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Jesus, our Blessed Redeemer, deathly portals, loud with His hand, is free. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever. Round Him, round Him, prophet and priest and King. Christ is coming over the world victorious. Power and glory unto the Lord belong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song. There is sunshine in every day. Glory, glory, to the Lord God. All is well, all is well. All is well, all is well. All is well, all is well. All is well, all is well. Then Jesus shows a smiling face. There is sunshine in my soul. And there is music in my soul today. On and on right here. Then Jesus us ASH multiply. Long songs again I sing. Our sun shines by the sound of the river He's so happy on the spot When Jesus follows the shining waves There is no shining in my soul There is great time in my soul today For when love is near Now how can I rest in my heart The power is with which I am Oh the sunshine, the sun is shining He's so happy on the spot When Jesus follows the shining waves There is sunshine in my soul All the last now, there is gladness in my soul today And no great things at all For when love is near Now how can I rest in my heart The power is with which I am Oh the sunshine, the sun is shining He's so happy on the spot When Jesus follows the shining waves There is sunshine in my soul The peace in my heart that the world never gave A peace it may not take away Though the trials of life May surround like a cloud By the peace that has come there to stay Constantly abiding Jesus is kind Constantly abiding Rapture divine He never leaves me lonely Whispers oh so kind I will never live with Thee Jesus is mine All the world seems to sing Of a Savior and King When peace sweetly came to my heart Troubles all fled away And my night earned today Blessed Jesus how glorious Thou art Constantly abiding Jesus is kind Constantly abiding Rapture divine He never leaves me lonely Whispers oh so kind I will never live with Thee Jesus is kind This treasure I have In a temple of clay While here on this footstool I roam What is coming today Peace and glory I'll stay Over there to my heavenly home Constantly abiding Jesus is kind Constantly abiding Rapture divine He never leaves me lonely Whispers oh so kind I will never live with Thee Jesus is kind Christ the Lord is risen today Alleluia Sons of men and angels sing Alleluia Raise your joys and triumph high Alleluia Sing ye heavens and earth reply Alleluia Lives again our glorious King Alleluia Where, O death, is now thy sting Alleluia Dowing what's he all the same Alleluia Where thy victory, O grave Alleluia Once redeeming work is done Alleluia Fought the fight, the battle won Alleluia Death in vain, born, bids him rise Alleluia Christ has opened paradise Alleluia Alleluia Sing we to our God above Alleluia Praise eternal as his love Alleluia Praise him, all ye heavenly hosts Alleluia Father, Son, and Holy Ghost Alleluia Praise he the Lord, the Almighty The King of creation O thy soul, praise him for he is Thy health and salvation Alleluia Now to his temple drawn near Join me in glad adoration Praise he the Lord, who for all things So wondrously reigneth Shall tersing under his wings So gently sustaineth Thou shalt not see How thy desires e'er hath been When in equity or danger Praise he the Lord, who with marvelous wisdom Hath made thee When deep and loud and with loving hand By him and staining Thou oft didst pray That not in God be relieved Spreading his wings for to shame thee Praise he the Lord, O when all death is in reality We adore him All that hath life and breath come now With praises before him Gladly again Shall promise we all again Gladly for a day of joy Good morning, everybody, and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Happy Easter. It's great to see everybody here this morning. We can go ahead and find our seats. We will get started. Once we've all found a seat, let's go and grab a hymnal, and we will start this morning's service in song number 33. Christ the Lord is risen today. Song number 33. Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah. Song number 33. Let's all sing it together real loud on that verse. Christ the Lord is risen today. Hallelujah. Sons of men and angels sing. Hallelujah. Raise your joys in triumph's light. Hallelujah. Singing hell and earth we cry. Hallelujah. Lives again, our glorious King. Hallelujah. Where, O death, is now thy sting. Hallelujah. Dying once, ye old, unsaved. Hallelujah. Where thy victory, O grave. Hallelujah. Love's redeeming work is done. Hallelujah. Fought the fight, the battle won. Hallelujah. Death in vain, forbidden rise. Hallelujah. Christ has opened paradise. Hallelujah. For we now learn Christ has led. Hallelujah. Following our exalted name. Hallelujah. Made like Him, like Him we rise. Hallelujah. Hearts across the great blue sky. Hallelujah. Great singing. Let's open up the service now with a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you so much for this church. Thank you for rising from the dead and saving us from our sins. Lord, we love you and we just ask that you fill this room with your spirit and bless this Easter service, Lord, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, for our next song, let's go to song number 36. Song number 36. We're all thankful for today. Christ arose. Song number 36. Let's all sing it out together. Lo, in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior, waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty time for His close. He arose, the victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah. Christ arose. Maybe they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior. Maybe they see Him again, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty time for His close. He arose, the victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah. Christ arose. Death cannot keep His grave, Jesus my Savior. He tore the blinds away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty time for His close. He arose, the victor from the dark domain, and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose. He arose. Hallelujah. Christ arose. Amen. Thank you so much for coming to our Easter services. If you did not already get a bulletin and you would like one, just lift up your hand nice and high. One of our ushers can come by and get you a bulletin, and we have a special service today for you. We have our kids' choirs are going to be performing, and I'm very excited about that. They've been practicing very hard, and thank you so much to all the parents for allowing your kids to participate and the kids for working hard. Thank you so much to my wife for working with them and preparing, and thank you so much to our instrumentalists who have been working on that as well, so we're excited for that. If you look on our bulletin, we're starting a new Bible memory passage, Jude 1. Now, the prizes for the last one, I'm going to hold off, and I'm going to wait a few days, just like you have to wait for the resurrection. You have to wait for the prizes, and we're going to give those out on Wednesday. So I already have them, but we're just holding back, all right? So Wednesday, first come, first serve on the prizes for Matthew 28, but you can get started on Jude, and then on the inside, we have our service and soul-winning times, church stats. We have our expecting ladies list. Please be in prayer for our expecting ladies. Down below, yesterday, we had over 100 people come out for soul-winning, and all the soul-winning for our church yesterday was 48 salvation, so praise the Lord on that. That was great work. Also, we got at least one trespass warning. Brother Ben helped us out on that, but it was an assist because he ran interference so I could get a lady saved, and so praise God for that. Tonight, we're going to be having our Lord's Supper, and so if you would like to join us, that's going to be in the evening service. We'll be having communion as a part of the end of our evening service. Down below, also, we have the note about the Scott Baby Shower, Mother's Day brunch, May 10th. There's a sign-up sheet, but also you could just message in the ladies chat. Either way, you don't have to do both. If you do one, you are in. Also, there was a new soul-winning marathon that Brother Sam Foley had alerted us to that we're going to partake in. It's in Cleburne, Texas. It's going to be May 24th, and Cleburne, Texas. We've actually done a soul-winning marathon in Cleburne in the past. Cleburne is kind of southwest of here a little bit. It's just south, basically directly south of Fort Worth a little bit. I'd say 30 minutes, 35 minutes from here, approximately, something like that. But Cleburne, Texas is having a special event where a lot of people from the Marshallese people that have migrated to America all meet up together and have some kind of a baseball or some kind of athletic event this whole weekend. It's not just limited to the 24th. I think it's a few different days. But we were going to try and organize a group, if people want to go out there to this park area and just evangelize. We've been told about 1,000 people show up for this particular event. There was a recent expedition to Arkansas where there's an area where a lot of Marshallese people have migrated to. They went soul-winning over there. The people from this area just seem to be very receptive people. Just kind of a special, unique opportunity to reach some foreigners that seem to be pretty receptive. If you have questions about it, I'm probably not the expert. You could ask Brother Sam or Brother Evan. They have been spearheading this idea. But we just want to come alongside and offer the opportunity. We'll probably just meet at the park directly. If you want to go soul-winning that day, basically you can just meet at the park in the morning, and then we'll have lunch somewhere, and then go back out in the afternoon. It's just going to be a targeted soul-winning at this park location. There's not going to be maps or anything like that, because we're all just bees swarming this