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the greatest message that the world has ever heard and Father I just pray that you would please speak to us through the message this morning, help us have a greater understanding of the resurrection of Christ and be encouraged by the sermon this morning and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now Jesus Christ while he was on this earth, and this is especially noted in the book of John, but in the book of John we'll see seven great statements that Jesus Christ made that begin with these two words, I am. You remember in the Old Testament, in the book of Exodus, when Moses was at the burning bush and Moses said, if the children of Israel ask me what your name is, they're going to ask me, well what is this God's name? Tell them, he said, I am that I am. And he said, tell them that I am have sent me unto you and that's the capital I, capital A, capital M. I am. Because God never was created, he's always been, he is and he always will be, he always exists, he's the I am God, okay. Well Jesus Christ, because he is God, and he said if you do not believe that I am he, you'll die in your sins, referring to Isaiah 43 where God, Jehovah God said, I am he and there is none else. Before me was there no God formed, neither shall there be any God after me. He said I am he, I am it. And Jesus said if you do not believe that I am he, you'll die in your sins. But he made seven great I am statements in the book of John. One of them, of course, I am the light of the world. Another one, I am the bread of life. Of course the most famous one, John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He said in another place in the book of John, I am the son of God. That's the fourth one. And then the fifth one he said, and I'm not giving these in order of course, but I am the true vine was another statement that he made. And then I am the good shepherd. But the seventh one that I want to talk about this morning, this is what he said, I am the resurrection. You remember that? I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me, he shall never die. Believest thou this? Now look down at your Bible. Are you in Luke 24? Look down at verse number 36. I want to show you that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is a physical, literal, bodily resurrection. Look at verse number 36. And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit. They thought they saw a ghost. They did not think that Jesus Christ was literally physically in the room with them. And so the Bible says in verse 38, and he said unto them, Why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself handle me, he said. That means reach out and touch me. Feel me that I'm a real human being. He says, handle me and see for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. He showed him the wounds that were in his hands and his feet from when he'd been nailed to the cross. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And it says, And while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, Have you here any meat? He said, Do you have something to eat? Do you have any food? The word meat in the Bible means food. And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them. Now, could the Bible be any more clear that Jesus Christ literally, physically arose from the dead? He says, Look at me, reach out and touch me. He says, Feel, he says, he says in another place in the Bible, put your fingers into the wounds of my hand. He said, thrust your hand into my side, Thomas, in the book of John, and be not faithless, but believing. See, anyone who doesn't believe in a literal physical bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is faithless, according to the Bible, and is not a believer, is not believing. Because do you remember what the Bible says in Romans 10, 9? A lot of times people use this in the Romans road to win somebody to Christ, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. See, the thing that you have to believe in order to be saved, you have to believe on Jesus Christ, you have to believe that God raised him from the dead. You have to believe that God physically, literally, bodily raised Jesus from the dead. See, that's why he rebuked Thomas for not believing. What was he, he was rebuking him for not believing in the resurrection. He said, put your hand in my side and feel a physical resurrected body. Now, of course, Revelation 1.18, you might remember this from when we were in the book of Revelation, Jesus said, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. Now, a lot of people that don't believe this, they're unbelievers. Anyone that doesn't believe this is an unbeliever, they're going to go to hell when they die, of course. But the Bible is so clear, people say that, well, Jesus is resurrected spiritually. That's what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe. The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in a literal, physical, bodily resurrection. They say, well, he just kind of spiritually came back from the dead, and then they believe that he had a spiritual second coming. Did you know the Jehovah's Witnesses predicted Jesus coming back six times in the 20th century, the early part of the century? Put a great hand up if you knew that. Six different times. They said he's coming back in 1918, you know, and they said, sell everything you have, and then it came and went, and they said, well, he only