...for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and did count them but done, that I may win Christ,
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection,
and the fellowship of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death,
if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,
not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect,
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus.
Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended,
but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind,
and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
I press forth the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded,
and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you.
Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing.
Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk, so as ye have us for an example,
for many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you, even weeping,
that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction,
whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mine earthly thinks.
For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body,
according to the working word by, he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.
Let us pray.
Our Heavenly Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the Bible.
Please bless the message from Jim, from this chapter that we will hear from under study.
Thank you for this congregation, and thank you for your resurrection.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Alright, we're here in Philippians chapter 3, and in the name of this sermon is the power of the resurrection,
the power of the resurrection.
Now I want you to understand that in Philippians chapter 3, we have one of the greatest men who's ever lived,
Paul the Apostle, and he's basically saying he's setting aside everything in his life in order to attain onto this level,
and to have a better understanding of the power of the resurrection.
He says in verse 10 that I may know him in the power of his resurrection.
Now if Paul the Apostle was on a lifelong mission to understand the power of the resurrection,
I'm not going to be able to fully explain that to you in an hour, okay?
I'm going to do my best to help you get a better understanding of the power of the resurrection,
but honestly our minds can't really comprehend how someone could rise again from the dead, okay?
So we're going to look at some things here today and I'm going to help us understand,
have a better idea of the power of the resurrection,
but surely this is the miracle that took place that is what our religion is based on,
because if Jesus had never risen again and our religion's done, none of us would be Christians,
this would have died off, okay?
Now turn to 1 Kings 2, 1 Kings 2.
And the first thing I want you to understand before we really talk about the power of the resurrection,
what I want you to understand is this, there is power in death.
There is power in death.
Notice what it says in 1 Kings 2, starting at verse number 1.
David is speaking to his son Solomon and he says in verse 1,
Now the days of David drew nigh that he should die,
and he charged Solomon and his sons, saying, I go the way of all the earth.
Be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man.
So what does he say? I go the way of all the earth.
Basically everybody dies.
Every single person, they start to age in their life and death is inevitable.
It's going to happen.
You know, there's people that try to have like eternal life here on earth.
They do all these weird medical things and they go to laboratories and stuff to prolong their life
and they do all this testing.
These people that are really rich and so they just spend all their money trying to get eternal life on earth.
I don't know about you, but I like to live, but honestly life's not that great on earth that I want to live here forever.
I'm perfectly happy to one day just go all out for God and one day die and be in heaven forever.
But people try to do that, but no matter what they do, there's power in death.
They will age. They will die.
It's impossible to destroy that.
That's what the Bible teaches us.
What David says is, I go the way of all the earth.
Every single person is going to age and they're eventually going to die and the Bible says there's power in that.
There's no second chance after that you're dead forever.
Turn to Psalms 49.
Psalms 49.
Now truly we don't realize how fast time is until you start to get older.
Because what happens when you're young, most people in this room are younger than you.
Now let me give you some, I don't know if this is good news or bad news, but as you start to get older, time starts to accelerate.
You say, how is that possible? I don't know.
It doesn't logically make sense. It's just what happens.
Once you get married and have kids and a family and you work at a full-time job, basically every day just flies by.
Your life just flies by before you and as you get older, man, time just rockets.
It's so fast.
Understanding the power of death will help us to actually make this life for you.
Go all out for God while we're alive because once you're dead, it's done.
Every single person as they get to the end of their life is going to wish they read the Bible more.
They're going to wish they went slow anymore. They're going to wish they did more for God.
They're going to want to end their life and say, I actually did something that had eternal value because what I did in this life is over.
But unfortunately, once we get to that point, it's done. There's no second chance.
Psalms 49, verse 12.
Nevertheless, man being in honor abideth not, he is like the beasts that perish.
And perish means to die.
Now, in John 3.16, you don't have to turn there.
When it talks about perishing in John 3.16, it's spiritual death.
But perish means to die.
Look at verse number 13.
This their way is their folly, yet their posterity of proof they're saying.
Selah.
Like sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.
And their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me.
Selah.
See, what the Bible says is in death, in the grave, there's power.
Why?
It's impossible to come back to life.
