Thank you very. I go back with me to. First Corinthians
fifteen. First Corinthians fifteen. Charles Spurgeon. Great preacher. True preacher
gospel preacher back in. the 19th century told his young students, he advised
them that whenever the minds of the people are thinking about
a particular subject, while everyone's mind is on that subject, you
would do well to deal with that subject from the scripture. This is Easter Sunday, and the
minds of most everyone is on this, and the word Easter... Now, turn, first of all, to Acts,
Chapter 12. Let's keep the book of 1 Corinthians. Acts, Chapter 12, the word Easter
is, indeed, in the Scripture. Down here in Acts, Chapter 12. But what goes on today in the
name of Easter is utter nonsense. This traditional celebration
and all the superstition and pageantry and so forth, like
Christmas, is all superstition and tradition. It's not taught
in Scripture. Word Easter, though, is found
here, so that you'll know. Verse 4, Acts 12, verse 4, when
he had apprehended him, that is, Herod took Peter and put
him in prison, delivered him to four quarterings of soldiers
to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to
the people. So the word is in the Scripture. The word means Passover. That's
what the word may pass over is a God ordained celebration. In the old testament. We don't
observe the passover anymore. You know why I don't. Christ
is our passover that passover that that was when the Lord brought
Israel out of Egypt. And the way it began was the
blood of a lamb, the blood of a lamb. And Christ is our Passover
lamb, by whom God has brought us out with a high hand, with
the blood of a lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified, actually crucified and buried and arose at this
time of year. This is the time of year. They
got Christmas all wrong. His actual birth was around the
month of May, but he actually was crucified and buried and
arose right around this time. That's when the Passover was
observed. The Lord God instituted Passover, and it's
no coincidence that Jesus Christ was crucified at that exact same
time the month of the of the way when they came out that's
when Christ came and was crucified and we come out and life again. He said that he said to the Jews
at that Passover life begins now. So but all this stuff and you
know I don't want to offend anyone I really don't. I don't want
to say things in such a way. We do it. We can't help it. Don't
want to do it, but I wouldn't offend anyone. Should we renounce
things that go on in religion? Absolutely. Nobody else is. Fester was telling me about Rolf
Barnard the other night, and he was relating so many stories
of how he would come. He came into the South, the Bible
Belt, years ago, full of nothing but Southern Baptist free will
religion. And he came in, and he would do things and say things
that just tore people all to pieces, made them fighting mad. Somebody would get up to sing,
and he'd say, I've got nothing but the flesh, and just John the Baptist will
do that, and I'm telling you, now more than ever, it's become
so absurd, so far from the truth, such a mockery of God. Somebody's
got to say something, don't they? What in the world is the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ have to do with a bunny And that's what they're doing
all over. Well, but most people, and let
me get off that subject, most people are thinking about the
resurrection of the man named Jesus, whether they believe it
or not. Most are talking about that story.
of Jesus, some call the Christ, rising from the grave. Did he? Is it true? Everything depends upon it. This is not doctrine here. This
is not just, you know, this is not something you can be indifferent
to. This is not something you can take or leave. It's not something
where you believe it, don't believe it, partly believe it. Everything
depends on the fact of that man who lived 2,000 years ago and
died on a Roman cross and they put his body in a tomb. Did he
walk out of that tomb three days later? We're a bunch of fools. I'm going
home." But he did. That's what he says
here. He said, if he didn't, a preacher
is the biggest fool on earth. No, you're a worse fool for following
him. He says, and I'll close my Bible,
over here in verse, look at verse 32. If the dead rise not, let's eat
and drink. Tomorrow we die. Why are we spending
Sunday, our day off, right here doing this? A bunch of superstition
and tradition and taking our time off to do this. Let's go
have fun. This world is all it is. Let's
go after it. Really, the one that dies with
the most toys wins. if Christ didn't rise. But He did. And so, oh my, and so, everything is connected with Him. You know that every single recorded
message by the apostles in the book of Acts mentions the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every time the Apostle Paul went
out to preach, and he did most of the recorded preaching, he
stood up and said, Christ is risen. The apostle at at Pentecost
the message that Rick that say three thousand sold the same
message later to say four thousand five thousand. Was this a reason
a man who arose and is right now seated on the throne controlling
planet Earth. And everyone. That's how important
it is. that that man named Jesus of
Nazareth lived on this earth. There's no argument about that,
is there? Nobody argues that. Everyone agrees. Everyone at
least acknowledges that there was a man named Jesus, nearly
two thousand years ago, who lived on this earth. Few will argue
that. Historians acknowledge that.
