Acts chapter 3. Now if we had
three hours, I'd read Acts chapter 3 and 4, but we are going to
limit ourselves to just a few verses in chapter 3, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. Acts chapter 3, and I'd like
to begin reading with verse 11. Now all of this is a result of
Peter and John going to the temple one day and on their way they
met a man who was lame and they were stopped. I don't know about
you recently, but it just kind of reminds me of some of the
events we deal with today. please help, God bless. There
was a man that had this infirmity and he was hoping to get some
money from them. And Peter and John both said,
you know, silver and gold we don't have, but such as we have,
we'll give you in the name of Jesus Christ. Arise. Well, here in verse 11, And as
the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all the
people ran together unto them in the porch which is called
Solomon's, greatly wondering. And when Peter saw it, he answered
unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? Or why
look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power, or holiness,
we made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac,
and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his son
Jesus, whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence
of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied
the Holy One the just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto
you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from
the dead, whereof we are witnesses. Now, we're gonna stop there in
our reading and look at a few other places, but did you notice
that in verse 15, whereof we are witnesses of this very thing. Now, when they were looking for
someone to take Judas's place, Judas had betrayed the Lord Jesus
according to God's eternal and everlasting purpose, And it's
recorded in the Old Testament in the Psalms that this was going
to take place. And when it came time to replace
Judas, one of the requirements was that he be here and also
witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, you know these people,
and several times here in the book of Acts and through the
rest of the Bible, we find them testifying and witnessing to
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ was truly raised from
the dead, and the motives which induced the disciples of Christ
to publish the resurrection was not gain. It was not fame. It was not riches. They were
not getting paid to say this. And they were not going to become
famous for saying this. To many people's eyes, they become
infamous for saying this. They had no gain in mind. They
had no fame in mind. They had no riches and no glory,
no profit. No, they exposed themselves to
great suffering as a result of declaring the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. And we're going to find out that
several of them gave their lives freely because they continued
to declare the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was not a glory
ride that they had on from a human standpoint, but it was a glory
ride from a divine standpoint that they were on. They were
declaring something that God had promised would take place,
and at the time, almost all of them to a person did not understand
or comprehend or even believe what was taking place. But it's
not because the Lord Jesus did not announce this fact, so often
in His public ministry. In fact, we find that a number
of times it's recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John that Jesus
told His disciples very plainly. Now, it kind of went over their
head to begin with. They couldn't comprehend this,
but they were told this. You know how often we are told
things even in our lost and undone state, and it goes clear over
our heads. And then when the Lord reveals the truth to us,
we say, oh my God, didn't my heart burn within me when he
shared with me the truth of the gospel? Well, turn with me, if
you would, to the book of Matthew for just a moment. In the book
of Matthew, we find the Lord Jesus sharing with his disciples
the very fact of why he came. He did not come to set up a kingdom. from a physical standpoint, but
He is setting up a kingdom from a spiritual standpoint. He is
making His people kings and priests of a holy kingdom. It is an invisible
kingdom. It?s not physical, it?s invisible
at this time. Here in the book of Matthew,
chapter 20, verse 17, we read these words, It says, and Jesus going up to
Jerusalem took the 12 disciples apart in the way and said unto
them, we're going to have a special training session right here,
right now. And he took his disciples, 12
of them, Judas is included, took them aside for a moment and said,
we're going to have a special training session about what to
expect. Here he says, behold, we go up
to Jerusalem. Now this is his instruction about
what is happening. This is pre-history. History
will soon follow. This is a declaration ahead of time. the reality of this will be followed
out. We're going up to Jerusalem.
Now, you know, if I know something about if there's a place that
harm may come to me, it is in my best interest not to go that
route. You know, right here in the Dalles
we have some construction going on and there's some big pieces
of hose this big around and there's a place where it goes out from
the freeway exit coming in here. They have to go over a big bump.