came to us, okay? They said he did come back, but he just came and talked to us at the Watchtower Society in New York, and he gave us these new revelations, and we'll teach them to you. And they did that six times, and then after a while it started getting old, and so they don't do it anymore, okay? They got a little tired of that. But it was fun for a while when they lied and deceived people and claimed that Jesus came back six different times. They don't believe in a spiritual resurrection. They believe in a spiritual resurrection. Jesus said, I am not a spirit. I am not, he said, a spirit does not have flesh and bone. I am not a spirit. I am a physical person standing in front of you, risen from the dead. Now, Jesus, and other people have said, well, and you know these, don't ever, please do me a favor, throw your television out the window, but if you're not going to do that, do me a favor, never watch anything on TV about Jesus, okay? If you're going to watch TV, turn on MTV or some garbage, okay? But hey, don't turn on, don't turn on, and I'm not condoning, you know I'm not condoning that, but hey, don't turn on some show about Jesus. If you want to be worldly and sinful, then just sin and have the world in garbage, but don't bring Jesus into it, okay? Because you turn on these programs on the Discovery Channel, the History Channel about Jesus, they're all about just disproving the Bible. They're all about attacking the doctrines of the faith. You turn on those and they'll say, well, this is what happened. Jesus, they want to explain the miracles of the Bible. They'll say Jesus was really just in a coma. You know, he went into this, there's a way, and they have this doctor, and I've seen this, literally, when I was a teenager, I saw this. They had this scientist and this doctor on there, they said, this is what it is, your body can go into this comatose state where your heart actually stops beating, and they were showing all the science, and they just, he wasn't really dead. He just kind of put himself into this hypnotic state where he was like shut down his body. And then they put him in the tomb, you know, he came back, Jesus said, I was dead. That's what Jesus said in Revelation 1.18. He said, I was dead. Of course, the New King James Bible, the New King James Version, which is not, it's not King James anything about it, it's just a new Bible. But the New King James Version in Philippians chapter 2, where the Bible says that Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, the New King James changes that, he was obedient to the point of death. Okay. I guess that's where he quit being obedient. He was obedient to the point of death. He was almost dead. He was so close to being dead. No, Jesus said, I was dead. For three days and three nights, he was in the heart of the earth and hell, dead. And then up from the grave, he arose. Hallelujah. But think about this. Here's something interesting about the resurrection. Flip over in your Bible to John chapter 2. And while you're turning there, I'm going to, I'm going to read you some other verses. Of course, I already, I already quoted this verse, Romans 10, nine, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in that heart, that God hath raised him from the dead. So who raised Jesus from the dead? God raised Jesus from the dead. Here's some other verses. Listen to that. And I, I had a big long list. I'm not going to read them all for sake of time, but there were many, many verses in the Bible that say that God raised up Jesus or that the father raised up Jesus from the dead. Here are a few. The Bible says in Galatians one one, you're at your stay in John chapter two, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God, the father who raised him from the dead. Okay. And I'm just showing you a few examples of this in the Bible. First Corinthians six 14 reads and God had both raised up the Lord, the Lord being Jesus Christ, of course, and will also raise up us by his own power. But look down in your Bible at John chapter two and see a great statement by Jesus in verse 19, John two 19 Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple. And in three days I will raise it up. Now that's very conclusive. Who raised up Jesus? Jesus said, I raised myself up. Okay. He said, destroy this temple. And in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews 40 and six years was this temple and building. And wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body when therefore he was risen from the dead. His disciples remembered that he had said this unto them and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. You see that? So don't try to separate God and Jesus. Okay. God, it said that God, the father raised him up, but that Jesus will raise us up by his own power. And Jesus said, destroy the temple and I will raise it up in three days. Look at John chapter 10. You'll see the same thing. Flip over forward in your Bible to John chapter 10 and you'll see the same concept in verse number 17, John 10, 17, John 10, 17, the Bible reads, therefore does my father love me because I lay down my life that 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. There was a division therefore again among the Jews for these saints. See, it's going to cause division, this doctrine of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's going to divide between two people. The person who says, I believe that Jesus Christ of his own power