Music
All right, good morning, everyone.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Let's all find our seats.
As you find a seat, please grab a song book.
Turn to song number 22.
Song number 22.
Are you washed in the blood?
Let's all stand together for this first song if you're able.
number 22 are you washed in the blood all together nice and strong on that first verse
the soul cleansing blood of the lamb? Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Do you rest each moment in the crucified?
In the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb
Blood and garments of the soul
Are they white as smoke?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
When the bridegroom come it
Will your robes be white?
Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?
Will your soul be ready for the mansion's fright?
And be washed in the blood of the lamb?
the soul, planting blood of a lamb. Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow?
Are you washed in the blood of a lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin.
Are you washed in the blood of a lamb? There's a fountain flowing for the soul,
Are you washed in the blood, in the soul cleansing blood of the Lamb?
Are your garments spotless, are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Amen.
Wonderful singing.
Let's start off our service with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us this day that we can come
And we thank you for each and every soul that's in the building this morning, Lord.
We ask that you please bless our service, please bless the singing that will prepare our hearts for the message.
And most of all, please fill Pesmejo with your spirit as he preaches unto us,
and gives your spirit and the congregation as well, Lord, that we may leave here changed.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
You may be seated.
Turn your song books to song number 36.
song number 36 Christ arose song number 36 all together nice and strong on that
first verse
If it's ain't
With his saints to reign, heroes, heroes, Hallelujah, Christ arose.
Death cannot keep his grave, Jesus my Savior, He tore the bars away,
This ain't stupid
All right, great singing, happy Easter to you all.
Thank you so much for being here.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song,
which will actually be the song sheet because he lives,
if you didn't get one, raise your hand
and one of the ushers will get one for you.
Keep your hands raised until they can get to you there.
That will be our next song.
Along with that, if you did not get a bulletin,
also raise your hand.
Some important information on there.
We welcome you to come back to our Thursday evening service at 7 p.m.
We do have a Thursday night Bible study where we study the word of God verse by verse,
and we're currently going through the book of Isaiah, and we will be in chapter 57 this coming
Thursday and so we're welcoming to come to that. We are a family integrated church. This is why you
see all the babies and the children and the infants here in the main service. They stay with their
parents but for your convenience we do have a mother baby room located here on the my right hand
side and then past these doors on the right for the infants as well. There are changing tables
available there, speakers and screens so you can still tune into the preaching. I do want to encourage
to make sure you get one of these bags.
It's a goodie bag, it has a Bible in there,
some different things that you can utilize,
but it has this brochure in here
that'll kind of give you some information about our church.
If you have any questions about our church,
most of this will answer that for you,
but the most important thing in this brochure,
It's not necessarily the doctrines that we believe. It's not necessarily the music we have.
It's actually the map of our church, like so you don't get lost in here, okay?
So we have a map in there so you can find your way throughout this building here.
And so utilize that. There's some stickers in there as well.
If you didn't get one, you can ask one of the ushers and they'll provide one for you.
Really important information on there.
And you see the so many times in teams there in the middle, the list of expecting mothers.
for the month of March, great month there.
On the right hand side is the upcoming church events.
Of course, today is our Easter service.
Let me give you a couple of announcements in that regard.
First and foremost, thank you to those who put in hours
and hours of work to make this Sunday possible,
cleaning, set up, cooking, et cetera.
We thank God for you and thank you so much
for all of your hard work.
The Easter egg hunt will be 10 minutes
after the morning service on the side of the building
right here in the back.
It is for one year old to fifth grade, so parents keep that in mind, and if you have any more questions in that regard,
you can see any one of the leaders, the ushers, and they can lead you after the service, but it will be 10 minutes after the church service, so keep that in mind.
If you haven't stopped by the old foyer to snap a photo by the photo backdrop, do so and tag at First Works BC, of course.
excuse me we're referring to back here there is a photo backdrop there take some pictures with
you and your family before you leave for Easter and then if you can tag us if you are on Instagram
and then coloring sheets created by mrs louisa and book camel can be picked up at the guest
center if you didn't get one already which is at the entrance of the building and then
lastly when it comes to the Easter service tonight we're going to be doing the Lord's Supper
after our PM or during our PM service that will be for our PM service and so we encourage our
time and I'm going to instruct the church on how to perform that. We have
the TJ Mission Strip coming up on Saturday April 26th meeting at the
building at 9.15 a.m. If you are interested in participating in the
Mission Strip you can see our evangelist brother Ulysses Hernandez just
make sure you bring your passport but all the expenses are paid for and we
always have a great time there and get a lot of salvations and so we're excited
about that. Science Meetup will be on Sunday April 27th so parents we
encourage you if you're homeschooling your children to bring your children for
service to participate in that.
And then lastly, on Sunday, May 11th, this is our Soda Seed Offering Sunday where we are raising up money to purchase our own building.
Please keep that in prayer. And then lastly, please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service.
If you have been saved but you have not yet been baptized, see us after the service and we'll get that taken care of for you.
We have a baptistery right there. We have robes for you and the water is nice and warm. I promise.
all right because he lives as our third song all together nice and strong on that first verse
The calm assurance, this child can face uncertainty.
I'll find some glory and I'll know he reigns
Because he reigns
And then wonderful singing.
At this time, the ushers will come forward to receive the offering.
You can turn your bibles to Romans chapter number 10.
morning we're in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 the Bible reads,
brethren my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved
for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to
knowledge for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the
righteousness of God for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to
everyone that believe it.
For Moses described with the righteousness which is of the law, that man which doeth
those things shall live by them.
But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise.
Say not in night and heart, who shall ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down
from above, or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ again from
the dead.
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 hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For 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 overall is rich unto all that call upon him.
But whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whom they have not not not believed and how should they believe in him of whom they have not heard
And how shall they hear without a preacher and how shall they preach except they be sent
That is as it is written how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of priests at peace and bring glad tidings of good things
But they have not all obeyed the gospel for his eye a Seth 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? Yes, verily their sound went into all their earth and their words unto the end of the world
But I say did not Israel know?
