Turn with me to the book of Romans chapter 10, and I want to read verse 9. In fact, I must declare, the scripture declares, I want you to hear this. If you do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you are not saved. There is no salvation in not believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And Paul was led by the Holy Spirit to leave us these words in the book of Romans chapter 10. In Romans chapter 10 in verse 9, it says, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, what? That God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. The religious world think this is a formula for salvation.

It's like an algebraic equation. If you put A together with B, you come up with C. My dad believed that, and when I was about 9 or 10 years old, he marked in my Bible this verse of Scripture and expected me, in time, to follow this formula. I want it to go down right now, this very day, that this verse of Scripture, as the rest of Chapter 10, is not a formula.

In fact, we find out that this is what God does for his people. This is the result of salvation. This is a result of the new birth. We don't believe and then have something happen. We have something happen and then we're caused to believe. It is an act of God. It is an act of the Holy Spirit.

So someone that does not believe in the resurrection and I, my friends, we find out most of the world does not. The religious world does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Here we have, settle down once and for all, if I do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have not been given the gift of the new birth, I have not been saved by his grace, and it is dependent upon that before I can believe in the resurrection. Now, how can a dead man really, how can a dead person do anything? Salvation is not of man. We have to state that over and over because we have such a tendency, such an innate tendency in our own religion to think that we can do something to get God to give us something that we don't have.

And turn with me, there's three verses I wanna read out of the Old Testament. One of them is found in the book of Jonah, chapter two. Jonah, chapter two. In the book of Jonah, chapter two, we find that Jonah, a servant of God, a prophet of God, a man of God, not doing exactly what God intended for him to do, except God did intend for him to do this. We're gonna have one of the great illustrations given to us as a result of the experience that Jonah went through. Here in the book of Jonah, we read these words. I'm gonna, here it is. Jonah chapter two, there in verse nine. The Lord gave us this passage of scripture as a result of the experience that God gave to Jonah in a great fish's belly. But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed.

And then he makes this statement, his deliverance, his salvation, everything about it is of the Lord. Now, if the Lord intended him not to get out of that fish, he would not have given that fish the regurgitation activity that he had. He would have continued on and never came out. But God moved in that fish. Salvation is of the Lord. And without salvation of the Lord, we will never have any trust or belief in our heart about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Another verse I'd like to look at, found also in the Old Testament, is found in the book of the Psalms. Psalm 37, and there in verse 39, we read these words about this great work of God in us. Psalm 37, verse 39. If we ever get over the idea that we participate in salvation, then the Lord has worked the work of grace. We're not participants. We are the wonderful recipients. All right, book of Psalms, Psalm 37 verse 39, but the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. He is their strength in the time of trouble.

The salvation, now righteous has something to do with being put into a position where our sin has no longer influence upon God. It's been put away, it has been died for, paid for, ransomed, if you please. So the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord.

And finally, if you'll turn to that little book by Jeremiah called the book of Lamentations. Lamentations chapter three. Now, people have written many lamentations. They lament over problems in their lives. They lament over problems in their family's lives. They lament over the problems in the country. They lament over this, over that. They have all kinds of lamentable statements to make. But in the midst of this lamentation of Jeremiah about the condition of Israel, he brings up some of the most precious verses of scripture. Here in the book of Lamentations, chapter three and verse 26, we read these words about where it is all.

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Oh, it's the salvation of the Lord. And if he alone is able to do that, it is not a formula. It is a result that God gives his people. Why should we celebrate the resurrection of Christ? What does the Bible say about that? You know, I found out in going through this that about eight or nine times in the Gospels alone, Jesus Christ declared this end to his coming. Would you turn with me to the book of Matthew chapter 16? In the book of Matthew chapter 16, it's just one verse of scripture that the Lord Jesus shared with us the purpose of his coming to this earth.

You know, the Lord did not come down here on a, what is that? A goodwill visit. He wasn't just an ambassador coming down to see how things were going. He did not come down to this earth just on a friendly visit. He did not come down to this earth just to give out awards. He did not come down to give speeches. He came down because there was a problem and he needed to be involved to solve the problem.