raised from the dead, he was dead, he was in hell and he raised up from the dead having conquered hell and death. It's going to cause division. There was a division when Jesus preached in John chapter 10. There's a division when you preach that today between people who are unbelievers and believers. But turn in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 15. Let's go forward about three books to the right in your Bible to 1 Corinthians 15. Three books toward the end, 1 Corinthians 15 and I want you to see how important the resurrection is. You hear the word a lot, the gospel. Now the gospel according to the Bible itself, I never use a dictionary as an authority of what things mean because the dictionary is written by a man, okay, who could make a mistake. But according to the Bible, the word gospel means good news. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, because in the book of Isaiah, the Bible says how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings from far and then that's quoted in Romans chapter 10 as how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel. So the gospel equals glad tidings. Okay. Tidings is a, is an old word for news. So gospel, according to the Bible means glad tidings, good news. But what is the good news? Well, look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the Bible says, moreover, brethren, this is verse one, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received and wherein you stand by which also you're saved. So you're saved by the gospel. The Bible says, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you've believed in vain for I delivered unto you, first of all, and the believed in vain part, don't let that bother you. That's because he's talking about a little bit later. He's going to say that if, if, if the resurrection is not real, we've all believed in vain is what he's saying. And so that's what he gets into. But the Bible reads 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. That's what the gospel is right here. It's defined for us. He says, the gospel is that Christ died for our sins. Isn't that good news? Isn't it good news that you who are condemned because of the sins that you committed in your life, condemned to death, condemned to the second death, Jesus Christ died for our sins. Man, that isn't that great news, but you go out soul winning. You're bringing a pretty positive message when you knock on that door. I mean, when you knock on the door out soul winning, you have the best, most positive message. You know, somebody gets mad at you, slam the door, get out of here. You know, Hey, they don't realize what a good news this is. Okay. What a good message that you're bringing when you say Jesus Christ died for your sins and was buried and rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. That is what the gospel is. And then keep reading. The Bible says, and that he was seen of Cephas, Cephas is Peter, then of the 12. After that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once. You see that? He appeared to 500 of saved Christians in the, in the time between he was resurrected and ascended up into heaven. He was seen of 500 brethren at once. They must have all been lying. No, they weren't all lying. They really did seem of whom the greater part remain unto this present. Obviously talking about when the book was written in first Corinthians, 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. You say, I saw Jesus last week. He appeared to me in my bedroom, liar, liar. Last of all, last of all, he was seen of Paul. Hey, that's a good rhyme. I'm a poet and don't even know it. So last of all, my friend, the last, I'm the least of the apostles. Hey, an apostle had to be somebody who saw Jesus Christ, a witness with us of his resurrection. The Bible says in Acts chapter one. And so Paul was the last one. Apostle Ruth so and so at the missionary Baptist church on the street is not an apostle. She shouldn't even be a preacher. She should be, you know, baking cookies. Okay. But let's go down in the chapter and let's look at verse number 19. The Bible says in verse number 19 and he's, he's refuting the fact that a lot of people did not believe in the resurrection at all. That's what this whole chapter is about. So in verse 19 he says, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. Good night. I think I want to live the Christian life if there's no, it's not real. No way. He says, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept for since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as an Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ, the first fruits afterward, they that are Christ's that is coming. Remember that we're going to get back to that afterward. They that are Christ's that is coming then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power for he must reign Jesus Christ. Okay. What's this talking about? He must reign. Let's jump into our Wednesday night revelation for a minute. He must reign. We're talking about the thousand year reign of Christ on earth, right? After the tribulation, after he pours out his wrath, he's going to come and physically set up his kingdom on this earth and rule and reign for a thousand years. Watch how consistent the Bible is. It says for he must reign till he had put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that should be destroyed is death. Remember the millennial reign of Christ is described in revelation 