First Moses saith I'll provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people by foolish nation
I will anger you but he's I is very bold and say if I was found to them that sought me not
I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me, but to Israeli sayeth all day long
I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gain-saying people
Let's pray to your Lord God. Thank you again for this opportunity to assemble in your house
Just ask that you would fill our pastor with the Holy Spirit. Please bless the preaching and a Jesus name. We pray amen
Amen. Okay, we are in Romans chapter number 10 this morning and look down at your bibles of verse number 6 it says
But the righteousness which is a faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart
Who shall ascend into heaven that is to bring Christ down from above or who shall descend into the deep
That is to bring up Christ again from the dead
But what sayeth it the word is nigh thee even in my mouth and in thine heart that is the word of faith which we preach
Verse number 9, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead
Thou shalt be saved. And the time of my sermon this morning is the importance of the resurrection, the importance of the resurrection
Of course today's Easter and I get really excited about Easter because of the fact that it's a time that in our nation
We exalt the doctrine of the resurrection. It's important doctrine in the Christian faith
And it's something that we emphasize throughout the year,
but it's specifically on Easter,
because it's an opportunity to talk about why it's important,
why is it imperative in the Christian faith
to understand and believe the doctrine of the resurrection.
We know that it's a staple doctrine of our faith,
but why is that?
Well, turn with me if you would to 1 Corinthians 15.
Hold your place for Romans chapter 10.
We're gonna come back to that later on in the sermon.
But go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
I'm going to go over some of the reasons why the resurrection is important and why it should be important to you, why it's important to us as Christians and why it's necessary for certain things.
First and foremost, let me start off by saying that the resurrection lends credence to the Old Testament.
The reason the resurrection is important is because it lends veracity, it lends credence to the Old Testament.
Well, the resurrection is more like a New Testament phenomena.
You know, it's more of a New Testament teaching.
It's what the New Testament says.
Most people in the Old Testament didn't know about the resurrection.
But let me say this, that that's a complete lie.
It's a farce.
It doesn't exist.
People in the Old Testament believed in the resurrection.
And I'm going to go through a couple of examples this morning.
But look at 1 Corinthians 15 and verse number three.
The Apostle Paul speaking to the church at Corinth says,
For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received.
How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures now
What is that saying? It's saying that everyone collectively who knew the Bible who was saved or knew about God knew that the Old Testament
Scriptures talked about
Jesus Christ's dying for our sins right and it says there that he died for our sins
According to the scriptures now in the New Testament anytime you see that phrase according to the scriptures as it is written
It's actually addressing the Old Testament
We often talk about the Scriptures as being old and New Testament,
but when the New Testament talks about it, it's referring to the Old Testament.
So this is showing us here that the death of Jesus Christ was something that was widely spoken of
in the Old Testament, right?
Well, I want you to notice verse 4,
and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
So, it's specifically telling us here that even in the Old Testament the death of Christ
is not the only thing that was highlighted, even the resurrection of Christ was highlighted
because of the fact that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, according
to the Old Testament, showing us, proven conclusively, that the Old Testament talked about the resurrection.
Now, obviously, the New Testament is far more explicit about the resurrection.
We know more in the New Testament than those who were in the Old Testament knew about the Bible
because they only had the Old Testament to work off of.
But because we have the entire canon of Scripture,
the New Testament is replete, it is saturated with,
it is explicit regarding the doctrine of the resurrection.
Okay?
Now, turn with me if you would.
Go to...
Actually, stay there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.
Let me read to you a couple of scriptures here.
Of course, when Jesus Christ resurrected in Luke chapter 24,
he meets these disciples on the road to Emmaus,
and they don't recognize him.
They don't really see that it's him.
He finally reveals himself to him,
and he rebukes them for lacking faith,
and he tells them, oh, he fools and slo-of-heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken.
And he says, ought not Christ to have suffered these things
and to enter into his glory?
And then he makes this statement.
Beginning at Moses and all the prophets he expounded into them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself
So what he does he gives them a Bible study from the Old Testament
Regarding his death and regarding his resurrection
Showing that the Old Testament had the prophecies of the death of Christ as well as a resurrection where where are these pictures?
Well, think about this, you know Noah and the flood is a picture of the resurrection
He said, well, I thought knowing the flow was just about killing a bunch of people on earth and just saving eight people alive.
Well, yeah, that's what, yeah, for sure, that's what it's about.
But there's also a picture there, according to the New Testament, that pictures the resurrection of Christ.
Let me read to you from 1 Peter 3 and verse number 20.
Referring to the flood, it says in verse 21,
the like figure wearing to even baptism,
doth also now save us.
Now, a lot of false cults will try to say
that you have to be baptized physically
in order to be saved.
This is what's known as baptismal regeneration,
meaning that you have to be completely dunked
under water in order to wash away your sins.
And they'll often use passages like this
to try to teach that.
They'll say, well, baptism doth also now save us.
But, folks, let me just remind you that when you study the Bible, when you read the Bible, you've got to read the entire verse.
You can't just read half of it because if we only read half of a couple of verses, we can come up with all kinds of heresy.
But it says here, the like figure run to even baptism, death also now save us.
Not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.
And I want you to notice this, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Now, the example that it's giving here is the example of the ark.
being swallowed up by the water, right?
And it's using Noah's Ark,
it's using the floods as an example,
and if it's using that as a parallel to salvation,
we have to ask ourselves,
did the water save anybody?
No, in fact, it killed everyone.
The only people it saved,
the only thing that saved was the actual ark itself.
Because when the 8th Noah and his family went into the ark, it was closed, it was sealed,
that ark was baptized in water, it wasn't the water that saved Noah, it was actually
the ark that saved Noah.
You know the only thing that resurrected out of the water was actually Jesus
I'm sorry resurrected out of the water was the Ark that pictures
Jesus Christ, which is why it tells us here that baptism saves us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ
So the Old Testament Ark of Noah is a picture of Jesus Christ
Resurrecting from the wrath of God in order to provide salvation. Let me give you another example Job chapter 19 verse 25
Of course we all know who Job is. He went through a very serious trial, very difficult, you know,
experiences that he had with the loss of his children, the loss of his property,
the loss of his possessions, and he says in Job chapter 19 verse 25,
for I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And I want you to notice this,
and though after my skin, worms destroy this body.