It's not logically possible.
Every single one of us, when we die, it's it.
We're done.
There's power in that.
It's finished.
There's no way that's going to change.
We are done forever.
We're not going to get a second chance to live here on earth.
Okay, now we'll talk about the resurrections in the Bible later on.
You know, how people are brought back to life.
But I want us to understand in this room, when you die, it's over.
There's no second chance.
And as you get older, the Bible says the evil days come upon you.
Why?
Because your body starts to slowly get closer to death with each passing year.
When you look at people that are into sports and athletics, you basically hit your athletic
prime in your late 20s.
It depends on what area you're talking about, whether it's strength, whether it's speed,
but basically kind of your late 20s.
You look at most pro athletes, once they hit the other side of 30, they get slower every
year.
They lose their quickness every single year.
And just every single year until they die, it's kind of a downward spiral in your body.
That's why the Bible calls it evil days.
Now this might not be the most encouraging thing, but it's reality.
That's the way it is.
For someone who grew up loving sports, it's kind of frustrating.
Because every time you go out to that basketball court, you're a little bit slower.
You're not quite as quick.
You're not able to do the things you used to do.
Why?
Because not only is there power in the grave, but as you get closer to that point, it starts
to come upon you.
As you get to be 30, 40, 50, 60, every single passing year, there's going to be certain
things you can no longer do.
Now turn to Ecclesiastes 8.
And as you're turning to Ecclesiastes 8, let me just read you Psalms 90 verse 12 where
the Bible says,
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
You say, well brother Stuckey, this isn't encouraging.
The Bible says that we should teach people to number their days, that way they'll be
wise with how they live their lives.
Actually, this kind of preaching helps you because it helps you realize, I better do
something for God now while I have a chance.
I better spend time with my family now.
I better do things that have lasting value now because one day, it's going to be done.
Honestly, me and my friends took this verse quite literally a long time ago, numbering
our days.
And we basically counted to what would be 80 years of life, because that's kind of the
average lifespan, give or take, depending on who you are and things like that.
And we numbered how many days we had left on earth.
And quite honestly, it was longer than what we really expected.
We're like, wow, that's not really that much time.
You know, at the age of 34, I'm almost kind of at the halfway point.
Our lives will fly by before us, and we need to number our days now.
Why?
Because we'll apply our hearts unto wisdom.
That's what the Bible says.
Ecclesiastes 8, verse 8.
There is no man that hath power over the Spirit to retain the Spirit, neither hath he power
in the day of death.
And there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given
to it.
See, the Bible talks about not having power over your Spirit to retain the Spirit and
having power in the day of death.
Why?
Because the day of death comes upon all of us.
And it's more powerful than us.
You can't stop it.
It's going to come.
There is power in death.
Everybody's aware of that.
See, this is going to help us appreciate the resurrection a little bit more, because every
single person, whether they believe in Jesus or not, they would agree that there's power
in death.
That once you're dead, it's over.
There's no second chance.
Death is a very powerful thing.
You know, I've heard the quote before that the only thing that's undefeated is Father
time.
Now, I don't necessarily like that terminology, but it's a term given to people that are athletes
that basically an athlete can be an undefeated boxer, but eventually they get to that level
where they can no longer beat the people they used to.
Why?
Because, you know, Father time, so to speak, is undefeated.
Like I said, I don't like that terminology, but understanding the quote, that yes, you
know, you eventually reach that point where you will get older.
Look, you can't be a pro boxer when you're 75 years old.
Okay?
You're going to eventually reach the point where you're not as quick, you're not as fast,
you're getting closer to the point of death.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Now, turn to Hosea chapter 13, Hosea 13.
And so in Hosea chapter 13, let me read you verses 13 and 14.
The Bible reads, the sorrows of a travailing woman shall come upon him.
He is an unwise son, for he should not stay long in the place of the breaking forth of
him.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave.
Now, look, I didn't write down every single verse that talks about the power of death
or the power of the grave.
There's a lot of verses that teach that.
And it's something that, honestly, we know that there truly is power in death.
There's power in the grave.
And once you reach that point, it's the point of no return.
There is no second chance.
Once you die, it's done.
It's over.
