First that I want to focus on, I'm going to come back to Romans 10, but for now I just
want to point out Romans 10, 9, where the Bible reads, that if thou shalt confess with
thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved.
And what I want to preach about this morning is the significance of the resurrection, the
significance of the resurrection.
And I'll submit to you that the resurrection is the key doctrine of Christianity, it's
the most important thing that we believe, the physical, literally, bodily resurrection
of Jesus Christ, that Jesus died and was buried and rose again according to the scriptures.
That is the very definition of what the Gospel is.
The death barrel and resurrection of Christ.
This is something that needs to be emphasized today.
When we give people the Gospel and when we preach the Word of God, the resurrection
is one of the most important things that we can emphasize about the Bible.
Now go if you would to Matthew 28, let me also just point out that the very reason
why we have church on Sundays is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That's why we meet here on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, and that's why Sunday
has been the traditional day to have church for all these years.
It is because we're commemorating the most important event in the history of the universe,
which is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the first day of the week.
Look at Matthew chapter 28 verse 1.
The Bible reads, In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day
of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from
heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.
His countenance was like lightning and his raiment white as snow.
And for fear of him, the keepers did shake and became as dead men.
And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek
Jesus which was crucified.
He is not here, for he is risen as he said, Come see the place where the Lord lay.
Flip over to Mark 16.
This is something that we read about in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
the resurrection of Jesus Christ, all of them emphasizing the fact that this is taking
place on the first day of the week, all four of them making that clear.
And not only that, but we see that it was something that he had already said was going
to happen.
He prophesied.
It said he rose from the dead as he said that he would.
Look at Mark chapter 16 verse 2.
And very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher
at the rising of the sun.
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher?
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away, for it was very great.
And entering into the sepulcher, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed
in a long white garment, and they were affrighted.
And he said unto them, Be not affrighted.
Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified.
He's risen.
He's not here.
Behold the place where they laid him.
But go your way.
Tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee.
There shall ye see him as he said unto you.
Go to Luke 24.
So a lot of the same elements keep coming up over and over again.
First of all, that it's the first day of the week, very early in the morning.
They're getting there at the time of the rising of the sun, the Bible says.
And Jesus Christ is already risen from the dead.
And it keeps telling them, look, you're going to see him.
You're going to see the resurrected Jesus Christ.
It's not just, oh, here's an empty tomb.
Take our word for it that he rose from the dead.
No, it's you're going to see him.
And of course, we know that the disciples did see Jesus.
In fact, he was seen of over 500 brethren at one time, the Bible says.
He was seen of the 12.
He was seen of these women.
He was seen of over 500 brethren at one time.
And not only that, but the Bible says that he ate and drank amongst them.
And not only that, but he actually showed him the holes in his hands, the hole in
his side.
And the Bible says that they literally handled him.
They actually put their fingers into the print of the nails.
And they actually put their hand and felt his side.
They handled him.
They ate with him.
They drank with him.
And the Bible wants to just emphasize to us over and over again how this was a literal,
physical, bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Luke 24, verse 1.
Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the
sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others with them.
And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.
And they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it came to pass, as they were perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments.
And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto
them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
He's not here, but is risen.
Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee?
So again, the third time it's emphasized that this is something that he had said
would happen.
And it says, Remember how he spake unto you when he was in Galilee, verse 7, saying, The
Son of Man must be delivered in the hands of sinful men and be crucified and the third
day rise again.
And they remembered his words and returned from the sepulcher and told all these things
unto the eleven and to all the rest.
John chapter 20, go to the last place, John chapter 20.
And let's look at the story of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in John 20.
We're seeing it in all four gospels.
Look at John chapter 20, verse 1.
And look at the first words of the chapter.
Tell me that this isn't significant, that it's brought up in all four places, and
that that is the day that God is driving in as being the significant day in regard
to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, John 20, verse 1, the first day of the week.
First words of the chapter, first words in all the stories.
Come with Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher and seeth the
stone taken away from the sepulcher.
Then she runneth and cometh to Simon Peter unto the other disciple whom Jesus loved and
saith unto them, they've taken away the Lord out of the sepulcher and we know not
where they have laid him.
Peter therefore went forth and that other disciple and came to the sepulcher.
So they ran both together and the other disciple did outrun Peter.
You just had to put that in there.