What does that talk about?
It talks about when he goes into the ground,
he's buried, eventually he's gonna decompose.
Worm shall eat his body.
He says though after my skin, worms destroy this body,
yet in my flesh shall I see God.
What is he saying?
I know that I will resurrect and see God in my flesh, having faith in the resurrection.
One of the most popular famous examples of the resurrection in the Old Testament is Abraham
and Isaac.
Go with me if you want to Hebrews chapter 11.
Hebrews chapter 11, of course we know the famous story of Abraham and Isaac, where God
picturing God the Father sacrificing his son Jesus Christ.
And of course right at the last moment he stops him.
He knows that Abraham is obedient to his commands and he blesses him because of that.
And of course Isaac is blessed also for his obedience to his father.
But I want you to notice what Hebrews chapter 11 verse 17 says in that regard.
By faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac
and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son.
of whom it was said that an Isaac shall that I see be called now what is it
saying it's saying that you know he waited so long to get Isaac I mean the
guy is really old Abraham and you know God is telling Abraham you know you're
gonna have all these children as much as the sand of the sea the stars of
heaven you're just gonna have all types of progeny and then he just doesn't have
any children at all until Isaac and at that point Abraham was really old
And so, think about this, you know,
he finally gets the promise, child,
and then God says, okay, I want you to sacrifice him.
And he's just like, I just got this one, though.
Like, you know, I was just like, I just got it.
But of course Abraham because he's a father of faith he obeys the Lord
He has faith on the Lord he obeys God and of course we know that God stops him
But I want you to notice verse 19 why Abraham obeyed the Lord. He says accounting
That God was able to raise him up even from the dead the Bible says from whence also
He received him in a figure you see Abraham believed in the resurrection
He knew that God can raise him up again from the grave
Another famous example of the Old Testament depicting the resurrection is David and let me reach you from Psalm 16
Turn with me for what to act chapter 2 act chapter 2 if you wouldn't the sweet Psalmist of Israel said in Psalm 16 verse 8
I have set the Lord always before me because he is at my right hand. I shall not be moved
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope
For that will not leave my soul in hell, neither will I suffer thine holy one to see corruption.
So this is David prophetically talking about Jesus Christ and the death of Jesus Christ,
because according to the word of God, when Jesus Christ died, he was actually in hell
for three days and three nights, but the Bible says that his soul is not left in hell,
neither that his flesh see corruption.
Well, look what it says in Acts chapter 2 when addressing this scripture in Psalm 16.
He's seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ
that his soul was not left in hell,
neither his flesh did see corruption.
So when David is pinning down those scriptures
of the Psalms in chapter 16,
he's talking about not leaving a soul in hell
that his body will not suffer to see corruption.
He's pinning this down in mind with the conception,
with the understanding that he's talking about
the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It sounds like Old Testament people
knew about the resurrection.
They not only believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
but they even believed that they themselves would resurrect.
And some people would make the argument,
no, they just believed that they would resurrect.
Well, it'd be kind of ridiculous and absurd to assume
that they believed they were going to resurrect,
but not their Messiah was going to resurrect.
You know, Jesus Christ, according to 1 Corinthians 15,
is the first fruits of the resurrection,
which is why we are going to resurrect in the last days.
Let me also read to you...
From Jonah chapter 1, of course, we know the famous story of Jonah
Swallowed up by a whale. This is often talked about in Sunday school classes into children
But it's actually a pretty gnarly story if you think about it
You know, this man disobeys God, he runs away from God, and God prepares a great whale
to swallow him up and get him right with God.
And the Bible tells us in Jonah chapter 2 that he's in the belly of the whale.
He's not dead, he's just kind of in the bowels of this whale.
And it's during this time that he prophetically makes a statement about Jesus Christ that
says in verse number 1, then Jonah prayed into the Lord his God out of the fish's belly.
And said, I cried by reason of my inflection unto the Lord, and he heard me out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou hurtest my voice, for thou hast cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas and the floods come past me about, all thy billows and thy waves past me over."
Now, this story is really important because again, it's prophetically addressing the resurrection of Christ, because in Matthew chapter 12, Jesus Christ says, for as Jonas is three days and three nights in the well's belly,
So shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth and of course over and over again
He stated that after three days he would resurrect showing us that he is
Essentially fulfilling the prophecy of resurrecting from the dead. Let me also reach you from Hebrews chapter 11 verse 35
regarding Old Testament saints that went through persecution and affliction,
it says women received their dead, raised to life again,
and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance.
And I want you to notice this, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
So not only did the Old Testament and the Saints believe in the resurrection, they even knew they can get a higher quality
resurrection based upon the sufferings that they would experience this side of eternity.
You say, why go through all these passages? Well, because there's people even today that deny the resurrection.
They denied that Jesus Christ bodily resurrected from the grave.
They believed that he was only a spiritual resurrection.
They don't believe in Jesus Christ.
But folks, the Bible is replete with passages proving the resurrection.
And in fact, the unsaved Sadducees even knew about the resurrection.
They didn't want to believe in it, but they knew about it.
You know and the Bible tells us regarding them that they aired not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God
And of course it's because they weren't saved go to John chapter 10 if you would John chapter 10
So why is the resurrection so important? Well because it lends veracity it lends credence to the Old Testament passages
dealing with the resurrection not only that
The resurrection is important because it completely the work of Christ on earth to redeem us
That's really important
And in fact, if you're visiting with us today
and you're not 100% sure that if you die today,
you go to heaven, this message is for you.
Because you know, Easter Bunny, all right.
Getting a couple Easter eggs and candy.
Sounds good, I like the Cadbury eggs.
I could kill a bag if I wanted to.
Pastel colors, all right, only on Easter.
Pictures, food, you know, all this stuff is great.
But, quite frankly, the most important part of Easter is you hearing the Gospel message
in order for you to be saved.
And this is why the resurrection is important.
Because of the fact that it completed the work of Christ here on earth in order to redeem
us.