Why?
There's power in death.
Now, turn to Psalms 33.
And so we're going to look at four things here this morning that have power.
The first thing that has power is death.
Death has power.
The grave has power.
And that will help us appreciate the resurrection a little bit more.
But I want you to understand something else that has power.
And that is creating life.
Okay?
Psalms 33, verse 6.
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of
his mouth.
He gathered the waters of the sea together as he eat.
He layeth up the depth in storehouses.
Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.
For he spake and it was done.
He commanded and it stood fast.
See, this world was created through the word of God.
Okay?
He spoke it into existence.
Now, what does it say in verse 8?
We should stand in awe of him.
Why?
That's pretty powerful.
To speak and then here we are.
See, there's power in creating life.
And see, this is one of the foolish things about the big bang theory and evolution.
I mean, you really honestly expect me to believe that basically this world created itself?
I'm sorry, but I just don't see the power in this world creating itself.
Right.
It makes sense when you believe in an all-powerful God that he could create everything, but to
really honestly believe that all the matter condensed together and exploded when the earth
was created?
It's like, what?
And I remember the first time I really heard that.
I was in a class in high school and I remember the teacher said, you don't have to believe
in evolution if you don't want.
It's up to you.
And he was teaching it.
And I was just thinking, man, I don't believe this.
Now, I wasn't a Christian at the time, but I was just like, this doesn't make logical
sense to me.
See, I'm a math guy and if it doesn't make sense to me, I have trouble believing it.
And I'm sorry, but the big bang theory just doesn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
I mean, it's crazy to say, and there's many just common sense problems with big bang theory
and evolution, but just to think that the world has the power to create itself?
And it's like, well, why don't we see that today?
Because I'm sorry, but as I'm walking down the street, I just see that the world is just
the same way it was yesterday.
You know, when two dogs have a little puppy, it's a puppy.
You never worry.
Well, maybe it could be a human being.
I mean, it's ridiculous.
The world can't create itself, but an all powerful God can speak the world into existence.
Why?
There's power in creating life and only an all powerful God can do that.
And see, there's power in creating life.
Turn to Hebrews 1.
Hebrews 1.
And as you turn to Hebrews 1, let me just read you the first verse of the Bible.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
You cannot believe in evolution in the Bible.
It's impossible.
Why?
The Bible says in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.
And it mentions six days how it happened.
God created this world.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And it makes sense because it's an all powerful God that we serve.
See, there's power in creating life.
Now, Hebrews 1, starting at verse number 1, the Bible reads,
So in verse number 2, it talks about the creation of the world.
And in verse 3, the Bible reads,
See, there is power in creating life.
There's power in death.
There's also power in creating life, though.
See, death has a hold of you.
Once you die, there's no second chance.
But also creating life, that's something that only God can do.
Right.
It's too powerful to happen on its own.
It's too powerful that a couple of us could go into some laboratory and try to recreate the world.
We don't have that sort of power.
That's why evolution always fails when they try to do that.
They try to recreate life in a laboratory.
They don't have enough power to do that.
See, God has that power.
There's power in creating life.
Now turn to Genesis 18.
Genesis 18.
Now here's kind of the little secret that evolutionists don't like to tell you.
Evolutionists will talk about how the world basically evolves as they believe it to,
that you can go from one animal to the next.
But guess the one thing they really try to avoid.
They really try to avoid talking about the creation at the very beginning.
Right.
You say, why?
Because they cannot explain how life first comes to be.
Right.
Now they'll talk about how it evolves and changes and changes and changes.
But that very beginning, well, where did the matter come from to begin with?
They can't answer that question.
So they like to mock us and say, well, you believe that God just created this world.
Where did God come from?
Well, where did this world come from by itself?
I mean, that doesn't make sense to me.
You act like you believe this and it's all mathematical and scientific.
It doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
They cannot explain how life first created.
So they try to avoid that question.
They'll just kind of show you all this carbon dating, you know, all this different stuff.
And they avoid, there's this big elephant in the room.
This massive elephant.
Well, how did it all begin?
Okay.
Because the big bang theory has been disproven 50 different ways.
It doesn't make any sense.
Okay.
There's so many problems.