Well, yesterday I was there and a man was going the wrong way
over that big bump. And before you know it, he pulled
up backwards and took off, because he saw oncoming traffic right
there. He wanted to avoid that. Well,
the Lord Jesus, given every opportunity to avoid it, said, No, this is
why I came. I came for this very purpose. I did not come just to live a
good life. I did not come just to be a good
teacher. I did not come just to talk to
the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the scribes. I did not come
just to heal people from physical illness. I came on purpose, the
covenant of grace demands this, that if my people, my sheep will
be set free from their sin and condemnation, I must go to the
cross on their behalf. But it cannot stop there. We're
going to find out. He goes on to tell us here in
verse 19, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge,
and to crucify him. And he always adds this. He did
not leave them in doubt about what he was going to do after
he was crucified. And after he died, it tells us
there, in the third day, he shall rise again. I believe there's
10 or 12 times in the Gospels alone that this very thing is
said by the Lord Jesus to his disciples and one time we find
out that Peter got involved and Jesus said, you have to get behind
the adversary. Now, I don't believe that Jesus
was calling him the devil. I believe the word should have
been translated, and is often translated, adversary. You're
in the way. You don't know the will of God
on this matter. When you know the will of God,
you will say, I'm sorry for what I did, and Peter did. But Jesus
said, get thee behind me, I must go, it must happen. This is a
very center and core of the gospel is that Jesus Christ must lay
down his life a ransom for his people. Now he knew exactly who
he was going to lay down a ransom for. He didn't go to the cross
with the idea that I hope this makes some people savable. He
went to the cross knowing full well that he would save them
from their sins. That's why we call him Jesus.
For he shall save his people from their sins. It is not an
auction. It is not a hope. It is an absolute
statement that God made about the salvation of his people.
It will be the way I declare it. I will save my people. Now,
in our lost and undone state, we don't know where we are. We
don't know about that. It is not something that we can
tell about looking at people. It's not something that we understand,
but we understand that Jesus Christ went to the cross on purpose
to save some people for his glory, his honor, and his praise. Now
to finish the deal, to finish the covenant of grace, to make
it assurance, he fills in the blanks for his disciples and
says, and the third day he shall rise again. That is a promise. Now, we find out that they didn't
understand all of that until after it was a fact, and so often
we find ourselves in the same boat, that there are some things
about the Bible we don't understand until God is pleased to reveal
to it and we're able to see it, and then we will be a witness
to it. But here we have it. Now, the
Apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to bring up the consideration
of what it would be like if Jesus Christ did not come forth from
the tomb. Now, there were a lot of people
that were saying, well, you know, I think they stole his body away.
Well, the question asked me, who did that? Because there was
people right there, and the disciples were accused of it. All kinds
of nonsense was going on. All kinds of things were being
said. But here we find, in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter
15, that the apostle Paul was led by the Holy Spirit, the secretary
of God Almighty, to write down for us today, this very moment
in our life, what it would be like if Jesus Christ had went
to the cross and appeared to die on the behalf of his people
and was buried and never rose again. This is the consequences
of that thought. And the apostle Paul is led by
the Holy Spirit to say, this is not what happened. What happened
is he did come out of the tomb. Now that's the consequences you
and I must face. that he did come out of the tomb.
Now, if he'd have stayed in the tomb, we can assume right off
that he was also a sinner. And if he was a sinner, he couldn't
die for sin. Aaron was a sinner and he had
to offer sacrifices for himself as well as for the people. Well,
let's look here in the book of 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, it seems that this idea, this thought, this theology,
this teaching, this doctrine was going rampant through some
parts of the church. And the Apostle Paul was called
on by the Holy Spirit to write here in this letter to the Corinthians,
a church in Corinth, a place that we could go to today, but
there's, it's an old place. And here we read, now if Christ
be preached that he rose from the dead, verse 12 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, now if Christ be preached that he rose from the
dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection
of the dead? Now they bring up a very good
question. If Jesus Christ, if we be a testimony
and preach that He rose from the dead, and you say He didn't,
here is the problem. And it's a very serious problem. It is such a serious problem
that there's absolutely no hope for our eternal life. But if
there be no resurrection from the dead, then Christ is not
risen. And if Christ be not risen, then
our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. Now
that's just minor consequences to the problem, that our preaching
is in vain. In other words, our preaching
is a lie, and your faith is a lie. Okay, he goes on, yea, and we
are found false witnesses of God. Jesus Christ shared during
his personal ministry that he would raise from the dead. And
you know what? The Old Testament prophets also
declared that. We'll look at one of them in
a few moments. Yea, and we are found false witnesses
of God, and you don't want to be that. A false witness of God
has some eternal consequences. Because we have testified of
God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so
be the dead not rise not. And if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is in vain. Yea, ye are yet in your sins. then they also which are fallen
asleep in Christ are perished, and if this life only we have
hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. So the Apostle
Paul was led by the Holy Spirit. Now he didn't come to these conclusions
on his own. These are honest conclusions.