You know how he's just a little faster at running, but you know, he did outrun Peter
and came first to the sepulcher and he's stooping down and looking in, saw the linen
clothes lying yet went not in.
Then cometh Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulcher and seeth the linen
clothes lie and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes
but wrapped together in a place by itself.
Then went in also that other disciple which came first to the sepulcher and he saw and
believed for as yet they knew not the scripture that he must rise again from the dead.
Notice that this is something that even the Old Testament predicted because it says they
knew not the scripture that he must first rise again from the dead.
See Jesus had verbally told them that he would rise again from the dead and they were
skeptical about that.
For some reason their hearts were a little bit hardened and if you remember Peter even
took them aside and rebuked them a little bit when he told them that and Jesus said
to Peter, you know, get thee behind me Satan and he turned around and rebuked Peter.
But the Bible says that they knew not the scripture.
So that shows us that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that is even predicted
in the Old Testament according to this because there was a scripture that he must rise again
from the dead.
Look at verse 19, you're in John 20, go down to verse 19.
Then the same day at evening, and watch it emphasized again, being the first day
of the week when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of
the Jews came Jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them, peace be unto you.
This is one of the many times that he appears unto them in bodily resurrected form.
Flip over to Acts chapter number 20.
The book of Acts is right after John.
Flip over to Acts chapter number 20 and look at verse number 7.
It says in Acts 20 verse 7, and upon the first day of the week when the disciples
came together to break bread Paul preached unto them ready to depart on the morrow and
continued his speech until midnight.
So again, now we see the practice of the apostles in the book of Acts meeting together
to break bread on the first day of the week and hearing the preaching of God's Word.
That's where they're assembled.
Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 16, 1 Corinthians 16.
So we see the significance of Jesus rising from the dead upon the first day of the
week being emphasized.
Then in Acts chapter 20 we see the disciples coming together and the Bible's careful to
tell us that they came together to hear this preaching and to break bread on the first
day of the week.
And then look at 1 Corinthians 16 verse 2.
The Bible says this, upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by
him in store as God hath prospered him that there be no gatherings when I come.
So they're taking up the offering when they're assembled together on the first day
of the week.
And you'll notice in the book of Acts that what they're doing on the Sabbath day is
pretty much soul winning because on the Saturdays, Sabbath, whatever you want to call it, they,
the Bible never used the word Saturday of course, but they showed up at the synagogue
on those days and would try to win the unbelieving Jews unto the Lord, try to preach
the Gospel unto the unsaved at the synagogue.
But when they're gathering together and assembling together we see it on the first
day of the week in Acts, in 1 Corinthians.
Why?
Why do we have church on Sunday?
Because the significance is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the thing that
we especially celebrate on Easter Sunday, but really every Sunday that's what we're
celebrating when we show up for church on Sunday morning.
We're actually emphasizing the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now a lot of people, and if you would flip back to Malachi chapter 4.
Malachi chapter 4, last book in the Old Testament, just right before Matthew.
A lot of people criticize this practice and they'll say, oh you bunch of pagans.
You know you're going to church on Sunday, Sunday you're worshipping the sun and they'll
try to get us on this practice of holding church on the Sabbath day, right?
And they'll say, you know, you need to be on the Sabbath and you know this pagan
Roman emperor Constantine is the one who changed it and blah blah blah.
You know what, it's a lie, it's the apostles who did it.
They met on Sunday.
They met on the first day of the week.
That's where they had church.
That's where they took up the collection for the saints.
And not only that, but it's a commemoration of the most significant event, which is the
resurrection of Jesus.
But they'll say, oh, you're worshipping the sun.
Okay, well, we're worshipping the son of righteousness.
Look down at the Bible in Malachi 4 verse 2.
Here's a prophecy in the Old Testament of the resurrection of Jesus.
It says, but unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness.
Look at that, S-U-N, shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and ye shall
go forth and grow up as calves of the stall.
Now flip over to Romans 10 where we started, Romans 10.
We're going to be in Psalm 19 also, Romans 10 and Psalm 19.
Not only is the resurrection of Jesus so significant that that's why we go to church
on the first day of the week.
That's the only reason why we go to church on the first day of the week.
But you know what?
It's a big enough reason to be here, the resurrection of Jesus.