And I'm not trying to come up here to preach, you know, creation, evolution, seminar.
But I just want you to understand that there's power in creating life.
And that's a power that we will never have.
Creating life from nothing.
We can't do that.
Okay.
Now in Genesis chapter 18.
So that's the creation of the world.
But also with individual life, that is the power that God has.
Genesis chapter 18, starting at verse 11, the Bible reads,
Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well-stricken in age.
And it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of Lent.
Now what's saying in verse 11 is that Sarah is just past the age where she's even able to have a child.
Okay.
It's impossible.
It's logically impossible.
There's a certain age you reach, and you can no longer have children.
Okay.
She is past that point.
Verse 12,
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying,
After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?
Now Sarah is a godly woman.
But she's kind of basically laughing at what God's saying.
Why?
Because she understands there's power in creating life.
And she understands that she has passed the point where it's even possible.
It is not possible at this point.
Verse 13,
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I have a surety bear a child, which am old?
Verse number 14 is anything too hard for the Lord.
That is one of my favorite quotes in the entire Bible.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
This is what you call a rhetorical question.
The answer to that question is no.
Okay.
In case you're wondering, what's the answer to that question?
Can God create a rock so big that he can't pick it up?
Look, that's a stupid question.
There's nothing too hard for the Lord.
That's what God was saying.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
At the time appointed, I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
See, this power in creating life, this isn't the power of God's hands.
He is the one who has the power to do that.
Nothing is too hard for the Lord.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Now turn to John 11.
John 11.
And so the first point we saw here is this, that there is power in death.
The second point is this, that there is power in creating life.
The third thing I want you to see here today is this.
There is power in bringing the dead back to life.
See, there are two things here that are coming in conflict with one another.
See, once someone dies, it's impossible to come back to life.
Okay.
Because death has power.
But there's also power in creating life, which is in God's hands.
So it's kind of a conflict, which is going to win this battle.
But see, God is more powerful than anything.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
So he can bring the dead back to life.
So there's power in bringing the dead back to life.
John 11, notice verse 11.
These things said he, and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may wake him out of sleep.
Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep he shall do well.
Howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in his sleep.
Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
So in the Bible when it talks about sleeping, that's a terminology that can sometimes mean to be dead.
Okay.
That you're sleeping basically for all eternity.
And that's what Jesus is telling you.
It's kind of like a nice way to say that he's died.
Okay.
Obviously with anything there's a nice way to say things.
Okay.
And he's saying it in a nice way, he's asleep, but they don't get it.
Now he was very sick, so they probably should have gotten it, but he was very sick.
And at the point of death, and then he says, okay, he's sleeping now, but they didn't get it.
So he has to tell them very plainly, okay, he died.
Okay.
Verse number 19.
And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him.
But Mary sat still in the house.
Okay.
So Mary and Martha find out that Jesus is coming, and you'll notice that Mary does not come.
Now, you know, I can't necessarily prove it like two plus two equals four, but I would assume she doesn't come because she's sort of mad at Jesus.
And when you look at what she says afterwards, you can kind of see that.
Martha runs out to meet him, and Mary doesn't.
Okay.
Verse number 21.
Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
So what Martha says is, if you were here, Jesus, my brother would not have died if you had just made it a few days earlier.
You say, why doesn't she believe that Jesus is going to bring back her brother from the dead?
Because there's power in death.
And she's never seen a resurrection before.
That's not a common thing.
This is like a once in a lifetime sort of thing.
And then she basically sees once her brother's dead, it's over.
He's gone.
There's no second chance.
We all have people that we know that have died.
People that we care about, people that we love.
I have loved ones that are in heaven.
I have loved ones that are in hell.
And most of us are probably the same way.
And when you have people that die that have passed on, you realize there's no second chance for that person.
You're done.
And if you were in the position of Martha here, I'm sure you would have thought the same thing.
We would have thought if you were just here, Jesus.
I believe you're the Savior.
I believe you're the Christ.
But it's too late now.
If he had just been here, he would have never died.
Verse 22.
But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will giveth thee.
Jesus said unto her, Thy brothers shall rise again.
Martha saith unto her, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
So Martha is aware that there is a resurrection one day.
