Sermon
Resurrection Sunday | Christ Is Risen | April 5, 2026 AM
Publisher transcript
Transcript
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Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives.
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The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist
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Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us
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or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look
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us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this
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message from God's Word will be a blessing to you.
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We join your Bible, please, in Matthew chapter 28 here this
Matthew 28 chapter mention
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morning. If you are a guest with us
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today, and there are many of you, we are in a series on
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Sunday morning this year called Christ is All Colossians.
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Chapter 3, verse 11 tells us that Christ is all and in all.
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And so we've been looking this year so far at the different
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characteristics of Jesus Christ through the Word of God.
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We've seen, for instance, that Christ is healer, that Christ is
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omnipotent, that Christ is servant, that Christ is meek.
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Now the meek one kind of scared people for a little bit, but
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we've looked at what the Word of God talked about meekness and
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realized that we need to be meek people as well as the Word of
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God teaches as the world would teach.
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And even last week we saw the fact that Christ is forgiving
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due to the statement that He uttered on the cross, that very
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first statement of the seven statements.
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Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
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And so I thought as we go through our series of Christ is
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all and giving these characteristics that this
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morning's really in many ways is probably the simplest for us to
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be able to title and be able to find where we're to be in the
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word of God. Because Christ is servant,
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Christ is savior, Christ is forgiving, Christ is healer,
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Christ is omnipotent, Christ is all and in all.
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But this morning I'm so thank you that Christ is.
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And that's the title of the message.
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Christ is risen. Why you all Amen together.
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You don't even sound like Baptist.
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That's incredible. Thank you for that.
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Let's all stand together for the reading the word of God if
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you're physically able. Matthew chapter 28 beginning in
Matthew 28 chapter mention
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verse #1. Matthew chapter 28, beginning in
Matthew 28 chapter mention
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verse #1 where it says, In the end of the Sabbath, as it began
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to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene
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and the other Mary to see the sepulchre.
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And behold, there was a great earthquake.
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For the Angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came
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and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.
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His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white
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as snow. And for fear of him the keepers
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did shake, and became his dead men.
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And the Angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye, for
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I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.
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He is not here, for he is risen. Now certainly we rejoice in that
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phrase. He is not here, for he is risen.
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But I really want us this morning by the grace of God, to
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focus on that next phrase that is just as important, but maybe
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not talked about as much. And that's this.
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As he said, He is not here, He is risen, as he said, Come see
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the place where the Lord lay. Christ is risen.
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The title of our message. But we'll also see why that is
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so important for each and every one of us here this morning.
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And so why don't you go ahead and be seated and we'll pray
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together to ask the Lord to bless the message as we continue
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today. Heavenly Father, I do thank you
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for this morning. And again, thank you for the
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time to be able to be here, to be before these people that you
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have called us to, Lord, is an honor and a privilege beyond
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words. And so, Lord, I do pray for
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these next few moments that I would be filled with the Holy
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Spirit to be able to say exactly what needs to be said from Your
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Word, not my own opinions or my own thoughts.
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These people came not to hear just a list of my own thoughts
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of life or grievances or they came to hear Your word.
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And so I pray that that would be what I can present in a way that
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is understandable, in a way that communicates the grace of God
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that is so real in each and every one of our lives.
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And we ask it in Jesus name, Amen.
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Maybe been to a church before that has a children's message
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during the service. We don't do that here at Liberty
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Baptist Church. We have the children in the back
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and they have a class dedicated to them where I mentioned they
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get Bible teaching and they also have some fun stuff to do as
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well. But yet get get taught very well
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as you've seen the word of God. But just on Tuesday night,
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something that I've never done before in the almost 13 years
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we've been here, I had this idea of having all the children come
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up before the Lord's Supper and letting them take a look at the
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matzah of which we use for the Lord's Supper.
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That unleavened bread, letting them see that it is striped and
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it is pierced and it's without leaven.
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A reminder, a picture of who Jesus Christ was, that He was
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without leaven or the picture of sin, that He was hit by his
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stripes. We were healed.