event. That's just an opportunity if you want it. It happened to coincide that we have another soul-winning marathon that we already planned just right after that. You've got your fill of soul-winning. If you come to Steadfast Baptist Church, you've got lots of options. We're also doing a Durant, Oklahoma soul-winning marathon. This is a little bit halfway between us and Anchor Baptist Church. Pastor Dylan Oz is also planning on organizing his church to come out and meet with us. We're going to be partnering with them. It's a great time to get to see those people in Oklahoma and give them a hard time, remind them that Texas is better. We're going to go and meet them on the other side and go into Oklahoma. Some areas of Oklahoma were mostly populated or heavily influenced by Native American towns or Indian towns in the past. We're trying to go to areas that have a little bit of a history of some Indian reservation and some Indian heritage and stuff like that. Typically, those areas are a little bit more receptive. We don't know what to expect, but we are looking forward to going to Durant. It's a little bit smaller of a town, so it's kind of a small town soul-winning opportunity. If you'd like to join us, we'll also be meeting out there, probably for breakfast somewhere, going out soul-winning, lunch, and going out in the afternoon as well. Lots of great soul-winning opportunities we want to plug in the end of May. Baby announcement. We have a congratulations to the Lugo family on the birth of Annalise Marie. She was born on the 14th, 9 pounds 11 ounces, 20 and a half inches long. Congratulations to them. And then on the back, we have the note about the baby shower for the Scotts and their baby boy. That's going to be on the 3rd, 12 to 2. If you'd like to RSVP, please do that to Ms. Milstead. Down below is our prayer list. If you have any additional prayer requests, you can see me. Just to give a few practical instructions, we're going to sing our 3rd song, and it's going to be where the spirit blows in our song binders. As soon as we're done with that song, brother Dustin is going to announce for our kids choir to come up, and they're going to perform for us. After the kids choir is done performing, I'll just make another quick announcement, and I'll let the youth choir know that they're going to switch, so then our kids choir will go sit down, our youth choir will come up, and then they're going to perform for us also. After the youth choir is done, then we're going to just have our normal offertory, where our ushers will come up and down. We'll have our musicians play a verse for us, and then we'll have our traditional Bible reading. We're going to be in Acts chapter number 2 this morning, and I'll remind you again, but we'll be in Acts chapter number 2. But that is what we're going to do, so we're going to have brother Dustin come and lead for us, where the spirit blows, and then we're going to have our kids choirs perform for us. Alright, that was where the spirit blows. Where the spirit blows. Let's all sing it out together. Red, black and white. Sweet in its sight. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Go, go, go. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Yellow in the ground. To every town. Not just the Jews. Let's go in two. Where the spirit blows. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Go, go, go. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Father, Spirit, Son, these three are one. Holy Trinity, always with me. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Go, go, go. Where the spirit blows, we will go. We march in hell, send Christ to hell. The hero rose, crushing our foes. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Go, go, go. Where the spirit blows, we will go. He heals the lame. All are his name. Faith, the Lord saves. And he's the praise. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Go, go, go. Where the spirit blows, we will go. Great job, everybody. Now, at this time, we're going to have the kids' choir come up and give their special performance. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Thank you. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Okay, y'all go ahead and go sit down. Thank you so much. We're going to have our youth choir now come up and perform for us. Choir, come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Come on down. Great job. Thank you so much to both of our choirs. Thank you so much. I really appreciate all of the parents and everybody for doing that. The Bible says, out of the mouth of babes and sucklings, thou has perfected praise. And that was really special. We really appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you to my wife for doing such a great job. At this time, we're going to turn to our Bibles to Acts chapter number 2, and we're going to pass our offering plates, and our ushers are going to come down. And so if you turn to your Bibles to Acts chapter number 2. We'll make sure to turn it again. Acts chapter number 2. We'll read the entire chapter as is our custom before the preaching of God's word. The Bible reads, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as a fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them other tongues. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans? And how here we every man in our own tongue, were born, Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in Judea, and in Cappadocia and Pontius in Asia, Fergia and Pamphylia in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Crete and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt saying one to another, What meaneth this? Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, and it shall come the past, and the last days saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my spirit, and they shall prophesy, and I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come the past, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as he yourselves also know, him being delivered 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 holden 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. Thou hast made known to me 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. Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens, but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. And they that gladly received his word were baptized, and the same day they were added unto them about three thousand souls. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers, and fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together and had all things common, and sold their possessions and goods and parted them to all men as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily, such as should be saved. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we ask Lord God that you bless all aspects of the message this morning and fill Pastor Shelley with the Holy Spirit as he preaches to us, give him clarity of mind and enable him to teach your word to us to the best of his ability. And Lord God, I pray that you would help us to remember the resurrection today and to not take our salvation for granted, but to glorify you in all that we do. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. The title of my sermon this morning is Jesus Resurrected from Hell. Jesus Resurrected from Hell. Now, this is a doctrine that many people are shying away from, people are afraid to preach, but any time I go out soul winning and try to get someone saved, I often explain to them that Jesus Christ not only died on the cross, but that his soul descended down into hell. And I use Acts chapter number two as a great place to reference this. Look down at verse number 31. The Bible says, he seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption. So we just let the text speak for itself. The Bible clearly is talking about the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And where does it say that he was resurrected from? It says he was resurrected from hell. Yet many people would probably be offended just by the title of the sermon alone, yet that is what the text just explicitly states in verse 31. We're talking about the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, and it's saying that his soul was not left in hell. Why? Because it rose again. Meaning what? Jesus Christ's soul returned to his physical body in the tomb, and he came back to life physically, and he walked out of the tomb, and that's what we celebrate on Easter is the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. A lot of people when you ask them what happened to Jesus or where did Jesus go after he died on the cross, many people will say he went to heaven. And of course, Jesus Christ is in heaven right now. We understand that Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, but that is not where he initially went. The Bible says that he first descended down into hell, and yet he was not left there, but he rose again, and that's what we celebrate is the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and how he conquered death and hell for us so that we wouldn't have to go to hell. The thing about the God of the Bible is the God of the Bible is just. What is just meaning? It means that he does not allow sin to go unpunished. God always makes sure there is a consequence to sin, but God is also merciful, and he's allowed his Son to take the substitution for our sins and to die in our place, take our place in hell, and then resurrect so that he could be both just and merciful, and he could extend to us the free gift of salvation to anyone who believes in Jesus Christ. The moment you believe in Jesus Christ, you're given eternal life, you've been passed from death unto life, and you cannot go to hell. You should not perish, but have everlasting life, and so you will go to heaven because of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, we understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of our sins, but without the resurrection, the Bible makes it abundantly clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, we have no hope of being