Nobody could solve the problem that is in this world. Born of Adam, we cannot solve the problem. Now we make all kinds of efforts and we build all kinds of Band-Aids. But we cannot solve the problem. We will go through all kinds of religious rites, and they do not solve the problem. We make all kinds of confessions, and that will not deal with the problem.

But the Lord Jesus Christ, in his great wisdom and in the purpose of grace before the foundation of the world, determined to come down to this sin-cursed earth and deal with the problem. And the problem is sin, the sin of his people. It separated the people from God. It brought a hindrance between them. There's no longer any fellowship between natural man and God as there once had in the Garden of Eden.

We find that as Adam demonstrated what he did after eating of that forbidden fruit, how he demonstrated the result is the same result that we demonstrate when we hear about the God of the Bible. I don't like it. I'll do anything else. I will cover myself with anything else. I will hide myself wherever I can, but I don't want to deal with the God that is of the Bible.

Well, we're thankful that God took that issue into hand, and we find that the Lord Jesus Christ came down to this sin-cursed earth to ransom a people from their sin. He came down here with that express interest. He never came down here to set up a kingdom. He never came down here to make things better for people. He came down here to take care of a spiritual problem.

You know, Jesus said in his own words, the poor you will have with you always. Two kind of poor. Poor in spirit, poor financially. You're gonna have them always. All right, now let's look at what Jesus said with regards to his coming down to this earth and dealing with the problem that came as a result of the fall in the Garden of Eden. And let me underline this. Let me state this.

He was not surprised by Adam's doing. It didn't catch him off guard. Last night, I was out here, and I had a young man with me, and he wanted a quarter for a couple of my candies in my machine in there. And I said, OK, you can have two of them. Save the rest for later. And pretty soon, I asked him, where's the others? And you know what he said? He didn't want to talk to me. There we go, we have the confession. I ate them all. Out of the mouths of babes. And you know what?

It's just like us when we grow up. Same problem. We hear what it's supposed to be and we change it. and we try to get away with it. Thanks be unto God that he sent his son to take care of the problem that we are in and can't get out of it on our own.

All right, I ask you to turn to Matthew chapter 16. Let me get there, Matthew chapter 16. And there in verse 21, Matthew chapter 16, uh-oh. Well, chapter 17 then. And I'll have to go back and fix that. Oh, I was in Mark, no wonder. Matthew chapter 16 and verse 21.

And from that time forth, now Jesus has spent about three and a half years in his ministry. He's been on this earth for about 33 and a half years. You know, I think about that, what he accomplished in 33 and a half years, and what I accomplished, it pales in comparison. Because he was God, he is God, he forever shall be God. And he came down here with a serious, serious purpose. And that was to deal with the sin problem that had come up in the garden that he'd already prepared for before the foundation of the world.

From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go into Jerusalem. He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things. of the elders and chief priests and scribes. I don't care how many articles have been written on how unfair that trial was, he intended to go there for that trial. He never looked at that and says, you know, this is going to go down in history as one of the most terrible trials as it ever happened here in Jerusalem. It goes down in history that he was tried by those people, and even though the most important people present said, I find no fault in him, they crucified him anyway. Why?

He is the lamb of God, just like the Passover lamb. After the Passover lamb was inspected for those many days, when it was turned out that it was from the visible, it was perfect, It was taken and killed, and they had the Passover meal. The Lord Jesus Christ was inspected all of His life.

One of the blessings about our Savior was He was tempted in all ways that we're tempted, yet without sin. They could find no fault in him. Now, they found a lot of reasons for doing what they did, but the one that really inspected him was God the Father. And God the Father said, no fault in him.

We will put him on a cross, and we will crucify him, and I will pour out my wrath on him, and he shall pay all the debt that all his people owes. What does it go on to tell us there? Many things of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed. Now from an outward appearance, it looked like that that crucifixion killed him. The other two that were hanging beside him died a much more inglorious deaths because they had to be dead by the time that their Passover started. And so they came out with hammers and they took care of them so that they died.