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He was pierced. But I will tell you, I've been
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fearful of a few things and 13 years of ministry.
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I don't know if I've ever been as fearful as I was during those
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5 minutes having those children sitting in the front and not
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knowing how they would respond, what they would say, if they
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would listen, if they would just start, you know, crawling all
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over each other and stuff like that.
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It was, it was a pretty interesting experience.
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But there's a story once of a pastor who did a similar thing
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on a Easter Sunday morning and he called all the children to
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come forward and he wanted to give them just a short message
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and he asked them this question. He said, do you know anything
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different about Easter Sunday? And of course, expecting a
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spiritual answer, he looks at those children and says, do you
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notice anything different about Easter Sunday?
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And one little girl studied the room for a moment and she
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blurted out, well, the church's fault.
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Now, that's not the answer he was looking for, but she
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definitely told the truth. And now I thank the Lord that
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Liberty Baptist Church on a normal Sunday is full by the
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grace of God. And we're just kind of well over
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full today. But I can certainly attest to
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the fact that the sentiment of that girl is right in the fact
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that it's the truth that were after that girl told the truth.
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That's what she saw it from her own perspective.
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The church is full. That's different than it
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normally is. She was just looking for the
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truth. And in our text this morning,
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it's the truth that the disciples needed, and it was the
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truth of which they needed to be reminded of, which is why we see
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that phrase in verse #6 as he said, because the woman who were
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at the at the tomb, as well as the disciples who had even
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bothered to go to the tomb that morning, all of them need to be
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reminded of the fact that Jesus was not only risen, but that he
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had already communicated to them that this is exactly what was to
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take place. We see in verse #1 of chapter
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#28 that it was the first day of the week, and Mary Magdalene and
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the other Mary were there at the sepulchre.
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I love the story of Mary Magdalene.
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We don't have time to be able to go into it this morning, but
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there's a woman that Jesus had healed from the oppressed of
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seven devils that were inside of her seven demons.
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And this woman had been freed from the affliction by Jesus
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Christ and she had great effect section for him.
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No, not to some of the wild stories that the world talks
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about today, but was just a pure follower of Jesus Christ.
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And there she was at the first day of the week with the other
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Mary. And it says that there was a
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great earthquake that took place.
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Now the earth shook at the crucifixion.
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We might remember that that when Jesus had given his life on the
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cross, the earth had shook at that time.
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And I've heard it said that the earth shook because it couldn't
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bear his suffering. But here it shook again just a
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few days later because it couldn't hinder his rising.
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Jesus rises from the dead. The the stone has been rolled
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away. There's we find in other
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passages the fact that those who are supposed to be guarding the
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tomb are not able to guard the tomb.
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What do we see? It says it's verse #4 that very
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fact. And the Angel says in verse #5
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Fear not ye. Now, why did the Angel say that?
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Well, because they were afraid. Usually if someone says don't be
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afraid, well, that's because someone is afraid.
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See these the deep things that you came to Liberty Baptist
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Church to learn this morning, isn't it?
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He said. Don't be afraid because those
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women are afraid. Look at what they've just
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witnessed, look at what they've just seen.
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But they haven't been able to make the connection of exactly
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why this has taken place. And so this Angel says this, he
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is not here for he has risen. And again, as a pastor, we could
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just take that phrase or really two phrases.
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He is not here for he has risen. And I could talk and preach on
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that here for well, quite a while.
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Just like, you know, an hour or two, just like you were hoping I
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would this morning. I won't do that.
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No, that was a joke, all right. But really, as much as I would
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like to speak on those phrases, we're aware of those phrases
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already. I really found great interest
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even in the this last week and preparing and praying about the
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message on that phrase that followed, which is this as he
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said, sure he is not here, sure he is risen, but this is exactly
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what he said would happen. Now consider these words for
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just a moment. It's not that the Angel said
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like he said what he said. As he said, you say pastor, are
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those phrases the same? And the answer is, well, no,
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because they have different words.