I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter 4 verse 25 says, who was delivered, referring
to Jesus, for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
The Bible also says in John chapter 19 verse 28 after this Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished and that the scripture might be fulfilled sayeth I thirst
Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled the sponge with vinegar and put it on his hip and put it to
His mouth and when Jesus therefore has received the vinegar he said it is finished
He bowed his head and gave up the ghost now
This is referring to the fact that he accomplished the work that that he did within those three and a half years and
Sometimes people ask well what part of Jesus Christ what part of his labor actually saves us isn't it just his death?
Well, no, it's his perfect life
It's his perfect death and it's his perfect resurrection.
It's everything.
So if you want to be saved, you have to accept the entire package.
You have to accept the fact that Jesus Christ is God.
You have to accept the fact that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and that
no man comes with him to the Father but by him.
You have to believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins past, present,
and future, and that he resurrected on the third day in bodily form.
Meaning that he physically came out of the grave,
not just in spirit, but literally in his flesh.
He resurrected.
You know, in order to make salvation available to us,
Jesus had to be perfect.
The Bible tells us of Jesus Christ
that he did always those things that pleased the Father.
Meaning his life was lived in such a way
that there's no flaws found in him, no sin.
The Bible says that he was without sin.
He was tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin.
That God made him to be sin who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
You know, when the Bible talks about there's no good, but God, Jesus Christ is God, therefore he is perfectly good.
And that's an important point because of the fact that, you know, a lot of people think that in order to get to heaven,
you have to have enough good to outweigh your bad.
This is a common misconception amongst people
who don't believe in God or they don't go to church.
They often think, well, I'm just gonna try the best
that I can, be as morally upright as I possibly can,
keep as many commandments as I possibly can,
and I feel like God will forgive me in the end.
I feel like God will weigh out the balances
and he'll recognize that I've done more good than bad.
But here's the problem with that.
That same God said that there's none that do with good. No, not one
That same God said that there's none righteous. No, not one and sometimes people think so
Are you saying that God just can completely ignore and negate all the good that I've done?
Well, think about this
You know the Bible says that there's not a just man upon earth that do with good and sin is not
So even when you attempt to do good even when you strive to do good according to the Bible you're simultaneously doing bad
And so we have a problem.
The problem is this.
We don't have enough good in us to get us to heaven.
And in fact, our good, or as the Bible would put it,
our righteousness are as filthy rags in the eyes of God.
You can spend a lifetime striving to do good
in order to obtain and merit eternal life.
It'll never happen.
Because there's none good but God.
Jesus Christ was the only one who kept all of God's commandments perfectly,
who pleased God the Father at all times.
There's not a person in this world who's ever been able to accomplish that.
So in order to provide salvation for us, he had to be perfect than he was.
He kept all of God's commandments.
The Bible tells us that he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it.
But not only that, but he also had to die for our sins.
You know he had to be the propitiation. He had to sacrifice himself on the cross in order to satiate the wrath of God
The Bible tells us in Romans chapter 5 verse number 10
For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son much more being reconciled
We shall be saved by his life and not only so but we also join God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom we have now received the atonement
You see, here's the thing, folks, is that God is loving,
he's merciful, he's gracious, he's kind,
but I want to remind you this morning
that he's also a judge.
And as a judge, he expects justice,
meaning that the sins committed against him
by breaking of his commandments require a payment.
And you know, a lot of people don't like that.
Who's God to try to judge me like that?
Well, take it up with him.
But let me let me just remind you not believing in gravity does not change the fact that if you jump off the roof
Gravity will exist
And you know what you can reject God you can mock God you can disagree with God says it doesn't change the truth
But here's the thing with God here's the gracious thing about God he gives you these two options one you can pay for your own sins
The only problem is you'll never pay it off
Because the payment for your sins will require for you to go to hell for all of eternity
That will satiate his wrath
For your sins is an eternity in hell and you never get out of there
And often when people hear that like how can a loving God?
Send me to hell
Well, how about you think about the second option?
The second option is that Jesus Christ his son paid for your sins
He paid it in full
So that you could be saved
Now these are your options. You can either pay for your own sins in hell or
You could accept the payment that Jesus Christ made for you on the cross
And live forever
The second option sounds just a lot better
That hell or eternal life eternal life
But here's the thing it has to be on his terms though
Because the terms are this you can have eternal life, but you have to believe on his son
Meaning you have to trust that his death bearer and resurrection is sufficient to save you
And the main point that I'm getting across here is that Jesus Christ is the perfect sacrifice to pay for those sins
The Bible tells the first Corinthians 15 3
That he died for our sins according to the scriptures first John 2 to says that he's the propitiation for our sins
And not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world
And you know some of my be thinking yeah, but pastor. I'll be honest with you like I'm not a criminal though
You know I never murdered anybody
I'm not a dishonest person. I've never committed any crime. I'm a law-abiding citizen
But let me put you up to the standard of God though
Because the entrance into heaven does not require, you know obedience to the earthly laws
But rather the laws of God and the Bible says in James chapter 2 verse number 10 whosoever keepeth the whole law
Yet offend in one point. He's guilty of all
That's unreasonable. No, it's just perfection
And it's made to essentially strip you away from trusting in yourself for salvation
Because then when you think about,
oh man, I've at least lied.
And by the way, if you say,
well, I've never lied before, you just did.
You just lied.
But let's just say you strive to live your life
in such a way that you're just always honest.
You know, according to God's standard,
it's still not good enough.
Because the Bible says that the thought of foolishness is sin.
And we've all thought a stupid thought
at one time or another.
Why does God have such a high standard
to strip your way from your own righteousness
to help you realize that you're not good enough
and that you need a savior?
Jesus Christ was a man who was perfect in all ways
because he is God, but he's also the perfect sacrifice
and he also was able to take his life back.
Look what it says in John 10, verse number 17.
It says in John 10 17 therefore does my father love me because I laid down my life
Then I might take it again. No man take 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 go back to Romans chapter 10 Romans chapter 10
So here in John 10 Jesus Christ says that he has power to take his life back again
Now, why is that important?
Well, because of the fact that, you know, if he sacrificed himself for you, but was not able to resurrect, it's meaningless.
It's meaningless.