20. What happens at the end of chapter 20 and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death and whosoever was not found written the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. That's when death is destroyed. That's when death is abolished. Jesus Christ had abolished death, the Bible says, and it brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. And so we see the consistency of the Bible with between the first Corinthians and the book of Revelation saying Jesus Christ is going to reign and then he's going to once and for all at the end of his thousand year reign destroy death once and for all. There will never be death again. And that's the last enemy that shall be destroyed. Look at verse number 50. This is the resurrection chapter, first Corinthians 15. Look at verse 50. Now this I say brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither does corruption inherit interruption. Remember Jesus didn't say he had flesh and blood, he said he had flesh and bone when he was resurrected. So he said flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. Behold I show you a mystery, verse 51, 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 when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death where is thy sting? Oh 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. Therefore my beloved brethren be ye 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. Why? Because we know that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. 1 Thessalonians 4 says for if we believe that Jesus rose from the dead he said even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with them. And so we know that if Jesus rose from the dead he's the first fruits we know that we will physically raise from the dead someday. Now the moment that you die, turn to Acts chapter 2 while I explain this to you because this fits in perfectly with my next point. The moment that you die your soul and your spirit will be carried by the angels up to heaven to be with God in the presence of Jesus Christ. Your body however will not go to heaven, your body will die. I mean people will be looking at it, people will take it, they'll carry it, they'll put it in a casket, they'll bury it in the ground. Isn't that right? They're going to plant it in the ground like a seed is planted. They're going to dig a hole and this is all the Bible says, by the way don't get cremated, the Bible says be buried. So you dig a hole and they bury that body in the ground, they put the earth over it. Now what happens to that body while it's in the ground? It corrupts is what the Bible teaches, isn't that right? It decays, it sees corruption, it rots in the ground. That's just the truth of the matter, that's what the Bible says. Now look at Acts chapter 2 with that in mind. Well before I get at it, and then what's going to happen? Your body is going to corrupt in the ground, it's going to rot, it's going to decay, but then when that trumpet sounds on the first resurrection your body is going to be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Your soul and your spirit will be reunited with a brand new body that has come from the ground but now it's being raised up, an incorruptible body that will never decay, no pain, no infirmities, no ailments, a perfect body in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Look at Acts chapter 2 verse 23. All throughout the book of Acts the theme of the preaching of these men is the resurrection. Have you noticed that? I mean if you read through the book of Acts you'll notice that every sermon that's preached, and there's so many great sermons in the book of Acts, Peter preaching the gospel, mainly Paul preaching great sermons, the resurrection is always the emphasis of the sermon. That's always the punchline of the sermon when they're preaching the gospel because that is the gospel, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 24. Him being delivered, speaking of Jesus, by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face. For he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine holy one to see corruption. That's what we were talking about, the physical decay of his body. Thou is made known to be the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne, he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. See, David died more than a thousand years before Jesus Christ was on this earth. And when David died, the Bible says, look, he was buried and his flesh saw corruption. I mean, his flesh rotted in the grave like every human being who's buried in the grave. Jesus Christ's flesh did not see corruption, because he was only in the grave for three days and three nights. And so his body did not decay and decompose yet, but it was changed into a glorious brand new body three days and three nights later. Now, do you remember another man who was resurrected from the dead four days after being dead? Lazarus. John chapter 11. You remember that? Lazarus, Jesus' close friend. He died and he was put in a sepulcher for four days. Now you say, well, good night. I mean, I thought Jesus was the first fruits of the resurrection. You know, what's this guy doing? And he was even dead longer. You know, like that makes a difference, like being dead for three days or four days. But what's the deal with that? Well, there's a big difference between Jesus and Lazarus being resurrected, because there are other people who are resurrected from the dead, even