But what she does not realize is that her brother's going to be brought back to life.
See, they understood that there was a resurrection that was going to take place.
That was knowledge.
People that believe the Bible and believe the Scriptures, they had that knowledge that
there is a resurrection one day.
But she does not believe that her brother's going to be brought back to life.
Now drop down to verse number 37.
And in verse number 37, John 11, verse 37.
And some of them said, Could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind cause that
even this man should not have died?
And so people are saying, I thought he was all powerful.
He gave people sight.
They went from being blind to being able to see.
We just talked about that a couple weeks ago on a Wednesday night.
And John 9, as he healed the blind man, this man was born blind and he gives them sight.
And they're saying, You are able to give people sight.
You're able to heal people.
You're able to do all these miracles.
Just create food out of nothing.
Couldn't he have stopped this guy from dying?
And the reason why they're having trouble understanding this is because of the fact
there's power in death.
And they realize that.
And all of them, their entire lives, they've seen that when somebody died, it was it.
There was no second chance.
That was it.
Verse number 38.
Or verse number 39, I should say.
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone, Martha.
Take ye away the stone.
Martha the sister of him that was dead saith unto him, Lord, by this time ye stinketh,
for ye have been dead four days.
Jesus said unto her, Said I not of thee that thou wouldst believe?
Thou shouldst see the glory of God.
And so verse number 39, she says he's been dead four days.
Now that's the reason why his body's stinking.
Because it's at the point where it's decomposing.
Now if you remember, in Acts 2, Jesus was dead for three days.
And it says that his flesh did not see corruption.
His soul was not left in hell.
His flesh did not see corruption.
And the reason why his flesh didn't see corruption is he was only dead three days.
Because after that point, your body starts to decompose.
Now obviously this depends on where you die and what the temperature is.
Obviously if you die in really cold weather, your body's probably going to take longer to decompose.
Here in the Philippines, it might be a lot quicker than that,
when your body starts to decompose.
I'm not really sure.
But basically, his body didn't decompose at that point.
He was only dead three days.
Lazarus, though, he's stinking.
Why?
Because a dead body really smells bad.
Now I've never smelled this before, like they are now,
but basically I'm sure he smelled really bad.
After four days, he starts to stink.
But then Jesus said under verse 40,
Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?
He is basically going to show them the glory and the power that he has.
And see, the reason why he allows Lazarus to be dead four days,
is because it shows his power even more.
If he was only dead one day, then people could make whatever it's used.
Or two days.
But the fact that he was dead for four days, it showed that he has power.
He intentionally waits past three days.
Once his body starts to stink.
Why?
It shows his power even more so to bring life from the dead.
Bring back the dead back to life.
Verse 41,
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid,
and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said,
Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me, and I knew that thou hearest me always,
but because of the people which stand by,
I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
And when he had thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice,
Lazarus, come forth.
And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with great blows,
and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Jesus saith unto them, lose him and let him go.
Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did,
believed on him.
Because he waits for four days, and it shows how powerful he is,
and they've already heard the scripture of salvation and the word of God,
once they see this miracle, many believe on him.
Why?
They've never seen anything that powerful.
Someone who was dead for four days brought back to life.
See, there's power in death.
There's power in creating life.
But to another level, there's power in bringing the dead back to life.
Now, if you notice in the Bible, after this event,
Lazarus is kind of like a celebrity.
Because it talks about wherever Jesus went,
people came not only to see Jesus, they wanted to see Lazarus.
They wanted to see the man that was brought back from the dead.
He was basically like a celebrity, and people wanted to see him.
They were amazed by what took place.
Why?
Because Lazarus was a known man.
In this chapter, a lot of people are there.
They've seen that he's been resurrected from the dead.
This is not just somebody that nobody knows.
It's not a funeral where like five people go, okay?
There's a lot of people there. People liked Lazarus.
And they see him brought back from the dead.
A lot of people believe on him.
All of a sudden they say, wow, he is the Messiah.
He is the Christ.
There's nothing more powerful than that.
They've never seen something like that.
Verse number 46.
But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told them what things Jesus had done.
Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees and council and said, what do we?
For this man doeth many miracles.