resurrected ourselves. We have no hope of escaping the punishment of hell. It's not only that Jesus Christ died for us, but it's also that he rose again from hell, conquering death and hell, having the keys of hell and of death, which gives us the hope that we will never go to hell because he's given us everlasting life. Now, let's pay attention to this passage because there's a lot of stuff we can find in the Bible about this doctrine. When you have this doctrine right, you're gonna understand so much of the Bible and so much of the Old Testament. When you have this doctrine wrong, you'll start believing weird and strange doctrines. Things like Abraham's bosom, which, yes, Abraham has a bosom. It's his chest, okay? And there's not a special compartment in the middle of the earth somewhere that's also known as paradise. This is a strange doctrine to get away from the clear teaching of the Bible that Jesus Christ went to hell. It's also to get away from the idea that Old Testament saints went to heaven when they died. But we understand that just because Jesus Christ hadn't technically died on the cross yet, people were still able to go to heaven because God already foreordained that Jesus Christ would die on the cross. Just in the same way that when Jesus Christ died on the cross, somehow that paid our sins in the future, right? I mean, you're not gonna understand the gospel message locked into time. Of course, Jesus Christ dying in the future from the Old Testament perspective paid their sins, and Jesus Christ dying in the past also paid for our future sins It's a one-time event that paid all sins. We don't have to be locked into time. Look down at verse number 24 now. The Bible says, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. So when we're talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that he was crucified and slain. But then in verse 24, whom God hath raised up. So when did Jesus Christ get raised up? Well, the Bible makes it clear it was on the first day of the week. It was early in the morning on the first day of the week before the sun had set. Now, we're celebrating Passover week, and I've made whole charts on this, and I've preached whole sermons on this, but essentially the Passover week starts with the Sunday before where we have Palm Sunday, and the Lord Jesus Christ had that triumphal entry into the city of Jerusalem. They're waving palm branches, and they're laying them before his feet. They're laying their coats before his feet, and they're shouting Hosanna in the highest. They're shouting Hosanna. Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. So they're sitting here praising Jesus Christ, celebrating him. He enters in. He goes into the temple, and boy, he does not make friends. He preaches for a couple days. You have all kinds of special events, the fig tree withering, and yet he preaches. By the time we get to Wednesday, on a calendar day, this is when, at the evening, he's going to celebrate the Last Supper. He ends up celebrating the Last Supper Wednesday evening with his disciples, and then in the middle of the night, the Romans come. They seize Jesus Christ because of the traitor, Judas. Judas betrays the Lord Jesus Christ. They take him in the night. They bring him before the chief priests and the elders, and they accuse him, and they bring many false witnesses to falsely slander him and make up lies about him, and their witness did not agree, and they ask him all kinds of questions, and he mostly did not respond to them, but at one point, they say, art thou the son of the blessed, and this is what Jesus said, I am. When Jesus Christ was confronted by the chief priests, and they said, art thou the son of the blessed, he said, I am, and they said, what further witness have we need? You've heard the blasphemy. They rent their garments. They lead him off unto Pilate early in the morning. They confer with Pilate, and finally, Pilate basically agrees under their slander. They ask what the accusation is, and he says, if you were not a malefactor, we would not have brought him unto you. What an accusation. We already know he's a bad guy. No need for a jury, no need for a trial, no need for accusations. We already figured out he's bad. Kill him, and that's what the Romans are just nervous about this, but the Jews are putting so much pressure because the Jews are the ones responsible for killing Jesus Christ. They deliver him over to the Romans, and Pilate even brings out Jesus Christ, and he's constantly looking for an opportunity to escape this situation, and you have this famous saying of behold your king, and he presents Jesus Christ before the children of Israel, and this is kind of a significant event because the Bible talks about the Passover lamb being presented before the whole congregation, and just like that, Jesus was presented before the whole congregation. Of course, he was rejected in place of Barabbas, where essentially he's a murderer, and they want the murderer over the Lord Jesus Christ, but the gospel message is situated there where Jesus Christ is gonna take places with the murderer, and he's really taking places with us. Our sins, and yeah, some people think, oh, murder will send you to hell. No, even murder got swapped with Jesus Christ. Even murder was paid for and bought by the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you think about it, what was the direct sin that he basically swapped for was murder, with Barabbas not only just murder, just being a traitor. I mean, Barabbas had basically done an insurrection, murder, all kinds of grievous sins, and they were put upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He swapped places with him, and the Lord Jesus Christ was then beaten. They shoved a crown of thorns on his head. They tried to get him to carry his own cross. At some point, someone even had to help carry that cross for him, and that signifies the fact that, hey, Jesus Christ wants us to also bear the cross with him. He was led up to Mount Calvary, and he was crucified in our place, took our death, took our sin, and the Bible says that he became sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. After being crucified on Thursday at, you know, about 9 a.m. approximately, at about 9 a.m. crucified, he lasted about six hours under the third hour of the day when he finally gave up the ghost. And the Bible tells us that the Passover lamb was to be slain, was to be killed at even. So that's in the twilight hours. Jesus Christ dies and gives up the ghost at that same time that the Passover lamb would have been slain, and they have to quickly bury him in order to not violate the Sabbath and to be able to eat that Passover meal that they would normally and traditionally do on that Thursday. And so Jesus Christ died on Thursday around 3 p.m., was buried, and, of course, we enter into this special time period where Jesus Christ was in the heart of the earth. He was in hell. Now, the Bible makes it clear that he was in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. So we have Thursday. We have Thursday night. We have Friday. We have Friday night. We have Saturday. We have Saturday night. And then he rose early on that first part of the morning. So part of Saturday night, entering into, he rose early. We don't know exact time. We could guess 1 a.m., 2 a.m., 3 a.m., somewhere in that range. Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. Now, this is what it's saying in verse 24, whom God hath raised up. When are we talking about at this moment? We're talking about Sunday morning. We're talking about that Saturday evening. We're talking about that transition when Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. Notice what it says. Having loosed the pains of death. Jesus Christ was dead for three days and three nights. The place of death is hell. And hell is not a fun place. What does the Bible say? The pains of death. Jesus Christ was not suffering the pains of the cross on Sunday morning. He was suffering the pains of death on Thursday evening, Friday morning, Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, until he rose again when God hath raised him up, having loosed the pains of death. Why? Because it was not possible that he should be holding of it. God could not allow the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer forever only three days and three nights was sufficient to pay for all of our sins and to bring the innocent lamb, the lamb of God, back from the dead and resurrect him from hell. And this is why he says very clearly, look at what it says in verse number, let's just keep reading. Verse 25. 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. What does the flesh resting in hope mean? Well, the body was buried. The body was buried in the tomb, so it's resting. Why is it resting in hope? Because it will not just stay there and rot and become dust. His soul is going to return to that flesh. That flesh is resting in hope. Why? Because that will not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. So he's saying the soul is not going to just stay in hell. The body is not going to perish. What's going to happen? He's going to be raised again from the dead in the same body. This is important. Jesus Christ's body did not see corruption, did not rot, decay, and decompose. It was preserved so that he could rise again in the same body and we could see someone come back to life in the same body and he could show the disciples the holes in his hands and the hole in his side so that people would know that this is not just another person. If someone died and then another random person shows up in a completely different body, you're not going to say that person rose again from the dead. We don't believe in body swapping. We don't believe in this idea that Jesus Christ is just going to transform into another person. No, it was the same body, the same man that died on the cross, is the same man that rose again from the dead. His soul came out of hell and returned to his physical body. He came back to life. And it says in verse 28, Thou hast made known to me 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 corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses. What does it mean to be an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ? That they were a witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he went to hell, but he rose again victorious, and that they were to go out and to preach the gospel. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we celebrate on Easter. What a great verse here, too, that notice what it says in verse number 30. According to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. Whose throne? David's throne. Not like Jesus was ruling and reigning in Jerusalem for thousands of years and then going to sit back on his own throne. No, David was the king of Jerusalem, that Jesus Christ is going to sit on David's throne, and of course that which is first is earthly, but that which is second is heavenly. And so we have the pattern here that God allows man to do that first and to not succeed completely because we're man and for all of sin it comes short of the glory of God, and then Jesus to come alongside and to show us how it's really done. And we have the millennial reign of Jesus Christ that will happen in the future, where Jesus Christ will literally rule and reign on the earth. But we have to understand that Jesus Christ really went to hell. Go to Psalm 16. Go to Psalm 16. There's a lot of Bible on this. I just wanted to explain that in detail. How can anybody get away from the clear verse, though, having loosed from the pains of death? There's a lot of people that will not believe that Jesus Christ went to hell, period. But what I've noticed through the years is that most of the people get mad about what I'm preaching this morning are just pastors and teachers. Most laymen, most Christians don't have a problem with this because it's just what the Bible says. But it seems like most of the people getting mad are pastors and teachers, and it kind of makes me wonder if these people are false prophets or false teachers because why would you be so mad about this? Why would you be mad about Jesus Christ dying, being buried, having to suffer in hell, and coming back out and being resurrected? I mean, in my mind, it just makes what Jesus Christ did even that much more special. It makes it that much more of a sacrifice. It makes it that much more real that Jesus Christ not only would take a physical punishment for us, not only would he die on the cross for us, but that he would suffer in hell. If you think about it, any of us could potentially take a physical beating for somebody else. I mean, it's possible for someone to take someone's place and take a physical beating. It's possible for one of us to even lay down our lives physically for someone else. And the Bible brings us up that even for a good man, some would dare to die. But you know what none of us could ever do? Take someone else's place in hell for them. And then be raised again from the dead. That is unique that Jesus Christ not only died, but that he went to hell and he rose again from hell. And 1 Corinthians 15 and plenty of places in the Bible make it abundantly clear that's why we're saved. It's not that somebody died. It's not that someone substituted only to death. It's because they rose again from the dead victorious. Because they were innocent in them going into hell and being a perfect substitute for us. Now the Bible refers to Jesus going to hell multiple places. Go to Psalm 16 verse 9. So this is what was being quoted in Acts chapter 2. So this is what's quoted in the book of Acts chapter number 2. And then we get the exposition from the author here, Peter, who's kind of the author and Peter. Peter is basically the one that preached this. The author is relaying what Peter had said. And of course it's coming from the Holy Ghost. Interpreting for us to say look, when David was saying this he wasn't talking about himself because David's dead. Not only is he dead, we have his body. We could just go open the grave right now and look at David's body, whatever remains. Probably dust at this point. But they could see it and they know that he didn't raise again from the dead. But him being a prophet, he's seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Some people say this, oh, they didn't understand the resurrection in the Old Testament. What? David is the one preaching the resurrection in the Old Testament. Yes, they believe in the death-bearing resurrection. I mean, there's no way to believe that doctrine. The Pharisees confirmed the resurrection. Are you going to tell me that the disciples and the saved Christians in the Old Testament didn't understand the resurrection? Yet the Pharisees confessed that? The Pharisees believed that? Of course they understood the resurrection in the Old Testament. The book of Job, Job explains the resurrection. We have all kinds of prophets explaining the resurrection in the Bible. We have even Abraham, when he was going to sacrifice Isaac, the Bible makes it abundantly clear that he understood that God could raise Isaac from the dead. So you know what the Old Testament saints believed in? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And you know what we believe in the New Testament? The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a New Testament doctrine. This is an eternal doctrine that Jesus Christ would not only die, but go to hell, but not stay there. He would be risen again from the dead. His flesh would not see corruption, but he would be victorious. Now, go over to Jonah, chapter number 2. Jonah is probably one of the clearest prophets on the resurrection from hell. In the Bible. And it's crazy to me to see how many people are shying away from what the Bible says on these doctrines. We need to believe not only in the resurrection, but we need to believe the death, burial, and resurrection, and we understand that he went to hell. You say, why? Because the Bible teaches it. Anything the Bible teaches, we need to believe and understand. And look, I'm telling you, when you understand this doctrine, it unlocks all kinds of cool stuff in the Bible. When you have heresy, you get confused about everything in the Bible, and just a little leaven will cause you to lose your mind. And we have seen that. We have seen that, and it happens repeatedly, and that's for a sermon tonight. But Jonah, chapter 2, look at verse 1. Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish's belly, and said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord, and he heard me. Out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice. Now, of course, Jonah, if you really understand the book of Jonah, chapter 2, it kind of has this unique way of doing this poetry, where Jonah is kind of going back and forth from a literal expression to a metaphoric expression. He's kind of just ebbing and flowing from literal to metaphoric. But what's happening is every time it switches to the metaphor, then it switches to literal for the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have here, of course, Jonah is in the well's belly. He's in the fish's belly, and he is crying because he's being afflicted in the well's belly. But he's not literally in the belly of hell. But don't you think from a metaphoric perspective, if you were in a fish's belly in the ocean, you could probably say, this is like the belly of hell? You could probably use that expression. Now, many people would say, oh, he's cussing. No, it's called Bible. No, it's called prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what? There's not such thing as this bad word. You know what? Hell is a word found in the Bible 54 times, and the modern versions love to take out the word hell. But you know what? They want you to go to hell. They don't want you to say the word hell. You know, we need to embrace the word hell and teach the word hell, and Jesus Christ preached on hell. And you know, out of the belly of hell, cry die, is what the Bible says. Because the Lord Jesus Christ literally was in the belly of hell and literally had to cry under the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? By reason of mind affliction. That's what the Bible says. For Jonah, it was a metaphor. For Jonah, it was a symbol. For Jonah, it was a picture. And it's not a coincidence that Jonah went into the well's belly for three days and three nights, just like Jesus Christ went three days and three nights, and just like Jesus Christ tells us in the gospels, for as Jonas was 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. That's just Jesus talking. And you know what? When Jesus tells you this is about me, let me explain it to you. It's about Jesus. You know, there's some parts of the Old Testament where we kind of wonder, like, hey, is the prophet speaking of himself or is he speaking of another man? But when Jesus is just like, hey, the prophet was speaking about me, you just know he's speaking about him. And is it interesting? I mean, there's so many places in the Old Testament that we could go where the prophet's talking about Jesus. There's so many examples where the prophet is not talking of himself. He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. But then why did Jesus pick Jonah, and why did Jesus pick Jonah talking about him being in hell, to be the one time where he says, hey, Jonah was talking about me right here. Must be significant. Because he could have picked dozens if not hundreds of places in the Bible to highlight and say this is about me. But you know what he chose to highlight? The fact that Jonah went in the well's belly just like Jesus would have to go into the heart of the earth, would have to go to hell for our sins, essentially, because that's the punishment of our sins. And the only reason someone goes to hell is because they're a sinner. And Jesus Christ took that place. He was in there with affliction. He was crying. And he was in the belly of hell. And God heard the voice of Jesus Christ in his holy temple in heaven because God the Father is in heaven. So many great doctrines here. And Jesus Christ was crying unto him. Look