If Jesus Christ lived the perfect life, and he sacrificed himself in the cross, but never came back from the grave,
it would be absolutely vain and meaningless.
You see, the resurrection completes the work of redemption for us.
So, the Bible says that he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
We collectively need all of those elements in order to save us
It's not just his perfect life that saves us. It's not just the death that saves us
It's also his resurrection that saves us
Look at Roman chapter 10
Roman chapter number 10 and verse number 9 and this is my third point here and
That is that the resurrection is important because it is necessary to believe in order to be saved
You have to believe in the resurrection in order to be saved
The Bible says in Romans 10 verse 9 that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and
Shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead
Thou shalt be saved and let me just say this right now is that if you were a Jehovah's Witness
Who does not believe in the bodily resurrection you cannot be saved unless you believe that Jesus Christ bodily resurrected from the grave
God is no respecter of people
You say well, you know, I believe he resurrected shouldn't that just be sufficient? No, you got to believe it on his terms though
His terms now think about this
You know, why is it so important for us to believe that Jesus Christ bodily resurrected from the grave?
Why is that important? Why can't we just believe that you know a spirit just came out?
I'm going to explain to you why, because of the fact that salvation, eternal life, means
that you live forever, not just in spirit, but listen to me in body also.
That's what it means.
Salvation just doesn't care with the forgiveness of sins, the cleansing of our spirit, the
regeneration of our spirit, it's actually a promise from God that in your flesh you
shall see God.
Now that's a powerful promise right there.
Meaning just as clear as you see me today with your eyes just as clear as you can hear my voice through your ears
Let me tell you right now one day
It'll be that way in the presence of God in the presence of Christ if you're saved
You will see God as Job said in your flesh and part of salvation is not just the forgiveness of sins
Part of salvation is not just a regenerated spirit part of salvation is that you literally live forever
in your flesh, it's necessary to be saved.
And this is why the Bible says that in order to be saved,
you have to confess that Jesus Christ resurrected
by the power of God.
You have to believe that.
First Corinthians chapter 15,
by the way, First Corinthians 15 is your passage
dealing with the resurrection,
not just of Christ, but of also believers.
I'm gonna read to you once again.
It says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel,
which I preached unto you.
which also ye have received in wearing ye stand,
by which also ye are saved.
And here's the kicker, if,
ye keep in memory of what I preached unto you,
unless ye are believed in vain.
So the Bible says, you can be saved if you believe this,
but if you don't collectively believe the death,
barren resurrection of Jesus Christ,
you cannot be saved.
And you know what, you can say you love God all you want,
you can go to church for the rest of your life,
you can say you love the Bible as much as you want,
but if you don't have the right beliefs,
According to the Bible, you cannot be saved and the belief is in the death of Jesus Christ. The belief is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ
He says for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for us since according to the scriptures
That he was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures believe in the biblical account of the resurrection is
Asserting that salvation is eternal and can never be lost
You see part of the resurrection is the belief that salvation can never be lost
There's a lot of Christian quote-unquote groups out there
They claim to believe in Jesus they can't claim to believe in the Bible, but they also believe you could lose your salvation
That's super common amongst mainstream Christians they reject one saved always saved
They reject the concept that oh man if you're you claim to believe in Jesus
But if you sin you will lose your salvation they reject the concept that no you will not lose your salvation
You know the Bible specifically teaches us that once we're saved we're always saved
Now a lot of times people say what are you saying pastor that I could just believe and just live however I want and the answer is yes
Yes
Just like you can go out there and just break the law
as much as you want to.
Hey, all of you have the right to just go out there
and just break the laws of the land as much as you want.
Will anybody disagree with me?
We all have free will.
You guys seen those reels?
They're just like, when your free will just kicks in,
you just do something random.
You can do whatever you want, that's true.
I would know who's gonna stop you.
You can literally live however you want, but hold on a second. Aren't there consequences to actions though?
Of course there are. Of course there are!
You go out there and break the law, you go go out there and disrespect the police officer,
smack him in the face,
pull out a gun on him. Sure!
Are you saying I can do- yeah, you can. I'm not saying do it. I'm just saying you're able to do that.
Because you're not a robot.
You're an agent of free will
But you know you better be saved if you do do that
Because actions have consequences
So the mistake that people make when making an assessment on one saved always saved is that they think that we're saying you can live
However, you want without consequence
Whereas what the Bible is actually teaching is that when you believe on Jesus Christ, you can live however you want without the consequence of hell
But you will suffer the consequence here on earth
And let me just remind everyone here,
is that God can punish you for sins, of course.
And why is that so absurd for people to realize?
Why is that so ridiculous for people to believe
if the laws of the land have punishments
for your misbehavior or misconduct
in the breaking of the law?
How much more God?
You know, I thought God was merciful.
Yeah, but not at the exclusion of his justice, though.
And the Bible says that once you believe on Jesus Christ, John 1.12 says that as many
as receive them to them, give you power to become the sons of God, even unto them that
believe on his name.
The Bible says in 1 John 3, behold what manner of love the Father had bestowed upon us, that
we should be called the sons of God.
So the Bible specifically teaches that when you believe on Jesus Christ, you actually become
a child of God.
There's a false doctrine out there that says, no, we're all children of God.
No, we're all a creation of God.
but we're not all children of God unless you believe on Jesus Christ at which point you become a child of God now
If you are a child of God, that means God is your heavenly father. That means your father will discipline you
For misbehavior and sin
That's what the Bible teaches and you know what I'm not going to ask for a raise of hands here
But I'm sure many of them will go up if I asked you did your parents discipline you growing up for from for your misbehavior
And if they didn't, you don't have to raise your hand.
We know.
We can tell.
Because that's just the natural course of things.
Well, how much more God, disciplining us,
the Bible says, whom the Lord loveeth,
I want you to notice this, he chaseneth,
and scourgedeth every son whom he receiveth,
the Bible says.
Chasen means to whoop, means you're getting a whoopin.
God would actually whoop me if you commit grievous sin if you live in disobedience, of course
Of course, so the Bible teaches he skirt a scourging is like a whip a
Spiritual whip a spiritual beating a spiritual whooping that's literally what it means
You say why would God do that well to keep us from destroying our lives how about that?