If we let him thus alone, then all men will believe on him.
And the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
And so what you have is people that hate God, they're the enemies of God,
and they're trying to prevent people from believing on Jesus.
And after this miracle, they realize everybody's going to believe.
Because when you see somebody brought back from the dead, it's kind of tough to deny that.
I mean, honestly, what's more powerful than someone being dead brought back to life?
You know, honestly, there's one thing that's a lot more powerful than the dead being brought back to life.
Look at John chapter 11, verses 25 and 26.
John 11, verses 25 and 26.
And see, there's power in death.
When something dies or when someone dies, they're never coming back.
There's power in creating life.
You think about this world that we have here.
It's amazing that God created this world.
I mean, this world is just beyond understanding,
beyond our logic and understanding, and the world was created by God.
God creates life.
There's power in bringing the dead back to life.
None of us in this room have seen somebody who was dead brought back to life.
I understand every once in a while you hear these stories of somebody's in the hospital,
and they technically died.
See, the Bible says, first, the body without the spirit is dead.
And so that's the point where God looks at it and says they're actually dead.
Nobody has actually met someone who actually was brought back to life like Lazarus.
Now, if you say, Brother Stuckey, I know someone, then I don't know.
This might be the wrong subject for you, okay?
Because we're not going to cost you.
That's not what we believe.
But there's power in bringing the dead back to life.
But you have to understand that the resurrection of Jesus was far more powerful.
Say, why was it more powerful?
Well, notice what it says in John 11, verses 25 and 26.
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.
He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
Believest thou this?
This is in the same chapter where he's talking about Lazarus, and he's talking to Martha.
And he makes a statement, I am the resurrection.
I am the resurrection and the life.
Well, what did he mean by that?
Well, turn to John 2.
So you have to understand with the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
it wasn't that the dead was brought back to life.
What happened with the resurrection of Jesus is the dead brought itself back to life.
See, the Bible very plainly says that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead.
There's multiple places in the Bible that say that.
It's not that the dead is being brought back to life by God.
No, the dead brought themselves back.
You say, how does that make sense?
I don't understand it.
Paul said his entire life he wanted to understand the power of his resurrection.
Look, it's not a math problem.
We're not going to fully understand it.
But the Bible is very clear that Jesus was dead.
And what does it say in John 2 verses 18 and 19?
Then answered the Jews and said unto them,
What signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
So the Jews are asking for a miracle.
And what does it say in verse 19?
Jesus answered and said unto them,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Who resurrected Jesus from the dead?
He resurrected himself from the dead.
That's what the Bible says.
Now you say, well, how did he get that power?
Well, God the Father gave him this power when he was on earth.
He had that power from God, and he had that power to resurrect himself from the dead.
He was physically dead.
He was also spiritually dead.
His soul wasn't held, the Bible says.
And then the Bible says that he resurrected himself.
Now look, I'm not expecting you to listen to this sermon and walk away and say,
I fully understand this.
Because I don't claim to fully understand this.
How the dead can bring themselves back to life.
But Jesus said, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
You know, whenever I run into a Jehovah's Witness,
which obviously is more common in America than here,
you know, I don't like to debate and waste time.
Because you can spend like 45 minutes or an hour debating someone,
and you'll never get them saved.
But sometimes I'll ask Jehovah's Witnesses this question,
because they don't believe Jesus is God.
And I'll ask them, who resurrected Jesus from the dead?
What do they always say? God the Father, right?
Well, they just say God, because they only believe there's one God.
Obviously we believe there's one God,
but they just believe there's God the Father as God.
They don't believe in God the Son.
They believe the Holy Spirit is just kind of this thing floating around or whatever.
They don't believe in the Trinity, okay?
And so I'll ask them, you know, who do you believe resurrected Jesus from the dead?
And they'll say, well, God did, okay, because they don't believe Jesus is God.
And I'll ask them this, if I can show you a verse where Jesus resurrected himself from the dead,
would you believe he's God?
Because they say God resurrected Jesus from the dead.
And they have kind of two reactions.
They either kind of get stubborn and prideful and they just want to go to war on it,
or they get scared.
Wow, he's about to show you a verse that Jesus resurrected himself from the dead.