at verse 3. For thou hadst cast me into the deep in the midst of the seas, and the floods compassed me about, all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. So we're going back and forth from Jonah to Jesus Christ, right? Number 1, verse 1, he's in the fish's belly. That's Jonah. Number 2, metaphorically, Jonah is in the belly of hell, but literally Jesus is in the belly of hell. Then we have in verse 3, Jonah is literally cast into the deep. He's literally in the midst of the seas. He's literally got the floods compassed him about. He's literally got the billows and the waves passing over him. Verse 4, then I said I am cast out of thy sight, yet I will look again toward thy holy temple. This is, of course, a metaphor and it applies to both. Because the cool thing about the Bible is God can use these phrases to describe the prophet in a sense and then also apply to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because Jesus Christ was cast out of God's sight. He had to turn away from him. He had to send him to hell. But he would be resurrected and he would go back into the heavenly places. He would go back into the temple and he would be back in God's sight. Why? He had to enter into the presence of God for us with the blood of his own sacrifice to sprinkle on the altar to give us eternal salvation. And so this is why it's so significant. Verse 5, the waters compassed me about, even to the soul. The depth closed me round about. The weeds were wrapped about my head. So again, literal about Jesus. I'm sorry, Jonah again. Literal about Jonah. He has weeds about his head. He's in the, he's basically got waters just everywhere. He's closed in everywhere. Verse 6, I went down to the bottoms of the mountains the earth with her bars was about me forever, yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. So again, this is, for Jonah, metaphors. This is not literal for Jonah because Jonah never died. Jonah is just talking about though, hey, I don't really want to die in this. I don't want to see corruption. I don't want to just, you know, slowly just rot in this whale's belly and die. He's obviously, probably that whale took him down to low parts of the ocean. So he's near some of the low parts of the earth. So in a sense, it's kind of metaphoric and a simile for him. But about Jesus, this is literal. For Jesus Christ, he was literally below all of the mountains. He was literally the earth with her bars was about me forever. And, you know, some people get confused about bars and all this kind of stuff. But just because the earth is a sphere does not mean it doesn't have some kind of foundational bars in the midst of them. You know, you think about concrete or stuff. We have like rebar and rebar is in there to hold that concrete together. We don't completely understand the construction of the earth, but it's not unreasonable to believe that God has some type of construction in there and some forms of the rocks and different things are the bars that are holding the entire earth together. And Jesus Christ, with being in the center of the earth, the bars are about him forever. Now, that's a picture of the globe. That's a picture of the circle of the earth because there's not a direction that Jesus Christ is not surrounded by the bars of the earth, basically by the rock formations of the earth. He's encased in that tomb of the earth, and he's in there. You know, a lot of people on Easter like to give out eggs. And, hey, that's not a bad thing because the earth, in a sense, is like an egg and in the inside is, you know, some kind of a treat or something special, and in the same way, Jesus Christ was hidden in the egg of the earth, was hidden in the circle of the earth, and so he had the bars about him forever because the earth is a globe. It's not flat, all right? And then, of course, he was brought up and his life didn't see corruption. Jesus Christ literally came back from hell and his flesh did not rot. Verse 7, when my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came in into thy holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice them to thee with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that that I have vowed salvation is of the Lord. And the Lord spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land. So for Jonah, he's vomited out of the whale in the same way Jesus Christ was resurrected and shot out of hell, and his soul returned into his physical body. He came back to life. He walked out of the tomb, and that's why we have the victory is the death, burial, and resurrection from hell. Go, if you would, to 2 Samuel 22. Go to 2 Samuel 22. What I've also noticed is people who disagree with what I'm saying right now, they never can explain to you the significance of Jonah 2. They can never explain to you what all the symbolism is. They can never explain what it means that out of the belly of hell cried I, and I don't show the significance of how Jesus is quoting that in the New Testament and how it applies to Jesus. If you deny that Jesus went to hell, explain to me what Jesus meant when he's comparing himself to Jonah. And look, it's so obvious a five-year-old could figure it out. A six-year-old could figure it out. And so we should understand that we should just believe the Bible. We should throw out whatever doctrines we've been taught or brought up to believe when it's just contradicting the plain readings of the text. Well, I don't like this doctrine. Why? I mean, I just love the Bible no matter what. You know, here's the thing. I don't really like the idea that Jesus has to be whipped and scourged. I don't like the fact that Jesus was spit on. I mean, that's gross. That's assault in America if you spit on someone. I don't like that he was lied about. I don't like that he was betrayed. I don't like that he was shoved on his brow. I don't like that he had to be mocked and spit upon. I don't like that they put a robe of purple on him and they were bowing down and making fun of him being the king of kings. I don't like the fact that they drug him out the city and they're just making fun of him. I don't like it that when the chief priests were smiting him on the head and saying, Prophesy! And they were making fun of him saying, like, who hit you? He knew who hit him. I don't like the fact that he had to go up and carry his own cross. I don't like the fact that he put his arms on the cross and someone had to drill a nail through his hand and then drill a nail through his other hand and then stack his feet and drill a nail through his feet. I don't like the fact that he had to hang on a cross for six hours in excruciating pain, gasping for breath. I don't like that. I don't like any of it. I'm not going to not believe it. And you know what? I don't like the fact that Jesus had to go to hell for me. I don't like the fact that he was suffering there. I don't like all these things. You know, we don't like these things. It's the ugliness of our sin. But you know what? I also just love the Bible and I love the Word of God and I love that Jesus loves me so much he would do all of that for me. And he would do all of that for you to show the love that God has for us that he'd be willing to take such ugliness and despise the shame he would endure the cross and he would do that, but not only that he would suffer death for us. I can see why in the Garden of Gethsemane he was praying and sweating, as it were, great drops of blood. I could see why he was nervous. I could see why he's asking if it would be any other way let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. And you know what? That's the attitude we should have about the Bible. Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done. I don't get to make up the Gospel. I don't get to decide what's true. I just get to believe what the Bible says. And you know what the Bible says? Out of the belly of hell cried I. The Bible says that he was loosed from the pains of death. So we need to believe those verses just as much as John 3 is 16. 2 Samuel 22 verse 6, the Bible says the sorrows of hell compass me about. The snares of death prevented me. In my distress I called upon the Lord and cried to my God and he did hear my voice out of his temple and my cry did enter into his ears. Notice where God is. The Father is in the temple. He's in the temple in heaven and that's where Jesus was crying to. But notice what it says in verse 6, the sorrows of hell. Hell is not a cool place. It's sorrow. It's described as pain. Go if you would to Psalm 116. Go to Psalm 116. How many verses would you need to even believe this? I need one. Some people need five and they still don't believe it. The Bible says in Acts 2 the pains of death. The Bible tells us in Psalm the sorrows of hell. The Bible tells us in Psalm 116 look at verse 1, I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice and my supplications because he hath inclined his ear unto me therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The sorrows of death compass me and the pains of hell get hold upon me I found trouble and sorrow. What does the Bible say? The pains of hell. It doesn't say it's cool. It's not fun. It's not an enjoyable experience. It's the pains of hell. It's the pains of death. It's the sorrows of hell. Out of the belly of hell cried I. Why? By reason of mind affliction. The Bible couldn't paint a clear picture. No, the only joy was that he would not be left there. It says in verse 4 Then called I upon the name of the Lord O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Now, go if you would to Romans chapter number 6. Go to Romans chapter number 6. I already quoted for you but I want to quote it again because the Bible says in Matthew 12 But he answered and said unto them An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be given to it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. For as Jonas was 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. Some people criticize my soul winning method and say how dare you talk about Jesus going to hell when you're trying to get someone saved. But what did Jesus