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They're not the same. They are different, but there is
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a difference. Even if you were to go into the
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Greek, you would find that in the Greek word cathus that's
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there, that you find that this meaning this, that it's an exact
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conformity with according as meaning this.
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This wasn't just something that Jesus had alluded to.
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This is wasn't just something that Jesus had maybe, you know,
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casually mentioned while the disciples were busy doing other
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things. He had very clearly and very
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completely explained the process of his death and burial and
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resurrection to the people. And what the Angel is saying at
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that moment is that every word that he spoke to you has come to
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pass. It's as he said, not like he
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said. You know, some people say that I
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look like my father, but if you see my father, guess what?
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You'll realize we look different.
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I maybe like him, but I'm not as my father.
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I'm like my father. If a museum had a copy of a
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priceless painting that was like the original, you probably
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wouldn't give it much regard, would it?
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Because it may be like the original, but it's not the
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original. If a guy on the street corner
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wanted to sell you a Rolex, that at least it was like a Rolex.
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Maybe it's called a Rolox. I don't know.
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You'd say, well, hey, that's not that's not as a Rolex.
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That's kind of like a Rolex. If somebody said I'm going to
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take your Easter ham and give you something like it and you
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get home and you find a can of spam, you're going to find it's
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not the same. Jesus was not said to have risen
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like he had communicated, as if it was just in the generalities
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of that which he said. When Jesus gave the word that
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this was what would take place, you could take it to the bank.
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When Jesus said he would rise three days, guess what?
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Three days later, up from the grave, he arose with a mighty
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triumph for his foes. The Bible tells us it's just as
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he said, but yet the disciples forgot.
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And it wasn't, as I mentioned a few moments ago, that Jesus
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just, Pat mentioned this passing by like a wife may say to a
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husband, you know, I told you this and I say, when did you
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tell me that? And the answer is, well, she
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told me that when I wasn't listening.
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And you say, when was that part where you weren't listening?
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That would be most of the time, unfortunately.
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I got to be honest. I'm in the pulpit, folks.
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All right. It's not that I'm trying, it's
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just that's the way it ends up happening.
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But Jesus over and over again communicated those disciples
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that this was to take place. Can I give you a sampling?
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Thank you. I was going to do it anyway.
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Nobody answered, but I'm going to do it anyway.
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Matthew chapter 12, verse 40. As Jonas was 3 days and three
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nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man be 3 days
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and three nights in the heart of the earth.
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Matthew chapter 16, verse 21. From that time forth began Jesus
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to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem,
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and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and
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scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
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Matthew 17, verses 22 and 23. The Son of man shall be betrayed
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into the hands of men, and they shall kill him, and the third
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day he shall be raised again. Matthew chapter 20, verses 18
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and 19. The Son of Man shall be betrayed
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under the chief priests and under the scribes, and they
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shall condemn him to death and shall deliver him to the
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Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify him.
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And the third day he shall rise again.
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No, no, this is not someone who is trying to pass off a generic
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prophecy that would be answered no matter what happened.
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Like a so-called clairvoyant today can read the minds of
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people in the crowd by saying, I think there's someone out here
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that has a parent. Is there someone out here that
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knows someone that has a name that starts with the letter L or
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maybe that has a name with the letter L in the name?
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That's so generic that of course it would be answered.
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This is Jesus specifically saying exactly what would take
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place and it didn't happen. Like he said, you know, pay
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attention. I'm going somewhere with this.
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You may not think I am, but He said as He said, which means
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this according as an inexact conformity with, you know,
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perhaps one of the worst parts about all this.
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The disciples forgot, but the enemies of Christ remembered.
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The disciples forgot, but the enemies of Christ remembered.
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You're in chapter #28. Go up into chapter #27 to verse
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#62 You might even be on the same page.
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And it says this. Now the next day that followed,
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the day of the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees
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came together into pilot saying, Sir, what's those next two words
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we remember. We remember that the deceiver
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said, while he was yet alive, after three days I will rise
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again. No, hold on a second.