But not only that, the resurrection of Jesus is so significant that God has actually
testified of the resurrection through the natural world, through his creation.
Even God's creation testifies of the great truths of his eternal power and Godhead.
And the Bible teaches that there are certain things in nature that are symbolic of the
gospel and of other messages of the Bible.
Now first of all, the most important message is the gospel.
And that's why every single day there is a reminder of the gospel in this world.
Because the Bible tells us that Jesus is likened unto the son because the son of
righteousness shall rise with healing in his wings about the resurrection of Jesus.
And think about it, every day the sun goes down and then the sun rises again.
And that is a picture of Jesus Christ rising again from the dead.
So you know, I think Sunday is a great day or a great name for this day of the
week where we commemorate on a weekly basis the resurrection of Jesus.
And it's amazing how so many people think that there are people in this world who
have an excuse not to believe and oh, so many people have never heard the gospel
and they don't know anything about Jesus.
But if you think about it, our very calendar is based on Jesus.
2015 what?
2015 years since Jesus was born.
And when we talk about ancient dates being BC, you know what we're talking about?
Before Christ.
And we talk about AD, it's Anno Domini, which means in the year of our Lord.
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
2015.
That's what it means.
These bunch of heathens and atheists can change it to, you know, BCE before the current era.
And then they'll say, 2015, CE, current era.
But you know what?
They can call it current era all they want.
But you know, there's only one thing that changed 2015 years ago.
And that's the fact that Jesus was born.
And they can put whatever letters after 2015 they want.
They are acknowledging the birth of Jesus even just by writing down the number 2015.
So it's in our calendar.
It's in our numbers.
It's in our day of the week.
We look outside and see the sun rise.
And Jesus is reminding us of his resurrection every single day.
Let me prove it to you scripturally.
You say, wow, you know, one verse in Malachi?
Okay, well, let's see more scripture.
Romans 10, verse 8, But what sayeth it?
The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.
That is the word of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God is raisin' from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
This is where salvation is, believing that Jesus is risen from the dead.
And it says in verse number 10, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed, for there is
no difference between the Jew and the Greek.
For the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him, for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
And how shall they preach except they be sent?
As it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace,
and bring glad tidings of good things.
But they've not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, who hath believed our
report?
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
But I say, Have they not heard?
Watch this.
Yes verily, and I want you to pay attention to this quote from the Old Testament.
Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Keep your finger there and go to Psalm 19.
Remember Psalms isn't just the dead center of your Bible if you let your Bible fall
open to the middle.
And Psalm 19, keep your finger in Romans 10 18, let's go to the source of this quote
in Romans 10.
It says in Psalm 19 verse 1, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament
showeth his handiwork.
Watch this.
Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge.
So there's some picture that God has that's basically sending a message to mankind on
a daily basis.
Day unto day, night after night.
There is no speech nor language, verse 3, where their voice is not heard.
And watch this, this is exactly what we see in Romans 10.
Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the ends of the
world.
Look at Romans 10 18, it said what?
Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
Psalm 19 4, Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the
end of the world.
In them, and then look, there's more to the verse.
In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, which is as a bridegroom, coming out
of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and is circuit unto the ends of
it, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.
Notice here that the sun here testifies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, if we compare
Romans 10 and Psalm 19.
And not only that, it says that the sun is as a bridegroom.
And who is the great bridegroom?
The Lord Jesus Christ is the bridegroom.
And we all are familiar with the term the bride of Christ.
It's a great theme that we find, especially in the book of Revelation.
And so it's no surprise to find that kind of language here in regard to the sun, because
the sun is something that goes down and then rises again, which pictures, in the
natural world, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
Now a lot of people, like I said, will, you know, accuse us of worshipping the sun.
You know what?
There's a big difference between saying, you know what, the sun represents Jesus.
And when we see the sun rise, we can thank the Lord for the resurrection of Jesus.
Then somebody who actually bows down to the physical object, oh, the sun, you know,
bows down to the literal sun.
And you know what?
We both know that no Christian people on this planet are going out and bowing down to that
big ball of burning gas out there and say, oh, the sun.
Now look, are there natives and pagans out there who literally worship that ball of
gas?
But they don't name the name of Jesus.
Hello?
There are people who worship the trees and the rocks and nature and sun, moon, and stars,
but they scoff at the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There's nothing wrong with Christian people likening the Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection
unto the sun.