in the Old Testament. Here's the difference. Number one, Jesus resurrected himself by his own power. Okay, that's a miraculous event right there. You say, well, God raised him. Hey, Jesus said, I'll raise this temple up myself, because Jesus is God. Secondly, Jesus was resurrected from hell. Name another person who's ever been resurrected from hell. Okay. No, never. Lazarus, when he died, he went to heaven. Okay. He was in heaven and he was brought back from heaven four days later. Okay. Other people who died in the Old Testament that were resurrected, it's the same thing. Never will you see somebody dying and going to hell and being resurrected from hell, because once you go to hell, my friend, you are damned eternally. There's no second chance. There's no purgatory. There's a big difference between the resurrection of Christ is that his soul was not left in hell. Okay. That was the big difference. And then of course, thirdly, the difference is that when these men were resurrected in the Old Testament and in Lazarus' case, they died in a physical body and they were just, their same exact body was just brought back to life shortly thereafter. Whereas Jesus was raised in a glorifying body, never to die again. That's why he's the first fruits of the resurrection. See, no one else to this day has ever been resurrected in the way that Jesus was brought to life in a new immortal body. See, Lazarus was brought back to life. Several years later, he died. Okay. For good this time. You know, they probably wondered, you know, when he died, I wonder if this is really another false alarm or if this is really, you know, should we make their funeral arrangements yet? Should we spend all the money that we spent last time? You know. But no, they did because he was dead. I mean, he died for good. Jesus Christ lives never to die again, the Bible says. He said, behold, I was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. Look at Acts chapter four. Flip forward in your Bible. See throughout the book of Acts, this emphasize Acts chapter four verse one. The Bible reads in Acts four one and as they spake unto the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. That's what made them so mad. You see that? It was a point of controversy with them. Look at verse number 33. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was upon them all. Look at Acts chapter 13. Flip over to Acts chapter 13. We're going through the book of Acts and seeing a few things. Acts 13 verse 35. Acts 13, 35. Wherefore he saith also in another place, thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. This is what I already kind of spoiled this one. I alluded to this about David seeing corruption. The Bible says for David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid unto his fathers and saw corruption. You see that clearly, but he whom God raised again saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins and by him all that believe are justified. Boy, don't you love how clear the Bible is about what it takes to be saved? All that believe. For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. To everyone that believeth. Oh, what about somebody who isn't willing to give up their sins? To everyone that believeth. This guy's never been to church. Everyone that believeth. What if you don't get baptized? To everyone that believeth. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. You don't know what I've done. Hey, to everyone that believeth, the Bible says. And here he says, by him, in verse 39, boy, mark this verse in your Bible, and by him all that believe are justified from all things. Any sin that they did, past, present, or future, they're justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses. By keeping the law, oh, I'm going to heaven because I'm keeping the two commandments. Hey, you can't be justified by the law. You must be justified by believing on Jesus Christ. The Bible's clear. Look at Acts 17. Acts 17, verse 18. Acts 17, 18, interesting story. Paul is on the Mars Hill. He's preaching to a bunch of, he just finished preaching to the Jews in the synagogue. And he finished preaching to the Jews in the synagogue. And he goes out to Mars Hill and he's waiting for his companion to come meet him. And while he's just standing there waiting, he says, he's grieved in his heart when he looks around and sees all the idolatry. He sees all the false gods and all the false religion. And the Bible says in verse 18, then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the Stoics encountered him. They came across him preaching and some said, what will this babbler say? They're making fun of him. Other some, he seemeth to be a set forth of strange gods. Why did they think that this religion was so strange? Because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. Now the reason, why did they think it's so strange? I think when it says strange here, I don't think it really means like weird. Like we think of the word weird, like that's really strange, that's weird. But if you study the word strange in the Bible, it talks about a stranger just being from another country. It talks about a strange woman, it's just talking about a woman other than your wife. You know, it's not your wife, it's a strange woman. I think what he means here is that it's a very different type of religion, is what he's saying. This is a strange religion. It's something that's foreign to us. It's something that we've