You know what keeps me from being a law-abiding citizen?
Prison.
I don't want to go to prison.
You know what makes me move my car
for Street Super Day?
The ticket.
Don't want to pay that ticket.
You know what keeps me from just obeying
the laws of the land?
I just don't want to suffer the consequences of it.
We have within us a built-in desire,
or fear, should I say, of the consequences of our actions.
And so yeah, do we serve God out of love?
Of course we do.
Love of Christ can strain us.
Do we serve God because we want to be rewarded of God?
Of course.
The Bible tells us that He will reward us for our obedience,
but we also serve God because we fear God.
And the Bible says that through the fear of God,
men depart from evil.
The point that I'm making here is that if you're saved,
you believe on Jesus Christ, you place your faith in Him.
Yeah, you'll never suffer the consequence of hell
However, the consequences of your flesh will be paid for here on this earth.
And thank God for that.
Because the Bible says that when God chastises us in Hebrews chapter 12, He does it so we
can yield the peaceable fruits of righteousness.
You know, any person who is disciplined growing up can say, this is why I'm not dead, I'm
not in gangs, I'm not a drug addict, I'm not this because, you know, my parents would
So why are you a pastor?
Because my mom will whoop me.
It's true.
And you know when I was a kid, obviously I didn't like it.
Who likes whoopin'?
No one likes a whoopin'.
Nobody likes a whoopin'.
It's just like, I love that my parents whoop me.
Nobody likes that.
But you know when you get older, as myself,
I didn't say old, I said older, as myself,
you appreciate the discipline.
And you know what, in like manner, in a spiritual manner,
we appreciate the discipline of God
that keeps us on track.
The point that I'm making here is that, yes,
once you believe on Jesus Christ,
you will never lose that salvation,
just as your child will never cease being your child.
Because once we become children of God,
there's nothing that can separate us from the love of God.
Nor things present, the Bible says in Romans chapter eight,
nor things to come.
And just keep in mind, the gospel is eternal life,
not temporal life.
Not a life that is taken back if you sin against God.
It's called eternal life for a reason
because you'll never lose it.
And in fact, Jesus Christ says,
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish.
Not possibly.
You might.
No, never perish.
He says, he that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out.
Now we don't use that phrase anymore.
Today in 2025, that phrase no wise.
But what that simply means is for any reason whatsoever.
So, if you get saved, Jesus promises I'm not going to cast you out for any reason whatsoever.
Now, why did he make such a promise?
Because salvation according to the Bible is referred to as a gift.
And you know what?
You don't give a gift just to take it back because they did something wrong to you.
A gift is something that's given free of charge for you,
100% free based upon the graciousness and the generosity of the giver.
The Bible says, for by grace, are you safe through faith, and that not of yourselves?
It is the gift of God, not of works that a standing man should boast.
And I want you to notice that it says, not of yourself.
Yeah, but Pastor, I thought, aren't you supposed to do work so afterwards?
Yeah, but not to confirm your salvation, not to keep yourself saved.
And in fact, the Bible even goes as far as to say this in Romans 4, verse number 5, but
to him, that work is not.
But believe it on him to justify it the ungodly his faith is counted for righteousness
And interesting
It's like he knew the people would ask that question
Yeah, but you're supposed to do some works of course, but not for salvation
Well, I just think if you don't do work, so you're not really safe well, but to him that work is not though
But believe it on him to justify it the ungodly it sounds like our faith in Christ is sufficient to save
And if you have to do works in order to be safe,
how many works?
How many works?
Folks, I'm placing my faith in the finished work
of Jesus Christ.
Believing in the resurrection is necessary
for salvation, my friends.
And you know what?
A lot of times people live in fear,
not knowing where they're gonna go when they die.
And I get that.
I remember that feeling.
Not knowing doubting wondering hoping that's a scary place to be in I
Remember what it was like wondering if I died at this moment. Where would I go? I think I would go to heaven. I
Hope I would go to heaven
Just like not having that assurance
That's a scary place to be in
You know why?
Because you can die at any moment
And once you die, my friends, let me just remind you,
it's too late, it's too late.
And I guarantee you, there's someone in our building
even now that does doubt that, they do doubt that.
They wonder, they're not sure.
And obviously, we know that Easter is a great time
to talk about this, but thankfully you came to this church.
And you know what the Bible says?
These things have a written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God
that ye may know, not that ye may think, might hope.
It says that ye may know that ye have eternal life.
That means you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you're saved today.
And look, the room is filled with people
who know beyond a shadow of a doubt.
It's not something that they wonder about.
It's not something they hope for.
It's not something that they question or doubt.
It's something they know.
You know what we want you to know
And let me just remind you go in a church doesn't mean you know
Doing good works doesn't mean you know
You know if you believed on you if you placed your faith completely on Jesus Christ for salvation
Believing that Jesus Christ is God because he's perfect
believing that Jesus Christ paid for your sins on the cross past present and future by the way and
believing that he resurrected from the grave
And by the way, that's another thing
that people often get confused about,
is how many sins did Jesus Christ pay for?
And sometimes people think,
well, Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for my sins,
but he only died for my past sins, though,
not necessarily my future sins.
Well, let me just help you with that.
Because all of our sins, I don't know if you know this,
because he died 2,000 years ago,
all of our sins are future in respect to where Jesus Christ
died on the cross.
They're all future sins
So my past present and future sins are all future respected to where Jesus Christ was crucified 2,000 years ago
And let me just remind you that according to Romans chapter 4 Jesus Christ paid for all sins big and small
It's not like well, I'm gonna pay for the lying. I'm gonna pay for the stealing. I'm gonna pay for the foolish thinking but murder
Fornication uh-uh
All those other things no way. I'm not gonna pay for that. Well, there's nowhere in the Bible that says that
The blood of Jesus Christ paid all sins in full
And any sin will take you to hell by the way. Yes, even lying
I mean the Bible literally says but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and
Hormongers murder sorcerers and idolatrous and all liars
Shall have their part in the lake which burned up a fire and brimstone
So he gives you like this list of just horrific sins and then you know because when you read it like oh, yeah
Haven't done that. Don't do that. Don't do it, but then it says liars
You're like, well, what about white lies? Well, there's the Bible doesn't talk about white lies black lies
pink lies
Pastel lies is just lies
He paid for all sins past present and future
Meaning that once you believe on Jesus Christ you're not only forgiven of your past sins
But you're even forgiven of the future sins that you don't even know you're going to commit
And you got to ask you you got to ask yourself this is Jesus Christ is God
Omniscient meaning does he know all things the answer is yes, who would deny that?
