's what we're supposed to do. We're supposed to bear witness of that light.
We're supposed to go out and preach the gospel to every creature.
So you know what? I love the sun, moon, and stars and creation because every time I see the sun,
I think of Jesus Christ. And you know what? Every time I see the moon, I'm reminded I need to be a soul winner.
I need to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because you know what? Jesus is not in this world anymore.
We are the light of the world. We've got to reflect. And you know what the moon does?
It reflects the light of the sun. And you know what we've got to do?
We've got to reflect the light of the sun and preach the gospel to every creature.
And hey, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God, the Bible says.
It's not our testimony that gets someone saved. It's the light of Jesus.
It's reflecting the light of Jesus Christ. That's why it says in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6,
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts
to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."
Saying like, "Hey, in the stead of Jesus Christ."
Just like God commanded the light to shine in this universe,
He's commanded that light to spiritually to shine in our hearts.
We have that light. We need to share that light with other people.
Go to Matthew chapter number 28.
So, you know, I encourage you to not live unto yourselves,
but live unto Him that died, that gave Himself for you, that rose again.
And I also encourage you not to be afraid of reality like the flat earth idiots,
and say, "Oh, you know, the sun, moon, and stars is all fake."
Hey, all those things give glory to God. I think it's amazing.
I think the Artemis program is amazing, and you know what?
I'm excited to see up-close pictures of the moon because I'm just like,
"I need to be a soul winner. I need to reflect that light."
Look at the big, beautiful sun. It pictures Jesus Christ.
Hey, it's His handiwork. It gives glory to Him.
Matthew 28. What does the Gospel mean for the lost?
Hey, you need to believe in Jesus Christ. You need to put your trust in that resurrection.
What does it mean for us now that we're saved? You need to preach the Gospel.
What is the meaning of life? It's preaching the Gospel.
Let us be reminded of that on Easter.
Hey, if you're already saved, great. Praise God.
But your entire purpose for being now, why you exist, your mission, your purpose in life should be to preach the Gospel.
Matthew 28 verse 5.
"And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not, for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen, as he said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead.
And behold, he goeth forth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him, I have told you.
And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word."
What is the response for Christians when there's that empty tomb? It's, hey, go and tell.
Go and tell people. And you know what, I love their zeal here because it says they departed quickly from the sepulcher.
You know what, you should start becoming a soul winner quickly.
Hey, you should get saved and you should become a soul winner.
You know, imagine if Mary and other Mary, they found the empty tomb and they spent the next decade, 20 years, 30 years, not telling anyone.
You know, that's what a lot of people are doing spiritually.
Hey, they believe in the resurrection. Hey, cool, an empty tomb. I believe in Jesus Christ.
And now there's, you know, God's saying, OK, go tell. No, I'm good.
I'm going to live under myself. I'm here to, you know, work and play golf and play video games
and hang out with my girlfriend and go boating and go to school and climb the career ladder.
Look, you fool, go tell someone. Go quickly. It says that they went quickly.
And he says, from the subicker with fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples work.
Hey, we need some zealous soul winners in America.
We need some people that are going to go run to become a soul winner.
And hey, Jesus backs this up, look at verse 18.
What does he say the response should be to his own resurrection?
And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
You know, it's good to be reminded, by the way, of the power of God, the omnipotence of God.
And you know, observing things like the sun and the moon and the earth hanging upon nothing
in the middle of a vast, empty galaxy, you know what it reminds me of is the power of God.
And Jesus said, "Hey, all power is given unto me." What an amazing reminder that is.
"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always,
even unto the end of the world. Amen." Look, there's no more important mission or task in this world
than preaching the gospel. And he's using the power of heaven and earth as an illustration.
He says, "Look, all power is given unto me, you know, in heaven and in earth."
Hey, you see the moon, you see the stars, you see the galaxy, you see this beautiful earth that's being held.
Hey, the Bible says that by Him all things consist, right? So Jesus Christ, He has all power.
He's upholding these things by His hand, all power in heaven and in earth. That's a lot of power, right?
And what does He say? "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you." And notice this, "And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen."
That's a powerful mission. Look, when the most powerful being in the universe, Jesus Christ, Almighty God,
who upholds the moon and the stars and the earth and just everything you could think of,
when He says, "I'll be with you always," that's a really important mission, folks.
I mean, think about Air Force One, the President's airplane.
It takes off, and you know what it has?
It's got a bunch of F-22 Raptors and whatever, F-35s and F-15s, you know,
escorting the President, because that's an important mission that the President's on, right?
And so, hey, those F-15s are ready, they're there to back him up, they're there to protect him,
and it's like, okay, we have the God of the universe escorting us.
I mean, we're going out preaching the gospel, and who's my escort?
Not an F-15, not an A-10, those are getting shot down in Iran.
Who's my escort? Jesus Christ, the creator, the one who died and rose again.
That's a great escort we got right there.
So why are you afraid? Why are you afraid to preach the gospel?
Imagine it's like, oh, Mr. President, I'm sorry.
I can't escort you in my F-15 today, I've got a golf game.
It's like, what?
If you had a job to work in some sort of important mission, you would do that.
It's like, okay, most important mission ever, the creator, the Lord of the universe,
the one that rose again from the dead.
He said, hey, you've got a mission.
Go ye therefore, and I will be with you always.
Look, let us care about that mission.
Let us use this Easter to remind ourselves, hey, what's the response to the resurrection?
If you're not saved, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.
Hey, if you are saved, you've got that light inside of you.
It's time to start showing forth that light to other people, preaching the gospel to every creature.
Oh, you say I'm shy.
Man, you've got the Lord Jesus Christ with you.
He's with you always.
Have some faith in God. Have some faith in God that, you know what, God can use you in a great way to get multitudes saved in this life.
Have some faith in God that God can use Anchor Baptist Church to make a great difference in Oklahoma City and this world.
Have some faith that Jesus Christ is going to be with you always.
You know, that's what we should be reminded of with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Let's pray. Lord, thank you so much for sending us your son, Jesus Christ, to die, to be to be buried and to rise again from the dead.
I pray that if anyone is not saved in this community, that you would lead us to them, that you would just direct our soul winners to people that want to see the true light of Jesus Christ.
And I pray that every person in here would not live to themselves, that we would use this time of thinking about the resurrection of Jesus Christ to rededicate ourselves to living unto you.
I pray that you bless the remainder of this day, our fellowship, the food that's going to be served here shortly.
We love you so much. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Ask him this morning, turn if you would to number 31, he lives.
And number 31, 31, he lives.
One there on the first.
I serve our risen Savior, he's in the world today. I know the Son of mercy, voice of truth, the time I need is with me, and talks with me, the Lord's name.