God's handiwork makes manifest the gospel.
Every day, day after day, that picture is there in the natural world.
But there's a movement today to de-Christianize our nation and to de-Christianize our culture.
And so there are people out there who are constantly trying to attack at Christian holidays,
Christian tradition, and just try to tear it down for us.
And you know, people who spend a lot of time on the internet get sucked into this
garbage because they're unlearned and unstable.
Okay?
If you actually study to show yourself approved unto God, and I'm not saying study websites
and radio programs, but actually study the Bible and actually do, and look, you say,
well, I want to research history.
Walk into a library!
Because you'll actually find more in the library that is actually a little bit more
credible than to just go on the internet, whatever article some guy in his basement
wrote.
Okay?
Now, look if you would at Acts chapter 12, Acts chapter number 12, because another big
lie that's out there right now is the lie that Easter is pagan.
You know, not only do they say that Sunday's pagan, when it's the first day of the week
where we worship the Son of Righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's S-U-N,
by the way, Malachi chapter 4, but there's a movement out there that wants to say
that Easter is a wicked pagan holiday, and what they want you to celebrate instead
is Passover.
They want to get you on Passover instead of Easter, and they say, well God gave
us Passover, but you know, what's this Easter about?
And they'll try to tell you, well Easter is Ishtar, or Easter is Ashtaroth, or whatever.
Now, just because things kind of sound sort of the same doesn't mean they are, because
by that same logic, you could say, well the book of Esther is pagan.
I mean, Esther sounds a lot like Easter, Ashtaroth, Ishtar, and you know what, whatever
you do, don't name your child Bill or Billy, because that's a lot like Baal.
You're naming your child after a false god, you know, if you call him Bill.
But that's the stupidity of people who just, they just make things up, they have no basis
in reality.
In fact, the word Easter has nothing to do with Ishtar, or Ashtaroth, or anything
like that.
No credible sort, you know, oh but I read about that in, you know, Alexander Hislop's
Two Babylons, or whatever.
You know, that book, Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop is a work of complete fiction.
It is the biggest bunch of garbage I've ever seen in my life.
Because you know what, that book was given to me, and I went into that book with an open
mind, you know, oh yeah, this is a great book, this really exposes the Catholic Church.
Yeah, until you start fact-checking anything in it.
And I fact-checked that book, and found virtually everything in it to be a complete
figment of the author's imagination.
And you can't find it anywhere else, you can, you can go through stacks of books,
and you can go through all the literature, and you'll never find any of that information
anywhere else, except in the, and it all just, and then you'll find all these people
that are talking about it, but they're all going back, they're all getting it from
that one place.
You know, so we need to make sure that we're studying the Bible, and making the
Bible our final authority, and not just getting into all this rabbit hole of studying
the mystery religion pagan, because a lot of it is Jewish fables, and false teaching.
You know, for example, you'll hear people all the time talk about, oh Nimrod.
Who's heard Nimrod villainized as being, you know, oh man, you know, the Nimrod religions
of the mystery pagan, you know, but here's the thing, you know what the Bible says
about Nimrod?
He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
That's all it says.
Sounds good to me, I mean, look, if the Bible says Stephen Anderson was a mighty hunter
before the Lord, I mean, I'd be, I'd be cool with that mention.
He began to be a great one in the earth, isn't that terrible?
And there, they, here's a, they'll spin this elaborate tale about Nimrod, and hundreds
and hundreds of pages about Nimrod this, and Nimrod that, and everything about Nimrod
was on December 25th, and it was, you know, and you know, whatever, and they'll go
on and on.
But when you go to the Bible, there's nothing like that.
But here's what they'll say, oh, here's the proof that all these hundreds of pages
about Nimrod are true, Nimrod's mentioned in the Bible, there's the proof, except he's
mentioned positive.
Okay, I mean, you know, it's crazy.
Just look it up, look up his name in the Bible, mighty hunter before the Lord,
great one in the earth, okay, that's not bad.
But people just make things up, and we need to use the Bible as our authority.
Now, the word Easter is a biblical word.
You know, otherwise, I probably wouldn't even use it then.
But it's actually a Bible word.
Look at Acts chapter 12, and we'll see the word Easter.
It says in verse 1, now about the time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to
vex certain of the church, and he killed James the brother of John with the sword,
and because he saw it please the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.