say? He said hey to this generation I'm only going to tell you one thing. And you know what I'm going to tell you? The sign of Jonah. And you know what the sign of Jonah is? That he was in the well's belly for three days and three nights which is this picture of what? Jesus Christ being three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. So if it's good enough for Jesus to go out and only preach that then it's good enough for me to go out and preach that Jesus Christ went to hell too. And I'm not afraid of the text of scripture. You know what I love this text of scripture. I love the Bible and I believe it by faith. Romans 6 verse 8 the Bible says 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. Now some people would say oh well as soon as he died he got the victory. As soon as he died that's when he was loosed from the pains of death. That's not what the Bible says. In Acts chapter number 2 it said him being raised up is when he was loosed from the pains of death. Additionally the Bible does not say he went to hell as a victor. He came out of hell as a victor. And here's another clear text. Notice what it said in verse number 9 death hath no more dominion over him. When did the dominion start? The dominion started as soon as he gave up the ghost. As soon as he gave up the ghost now death had dominion over him. But it wasn't for forever. Why? Because he rose again from the dead conquering death and hell and now death hath no more dominion over him. What does more imply? That in a period of time death had dominion over him. There was a point when darkness had their moment in the sun. He even said unto the Romans and the Judas he said hey this is the time of darkness. They got their moment. They got their few days or whatever to celebrate. But you know what? After he rose again from the dead death hath no more dominion over him. You cannot kill the Lord Jesus Christ. He could not go to hell. It's over. He's already conquered it. He has the keys of death and of hell. Go over to Revelation 1. Let's see that. The Bible also says in Hebrews 2 but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Taste means something that lasted a short period of time. Just a taste is just a sampling. So Jesus Christ wasn't there forever. He was only there for three days and three nights. That's why he tasted death. And he did it for every man because we also are not Calvinists. We believe when the Bible says that Jesus died for every person that he died for every person. It's that simple. We don't have to explain how all has some context that this basically gets rid of all there. No, all really means all. Every man really means every man. For God to love the world really means the whole world, not just the saved. Jesus Christ loved every man and Jesus Christ tasted death for every man. And of course the Bible says that he was made lower than the angels. Why? For the suffering of death. The suffering of the cross is different than the suffering of death because he's not dead on the cross. The suffering of death was the pains of death that he was loose from when he was risen again from the dead. So he had to become a mortal man so he could do what? So he could suffer death. So he could die, he could take our place, he could become sin for us who knew no sin and we could be made the righteousness of God in him. Revelation 1 verse 17, And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. To be dead is a state of being. But death also has a location. The location is hell. If you are dead in a sense, you are in hell. Now of course the Bible uses the word dead or death multiple ways. Sometimes the Bible describes death as just being separated from your physical body. That's another way you could describe death. But in many places in the Bible when it's describing death, it's a state of being and it means you're in hell. The Bible says that he's going to resurrect the dead and it simply says that the dead is like hell and the sea is going to give up the dead which are in them. Because the dead is a state of being, hell is its location. The Bible makes it clear that God is not the God of the dead but of the living and we have Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as being described as living even though we know they're physically dead, they're still alive in their new man and their soul and their spirit and they're in heaven because in heaven you're alive and hell you're dead. That's why you've been passed from death unto life. What does that mean? You've been passed from hell unto heaven. So that's why it's accurate when we say, hey, if you died today, where would you go? If you said heaven, that's because you have eternal life because you can't die. What does it mean to have eternal life? You can't perish, meaning you can't go to hell, meaning you can't go there where the lake of fire is. Obviously we all shed this physical body. Every person will shed this physical body or have it be changed. But not everybody is going to hell. Those who have eternal life will never even taste death is what the Bible says. Jesus Christ tasted death for us and we will never even taste of death because as soon as we take our last breath, we'll be carried up into heaven and we'll never have to experience hell for one second. Why? Because Jesus Christ has the keys of hell and of death. He's already conquered that for us. And of course this is a metaphor for the fact that he's conquered death and hell. And in a sense, he's opening the key in the sense of, hey, we were destined for hell, but he's loosed us from that prison, loosed us from that captivity, and we don't have to go to hell because he can put whoever he wants in and out of hell. Go to Ephesians chapter four. Go to Ephesians chapter number four. This is a doctrine that we need to constantly teach. And what's a great thing is when we teach this to people, it'll probably help them to stay away from false teachers because false teachers love to deny what I'm saying right now. Ephesians chapter number four, look at verse number eight. Wherefore he saith, When he ascendeth on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. He that descended is the same that also ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. So before Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, he did something first. What did he do? He first descended into the lower parts of the earth, which we would know as hell. Now, it says that he gave gifts. Did you see in verse eight, he gave gifts? Notice the word gift is plural. There's an S. He gave gifts unto men. What are those gifts? Verse 11, and he gave some apostles. So as soon as Jesus Christ rose again from the dead, then he showed himself to the disciples and sent him back into heaven. But after he ascended, he did something. What did he do? He gave gifts. What are some of those gifts? Peter. What's another gift? Paul. What's another gift? John. He gave gifts. He gave the apostles to men. Not only that, he gave some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. So let me tell you something. Pastors are a gift. There's this old clip of me where everybody gets their feelings hurt, where I said that me coming to be the pastor of this church was a gift. That's what the Bible says. You can get mad at me all you want, but you know, it wasn't about me. It was about getting a pastor, because you know what? It's not about me, and it's not about my personality. But look, any church that gets a pastor when they're without a pastor got a gift. And you know they got that gift from? From God. It was a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ. A pastor is a gift. You know there's thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people in this world that would love to have a gift of a pastor come to the area and start a church? And that is a gift from the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not try to trash the office of a pastor by saying it's not a gift. It is a gift. Now look, there's other gifts in the Bible. The gift of God is eternal life. That's the greatest gift anybody could ever get. But it's not the only gift that God gives us. God gave us the gift of life. God gave us the gift of parents. God gives us all kinds of other giftings that we've had in our life. And here's a gift that God gives people. Apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. That's what he gives. You know what? Some of the guys in this room who are never going to be a pastor but get up and teach you good sermons, they are a gift from God. They are a gift from God. There are people that just teach the Bible and they're a gift of God. Hey, evangelist Duncan Urbanic is a gift from God, folks. Evangelist Tanner Fur is a gift from God. Pastor Dylan Oz is a gift from God. And you know what? Praise God for the gifts that he's given us. We should never throw that away. He ascended and then he gave us this. We celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ and you know when he left us, he didn't leave us bare. He gave us something. Hey, I'm going to leave you but I'll give you something. I'll give you some apostles. I'll give you some prophets. And of course we don't have apostles. That's way better. Hey, the apostle Paul, way better than me, way better than any pastor. But you know what? We don't have those either. We don't have the Old Testament prophets. But you know what we do have? Pastors. And you know what? I think they're pretty great anyways. I love pastors. I love that God gives us these things. Why? For the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry. For the edifying of the body of Christ. Now riddle me this, if pastors aren't really special and if pastors aren't needed in this world, then why don't we see huge groups of people doing great things for God without a pastor? Right? I mean if pastors aren't special, if pastors aren't doing the work of God, then wouldn't we just see all these people being successful without a pastor? Because I'll riddle, I'll say this. Isn't there a lot of people that make tons of money and are successful and never went to college? Who in here