And that he died on a Roman cross. They have various beliefs of
why he died. I just read one the other day,
why he died. You know why he died, don't you?
Oh my, you know why. You know who killed him, don't
you? Please, the Lord to Bruce. God put his soul to death, made
an offering to sin. You know why. Oh, you're so blessed,
John. The world's still debating that.
And he died and Now the story has it that three days later,
and everyone saw him dead, three days later though, now here's
lots of messiahs have come and gone and died. Lots of messiahs
have claimed many things. Lots of fellows have had a following.
Lots of fellows have done seemingly miracles, great, said great things,
and whole slews of people, slew of people followed them. But
none of them Does it say? Walked out of the grave. Appreciate that. Buddha is dead. You'll find his
tomb there somewhere. Confucius, and on and on it goes.
Mohammed? But you won't find any bones.
If you find the grave, you won't find any bones, because he walked
out of it. And if he did, and since he did,
let me change my word in here, since he did, that means he was
the first one to do it, that means all that he said and did
is true. Because he said, destroy this
temple, you take and you destroy this
temple, in three days I'll raise it again. They didn't understand
then what he was saying. You didn't. Then he plainly told
his disciples, he said, the Son of Man goeth, as it is prophesied,
as it is written. Christ must suffer according
to the Scripture. The Son of Man goeth, as it is
written, into Jerusalem. He said he set his face like
a plant. To this cause came I, to this hour, he said, to die
on a Roman cross. But that doesn't stop there.
But He came to live, He came to bring in an everlasting righteousness,
He came to justify His people by His holy life, but He came
to die as a sin offering, as a substitute. As John said, the
Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, a holy
God, angry with the wicked every day, but a substitute upon whom
the wrath of God will be poured out to everyone that's found
in Him by faith. So Christ set His face steadfast,
like a flint, to go to Jerusalem and hang on that cross as a substitute
of His people, that everyone whom He represented, He would
pay for their sins, put away their sins by the sacrifice of
Himself. And He did. He said, The Son
of Man goeth as it is written. They'll take Him and they'll
do everything that the Scripture said. It's all written down.
Every jot and tittle, every single thing they will do to him, it
was written. They'll pluck out his beard.
They'll part his garments. They'll give him vinegar to drink.
They'll slap him. They'll beat him. They'll spit
in his face. They'll pierce his side. They'll
pierce his hands and feet. Scripture says so. And they'll
put him in a tomb. And they'll try to keep him there. But he said, I'm coming out.
He said, I'm going, I'll be crucified, I've got my people's sins laid
upon me, I will put them away. John, he put them away by the
sacrifice of himself. See, the fact he came out of
the grave means he did just that, John. Here's the good news, Paul
said, I declare unto you the gospel. Christ died according
to the scriptures. as a substitute, was buried according
to Scripture and rose. The high priest came out of the
Holy of Holies, came out and God accepted the sacrifice. Tradition,
superstition, reality. Christ came out and said, God's
pleased, you're accepted. Now I go, he said, to prepare
a place for you. If it were not so, I would have
told you, but I go to prepare a place for you. Psalm 24 says, Open the gates. Somebody's coming in heaven.
Open the gates. Who is it? The King of Glory
is coming in. He's trained. That means there's
a bunch of people coming with Him. By virtue of who He is and
what He did, He's coming in. And all these people that believe
Him, trust Him, follow Him, they're coming into heaven with Him. holy, unblameable, unreprovable,
accepted in the blood of Christ. It arose from the grave. And
He did. How do you know? Well, we're
going to address that in a moment. So since He did, that means all
He said and all He did is true. He said He was going and He did.
He said they would do what they would do, and they did. He said
he would die, and they did. He said they would put him in
a grave, and they did. He said he would come out, and
he did. That means, John, everything
he said before that is true. And that's what he said. He said,
Heaven and earth will pass away, but not one word that I have
spoken shall pass. You know what that means, Nancy?