Then were the days of unleavened bread.
And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison and delivered him to four quaternions
of soldiers to keep him intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.
Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him.
Now here, if we let the Bible define itself, this is the only time the word Easter is
ever used in the Bible.
If we allow the Bible to define itself, then Easter here is defined as the days of
unleavened bread, because he says, then were the days of unleavened bread, and so that's
why he was going to wait until after Easter, because it's referring to the same thing,
same exact thing.
Now people will try to say, oh, Easter here is a pagan holiday.
It's so stupid because every, first of all, I speak a lot of foreign languages.
That's a big hobby for me, and I've studied foreign languages all my life, especially
since I was a teenager.
And I've read the Bible cover to cover in like five languages, New Testament that is.
I've only read the whole Bible cover to cover in about three, but I've read the New
Testament cover to cover in five languages, and it's interesting because if you look
at all the different New Testaments of the world and all the different Bible translations
of the world, most of them, the vast majority of them say Passover here.
They don't say the word Easter.
They just use the word Passover, whatever the word in that language is, okay?
And the interesting thing, and in a Greek New Testament, that's when it says Passover.
So a lot of people have attacked the King James, okay, and said, this is a mistranslation
here.
This should say Passover.
That's what a lot of people would attack the King James.
And then the people who want to defend the King James, but that are unlearned,
they will basically say, no, no, no, this isn't the, this is a pagan holiday.
And the King James, the only one who got it right.
And all these other ones have it wrong.
But in fact, both sides are very wrong here, okay?
Because the reality is that the word Easter is an old English word that referred to the
Passover and the entire Passover week.
And the proof of that is the fact that every English Bible before the King James,
remember, you know, if you've seen our film New World Order Bible Versions where
we go through all those translations that lead up to the King James, they all use
Easter like 10 or 20 times.
They'll talk about, you know, the Easter lamb as being the, instead of where the King
James would say Passover lamb, all the old Bibles would say Easter lamb.
Because Passover is a new word that was invented by William Tyndale.
And before that, Passover was always just called Easter in all the old Bibles.
And even in Tyndale's Bible, he uses the word Easter I think 22 times in the New
Testament.
So the word Easter here is referring to unleavened bread.
Now, if you just look at the context, it's obvious that that's what Easter's referring to.
But anybody who doubts that and wants to think this is some pagan festival, all they
have to do is look it up in the Matthew Bible, the Coverdale Bible, the Tyndale
Bible, and look up the word Easter and see that it's referring to Passover like
20 sometimes, okay?
So it's just ignorance that would say, oh, this is Herod celebrating a pagan holiday.
No, this is Herod trying to please the Jews.
When he killed James, the brother of John, he saw it please the Jews.
So he wants to kill Peter also.
Well, if he's trying to please the Jews, he doesn't want to kill them during their
holiday.
He wants to wait till their holiday's over, then kill them and get maximum, you know,
bonus points with his constituency as politicians do.
That's the goal.
That's what he's trying to do here.
Now you say, well, why would the Bible use the word Easter just in this one place
instead of Passover?
You know, why did the King James translators do that?
If they translated that same Greek word as Passover everywhere else, why did they
use Easter here?
Because basically they're using Easter here, number one, to refer to the whole week.
And number two, they're using Easter because this is after the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
so they're just not acknowledging Passover anymore in that sense, okay?
Now the thing about it is the people who are wrong on this will try to say things
like, well, you know, the Bible never calls the Feast of Unleavened Bread, never calls
the whole week Passover.
Well that's easy to prove false because in Luke 22, 1, it says the Feast of Unleavened
Bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover.
Okay, that was simple.
The Bible says in John chapter 6 verse 4, and the Passover, a feast of the Jews was
nigh.
Now look, the book of John is written after the resurrection of Christ, long after, and
it's describing the events in the life of Christ, and it speaks to the reader that
it's talking to, which is people of the world, of all nations and tongues, and saying
to them, oh, let me explain to you what the Passover is, the Feast of the Jews.
Now look, if that was a feast that we are supposed to be keeping today, the 14th day
of the month, Abib, if we're supposed to be on a Hebrew calendar and blowing the trumpet
on the new moon, and looking for that 14th day after the new moon, then why in the
world does the book of John say, oh, Passover, that's a feast of the Jews.