And this is where I take him, John chapter 2.
Notice what it says in verse 20.
Then said the Jews forty and six years was his temple and building,
and woke that reared up in three days.
So the Jews are thinking he's talking about a building.
They're saying it took forty-six years to build this building,
and you're going to build it in three days?
Verse 21, when he spake of the temple of his body.
Verse 22, when therefore he was risen from the dead,
his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them,
and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
So in verse number 22 it shows us that the disciples didn't really get it at that time either.
They didn't realize he was talking about his actual body.
Obviously we know the terminology in the Bible that the temple can refer to the body,
and that's what he's referring to.
They didn't realize at that time that he was referring to his body.
After he rose again, they remembered the scripture.
So Jesus said, hey, you kill me, you destroy me, I'll resurrect myself from the dead.
Now, that's a pretty good sign.
That's a pretty good miracle.
It's like you can't really get much better than you resurrect yourself from the dead.
Now turn to John chapter 10.
And I want you to notice in John chapter 10, starting in verse number 17,
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again.
No man taketh it from me, verse 18.
No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.
I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father.
So Jesus says, I have power to lay down my life.
I have power to allow myself to die.
Throughout the Bible, they wanted to kill Jesus.
Many people hated him because of the words that he spoke.
They wanted to kill him, but what do you see?
He always just kind of goes through the midst of them, and they can't get him.
Why? Because he has power to lay down his life.
They don't have the power to kill him.
Jesus had the power to lay down his life, and he waited for the right time.
He has power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
See, there is power in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is far more of a miracle than Lazarus being brought back from the dead.
Because that's just simply God bringing Lazarus from the dead.
But this is the dead bringing itself back to life.
Say, how does that make sense?
We can't fully grasp the power of the resurrection.
Now, what do we do as Christians when we see something in the Bible?
If we don't understand it, we believe it.
You're not going to understand every single thing in the Bible.
But if the Bible clearly says, hey, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up,
I believe that's what happened. How did Jesus rise again from the dead?
He resurrected himself from the dead.
I don't fully comprehend that, but that's what the Bible teaches.
He resurrected himself.
He says, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
He had this power on earth.
Now, when he was on earth, he humbled himself and became obedient on to death,
even the death of the cross.
But remember when they were about to kill him, he says,
He wasn't in a dangerous situation. He was fine.
They were beating him. They were crucifying him.
Look, he could have just changed it at any second,
but he allowed himself to die for the sins of the world,
understanding, hey, it's not really a big deal to kill me.
I'll just resurrect myself from the dead.
And that's what the Bible says he does.
He did. He says, I have power to take it again.
Now turn to Romans 1. Romans 1.
Now, look, there's a lot of religions that would claim to be Christians
that are by no means Christians at all,
that do not believe Jesus rose again from the dead.
Now, look, there's so many verses that teach that he rose again from the dead,
and there's so much symbolism that he rose again from the dead,
and yet the Jehovah's Witnesses, they don't believe he rose again from the dead.
You say, what do they believe? They believe he spiritually rose.
They don't believe he physically rose.
Then why is it that they go to the grave and then he's gone?
How is that a spiritual resurrection?
His body's not there anymore.
But they do not believe it. Why?
Because they don't believe in the power of God.
Because they don't understand it, they don't believe it.
Now, we as Christians, we need to believe things whether we understand them or not.
And he said, I have the power to lay it down,
and I have the power to raise myself again from the dead.
Romans 1, verses 3 and 4.
Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David,
according to the flesh, and declared to be the son of God with power,
according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.
See, the Bible talks about the resurrection from the dead as being with power.
And when he rose again from the dead, he declared himself to be the son of God.
There was no way anyone could deny it.
But when he rose again from the dead, a lot of people saw him.
It wasn't just that he rose again from the dead and then all of a sudden,
whoops, he went to heaven and that was it.
No, there's a lot of people that saw him.
And just picture yourself living during that time period.
We in this room, we're believers, we believe on Jesus Christ.
And let's say we lived 2,000 years ago with Jesus.
And we believed that he was a savior, we believed he was a Christ,
we believed he was the one who was paying for our sins.