would say, hey I do pretty good financially and never went to college? Yeah, amen. There's lots of people that can say that. There's lots of successful people in this world that didn't go to college. Why? Because college isn't necessary. But you know what? Show me the people that are dedicated to serving God and getting scores of people saved that don't have a good pastor in their life. This doesn't exist. And I would say the few people that are out there in the dark places of this world, they're probably listening to good pastors online. You know what I mean? They're not just people just going out serving God on their own. No, no, no. We need pastors for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. This is what builds up the body of Christ. And you know what? This church is a great church. And today was a special day. And I loved hearing this kid's choir. I loved getting to see your faces. Our church is so healthy right now. And you know, it's better than it was. You know why? Because we had a pastor. If this church did not have a pastor come in and try to help take on this church, it would not be where it is today. And it's not about me. It's about a pastor. We need a pastor for the churches. We need to love the pastors and we need to empower the pastors to do the work of God. Verse 13, till we all come into the unity of faith and the knowledge of the Son of God into a perfect man under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effects of working in the measure of every part, may give increase of the body unto edifying of itself in love. Now I want you to go to Exodus 12, if you would, Exodus 12. For the sake of time, I'm not going to go to every verse I want to do this morning, but we learned some great things. What did we learn so far? Well, we learned a little bit about the Passover week. We learned that the Lord Jesus Christ went down into hell, but that he did not stay there. He rose again victorious from hell and he conquered hell for us and he has the keys of hell and of death. Now when we understand all this great doctrine, then the Old Testament just starts coming alive. And like I said, for the sake of time, I'm not going to go to these places. You can go there yourself. I'm just going to read a few places, but you know, the Bible says about Noah in Genesis chapter number 8 verse 20, it says, And Noah built an altar unto the Lord and took of every clean beast and of every clean fowl and offered burnt offerings on the altar. That's the first mention of burnt offerings in the Bible. And if you just look up burnt or burnt offering in the Bible, there's hundreds and hundreds of places in the Bible where there's a burnt offering. Riddle me this, why? It's because Jesus Christ went to hell. That was a burnt offering for us. Now Genesis 22 brings us up to with Abram taking Isaac, his son. Now I'm just going to read some verses for you, but it says this, God talking to Abram, take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou loveth and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains, which I will tell thee of. What is, what is he supposed to do? He's supposed to take his son, put him on some wood. And how does he kill him with a knife? That's how he would die. He would slay him after he does the knife. He's dead. It's over. But then you know what he's supposed to do? Burn him. Why? Because it's not just the death. It was a burnt offering. Isaac was to be a burnt offering unto the Lord. He was not only to kill his son. He was also to burn him on the altar. And the Bible says that the angel came and stopped him from doing this and he spared him. Why? Because man isn't to die for our sins. Jesus is to die for our sins. He was just a picture. And in verse eight, it said, Abram said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. So God ended up providing himself and you could read this either way. I don't care. Both make sense that God, the father provided himself a lamb, Jesus Christ, or you can look at it. Jesus Christ provided himself a lamb for a burnt offering. That is what he did. And that was the foreshadowing. Genesis 37, the Bible talks about Joseph and it says it came to pass when Joseph was coming to his brethren, that they stripped Joseph out of his coat, his coat of many colors that was on him. And they took him and cast him into a pit and the pit was empty. There was no water in it. You know what's special about the Lord Jesus Christ? They took his garment, his coat, and they stripped it of him and then they even cast lots for his special garment, just like they took the garment from Joseph. And of course, then he's thrown into a pit where there's no water. That's hell. Yeah. How do you know it's hell? Well, the rich man lifted up his eyes and he was begging Abraham for a drop of water because guess what? There's no water in hell. And another picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, how he would be taken by his own brethren and just basically killed for envy's sake. The Jews, the brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ killed their brother for envy's sake. Why? Because he testified of their works that they were evil. Joseph told his father their evil report. Jesus Christ testified of the Jews of their evil. That's why they hated him and that's why they threw him in the pit. Why do people hate the new IFB? Because we testify of their evil. That's why. Oh, why do these preachers get mad at you? Because we testify of their evil report and you know what? Even if they're brethren or brethren so-called, you know what? Why do they hate us? Because we testify of their evil and their evil works and for envy they hate us. Just like they hated Jesus Christ and just like they throw Jesus Christ into the pit. And let me tell you something. Even some of your brethren so-called, if they got you in a dark alley, they might throw you in a pit. But you've got to be careful. Daniel chapter 3, I'm just reading some things for you, but he had in the book of Daniel from friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. And the Bible says, and he answered and said, lo, I see four men loose walking in the midst of fire and they have no hurt and the former of the fourth is like the son of God. Now in the story of Daniel, then Nebuchadnezzar astonished and like crazy impressed about this, asked them to come out, but you know the only people that come out are Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the fourth stays. Picturing what? That Jesus Christ would take our place in hell and that they had no hurt. There was no fire. There was no sins. There was nothing on their clothes. Why? Because we can't even taste of hell whereas Jesus Christ took that for us. All these pictures in the Bible about Jesus Christ going to hell. Exodus 12 also gives us this picture, look at verse 6, and you shall keep it up unto the 14th day of the same month talking about the Passover lamb. And the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. Just like Jesus was killed at 3 p.m. And they shall take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door posts of the house wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh and that night roast with fire and love and bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw nor sodden at all with water but roast with fire, his head with his legs and with the pertinence thereof. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning and that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. And thus shall you eat it with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet and your staff in your hand and you shall eat it in haste as the Lord's Passover. They have to eat it in haste just like they had to bury the Lord Jesus Christ in haste. And of course we see that it was roast with fire. So they weren't allowed to cook it in water, they had to roast it in fire, signifying that Jesus Christ would have to suffer in hell for us. Go over to Exodus 29, go to Exodus 29, I'm going to read for you in Leviticus 9 the Bible says and the sons of Aaron brought the blood on him and he dipped his finger in the blood and put it upon the horns of the altar and poured out the blood at the bottom of the altar but the fat and the kidneys and the call above the liver. Of the sin offering he burnt upon the altar as the Lord commanded Moses and the flesh and the hide he burnt with fire without the camp. Now you'll see consistently in the Old Testament burnt offerings that they would separate the animal. They would take all the inward parts of the animal and they would burn it on the altar. And it says specifically things like the kidneys, call of the liver, that's burned on the altar. But then it says the skin and the flesh, all the outward parts were taken without the camp and they were burned without the camp. Now in the book of Hebrews the Bible says that the Lord Jesus Christ just like the burnt offerings were taken without the camp went without the camp and suffered on the cross. But we have to realize there's two pictures here. He didn't only go without the camp and suffer without the camp. He also had the inwards burned on the altar to signify that his soul went to hell and suffered in hell as well. Exodus 29 verse 11 says the same thing, look what it says, and thou shalt kill the bullock before the Lord by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and thou shalt take of the blood of the bullock and put it upon the horns of the altar with thy finger and pour all the blood beside the bottom of the altar. And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth, notice this, the inwards and the call that is above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them and burn them upon the altar. So again, it's signifying fat and all these parts of the animal that you wouldn't normally use, because fat is kind of like a loose picture of sin. Jesus Christ became sin for us and then that fat is burned on the altar and they weren't supposed to eat the fat. You know, Native Americans would eat the entire animal. We don't eat the entire animal, okay? There's certain parts of