Because you have to understand that Matthew, Mark, and Luke are geared more toward
a Jewish audience in what they cover.
That's why all the timing, and I know I'm going way too deep, I'll get back to something
simpler for those who don't like to learn in a minute, but anyway, here's the thing,
Matthew, Mark, and Luke, you know all the timing in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is based
on the Jewish way of counting time.
Like for example, when it says the third hour, that's from dawn.
So that's like 9 a.m., or when it says the sixth hour, it's like noon, when it
says the ninth hour, it's like 3 o'clock.
Did you ever notice that when you're reading the book of John, the numbers don't
add up?
Because basically, stuff that's happening at the sixth hour over in John, and then you
compare it with the other Gospels, you're like, there's a discrepancy here, you know,
and people who are unlearned will say, that's a contradiction in the Bible.
These numbers aren't adding up, but you know why they don't add up?
It's because in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, he's going by the Jewish way of doing it,
where they start at 6 a.m., you know, start at dawn with the hours, whereas in
the book of John, it's like we do it today, starting at midnight.
So when it says the ninth hour, you know, it has to do with what we would consider
like 9 a.m., okay?
So it's just a different way of reckoning time for the rest of the world.
You know, the book of John is written unto the world, you know, and that's why
the one book that's translated, if you go to these really weird foreign languages
that are just some tribal language where people are out in the middle of nowhere
and, you know, it has like less than a thousand people in the whole world that speak
that language, what's the one book?
If they can't get them the whole Bible, what do they always translate for them?
The book of John.
You know, the book of John is the book that has been translated in more languages
than any other book of the Bible.
Sometimes they'll do John and Romans, but honestly, just the gospel of John alone often
is going, you know why?
Because it's the book that says this book is written so you can believe and have
eternal life.
So, I mean, if you can do one thing for these natives, right, is get them the gospel
of John, get them saved, get them the word of God, at least start there.
Why?
Because it's, so that's why it points to that as being of the Jews.
See, I don't want to replace Easter with celebrating Passover with you.
And let me tell you why.
Because I'd rather celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ than just Jesus being killed.
Which is why they say, oh, but on the Passover, we're celebrating his death.
Yeah, I'm not going to join with all of the Jews and celebrate killing Jesus.
I'd rather celebrate the fact that he rose again.
That's the Christian celebration.
We'll celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus on Easter, a Bible term for this
week.
It's referred to as Easter in the Bible.
You see, the resurrection is the significant doctrine of Christianity.
That's where we get our worship on Sunday.
That's where we even get so many other things.
That's where we get salvation, most importantly, through the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus.
But you know, the fact that Jesus died in and of itself, that's not enough.
That's not the gospel.
The gospel is not the death of Jesus.
The crucifixion, no, the gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
That's the gospel.
And here's the thing about this.
The Jews believed Jesus was crucified.
In fact, they brag about killing Jesus in the Talmud.
The Muslims, you know, many of them, they have a lot of weird beliefs about Jesus,
but many of them believe that he was killed, but you know what the Muslims don't believe
in?
The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.
They don't believe in it.
And you know who else believes that Jesus was crucified?
Atheists.
Because you know what, it's considered to be a historical fact even by God-hating
atheists and liberal scholars, did you know that they all virtually accept the fact that
Jesus being crucified is a historical fact?
They'll acknowledge it as a fact.
Now do they acknowledge the resurrection?
No, they don't.
But even the universities of this world, the Princeton, the Harvard, those who professed
themselves to be wise and have become fools, those who are atheists, agnostics, those
who do not believe one word of the Bible acknowledge that the fact that Jesus Christ
was crucified is a historical, undeniable fact that it did for sure happen.
But they just don't believe the supernatural of it.
They don't believe the fact that he rose again.
That's what sets apart Christianity.
That's what we believe that is the Gospel as opposed to just, you know, acknowledging
a mental fact about Jesus that he lived and died.
Well, of course he lived and died, but he rose again.
That's the key.
Now flip over to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
You know, it's amazing there are so many other pictures in nature of the resurrection
of Jesus.
We talked about the sun coming up every morning picturing the resurrection of Jesus.
But while you're turning to 1 Corinthians 15, I'll read for you from John chapter
12 where the Bible reads, and Jesus answered them saying, the hour has come that the
Son of Man should be glorified.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone.