But he did not come to these conclusions on his own. He came
to these conclusions because the Holy Spirit gave him the
words to write. And he said, this is a serious
statement that you are making here in this church, that the
dead rise not. And he comes up and he says,
if the dead rise not, Jesus Christ is not risen. And the consequence
of that is you are yet in your sins. Well, if we're yet in our
sins, then payment must be made somewhere. If we're yet in our
sins, someone is going to have to pay for those sins. And if
we're yet in our sins, we're going to make payment for those
sins. And that's eternal payment. That is hell. That is what God
is going to require from everyone that knows not Christ. That everyone
Jesus Christ did not die for, they will be held accountable
and will pay the very last farthing. That's what we find in the scriptures.
So sin is absolutely an issue that must be dealt with. And
if Jesus Christ went to the cross and yet did not rise from the
dead, then sin is not paid for. If he's still in the grave, if
his bones are somewhere. There was a reason that Jesus
Christ, God Almighty, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit did not
have Moses's grave marked. They would have been using his
bones as relics. They'd have had his bones somewhere.
Well, the tomb of the Lord Jesus was clearly marked. It was made
most apparent People knew where it was. Soldiers knew where it
was. The religious people knew where
it was. Those ladies knew where it was.
It was not hidden in any way. And we read this morning there
in the book of Mark that there was a stone in front of that
tomb that was very great. And it was there on purpose.
You know, we find out that Jesus Christ came out of that tomb
without opening that great stone. He is one that can pass through
doors and windows and walls without having any problem whatsoever. And we find here that Jesus Christ
did raise from the tomb, and if He did that, then He's taken
care of the issue of sin. He's taken care of the issue
of our responsibility to God. There could be no rest for any
believer, none whatsoever. What am I going to do with my
sin if Jesus Christ did not come out of that tomb? And the Apostle
Paul brings that up and clearly writes to the Corinthians. Now,
I'm sure that there were some at Corinth that said, hallelujah.
I'm so thankful for this message that God has sent to us through
the Apostle Paul. And there were some that says,
you know, that man is bringing up another lie. happens all the
time with the Word of God. Just brought up another lie.
Well, the truth of God's Word. You know, the Lord Jesus was,
turn with me, if you would, to the book of Romans, chapter one.
Romans, chapter one. In Romans, chapter one, we find
these words given to us. Again, Paul is the secretary
bringing this up. Romans, chapter one, verse four.
By the resurrection, Jesus is declared the Son of God. If we ever had any doubt, here it
is. Who is He? You know, there's a bunch of
Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes that says, we know His brothers,
and we know His sisters, and in one place we have the names
of four of His brothers. I had people tell me when I was
growing up that Mary was a perpetual virgin. You know what? They never believed
the word. Her and Joseph had a family.
They had at least four boys and two girls. Now the names of the
girls are not mentioned, but it is plural. So there was at
least six people besides Jesus in their family. Now they are
saying, we know his father and we know his mother and we know
his brothers and we know his sisters. Now how could this guy
be anything different than just another child in the family?
Well, here we have the Apostle Paul dealing with that issue,
that as a result of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, He is forever,
has always been, and forever will be, declared to be the Son
of God with power. And declared to be the Son of
God with power according to the Spirit of holiness. How? By the
resurrection from the dead. He came out of that tomb victorious. He came out of that tomb superlative. He came out of that tomb glorified. He came out of that tomb successful.
He came out of that tomb, as the covenant of grace would report,
as taken complete care for ever, time, and for eternity, every
sin of everybody He went to the cross to die for, and His people
will never stand in judgment. There shall be no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. They are covered by the blood.
They have the blood of Christ taking care of their sin debt.
They will not answer to God for their sins. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect, it is God that justifies. And
so we have this wonderful statement made in the scriptures that he
was declared to be the son of God by the resurrection from
the dead. Now, in the book of Romans chapter
4, we have the benefit to us. Notice this. In Romans chapter
4, there in verse 25, and we'll look at this verse a little bit
later too, in Romans chapter 4 and verse 25, he was delivered
for our offenses. Now, that's what Peter brought
out there. He said, you took the Holy One. You took the just. You took the Son of God. Pilate
was ready to let him go, but you would rather have a murderer
released unto you, Barabbas, than to have the Son of God.
You would rather have Barabbas released unto you than the son
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You would rather have that. You'd
rather have a Barabbas, a murderer released unto you than the Messiah.