So does he know the sins that you're going to do in the future? Absolutely
So did he save you knowing that you were going to commit those sins in the future? Absolutely
So did he save you forgiving you of those sins that you were going to commit in the future a hundred percent
100%
Sounds like God is just leaving no room for you to be confused about this matter of salvation
This is why the resurrection is
important
Go to John chapter 11 if you would John chapter 11
So in order for us to be saved,
we have to believe that salvation is eternal,
meaning it will never be lost.
It will never be taken away.
And part of that is him explaining
that he's gonna resurrect you in the last day.
That he's gonna bring you back to life.
And I don't care what anybody says,
everybody wants to live forever.
Everybody wants to live forever.
Whoever tells you, no, I just wanna go
into complete darkness and blackness
and just cease to exist.
You're a liar.
You want to live forever.
That's why you believe in transhumanism.
That's why you live a healthy life
because you want to just keep living.
No one just wants to die.
No man ever yet hated his own flesh
but nourished it and cherished it, the Bible says.
We all live, want to live forever.
And that's a desire that God placed within us
in order to desire salvation.
Look at John chapter 11, verse 21 says,
this is referring to Mary and Martha
who had just lost her brother Lazarus.
He had been in the tomb for four days.
It says in verse 21 then said Martha unto Jesus Lord if thou had been here my brother had not died
So she's upset
She knew that Jesus Christ had the power to resurrect him
Is if you had been here he would have lived
This wouldn't have happened verse 22, but I know that even now whatsoever that will ask of God God will give it to you
Jesus say it then to her thy brother shall rise again
Showing us that Lazarus was saved right?
Verse 24, Martha saith unto him I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day
By the way, that's another proof that people knew about the resurrection
You know if she didn't know about it Jesus said, how do you even know that? I haven't even taught that yet
You don't even have the New Testament written out. You're not supposed to know that
I'll tell you why because everyone knew about it who he actually studied the Bible
Sadducees didn't know because they didn't study the Bible
Goes on to say verse 25 Jesus saved them to her and I love this phrase. I am the resurrection
Like you're looking at resurrection right now
And the life he that believed it than me
Though he were dead yet. Shall he live?
So it's saying if a person has believed on Jesus Christ and they're currently dead
They will live again
But I want you to also notice verse 26 and whosoever liveth and believe it than me shall never die
Believe is thou this
You know, sometimes people say, yeah, but if a person is dead, they have salvation.
Of course, they're going to live again.
But what about a person who's living?
What about a person who's committing sin while they're living?
Well, it says, if you live and believe in him, you will never die.
Now think about this, because we're all going to physically die.
So what is he talking about?
He's talking about the fact that even when you do die, you will resurrect and never die.
You're going to come back in your physical body.
Believe is thou this she saith unto him. Yeah, Lord
I believe that thou art the Christ the Son of God which should come into the world
What's the point that I'm making the resurrection is important because it's necessary to complete the work of Jesus Christ in order to redeem us
You have to believe this. Why is it important? Here's the last part
Go to go back to 1st Corinthians chapter 15
1st Corinthians chapter 15 talk about the importance of the resurrection
It's important because it lends credence to the Old Testament
We see also that it's important because it completes the work of Christ that he did on the cross
We see it's important because of the fact that it's necessary to believe in order to be saved
And then lastly and I've already hit a lot on this particular point. It's important because it promises life after death
It's sad, you know, there's a lot of people who just don't believe nothing will happen after you die
You die and just go to total blackness darkness fault in space or something
You just kind of wander as a spirit or just nothing happens
But let me just remind you that we are eternal beings
Our souls will exist forever somewhere and
The biblical definition of describing someone who dies without Christ is that they are eternally damned
They experienced the eternal death
Meaning that they're conscious while they're in hell, but they're dying forever because they are in hell I
Want to live forever don't you?
But this is important because also we're gonna develop relationships this side of eternity and
We're gonna see those people go one day
They'll die one day I
Will die one day
You will die one day
You know relationships are so important in the Christian life just in life period
We develop such strong bonds with people this side of eternity and it hurts when people go
Hurts it's painful
And maybe some of you don't know that experience. I know I don't personally know a lot of experiences like that
But we will one day though
All of us will experience the loss of someone we love
It's gonna hurt
But that's why the resurrection exists.
To promise us life after death.
If you die today as a believer, as much as I would miss you, I know I'll see you again.
Think about people who are in the world who don't believe in salvation.
They lose their loved ones.
They don't know if they're ever going to see them again.
In fact, they won't see them again.
That's a promise from God a lot of people will say rest in peace, but quite frankly. That's not even true
Because there's no peace without Jesus Christ
You will never see them again if they're not saved I
Will never see you again if you're not saved
Promise of the resurrection is the promise to live forever the fact that there is life after death
And that's the beauty of the resurrection.
That's why when we grieve as believers,
we don't grieve as other people grieve in this world.
People in this world that grieve,
they grieve because they don't know
what's on the other side.
They don't know what's gonna happen after they die.
They don't know if they'll ever see
their loved ones ever again.
But folks, if we're saved,
we have that promise that we will see each other again
one day.
Because the promise is life after death look at verse Corinthians 15 verse 13
But if there be no resurrection of the dead then Christ is not risen
And if Christ be not risen then our preaching is vain your faith is also vain
We just say this if the resurrection is false. Let's just go home. What are we doing here?
Take this tie off get those pastel color colors off put that food away. Let's go to the beach
Go do something else
Why are you meeting on Sunday because the resurrection is real?