But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
So Jesus, when he talked about plants reproducing, he likened it unto a death, a burial, and
a resurrection.
He said a corn of wheat falls into the ground and dies, and he said then it brings
forth much fruit.
And so every time a seed is planted on this earth, that seed dies, then that seed is
buried, and then that new plant comes up picturing the resurrection of Jesus.
It's so significant.
It's everywhere.
It's everywhere in nature.
It's everywhere in the Bible.
It's the most important thing that we can emphasize and believe as Christians.
Now 1 Corinthians 15 is what I would call the resurrection chapter of the Bible.
I mean, this is the chapter on the resurrection that really goes on and on about the importance
of it.
Verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you,
which also you've received and wherein you stand, by which also you're saved.
Look, you're saved by the gospel, the Bible says.
If you keep in memory what I preached unto you, 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, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve.
After that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater
part remain unto this present, but some are falling asleep.
After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was
seen of me, also as of one born out of due time.
So Jesus bodily appeared unto Paul last.
So he's not bodily appearing unto people today.
The last that he bodily appeared unto was Paul.
Last of all he was seen of me, also as of one born out of due time, for I am
the least of the apostles, and am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted
the church of God, but by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which
was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all,
yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Therefore whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.
Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that
there is no resurrection of the dead?
So even back then there was a false doctrine denying the resurrection of Jesus, and it's
still out there today.
There are people who even call themselves Christians who don't believe in the resurrection.
They're called Jehovah's Witnesses.
And the Jehovah's Witnesses will tell you, well this is their resurrection.
His spirit left his body.
No that's called death.
The Bible says the body without the spirit is dead.
That's a dead body.
It's not a resurrection.
Oh you know his body just disappeared and the spirit left.
No he walked out of that grave.
He showed him the holes in his hands.
He showed him the holes in his feet.
He said, do you have any meat?
Feed me.
Why?
Did Jesus want to be fed?
Does he just always show up at dinner time?
No, he showed up and wanted to eat because of the fact that he wanted to show I've been
bodily resurrected.
It's an emphasis.
He said, I'm not a spirit.
A spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me to have.
He said, I'm flesh and bone.
I'm eating with you.
I'm drinking with you.
Come handle me.
And he says in verse number 13, but if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ
not risen.
Watch this.
Verse 14, and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is
also vain.
He says, your faith is meaningless.
Your preaching is meaningless if you don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
You say, oh the Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe, no, it's vain what they believe.
It's meaningless because they deny the bodily resurrection.
Other liberal denominations, you know, whether it be people within the United Methodist or
Unitarian or United Church of Christ or First Church of the Deep Freeze or whatever
they are, you know, they who deny the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, their
faith is vain.
Their preaching is vain.
It's worthless.
It says in verse number 15, yea, and we're found false witnesses of God because we've
testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up if so be that the dead
rise not.
He's saying, well, if Jesus didn't rise again, then I'm a liar and so are all the
apostles because that's what we've preached the whole time.
You're calling us all liars, he said.
It says in verse number 17, and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain.
He emphasized that again.
You're yet in your sins.
You can't be saved, he says, if Jesus didn't rise again.
The Bible says we're saved by his life.
He died for us, but we're saved by his life.
We're saved by the resurrection.
The like figure of the Bible says we're unto baptism that also now save us, not
the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a clear, constant God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So we're saved, if you take out that parenthesis, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
and baptism pictures the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So it's not baptism that saves, but baptism pictures that which saves because it's the
resurrection that saves.
It's not the son that we worship, but the son pictures who we worship, Jesus, who
rises.
The sun rises every day.
Jesus Christ rose again from the dead 2,000 years ago.
The Bible says in verse number 18, then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ
are perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept.
For since by man cometh death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits.
Afterward they that are Christ's that is coming.
See the Bible says if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
Look at verse 35, but some will, some man will say, how are the dead raised up?
And with what body do they come?
Thou fool!
That which thou sowest is not quick and excepted die.
And thou which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain.
It may be chance of wheat or of some other grain.
But God giveth it a body as it pleased him, and to every seed his own body.
He's saying the seed there again represents the body.
And he says you're a fool to sit there and try to figure out, well how can a dead
body rise again?
I mean you know the dead body's in the grave and it's decaying and you know how's
that ugly dead decaying body going to rise again?