By faith, we trusted in him for our salvation.
And let's say for example that he died.
And let's say for example that he did not rise again.
If he did not rise again, would you be willing to die for a belief that wasn't even true?
Because look, anyone would say this, even people that don't believe in Christianity,
that many of his followers were tortured to death.
Why? Because they believed he rose again from the dead.
Now look, you might be able to fool a couple of people,
but you can't fool six billion people in this world.
It was known that he rose again from the dead.
However many people lived 2,000 years ago, it was an undeniable miracle.
Nobody could deny it.
He rose again from the dead and he declared himself to be the son of God with power.
There's nothing more powerful than the dead bringing himself back to life.
Now turn to 1 Corinthians 4.
Just think about the other religions that are out there.
Think of Islam, for example.
They say, well, you know, Muhammad is their prophet or whatever,
and they believed Jesus was just a prophet.
I mean, does this really sound that powerful that they created this new book and everything
and they wrote it down and they believe that they're the ones chosen by God?
Is that as powerful as somebody who's dead bringing himself back to life?
It doesn't seem quite as powerful.
Think of all the religions, Hinduism, I mean Buddhism.
You got the leader of Buddhism who basically, he was about to have a child, he was married,
and what does he do? He just leaves.
He just leaves his wife to just have a child on her own and to raise a child on her own.
And he just kind of walks through the wilderness for just years and years and years and hardly eats any food.
And he becomes really, really skinny.
This big picture, this Buddha with his big belly, that's not the original Buddha.
If you look at the story of the actual original Buddha, he just kind of walked around and just didn't eat
by starving himself and causing pain to his body that somehow got him close to God.
Now, is that as powerful as the dead bringing themselves back to life?
I mean, it's just kind of laughable, these other religions.
I mean, is it really that impressive that, oh, I don't know, about 100 years ago
that somebody was just declared to be an angel here in the Philippines and they have this new religion?
That just doesn't seem to be that powerful as the dead bring themselves back to life.
And all these religions, when you really look at them, people say,
well, you know, they believe the same things, you know, have good morals, don't kill people.
I say, yeah, most people in Korea don't kill people.
There's nothing powerful about them. It's laughable.
I mean, there's no comparison.
People want to debate. Let's have a debate between Christianity and Islam.
There's no debate. It's a joke.
There are religions laughable.
I don't care if 2 billion, 4 billion, 5 billion people believe that one day.
It's laughable compared to the fact that Jesus Christ died, was crucified,
He was buried, He was spiritually dead, and then He resurrected Himself from the dead.
Their religion is laughable compared to what we believe.
And their belief that you can work your way to Heaven and just doing good deeds
and going to church every week is going to get you to Heaven,
that's laughable compared to the fact that Jesus Christ died and resurrected Himself from the dead
and we just believe on Him, that He died and paid for us.
Their religions are laughable. It's a joke.
And yet a lot of people will claim to be Christians, but they deny the resurrection.
That's our whole religion.
I mean, it's resurrection from the dead that is our religion.
You can't say you're Christian and deny the number one biggest thing about it.
Because you have to understand the situation.
When Jesus was dead, what happened to His followers?
They're very sad. Right?
Everybody was sad. Everyone felt that they had lost the battle.
And then everybody was just mocking Christianity.
I'm sure that these people that hated God, they had their day in the sun.
They had their 20 minutes or 15 minutes of fame.
They were excited. They were happy. Everyone wanted to mock Christianity.
They thought they had to win. Why? Because there's power in death.
And then all of a sudden it's like, whoops.
He just brought Himself back to life.
He did exactly what He said.
And what turned it, going from being the worst moment in the history of Christianity,
turned to the greatest moment.
That's why with Lazarus, he waits till the darkest day to end up turning the tables.
And honestly, this is kind of some symbolism that in our lives,
sometimes God does allow it to hit its darkest day for us. Why?
Because once He turns the tables, it's the greatest victory.
It shows His glory. It shows His power.
Down in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 19.
But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will,
and will know not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power.
For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.
Now look, this Word of God is perfect. We believe this.
But what we believe took place is completely powerful.
And there's no comparison.
Nobody could ever come with a scenario that was better than that.