never heard of. We don't understand. It's bizarre that you actually believe that this man died and rose again from the dead. I mean, you actually believe that God will raise us up one day and that we will live forever, literally be physically resurrected from the dead. I mean, you read the book of Revelation and you actually think it's real? I mean, you actually believe that those things are actually going to happen some day? Of course we do. Of course we believe the Bible's true. But let me tell you a funny story. I was talking to my grandma, okay? And my grandma was, she was going to this really liberal church. You know, it's a long story why she was there and everything like that. But she was in this really liberal church and she finally just left the church and found a good independent fundamental Baptist church. And my grandma's a great soul winner, loves the Bible, wins people to Christ. Great lady, she's 85 years old. And this just happened within the last couple of years. And so she finally left this liberal church and she made all kinds of trouble while she was there, you know, about the King James version, about soul winning. And she won a lot of the members to the Lord while she was there even, you know? And so she was a thorn in their side and they were probably glad to see her go anyway. But she was standing up for God, okay? And sometimes that causes a little division when you do that. But she was taking a stand for the old time faith. And she was, you know, it's a long story, I'm not going to get into the whole story, but she was in a situation where she saw a lady from this church months after she left. And this lady was one of the, you know, she's one of the main, most involved women in this church, you know what I mean? Like she was one of the key players, you know, in this church. And so this lady comes in, oh, hi Helen, how you doing? That's my grandmother's name. Hi Helen, how you doing? And you know, she was chitchat, just friendly and nice, just talking to her. And she was about to leave and, you know, everything was great, just hi, how you doing? Nothing big. And she's walking out the door and she turned around and she said, you know what Helen? And my grandma just told me this when I saw her a couple weeks ago. And she said, you know what Helen? There's just one thing that you need to learn. There's just one thing that you need to know. And that's that the Bible was just written by man. That's what she said and then walked out the door. Can you believe that? And my grandma was shocked and I told my grandma, I said, I'm not shocked at all. I said, I don't think for a minute that these liberal churches really even believe the Bible. That's why they, look, they believe the Bible. The Bible would be the authority on what's right and wrong in their church and what they preach and what they do, what they believe. And this church was way liberal. And I told her, I said, of course they don't really believe the Bible. It's a social club. They go there to see their buddies, to see their friends. They go there to make them feel good. And so when you confront somebody with, who's just a feel good, oh yeah, all religion's the same. It's good. It gives you some good, you know, guidelines for your life or whatever. You confront them with the truth and say, look, no, the Bible is real. It's God's word. It's spoken by the mouth of God. It's verbally inspired. Hey, Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Hey, there really will be a tribulation. Yes, there really will be a resurrection of the dead. Yes, there really is a heaven with real streets of gold. Hey, there is a hell where people burn forever. Hey, the Bible is real. You're some kind of a babbler. You know, you're some kind of a weirdo. You send forth a strange religion when you actually believe in something that's real. Hey, that's what sets Christianity apart. That's what set the real religion of the Bible apart is that it's real, that we believe in a real resurrected Jesus Christ. Buddha saw corruption. Okay? Mohammed, yes, he saw corruption. He wrought it in the grave and now his soul's rotting in hell. Hey, all these false religions of the past have seen corruption. Their leaders are dead and gone. They prophesied something out of their own heart. They did not come from the Lord at all. And the difference with Jesus Christ is that our religion's real, that Jesus really did raise from the dead. Look down in the chapter here in Acts 17. Look at verse 31. The Bible says, Because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge, this is Jesus Christ, will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. This is the type of reaction when you get out of soul wedding. Some people will mock. Others will say, We'll hear thee again of this matter. You know, well, I'll come back another time. I'm not really ready. But then look down. It says, So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him and believed. Okay, those are the people that got saved. So three types of people. The people who just reject Jesus Christ. The people who say, Well, maybe another time. And you might get them saved down the road. And then the people who just say, You know what? I believe that. And it says certain men clave unto him and believed, among the which was Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. Now look, look if you would at Romans chapter six. Just flip to the next book in the Bible from Acts. Look at Romans