He brought that out so clearly and so plainly and said, but
he is raised from the dead. And in this chapter, I believe
in that third chapter of the book of Acts and through the
remainder of that book, I think it's eight times it's brought
out that he was raised from the dead. They made a statement. They continue to make that statement
and they will continue to make that statement. And we get to
make that statement every day of our life. that he raised victorious
over sin, death, hell, and the grave. He came out of it victorious. Now notice here in Romans chapter
4 and verse 25, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised
again for our justification. Now, justification was taken
care of in eternity past. He is telling us by the resurrection,
I'm applying it. I'm showing you that I've set
you free. I've made you righteous. I've
made you justified. You are just before God. You
have no sin. You don't have the smell of sin.
You don't have the taint of sin. You don't have anything that
God would be displeased with you. You know, in the book of
Isaiah, chapter 53, I don't think of this as being a declaration
of the resurrection, but look with me. Even Isaiah believed
in the resurrection. Job believed in the resurrection.
All the Old Testament saints believed in the resurrection.
That's what they were depending upon, that someone would come
and take care of their sin debt. And as a result of taking care
of the sin debt, somebody would be so pleased with it that they
would raise him from the dead. Well, the somebody that was so
pleased with it was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
They were so pleased with what Jesus Christ did, and they were
so pleased with his last words. You know, it still sends shrills
through the church to hear the last words of Jesus on the cross. It is finished. To have sin taken
care of in such a grand way, in such a statement, that he
would pay more than required if he needed to. As we find where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Paid for your sins
double for what you owed. Well, here in the book of Isaiah,
turn with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 53. Now, the book of
Isaiah chapter 53 has so much to say about what the Lord Jesus
did there on the cross. The issues that came up, what
must be taken care of, why he came, how did he come, what happened
to him when he came? You know, God the Father took
a switch and stick to him. God's wrath bruised him. We have so often through the
book of Leviticus, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the sacrifices
that were taken, which were a figure of the true. They were not the
true, but they were a figure of the true. They were a picture
of the true. They were a type of the true. And all of those
sacrifices that were used in a special way were burned on
an altar until there was absolutely nothing left. The ashes fell
through into a bin below. There was nothing left. That
lamb became ashes. That bullet became ashes. It
was burned. And I don't know if there's anything
more serious and more hurting than a burn. And yet we read
with regard to our Savior, the Lord Jesus, He too went through
that such great agony to pay for the sin debt of His people.
God was just in pouring out His everlasting wrath upon His Son
instead of the children. Now, here we are, Isaiah chapter
53, verse 10. Did you notice this with me?
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him. it pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He hath put him to grief, when
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall, what does
it say now? He shall see his seed This is going to happen, just
like it's declared, but He is going to see His seed. He is going to see the church.
We read in the book of Hebrews, ?Who for the joy that was set
before Him endured the cross.? Great joy was going to be His.
?Many shall be brought into the kingdom.? Many! out of every
nation, kindred, people, and tongue. Many shall be brought
into the kingdom as a result of him going to the cross on
their behalf. So he shall see his seed. He shall prolong his
days. The pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." What
a wonderful statement even Isaiah was bringing out there in the
Old Testament. You know, this isn't the end.
Going to the cross isn't the end. Dying for sin is not the
end. He is going to go to a tomb.
Now, Jesus brings up a subject that we probably wouldn't have
caught unless he had brought it up. He said, just as Jonah.
How long did Jonah spend in a great fish's belly? Now, why did he
spend three days? That's one of those secret things
that belong to the Lord. God purposed it. God had it happen. He left him
there for three days and three nights. As Jonah was in the great
fish's belly, the whale's belly, for three days and three nights,
so shall the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth three
days and three nights. There's the time element brought
out. Jesus said, three days later,
I'll come out of that tomb. Jesus Himself said, I lay down
my life that I might take it up again. You know, He was personally
involved in His own resurrection. That's an area that you and I
just can't get there. When it comes to the new birth,
we just can't get there. We just cannot come out of our
own tomb. We cannot come out of our own
sin. We cannot separate ourselves
from the fall of Adam by ourselves. We're dead in trespasses and
sin. We are so dependent upon the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit to take care of that. But when it come to the resurrection
of Jesus Christ, He came out of the tomb. I lay down my life
that I might take it up again. No man takes my life from me.