the animal that we, you know, get rid of and dispose of because it's not useful. People always try to tell me like, hey, do you want to eat cow's tongue? And I'm like, I'm not into that, bro. You know, like give me the filet, you know what I mean? And look, if you eat that, everything is sanctified by the word of God, okay? If you're received with thanksgiving, okay? But I'm just not that into it. And you know, they were taking these parts of the animal and they were just burning them. You know, I don't consider it wasteful. I just consider it an offering to the Lord, all right? But they took the inwards, they burned that. Notice in verse 14, but the flesh of the bullock and his skin and his dung, shalt thou burn with fire without the camp, it is a sin offering. So they would take all these outward parts, take them without the camp and just burn them. So they didn't eat the entire animal. All the inwards and gross parts, they burned on the altar. All the outward parts, they burned on the altar. And then all the good meat, that's the parts that they ate, okay? And they didn't burn it to a crisp. I heard a pastor say that they burnt the food and then ate it. I'm just like, that's weird, okay? You didn't eat burnt food. Go to Exodus 32. I'm just going to basically end with this story here in the Bible, but there's so many great pictures here in the Bible. And again, for a second time, we can't go through all the burnt offerings. The burnt offerings are just endless. You start not reading your Bible when you get to this part because you're just like, oh man, another burnt offering. I mean, you start reading the Bible, Leviticus and Numbers, all the burnt offerings, it gets kind of tiring. You think God's trying to drill in a point, huh? Yet again, the people that don't believe in this, they have no explanation for the burnt offerings. Why would God just hammer burnt offerings? There's so much in the Bible that had no significance. It has great significance because it pictures him going to hell and his resurrection from hell. Exodus 32, look at verse 15, this is cool. Now this is what's so cool about the Bible is some of the layers and some of the significance that's understood spiritually in here. What is this picturing? Well, number one, it pictures that God gave us the law. God gave man the law through the 10 commandments, and this is a picture of God giving us commandments that we are to observe God's commandments. But what happens is man breaks God's commandments, and we see that through the children of Israel breaking God's commandments and worshiping false gods in this picture to signify how man breaks God's commandments. And we see this through Moses coming down and breaking the tablets, showing that the law has been broken. And there's a problem here. The children of Israel have broken God's word. They've broken the commandments. And then we see that they have this calf. This calf is a picture of what's going to happen with the Lord Jesus Christ because notice the calf is then sacrificed, isn't it? The calf is then going to be destroyed and it's going to be ground in a powder and it's going to be burnt in the fire. Just like the Lord Jesus Christ, why? Because man broke God's commandments, the calf has to be offered, the calf has to be burnt in the fire. And then it's put in the water and then they have to drink the water in order to basically be restored in the same way that the gospel message is like this water that's been put in there and we drink of this living water which gives us salvation. So we have this incredible picture of the Lord Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection here. Because of man's sin. What's interesting is how the children of Israel, if you think about this, they were there to sacrifice that, or they were there to worship this calf in a sense, but then essentially they end up sacrificing it and it gets burnt in the fire. Just like the children of Israel at first, they kind of received the Lord Jesus Christ, but what is a golden calf picture? Sin. Just like Jesus had to become sin for us and he had to take that place. This golden calf, which is a sinful image, which is obviously wicked, is showing how Jesus Christ had to become sin for us and to become what? A burnt offering and to be ground in the powder and mixed into the water. Go if you would to John 4 and we'll finish, go to John chapter number 4. The word of God is not written by man, it's written by God. And how we've broken the 10 commandments and God has to then offer a sacrifice for us and that calf, that golden calf is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Jesus Christ is pictured as that brazen serpent on the sick, how he became sin for us and how it's going to be destroyed and then it's put in the water and they have to drink the water. Look what it says in John 4 verse 14, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water spring up into everlasting life. The gospel message is like that calf being mixed in with the water and then they have to drink it. Every time I read that I was just like, this is weird. I'm thinking like, who wants to drink metallic or gold water? But it's showing the significance of what? The gospel message. How we drink the gospel message in a sense metaphorically, how we receive Jesus Christ through this. And I think that, you know, if you kind of just think from a pragmatic perspective, if someone mixed something like that in the water, it would probably kind of bitter, but that's how the gospel message is a little bit. There's a little bit of the bitterness of the set so that we have to realize that Jesus Christ died on the cross for us, that we have to realize that he went to hell for us. And you know, the resurrection of the hell is kind of like bitter waters, isn't it? It's bitter in the sense that we have to understand what Jesus Christ did for us and the sacrifice that he made for us. But at the end of the day, that water is going to give us salvation. That water is going to give us the newness of life and we can be right with him. And it's going to, it's going to spring in us a well that we can go out and we can also give the gospel to other people and we can get them saved. And you know what? The best thing you can do on Easter is preach the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not only to just say thank you and appreciate it. It's to use it. We need to use the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if Jesus Christ can die on the cross, go to hell and then come back, don't you think you could like come back to church tonight? Don't be this like Easter only Christian. Don't be this Sunday morning only Christian. I mean, if Jesus Christ can take the journey from hell all the way back to the earth, can't you just come back to church on Easter of all days and celebrate with us and celebrate the Lord's supper and celebrate the communion of his death and what he's done for us? You know, if Jesus Christ can do those things for me, then we should, this is our reasonable service to come to church and to worship God and to serve God. And you know, it's a beautiful Easter morning. We need to go out there and preach the gospel. And you know, when I preach the gospel, I preach not only did Jesus die, but he rose again from hell and let us not be afraid of this doctrine, but let us embrace it and be thankful. If Jesus Christ went to hell, don't you think he wants people to understand that and appreciate that for him, appreciate that about what he did for us. Let us appreciate the everything that Jesus Christ did for us, not just the parts we like. Let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, so much for the gift of your son, the free gift of eternal life. Thank you so much that your son was willing to not only die on the cross, but take a place in hell that we deserve. Thank you that you heard his cries out of the belly of hell and that you loosed him from the pains of death and that you gave him the victory, that you allowed him to conquer death and hell, that you gave him the keys of hell and of death, and that you offer that to us for free to anyone who just simply believes in Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving us such a free salvation. Thank you for not just leaving us on the earth with nothing but giving us all kinds of gifts and giving us pastors and teachers so that we could grow. I pray that you would also just embolden us to go out and preach the gospel and to preach the resurrection from hell so that many other people could be saved and appreciate the works that have been done for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, in closing, let's go to song number 38. Song number 38, Hallelujah We Shall Rise. Song number 38. Let's all sing it out. In the resurrection morning when the trump of God shall sound, we shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, in the resurrection morning when this prison doors are open, we shall rise, we shall rise, in the resurrection morning when this thought is true, we shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, in the resurrection morning We shall rise, we shall rise, and be carried unto glory through our own sovieted care. We shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, and be carried unto glory through our own sovieted care. We shall rise, we shall rise, we shall rise, and be carried unto glory through our own sovieted care. This morning we have some baptisms. We have Sister Rose coming for baptism. Sister Rose, have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life. We also have James coming for baptism. Take a picture real quick. James, have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life. We have Paisley also coming. Sister Paisley, have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life. We have Sister Caitlin coming for baptism. Have you trusted Christ as your Savior? Then I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, buried in the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life. Make sure to congratulate our baptisms. God bless. You are dismissed.