Our savior, once he took care of business, gave up the ghost and they never put a mark on him. It was complete. He had just said, it is finished. Payment is made. All right. And then he said, this is what's going to happen next. I don't care how much is paid by the officials to lie about this circumstance. And they paid a great deal. to some of those guys to say that the disciples came and stole his body away because if we don't say that and he comes out of that tomb, the problem is gonna be worse than it was. So they paid a great deal. They paid a great deal to do that. Sorry about this. They paid a great deal to make it look like the disciples had stolen the body.

All right, but Jesus said, and be raised again the third day. To be raised again. Why do we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ? Because the Lord Jesus declared it. He declared a number of times to his disciples as he was teaching them, I'm going to go into Jerusalem on purpose. I'm going to be arrested on purpose. I'm going to be tried on purpose. They're going to find me guilty on purpose. They're going to take me out and crucify me on purpose. They're going to put me in a tomb on purpose. And the third day on purpose, I'm coming out of that tomb for a good reason.

Sin, debt, paid. Now, if Jesus Christ had not paid for the sin debt of his people, he would still be there just as we heard read in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Many of those verses share with us there in the New Testament about that. But let us go on and we find out that the Old Testament prophesied of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Those Old Testament people that knew God, knew Christ, knew the Messiah, They didn't know him as we know him as Jesus because he didn't come in the flesh at that time.

He came in the flesh there in, I like to say, AD 100 or 1. They got that all changed now. Whatever year, he came in the flesh at the right time, and he grew up in the flesh all that time without sin. And at the right time, he was taken and crucified according to divine appointment.

The Old Testament's prophesied. They prophesied about that. They believed it. Job shares with us one of the classic statements, I know my Redeemer liveth and on the earth again shall stand and though the skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God. He talked about him coming the first time, he talked about him coming the second time, and he rejoiced in his great salvation. Old Testament prophets were not idiots. They were not Stone Age people. They had the gospel revealed unto them just like we read it's revealed unto us. That's what it says in the book of Hebrews.

But turn with me, I would like to read just a couple, three verses there in the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15 that Brother Lauren just read. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we read these words about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul, writing to the Corinthians, a group of people that had some problems, you know, I grew up in a church that they dealt more on the problems and how to correct them than they ever did the solution. You know what the solution is? Christ. Head for Him. All right, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 1.

Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless the seed fell on stony ground, unless the seed fell among thorns, unless it's not effectual, you didn't really hear it, unless you 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."

Now, what Scriptures did they have at this time? Old Testament Scriptures. The Old Testament prophets prophesied about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that he was buried, that he arose again the third day according to the Scriptures. The Old Testament prophets wrote about this.

Let's read a couple of them. One of them is found in Hosea. Hosea chapter six. Would you turn with me to the prophet Hosea? Hosea has so much to say about Christ in the church. Boy, Hosea was told to go marry a lady of ill repute. And you know what? In the council halls of eternity, In the covenant of grace, the Lord Jesus Christ was engaged to a church at that time that had fallen in the fall.

I'm laying down my life, a ransom for sinners. They fell in Adam, just like everyone else. There is no hope outside in our own being. It is only in Christ Jesus that we have hope. Well, here in the book of Hosea, several things happen in the book of Hosea. One of them, Hosea, he hedged up his bride.

He gave her all the things that she needed and she didn't even know who she was getting it from. How does that speak about us? How much God blessed his people through all time and then reveals his son to them. I've given you all this, but you have no recompense. I mean, you don't even think about it. And then he saves us and we find out, oh, he's taken care of me every step of the way. I couldn't see it before. He put me in the right place at the right time so I could hear something that I'd never heard in religion.

All right, Hosea chapter six, verses one and two. Come and let us return unto the Lord. For he hath torn and he will heal us. He hath smitten and he will bind us up. After two days will He revive us, and in the third day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight. My goodness, three days? What does that have to do with? He's gonna raise up, and in that, he's gonna raise up his people. Now, there is another prophecy about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but the Lord Jesus mentions it in the book of Matthew, chapter 12. In the book of Matthew, chapter 12, verse 39. And I have used this verse many times.