I lay it down of myself. But did you know that the Father
also raised him from the dead? In the covenant of grace, the
Godhead is going to be representing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The Son said, I'll raise myself. The Father said, I'll raise him
on condition. And the Holy Spirit speaks up
too on condition. There is one condition that must
be fulfilled or we will not be involved. Now the covenant of
grace has already said that condition will be fulfilled. There will
be nothing hindering, no holding back. It will be fulfilled. And
that is Jesus Christ shall die for all the sins of all his people.
And it will be paid for in full and there'll be nothing owing.
will not depend upon one thread from us for our robe of righteousness. Everything will be done by Christ
God Almighty in the covenant of grace to pay for their sin
debt. Now, when that's taken care of,
yes, I'll raise myself. Yes, Father said I'll raise him.
Holy Spirit says, I'll raise him. All were interested in raising
this one, the one who was in charge of the covenant, the one
who was in charge of raising from the dead on the behalf of
his people to demonstrate payment in full has been made. You know,
I asked myself, why was it three days? Why was it three days? Well,
I'm just going to have to leave it with God. That's what he determined
to put. Three days. Three days are mentioned
a lot in the scripture. But he was in that tomb for three
days and three nights. You know, in the Old Testament,
the Jews kept the day that God rested. We call it the Sabbath. He rested,
not because he was tired. He was just demonstrating the
fact that if we're ever saved, we will rest from our works. We will not depend on our works
one more whit. It will be over. He is our Sabbath. He's the one that fulfilled it
all. And we're not involved in working. So that's fulfilled.
And in the New Testament, we find that we celebrate the first
day of the week because it is the day that Jesus Christ raised
from the dead. Very early, the first day of
the week, they came. Now, there is no law about it.
I hope you worship him tomorrow, too. and Tuesday and Wednesday. And it's not just Easter or Christmas
that you worship him, that you worship him every day because
he is due our worship and he demands our worship. And to the
church, it's easy to worship him because he has taken us from
the pit and raised us to newness of life. First, by the resurrection,
he declared that all he said and ever taught was absolute
truth. Many people doubted what he had
to say, but when he came out of that too, every word he had
to say about his resurrection was absolutely the truth. Even
though his own disciples didn't understand it, it still was the
truth. And the word of God that we still
don't understand is still the truth. It's God's word. And so
by the resurrection from the dead, it is absolute the truth
that he is the prophet, priest, and king, and the only one accepted
by God. Chapter four of the book of Acts,
if we move over there, there's none of the name given under
heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. He is the
truth. What he said about having a people
is the truth. What he said about I lay down
my life for the sheep is the truth. And we're not going to
get around that. It is the absolute truth. He
came out of that tomb declaring that what I had to say while
I was on this earth is the absolute truth. I didn't pinch a noodle. I didn't leave an eye thought.
I brought you the truth. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. What he said, what he did is the truth. When he
stood before Pilate. He told him the truth. You know, he fulfilled the scriptures
by not opening his mouth. Pilate said, are you the king
of the Jews? That's what's said. It's in the Bible. It's the truth.
By the resurrection, he confirmed that he was innocent of all sin. Now, if he had been a sinner,
he would have not have come out of that tomb. there would be
no resurrection, but since he was spotless Son of God, since
he was the Holy One of God, since he was without sin, He was made
as we are made, yet without sin. There was no speck of sin in
Him. He had no Adamic nature in Him. He had the picture of Adam, His
body, but He did not have sin. And when He went to the cross,
the sin of all His people was imputed to Him, placed upon Him. And that's why God beat Him to
death. He became sin for us. Who knew no sin? Death could not hold Jesus because
He had no personal sin of His own. And in His death, Jesus
fully paid the penalty of all His people's sin. So we have
him coming out of the tomb because I told you the truth. He came
out of the tomb because I had no sin of my own, but I have
completely paid for the sin of all my people. And the resurrection
of Jesus Christ declares that God was pleased with the work
of the cross. God was so pleased. He said,
come forth. On the third day, come forth.
On the third day, the Holy Spirit said, come forth. And you know
what? Jesus Christ was so knowledgeable about his complete success, he
could say, come forth. The son and all the sin of all
his people was put away and absolute success was made. He was raised
for our justification. You know, there is a promise
that since he died for the sins of his people to the point of
crying out, it is finished. Sin is put away. He would rest
three days and three nights. And very early the first day
of the week, he would declare salvation to his people by his
resurrection. And also he declared to the church
their resurrection. There is a union between Christ
and the church. And he says, by my resurrection,
I promise to raise you in the appointed time. Turn with me.