chapter six. And we'll see that not only is the resurrection real, not only is it a physical bodily resurrection, not only is it what sets apart Christianity from every bony religion in the world, not only is it what separates being an independent Baptist, you know, or others who actually believe the Bible, literally, that these things are really true from the brands of Christianity, so called, which don't believe the Bible, and would say, You know what, Helen? The Bible is just written by men. You just need to realize that, okay? Would you stop trying to tell me that the Bible is real? Okay? Can you believe that somebody would say that? I mean, what's the purpose in saying that? I mean, isn't that just demonic? I mean, just to walk up to some soul winning, boring Christian and say, You just need to learn one thing, that the Bible is written by men. Because he was trying to teach them, you know, that it's real. It's true. But look at Romans chapter six. We'll see finally that the resurrection is the picture and the standard for your Christian life that you should be living by. Look at Romans six. I'll show you what I mean. What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Now stop right there. Isn't it clear to you as you read Romans six one that if you do continue in sin, grace will abound? And so he's saying, Should we do that? Okay? Because I've had people say, Well, no. You know, you say like, Well, you can't lose your salvation. Once you're saved, you'll always be saved, which is what we believe. And then people will say like, Well, no, no. Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. You're missing the whole point. Look at the verse before it. It says in verse number 20 of chapter five, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Hallelujah. So then he's saying, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Hey, God forbid. Don't you know, that doesn't mean we're just gonna go out and sin it. Hey, let's sin as much as we can, and then we'll be forgiven even more. Yeah, you know, then we'll love Jesus so much. Let me tell you what Jesus forgave me of yesterday. You're not gonna believe it. He's saying, That's ridiculous. Don't go out and sin just to like, Ah, man, it's just a great testimony of the grace of God. Watch me commit wicked sin, and God will forgive it all in your eyes. Okay, that's what he's saying. Because it is true that if you do sin, grace will abound. But he says, God forbid. Verse number two. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer? He's like, Why? I want to live in the garbage that we came from. Know ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we're buried with him by baptism into death that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, we also should. All of us will walk in newness of life if you've really been saved. Is that what it says? No, even so, we should walk in newness of life. Does that say that every born again Christian will walk in newness of life or else they must have never really been saved? No, it says that they should walk in newness of life. He says, Look, I'm only talking, first of all, he says, to those that have been baptized. Okay? Because, he says, if you haven't been baptized, you're not gonna walk in newness of life. You haven't even taken the first step of obedience to Jesus Christ. He says, those of us that have been baptized into Jesus Christ, okay, he says, we've been baptized, and that was a symbol of us telling God that as Christ was died and was buried and risen from the dead, even so, we also should walk in newness of life. That's what it says. It says, therefore we are buried with him by baptism, verse number four, into death that, like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so, he said, in this way, we also should walk in newness of life. So, the Bible is saying here that when you get baptized, what you're saying is, I'm burying the old man. I'm burying the old Steve Anderson because I want to rise up in newness of life just like Jesus Christ was risen again. He put on immortality. I want to live the resurrected type Christian life where I rise up to walk brand new life, brand new start, eternal life. So, Christianity, when you get saved, I mean, that's kind of a reset button where you can start over and walk in newness of life, and then you get baptized, and you can say, now I'm going to live for God. Now I'm going to do what's right, and we should. Not everyone who's been baptized lives for God, but he says we should if we've been baptized. First we'd be baptized, and then we should walk in newness of life. And then the Bible says, for if we've been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. See, understand that when a person's buried, why Christian people throughout the history of the world have buried their dead? They have that tradition of burying their dead. You know, other cultures do different things with their dead, burnings and so forth. You'll study in the Old Testament heathens burning, dead people, you know, cremation. I'm against it. Because we're supposed to be planted as a picture. When you bury someone in the ground, you're basically expressing your faith to God that that person will one day rise again is basically the point of why we bury dead people. And you say, what about unsafe people? Look, everybody's going to rise again someday. There's going to be the resurrection of the just, and there's going to be the resurrection unto