I've got a lot of friends that come to me and says, boy, Norm, have you noticed what's happening? Oh, he's just right at the door. He's just right at the door, you know, right at the door. And I just, and you know, they always have these signs that are going on. All the things that people have taught us about what's going to happen before the return of the Lord and all the signs. Well, the Lord Jesus is dealing with that here in the book of Matthew chapter 12, verse 39. He answered and said unto them, and this is, I've quoted this to some of my friends, an evil and adulterous generation seek after a sign.

Quit looking at that. It's not responsible. Our view is Christ and he did not leave us many signs about his coming. There is one perfect sign about his coming and that is when he saves his last sheep, it will be over. Just mark that down. When if you know Christ as your personal savior and you're in the air meeting him, you know it's over. Don't have to worry about any buildings being made. Don't have to worry about any trails being blown. You don't have to worry about it.

Take it to the bank. Goes on to say there, and there shall no sign be given but the sign of the prophet Jonah. This is the sign that you look for. For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. In the story, I will be in the heart of the earth. I will be in a tomb. I will be placed in a tomb. They'll wrap me in linen and put me in a tomb. But three days later, even though the door is sealed by the politicians, a signet ring put in the mortar.

Don't you dare move this stone under the penalty of death. You know what? Jesus didn't have to have that stone rolled away. He could just go right through it in his resurrected glory. I wonder if the angels didn't roll that stone away. Linen cloth was all inside there. Those ladies were coming. Oh my goodness.

Can you just imagine how surprised they were that the work that they had gone through to collect all those spices and all those flowers and all that good sweet smelling stuff was not necessary. They came down there to put more spices on his body and they found out it wasn't necessary. He is not here, for he has risen, and the glorious body that he was in did not need spices to make it any better, as Jonah. was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

We have one coming down for a very serious problem, and he came down with a purpose in mind, and that was to ransom, pay the sin debt of his people. Now the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a sign to us, a sign to the Father, a sign to the church. But it is a sign. It is a glorious sign. It is a wonderful sign.

Did Jesus Christ actually accomplish what he intended to accomplish when he came down to this earth? Or was he mistaken? Or was there a mistake in what he accomplished? Did he actually accomplish everything that he said he would do? Well, Jesus came down to pay a ransom For many, did he accomplish that?

What is a ransom? You know, Charles Lindbergh, you read the story of Charles Lindbergh and his, the kidnapping of his child and paid the ransom. They paid the ransom. And what happened to the child? He was killed anyway. How often ransoms are paid and it doesn't help one iota. It doesn't change the hearts of the people that did the wrong. Well, Jesus Christ came down to pay a ransom. He came down to pay a ransom, a purchase price for sin on behalf of his people.

Was he successful? The scriptures tell us he was absolutely successful, and the way we know that he was absolutely successful is in his resurrection. God the Father was so pleased with what he had done to his son in punishing him for our sins. Who was it that punished Jesus Christ for our sins? It was the Father that did that. The Father was so pleased with what had been accomplished on the cross by His Son in burying our sins in His own body on the tree. He became sin for us, but it did not change His nature. He did not become a sinner, but in that state, God the Father poured out every bit, every drop of wrath that He had for every sinner that Jesus Christ died for that would be required for eternity in a devil's hell. And in the conclusion, Jesus Christ said, it is paid. That's what the word it is finished means. The debt is paid. I have paid the debt. I have actually paid the sin debt of all those I intend to ransom. And in doing so, he gave up the ghost. Joseph of Arimathea came in to Pilate and said, I'd like his body.

Is he already dead? Yeah. All right, take it, seal it in the tomb. They put it in a tomb that had never been used, prophesied in the Old Testament. Put it in there, wrapped it in linen, sealed it, And to some people, even some of his disciples, they were so disappointed that this is the way things turned out. Remember the two on the road to Emmaus? We thought, don't think, read. Read the word. It will take care of a lot of our thoughts. Well, they thought.