I have just a few minutes left. Turn with me to the book of 1
Thessalonians, if you would. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we
read this. What comfort it is to have words
like this, to know that the sin debt is so completely paid for
that God would promise to everyone that Christ died for that in
the end they would be raised to everlasting life. Now everybody's going to be raised.
You know, it hasn't been until modern times that they have such
a distance between the resurrection of the just as well as the unjust.
For centuries, as the Bible declared, there would be the resurrection
of the just as well as the unjust in a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye. There would be a judgment of the just as well as the unjust
in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. Those on the right hand
would hear the Lord Jesus say, I died for you on the cross.
Welcome to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. To the arrest, he said, depart from me, ye workers
of iniquity. In a moment, in a twinkling of
an eye, it shall take place. But here we read for the church,
it says in 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13, but I would not have
you to be ignorant, brother. I want you to have the truth,
the whole truth, and nothing but the truth on this subject.
I had my servant Paul. right to you, to the Corinthians,
and I hope and pray that that letter's been passed around to
all of us, that if there is no resurrection from the dead, you
are yet in your sins. But since there is a resurrection
from the dead, and Jesus Christ came out of the tomb, He has
died completely and totally on your behalf. There is no judgment
that will be meted out to you. Well, here, I?d not have you
be ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not,
even as others who have no hope. For if you believe that Jesus
died and rose again? Now, that only comes by the new birth.
You know, I'm convinced that people that don't have the new
birth do not really, in their heart, believe in the resurrection
of Jesus Christ or their own resurrection. Now, they have
some semblance and they say, oh, you know, I was taught that
in Bible school, I was taught that in Sunday school, I was
taught that somewhere. But to really believe it you got to
believe whatever Jesus Christ did is the truth and we cannot
separate out We can't peel parts away and say, you know, I really
don't believe that but I believe this part. No, no No, it's all
or nothing It is all or nothing If you believe it all, then it's
been given to you by grace and nothing else. And if you don't
have it, you are zero, you have none. All right. For this we
say unto you by the word of God, that they which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent or precede
them which are asleep. Now those that are in the tombs,
those that are in the grave, those that are in the sea, those
that are all wherever they are, their ashes have been spread
wherever they are. God is God and He can do, bring
their bodies back together again. No limitations here. Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever
be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another
with these words. How can that be said? Because of His resurrection. He promised to raise all His
people raise them, give them a new body, and we'll be assembled
around the throne of grace and worship the Lord Jesus Christ
for absolute eternity. Salvation is past. Not believing is the door. When we believe, believing is
not a door. Believing is a sign. Believing
is a confidence. Believing. God has given me belief,
therefore I have already gone through the door. He is the door. And when He calls us, we've gone
through the door. Now I believe all His Word. I
believe His Word. I believe He came forth from
that tomb victorious. He put my sin away and He put
all of His people's sins away. It's absolutely impossible for
anybody, because read with me in the book of Romans chapter
10. And with this, we'll close. Romans chapter 10. In Romans
chapter 10, this is absolute. This is God's word. It is the
truth. It is the truth. I share with
you the truth of the matter. Jesus has shared the truth of
the matter. I have promised that I will raise
again, and I will do it. I will be successful, and I will
raise and put sin away. It shall be done away with. It
shall be burned up. There shall be no more sin. Even
God in his great sovereignty cannot find our sin. It's put
away, paid for. Here in the book of Romans chapter
10, it says, beginning with verse 8, But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in
thy mouth, and in thy heart, that is the word of faith which
we preach. If you have the heart to believe
that's been given by God, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath
raised him from the dead, thou shalt be past tense. Saved. Past tense. It's not believing that gets
you there. It is because you're there, you
can believe it. Past tense. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, whoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And there's no difference
between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich unto
all that call upon him. And whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. And them shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they
believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? How beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things, but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath
believed our report? That's what we find in the book
of Isaiah. Who hath believed our report,
and to whom have the arm of the Lord been revealed? My friends,
if it's been revealed, you can take it to the bank. He raised,
He is raised, He is continuously raised. He came out of that tomb
and He did it to signify, I told you the truth. I'm telling you
the truth. He came out of that tomb to share
with all that I have completely and totally paid for all their
sins. And this is the victory lap.
And thirdly, I promise in due time, at the appointed time,
that I'll be back and I'll gather all my lost sheep to myself. And there shall we be with him
for eternity." And all of us will go, bah. All right. Brother Mike, if you'll
come.