The only one who speaks and it's done the only one who says this
will happen and it happens is God. That means that man named
Jesus. That's how important it is. That he is God and right now
alive and that's what he says first thing revelation one behold
I was dead. Reigning, ruling, controlling
every person, thing, event. Yes, Jesus Christ. All things
right now under his sovereign control. And he is very soon,
since he came out of that grave, as he said, and he did say before
he left, I'm coming back again, that means he's coming back soon. That's what he said. Behold,
I come quickly. That means it's dead circle. If it were not so, he would have
told them, and he can't lie. You see how important this is? Since he did, all who believe, he said, now
remember, everything he said, he rose from the grave, it proves
everything he said is true. He said, he that believeth in
me, So he were dead, put his body
in the ground, doesn't matter how long, yet shall he live. And he really said, these people
on earth, the ones that are dead, not the ones who fell asleep,
they're not dead, the Lord said. No, they're not. The ones who
live, believe in me, have life. Real life. The ones who don't,
they're dead. You believe this? How do we know? Because it came out. See? I told you. You can't kill life. He that hath the Son hath life. You can kill the body. That's
all you can do. Oh my, he said down here in verse
18, those that are fallen asleep in Christ are perished if Christ
be not risen. They die like a dog. The dog doesn't have an everlasting
soul. Nobody believes that except Hindus. You come, you reincarnate, you
know, if you don't act right, you'll come back as a dog. They
actually believe that. But, you know, dogs, plants,
animals, they don't have souls. Come back. But man was creating
the image of God, a living soul. Those, he said, who believe in
me, they don't die. They don't die. They don't die. This is not a
doctrinal issue. Is it? It's not a doctrinal issue.
It's about a real person, a real person who, this book says, is
God who became a man, and the destiny of every human being
is controlled by him. Now, look at that verses 1 through
5. He said, I declare unto you the
gospel. The word gospel means good news. it can I just declare it briefly. I've been twenty twenty three
minutes. I might die tomorrow. Well we don't know if I have
I have preached God I have already but to tell it again it's not
great. And his birth is the one who
can declare it says the gospel how the Christ came. And his birth The angels, a multitude
of heavenly hosts, came and announced the birth of the Christ child. Christ means the mediator, the
messiah, the substitute, the daisman, the covenant head. Are
you listening? The covenant head is coming.
The son of David who's come. The king of kings and lord of
lords. Kingdom of God itself. is going
to come among us. And they said, peace on earth. Our Lord said, you'll never find
peace on this earth. There'll be wars and rumors of
war. But he said, peace, I'll give
unto you. My peace, I leave with you. And no man can take it from you.
Peace on earth. Can you have peace on this earth
when there's wars within, wars without? Trials and tribulations
and trials. Yes, a peace which passeth understanding. Where is it? A lot of people
talk about it. That's true. You mark the perfect man. You
go, you watch a man die who believes the Lord Jesus Christ. You watch
him. The end of that man will be what? Peace. He giveth his beloved sleep. You mean, you're ready to die?
You have a desire to depart? I don't want to leave my family.