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There were those who were opposed to Jesus Christ.
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They called him a deceiver, and they said, we remember what he
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said, that he would come back again.
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And so verse 64 command therefore, that the sepulchre be
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made sure until the 3rd day, lest his disciples come by night
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steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the
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dead. So the the last error shall be
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worse than the first. And Pilate said something very
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interesting here. What he said in verse #65 you
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have a watch go your way. Make it as sure as he can.
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And you have to wonder, even in the mind of Pilate, with all
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that he had watched and all that he had consented to, then you
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have to even wonder in that very moment.
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Well, guys, do the best you can, because I can't even guarantee
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you what's about to happen over the next day.
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So they went and made the sepulchre shore, sealing the
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stone and setting a watch. What am I saying by bringing
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these people who consented to Christ being on the cross?
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Why would I mention that here this morning?
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Well, because we as the people of God and those who were here
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this morning, all of us, you know, sometimes we need to be
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reminded of the things that we should already know.
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It was Peter who said that he want to put forth those in
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remembrance. No, he didn't say that in the
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Gospel because he remember a lot in the Gospels.
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But later on his epistles, he said, I want to put you in
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remembrance of the things that they've been taught and the
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things that you've seen. Because each and every one of
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us, we can get forgetful about the promises of God.
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Which brings us to an undeniable truth this morning that I want
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you to know in the time that we have here this morning that I
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really want you to focus on today.
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And that thought is this. When the Word says it, believe
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it. When the Word says it, believe
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it. Now why would I say that?
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Well, Jesus Christ is called the living Word.
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And John 11 in the beginning was the Word, and the same was with
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God. And the Word was God.
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When Jesus Christ opened his mouth, when Jesus Christ spoke,
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when Jesus Christ communicated something in his gospels, you
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can believe it. You can take it to the bank.
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It's not that he's 99% correct. It's not even that he's 99.9,
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9%, correct? He's not as pure as Ivory soap,
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you know, 99.999%. Like who's deciding what that
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.001% is and what is it? Why can't they get rid of it?
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I don't know. They can't.
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It's been 100 years. They can't figure out what that
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.001% that's leftover is. But when Jesus Christ speaks,
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it's not even to the degree that can be rounded up to 100%.
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Every word of God is true because he's the living word.
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Now I want you to go to John chapter 14.
John 14 chapter mention
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Will you turn your Bibles please?
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As it's been our has been our habit here over this series to
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be able to look at our text, but then go to another text that is
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a pivotal text in the word of God to help us understand a
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greater truth. And John chapter 14 is one of
John 14 chapter mention
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those pivotal texts because really in the timeline we're
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going back a few days before Jesus was on the cross, the
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night before he was betrayed, if you will.
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And look at John on chapter 14, the living word, who is speaking
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here. He says this to disciples who
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are about to lose their master, physically speaking.
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They've walked with him for three years.
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They're about to lose the physical presence of their
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master. And he says this to them, Let
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not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
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in me. John 14, verse one.
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Now verse 2, in my father's house are many mansions.
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If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a
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place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
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for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
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where I am you may be also, and whither I go?
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And the now saith unto him. Now Thomas always had a
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question. Thomas had a problem with this.
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Every time he speaks up. It's not exactly the most
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comforting of words. And so Jesus is communicating
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this beautiful thought. And Thomas says, Lord, we know
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not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way?
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And Jesus instead of rebuke, what he gives him is
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encouragement. And he says this I am the way.
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What's that next? Those next two words, the truth
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and the life. I am the way, the truth and the
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life, and no man cometh under the Father, but by me.
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And interestingly enough, as I've been in preparation for
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this message this last week, I've come to the realization
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that while the the title of the message could be Christ is
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risen, it really should be this. Christ is truth because the
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message of the resurrection is this.
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He is truth, and if the Word says it, believe it.
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That's true. If it's the living Word, Jesus
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Christ in numbers chapter 23, verse 19, God is not a man that
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he should lie, neither the Son of man that he should repent.
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Hath he said and shall not he do it?