Well, Jesus revealed himself to them as the one that was the good shepherd that giveth his life for the sheep. He is the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Who in his own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree. Over and over, the scriptures bring out the effectiveness of Jesus Christ on the cross. That when he went there, he went there on purpose, and he went there on purpose to take care of the sin debt of his people. I have people tell me, Jesus loves everybody, and Jesus died on the cross for everybody. Well, we have a problem. Just think about it for a minute. I'm not going to interfere with what you believe, but just think about that.

If you have a debt on a visa card, and I find out about it, and I pay your debt, do you still have to pay it? No. You don't have to pay it. I'm thankful my dad picked up a debt of mine. I didn't have to pay it, he paid it. If you have a debt and someone pays that debt in full, you are not responsible for paying that debt.

Now if someone cheats you and says you're going to pay it anyway, that's not the kind of guy you want to be around anyway. And God's not going to do that. He's not going to cheat you. Now, if Jesus Christ went to the cross and died for everyone without exception, I have to ask this question. Why are there people that end up in hell? Why? If he paid their debt, if he paid their sin debt, people say, well, they didn't trust Jesus.

That's not the issue. That's not the issue. I've had people say, well, they rejected Jesus. You know what? You and I rejected Christ in Adam. And we spent all our life rejecting Christ until someone came along called the Holy Spirit and convinced us of otherwise. We continue to reject him. It's a normal process to reject him. But Jesus Christ, if he didn't pay for rejecting Jesus, where are we? Where are we?

Jesus said, many in that day shall he cast, depart from me. All those he died for, I'm sorry. There has been a mistake made by religion. Religionists will tell us that Jesus loved everybody and Jesus died for everybody. And if that is true, then he is not successful at all. And why should we celebrate Easter? Why should we celebrate a resurrection if he is not successful? Now, I love a success story, and I can read a success story that Jesus Christ came out of that tomb.

You know where he is today? Sitted down by the right hand of the Father in majesty. God the Father was so pleased with the outcome of the cross, he said, welcome, come back. Jesus said, restore unto me the glory that I had with you before the world was. And you know what? The Father did. Why did he do that?

Because Jesus Christ paid the sin debt of all that Jesus Christ intended to pay the sin debt of before the foundation of the world. The Bible calls them a number of things, spiritual Israel, the elect, whatever you want to call them. That's the ones Jesus Christ died for, and that's the ones he was successful for, and everyone else. Jesus said through the Apostle Paul, what if God, speaking about the potter, what if God, Willie, He's willing to make vessels of glory and vessels of wrath.

Don't get in his way. Don't you ever get to the point that you are God and tell God what to do. Listen to his word. We are not gods. He is God. Once we start telling God, I don't believe that, I don't care for that, I don't want that, then you've made yourself better than God and you're in trouble. It's serious trouble.

Oh, my friend, Jesus Christ was absolutely successful on the cross, and he declared it by his resurrection. And after 40 days, he ascended back to the Father victorious over sin, death, hell, and the grave. And every one of God's children will rejoice in that.

And the rest really don't care. Sorry. I have people say, Church is not for me. What? The gospel is not for me. The best news in the world is not for you. That's a terrible spot to be in. So Jesus said, I'm going to Jerusalem. They're going to arrest me. And it may be a phony trial. They're going to say, crucify him. And they're going to. You know, one of the most inglorious things about the whole thing? They traded the Son of God for a criminal. Barabbas turned him loose. A wretched criminal.

You know what? That's such a picture of Jesus Christ's substitutionary death for you and I. The criminal goes free, the innocent dies. Jesus Christ the righteous. We are thankful that we can celebrate every day of the week the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that he is now presently sitting down at the right hand of the Father, being at the right hand of God, exalted. Him hath God exalted with his right hand. Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us. when he had purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. He paid the debt, the sin debt of all his people, he sat down. One sacrifice for sins forever.

Who has gone into the heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him. And finally, at the name of Jesus, Every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess to the glory of God the Father. Who's going to do that? Everyone. His people in this life. The rest, as they stand before him, they will confess you are God. Brother Mike, if you'll come.