He's saying look you're a fool because the God of the universe that spoke and said let
there be light and there was light can resurrect the dead.
And it's not for you to sit there and try to figure out how it's molecularly
physically going to take place.
It's going to take place through the power of God.
And the thing about that is that the Bible says that he will change our vile body.
The vile decaying body will be changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye.
So it is not that it's just being replaced with a totally different body.
It's just going to be changed.
Well but how does that work on a molecular level?
You're a fool because that's what the Bible says you are.
Because the Bible says that anybody who asks that question is a fool.
And so we should avoid foolish questions.
We need to believe by faith that it is sown, verse 44, a natural body.
It is raised a spiritual body.
There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body.
And the thing about that is that that language of being sown again has to do with sowing
a seed.
And this goes to show again how when a person dies the reason that we Christians bury them
is because it's a picture of that seed being planted.
And then that seed is going to rise into a plant.
Well in this case a human being is going to rise again when the trumpet sounds at
our Lord Jesus Christ's second coming.
And so it's a beautiful picture of the resurrection.
Every plant that grows out of the soil pictures the resurrection.
It's everywhere.
There's no place that you could look without being reminded of the truths of God's Word.
And you know what?
Those who are reprobated in this world, they don't even want to retain God in their
knowledge.
But every time the sun comes up, it's there.
Every time a plant grows out of the earth, it's there.
Every time they write a check in their pursuit for the love of money, it's there.
Two thousand fifteen years ago Jesus was born.
Don't forget.
I don't want to think about it.
It's everywhere.
You can't escape.
The heat, the heat of the sun, there's no place where the sun's heat is not felt.
And it's the same thing with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Its influence is everywhere.
The Word of God is everywhere.
It's in every language.
It's in all tongues.
It's in all parts of the world.
It's in all nations.
You know it's not restricted to a certain nationality or language group or a certain
continent or a certain hemisphere, it's everywhere.
Because God's the God of the whole earth, the Bible says.
Let's keep reading.
It says in verse number forty-two, so also is the resurrection of the dead.
It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption.
It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory.
It is sown in weakness.
It is raised in power.
It is sown a natural body.
It is raised a spiritual body.
There's a natural body and there's a spiritual body.
Verse forty-five, and so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living soul.
The last Adam was made a quickening spirit.
Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward
that which is spiritual.
The first man is of the earth, earthy.
The second man is the Lord from heaven.
As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly.
And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.
Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump, for the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
So then when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall
have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written.
Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That victory is through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It signifies victory.
The Bible says of the sun coming up every day, his mercies are new every morning.
Great is thy faithfulness.
And every day when the sun comes up, let it remind you that we have the victory through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Weeping may endure for the night, but joy cometh in the morning.
And when you wake up in the morning, and no matter how bad things are going in your
life or what kind of suffering is there, when that sun comes up, you can have the
victory through the Lord Jesus Christ when you remember that that pictures the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus every single day.
It's there.
Ah, the Easter sunrise service is pagan.
They used to eat little children at sunrise.
You know why there's the Easter sunrise service?
Because of the sun that rose.
That's the point.
That's what it's about.
But people want to de-Christianize and Judaize our nation.
I want nothing to do with it.
I love the Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, and I will preach his death, burial and
resurrection as the primary focal point of my ministry.
That is the gospel.
And it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth
to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
It doesn't matter whether you're Jew, Gentile, look, you got to believe on Jesus to be
saved.
And the power of the gospel is in the resurrection.
That's where the victory is.
It's amazing to me how you can read a plan of salvation that goes on for two pages,
never mentions the resurrection.
But it's all about how you need to turn from your sins to be saved, repent of your
sins.
No, no, no, salvation is through believing in Jesus.
And it's specifically in believing in his death, burial and resurrection.
So the power of God unto salvation is not some testimony about how you, you know, gave
up all your sex, drugs and rock and roll.
That's not the power of God unto salvation.
The power of God unto salvation is the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, thank you for this day when we could remember the significance of your resurrection,
Lord.
It is the most significant thing in our religion, in our lives, in our world today,
Lord.
Help us to preach it from the housetops, preach it from house to house, Lord.
And please just fill us with your spirits on this Sunday morning, Lord.
Help us to be filled with the Holy Ghost.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.