damnation, the Bible says in Daniel chapter three. And so when you're buried in the ground, it's like planting a seed. Okay, we get everything in nature. And this will teach you so much if you understand that everything in the natural world is a picture of biblical concepts. Okay, God speaks to us through the Bible, which is his creation, which is his word, which is from the mouth of God. And he also speaks to us through his physical creation. He's trying to teach us things about the world that we live in and about the Bible and about God. And that's why God uses so many physical illustrations in the Bible. But you have to understand that when you, when you, Jesus said, except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth a little, but if it die, bring it forth much fruit. He said when a, when a stalk of wheat grows up and that kernel is lifted up, just like Jesus Christ was lifted up above the earth and then it dies, it falls to the ground, it's buried in the soil. And what happens? A brand new stock shoots up and many more are multiplied. Much fruit is brought forth by the death of that side. It's exactly a picture of Jesus Christ. And so that's why we bury our loved ones when they die because we're picturing the resurrection. We're planting them because one day they will spring up a new life from the earth is what the Bible is teaching. It says in verse number six, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ being raised from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion over him, for in that he died, he died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Watch this, likewise reckon you also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ. Oh another picture of what baptism is and what your Christian life should be like every day. He said you need to, when you go into that water and be baptized, you're dying to sin. And he says you're living unto God. It's like something that you have to do every day though also. First is when you get baptized. But then Paul said I die daily. Okay. And so that's in 1 Corinthians 15, we didn't have a chance to look at that verse, but every day you have to die to sin. And you have to awake to righteousness the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 15. But look at one last place, Colossians chapter 3, this is our last place we're going to look, Colossians 3, toward the end of your Bible from Romans. Colossians, right after the book of Philippians, Colossians, look at Colossians chapter 3 verse 1. Colossians 3 verse 1 the Bible reads, if ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Hey set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Where's your love today? Is it on the things that are above is what he's saying? For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ and God. When Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Mortify, you know what a mortician is? Somebody who dresses up dead people? Mortify, he's saying kill. Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience in the which he also walked sometime when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another seeing that you've put off the old man with his deeds and have put on the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him. He said hey die to your old self. Die to the self that you were before you were saved. Die to the self that you still are when you're walking in the flesh and in the old man. Hey every day you've got to mortify the members of your sinful nature that's in you and he says you need to put on the new man. Put on the resurrected man. Be like Jesus Christ. Be a brand new creature. Be in the likeness of his resurrection. Walk in the likeness of his resurrection. Galatians 2 20, don't turn there. I am crucified with Christ, Paul said. Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. Hey the resurrection is real my friend and the resurrection is the same power of the resurrection is the same power that's going to raise you up to walk in newness of life in your life. You say well I just certain sins I can't get over. I'm having trouble changing. You know I'm trying to change my life around. Hey you can change your life around through the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ when you say I'm going to die to self like Jesus died. He said nevertheless not my will but thine be done. He died to his own wills. He died to his own wishes. He died to self and he was raised up in the power of God. For though he was crucified through weakness the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13, yet he liveth by the power of God. And then it says that we also shall live by the power of God toward you. But let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father thank you so much for the gospel, the great news that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. God what a blessing it is to be saved and born again. What a glory it is to have been crucified with Christ and to live with him dear God. To be buried with him by baptism into death and to be raised in the likeness of his resurrection. To walk in newness of life. That's what we want this morning dear God. Every person in this room I know is here in church because they want to walk in newness of life. They want to walk in the steps of Jesus Christ. As he is so are we in this world. Father I just pray that you would please just give us the strength to mortify the members of our body and to put on the Lord.