This preaching would be in vain
useless meaningless
Vanity if the resurrection was not true
Your faith would be in vain if the resurrection were not true
Verse 15 says yay, and we are found false witnesses of God
Because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not up if so be that the dead rise not the Apostle Paul saying I'm a liar
Because I spent my entire life preaching about the resurrection of Christ, and yet if that did not happen
I'm a false witness of God
By the way showing us that anybody who preaches who rejects the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a false witness
Verse 16 for if the dead rise not then is not Christ raised and if Christ be not raised
Your faith is vain year yet in your sins
Then they also which are falling asleep meaning they have died in Christ are perished if in this life only we have hope in Christ
We are of all men most miserable
Which is saying you know if all
The promises of God in the Bible are only fulfilled in this lifetime.
The only joy we have is in this, according to the Bible, we're just miserable people
because when this is all said and done, there's nothing.
Kind of showing us that the resurrection is a major cornerstone in staple of the Christian
faith.
Meaning that if there is no resurrection,
what's the point of having church?
What's the point of evangelizing?
What's the point of reading the Bible?
What's the point of just living any kind of life?
Because there's nothing after death
other than perishing and going to hell.
So let us eat, drink and be married for tomorrow we die.
Look at verse 50, skip down to verse 50.
But obviously we know that the resurrection is real.
You know why people Christians all over the world are
Joining at this time this day in local churches because they believe in the resurrection because the resurrection is real
Because the Bible is true
Because heaven is real
Because hell is real
First 50 says now this I say brethren that the flesh and blood that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God
Neither does corruption inherit incorruption
What is he saying?
He's saying, I just want to let you know
your physical flesh will not go to heaven.
Because flesh and blood can inherit that.
Because your flesh is corruptible.
It can't stand in the presence of God.
And you say, well, then what am I gonna do?
How am I gonna, what's the solution?
Verse 51, 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,
not referring to our president,
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, when this corruptible shall be put on incorruption and this mortal shall be put
on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that it is written, death is swallowed
up in victory.
What is he saying?
The resurrection of Christ is important because it means that we will come back to life and
though we cannot inherit heaven by our flesh and blood, God provides a solution of the
resurrection to change our bodies.
This is why we say that when a believer dies, they should be buried in the ground, not cremated.
Because the burial of a believer signifies
it's a symbolic representation of a seed
being buried into the ground.
And when that seed comes out, it sprouts,
it comes out something completely different
than how it went in.
You know, we don't sow a seed in the ground
and a giant seed just comes out.
Something else comes out than that which was put in.
And that's exactly what the resurrection is.
Your corruptible flesh goes into the ground.
That corner wheat falls to the ground and dies,
but then it bears much fruit.
It comes out something completely different.
The corruption puts on in corruption.
That is what the resurrection is referring to.
Look at verse 55.
Oh death, where is thy sting?
Oh grave, where is thy victory?
And let me just say this.
If you've lost someone close to you,
you've felt the sting.
We will all feel the sting, the pain.
The resurrection causes us to ask, where is the sting?
Where is the victory?
Verse 56, the sting of death is sin,
and the strength of sin is the law.
Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord
for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord.
What is he saying?
He's saying that there is a promise of life after death.
That you can and will live forever, but the stipulation is this you have to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
You cannot have eternal life. You cannot live forever
You cannot have an incorruptible body if you don't go through Jesus Christ
Believing exclusively upon him, not on your works,
not on your ability to keep God's commands,
not on your ability to do good works,
to be a good person, solely upon Jesus Christ.
You know what that requires?
A little bit of humility.
Because pride says, well, I gotta do my part.
Sorry, God doesn't accept your part.
Your part's not good enough.
You're in the red, actually.
You can't pitch in.
Because you ain't got no money, you're broke.
You're spiritually bankrupt according to the Bible.
But luckily it's already paid in full
through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
What's the point that I'm making?
The point that I'm making is that the resurrection
is pretty important.
It's one of the most important,
if not the most important doctrine of the Christian faith.
Without it, we are all men, most miserable.
Here's my closing statement and that is this,
if you don't know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you're saved, meaning you don't know
if you're gonna go to heaven or not.
What I just explained to you is a little new to you.
Maybe a lot of it you've heard before,
but you never really take into account
that you don't have to do anything to be saved.
That you don't have to do good works.
And you're coming to this understanding now,
and maybe there might be a little battle within you,
wondering, man, maybe I'm not saved.
Or you know what, I am afraid to go to hell.
I do want to live forever.
Some of us in here are probably close to that mark, too,
by the way.
Not because you're older, but because of the fact
that we just don't know what the moral may bring.
And let me just say this.
It's no accident that you're here today.
The reason you're here is obviously
because you have someone that loves you
and wanted you to come to Easter
and have some of that good food.
Take a picture.
Have you dressed in pastel colors and all that?
But even more than that like the Lord wants you to be saved though
The Lord loves you and you want you to be saved and that I will even say this
You know he wants you to be saved even though we want you to be saved
He wants you to be saved more than we want you to be saved
He's probably tugging at your heart right now hoping that you'll make that decision today to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ exclusively
So you can live forever. Let's pray father. We thank you so much for the resurrection
We're thankful for Easter Lord and all that it means to us as Christians and God
I I hope and pray that everyone listening to the message this morning would make the decision to believe on you on your son
For salvation that they would no longer trust in their works no longer trust in their morality
Their ability to keep your commands
Lord I know that you're working on them even now and as they're listening to this
I pray that they place their faith exclusively upon Jesus to be saved
Lord there is
life after death
The resurrection of Christ promises us that we will one day resurrect as well
And I pray Lord that you bless us as we go on our way bless the Easter egg hunt with the little ones Lord as we talk to people
I just hope that no one leaves our church building without first getting this settled
Whether they're a hundred percent sure that if they died today that they would go to heaven or not
And I pray you bless the singing and all there is in Jesus name. We pray amen
Please turn your song books is song number 27
Song number 27
Old Rugged Cross, song number 27, all together nice and strong on that first verse.
On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame.
And I love that old cross, where the dearest and best for a world of law sinners was slain.
So I'll shame.
Till my trophies at last I lay down
I will cling to the old rugged cross
And exchange it some
What
and wonderful singing to our dismissed.