I love my family, but to be with Christ is far better. That's
peace. That's peace. Peace on our goodwill toward
men. Goodwill. God is propitious,
God is merciful, God is gracious, God does love some men. Now just marvel at that. Glad tidings, they said, of great
joy. You see why we shouldn't be morose
and melancholy and unhappy people? Great tidings of great joy. unto you is born this day a Savior,
you don't have to pray, which is Christ Jesus the Lord, God. Christ the Lord, he came, he
was born, he lived, he said, I love, oh, it's one of my favorite
verses, Christ said, in the world you shall have tribulation, trouble,
Troubles within, troubles without, enemies, struggles, failures, awful, sin. In the world you
shall have tribulation, but, and I know he smiled when he
said, be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Why, John? What's that mean to
us? He did it for us. He did it for us. Kellie, the only way we overcome
is by faith in Him. Look into Him. He said, Be of
good cheer. I have overcome the world. You believe in God? Believe
in Me. Trust Me. Look to Me and you'll overcome
the world. Not in yourself, but in Me. I'll
be in ever-present help in time of trouble. The world will not
hold you down. Satan, all of this, after you,
Call on me, Lord. And he'll say like he did those
disciples of old, that the people go, if you seek these, if you
seek me, let them go. This is why Nancy really don't
have anything. She really don't. Because he lives. Because he lives. This is not
a doctrine. This is a person. We're talking
about a real person who really lives, reigns. We can't see him,
though. Does that mean he's not alive, not real? Of course not. Of course not. He's alive. Real person. Real. And you know, he has Revealed
himself, he's unseen, yes. But we've seen his glory, haven't
we? Hasn't there been times when you have, through the preaching
of the gospel, and this is a mystery, it really is a mystery, but have
you not seen his glory when the gospel is preached? Very real. While the world can't
see it. He's unheard, he does not speak
out loud, but have you not heard his voice at times when the word
has been proclaimed very powerfully? You know it's the Lord himself
speaking. Have you not felt his presence? Huh? The early church were all
saints down through time. The Old Testament, they never
saw God. for a short period of time he
appeared on this earth thirty-three years after that nobody's seen
him. But all down through the years,
millions upon millions of believers have felt his presence, have
seen his power, seen his glory, heard his voice, and very really
experienced him. And this is not mysticism, but
you know what the word mysticism means. I've heard fella mock
and ridicule this, you know, doctrinal Pharisees who insist
you get into the kingdom by doctrine. Mysticism means something you
can't explain. Of course it's mysticism. Of
course it is. It's mystical. It's a mystery.
I haven't seen him, but whom having not seen, whom having
not seen, ye love." We gather together and we talk about Jesus
Christ. Does your heart skip a beat sometimes? Not always, but sometimes. Does
your heart not warm up and do you not love to hear about His
glory and His power and His person and His work? Do you not? Huh?
Doctors won't do that. Love will. love for a person. And he said, where two or three
are gathered together in my midst, he said, I am in their midst. Not, I am in their midst, he
said. I will be there. I will be there,
he said. It's in the purse of his Holy
Spirit. Now, I'm telling things much
too wonderful for me, but it's so. Here's the point. We don't believe a doctrine.
We don't believe a theory. We don't believe tradition, superstition. We're not observing ceremonies
and all of this stuff. But a person, a real person,
Jesus Christ, God, everything He says is true. Everything He
did is true. He's alive right now, seated
on the right hand of God, coming back tomorrow. That's so how
you know it's so great you he said. Everything we talk to people
about what we believe don't talk about what you believe but talk
about who you believe. If people reject it you're calling
Jesus Christ a liar. It's everything he said you say. We're not dependent on Calvin
we're not dependent on Creed's This is honor and glory in the
word, the person of Jesus Christ. Did he, is he alive? Did he walk
out of that? Yes, he did. Yes, he did. Prove it. No. If he's pleased
to do it, he will. But we can't. Can't. We can't believe it. Show him the word. But it really
is, the Lord really must reveal himself to a person. Paul, let
me close with this, old Saul of Tarsus, that Jesus fella,
he's dead and this is all a pack of nonsense. And I'm going to
round up all these believers in him. I'm going to put an end
to this thing. And he's riding his high horse one day. He said,
I'm going to stop this Christianity stuff. And boom! He hit the dirt on his face and
the dirt before whom he knew not. Who art thou? Who is this? I'm Jesus. Now, what are you going to do?
I'm alive. Oh, Lord. Lord, have mercy on
me. Lord, what will you have me to
do? Lord, what will you do with me? Lord, receive me. The Lord is merciful. Now, you
go tell all those people that you've
told before not to believe in me, you go testify of me. I'm alive, and they're in my
hands, and I'm merciful. They'll call on me, my friend.
Go, preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth in
me. shall not perish, but have everlasting
life. Let's sing in closing number
218. 218. All hail. That's what you do before a king,
isn't it? Hail to the chief. All hail the
power of Jesus' name. Okay, 218. Let's sing. Let's sing the first, fifth,
and sixth verses. It's too late for that. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Bring forth the royal diadem
and crown him Lord of all. Verse 5. Let every kindred, every
tribe, on this terrestrial ball To Him all majesty ascribe and
crown Him Lord of all To Him all majesty ascribe and crown
Him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng
we at His feet may fall, We'll join the everlasting song and
crown Him Lord of all. We'll join the everlasting song
and crown Him Lord of all. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll be there.
I'll be there. All right. At least you don't have to get
there. Never was so lucky.