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Or hath he spoken and shall not make it good?
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When God speaks, it says in numbers all the way back in the
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Old Testament. You can realize that it will be
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true. When the word says it, believe
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it. When it's the living Word,
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believe it. But I also want you to recognize
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this morning. That it's not just the living
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Word, Jesus Christ, but it's also God's holy word that we
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have in front of us this morning.
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It's all the Word and it's all true.
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Psalm 12 verse 6 says this. The words of the Lord are pure
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words, as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified 7
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times. So how can you know God's word
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is true? Well, I have a question for you.
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Is God true? Yes.
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If He speaks, is it true? Amen.
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Is that His word? Then it's true, you say, well,
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it can't be that easy. And the answer is it can.
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It really can, because it comes down to this.
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It either it is or it is not. It's a binary choice.
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It either it is or it is not. Because it cannot present itself
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to be something and then simply just be a good book.
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Because it doesn't present itself as just a good book.
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Think of Thomas Jefferson who was some had some level of of
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honor for the word of God in his own way, but yet did not like
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the miracles of Jesus Christ. And before the days of cut and
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paste on your PC, he literally cut and pasted out the good
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teachings of Jesus and paste them on a book.
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And he said it really be much better if we could just get the
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good moral teachings of Jesus Christ and not have all the
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miracles and the other things that are so unscientific.
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And my answer to that is, well, we take it all because it is all
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presented as true. So that doesn't make sense.
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Well, does it make sense that Jesus Christ could raise after
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three days and could save our wicked souls?
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I would say if he could do that, he could do anything else that
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you find in this book. When the Word of God says it,
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believe it. So what should you believe
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today? What should you believe in the
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word of God today? Well, I've got a few things that
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I want you to recognize briefly here this morning.
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You're the word of God says you're a Sinner.
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Believe it. James 115 says, then when lust
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hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin and sin, when it is
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finished, bringeth forth death. The idea is every one of us are
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self focused. Every one of us are sinners.
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Let me ask you a question. I heard someone say this a few
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weeks ago and I kept rattling around in my mind because it's
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so true. If you see a picture of yourself
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and a group of people and you look at that picture, who do you
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look at first? Because you're a Sinner, and so
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am I. Our focus is on ourselves.
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Yeah, that's that's scary, isn't it?
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Once you realize that's the way we are.
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Because everything in our life, first and foremost in our flesh
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is about ourselves. Why?
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Because we were born in our sin and iniquities.
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And just as the children just told us a few moments ago, for
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all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
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Romans 5 verse 12 says wherefore by as one man sin entered into
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the world and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men,
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for that all have sinned. The word of God says you're a
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Sinner, believe it. You know the Word says that
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there's life after death. Believe it.
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Hell is real. As a pastor, I don't like
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talking about it. I find no pleasure standing in a
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pulpit and thundering down about the realities of hell.
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I say it not with a heart that wants to talk down to you, but I
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say it with a heart that wants to desperately warn you that it
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is real. And while I take no joy in
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Speaking of its reality, I must speak of its reality because the
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Word of God says it's true. Revelation 20, verses 14 and 15.
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And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.
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This is the second death, and whosoever was not found written
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in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. 1
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commentator said this. The vague and tenuous hope that
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God is too kind to punish the ungodly has become a deadly
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opiate for the consciousnesses of millions.
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That's a deep, deep quote. But the idea of what this
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commentator Wolver just saying is this is there's far too many
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people that have been lulled to sleep by the fact that God is
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too kind to send anyone to hell. But the fact is that God desires
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that none perish, but it all come to repentance.
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We'll talk more about that in a moment.
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Hell is real. The lake of fire, that final
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resting place is real. But I also want to tell you this
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morning that heaven is real as well.
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Heaven is real. Many people have no problem
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believing in heaven. It's just the other thing they
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don't want to think about. But it is true that both are
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real places, that it's not just this life and then everything is
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over, but rather that after this life there is a life to come.
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Revelation 24 verses one through 4, just a few verses after what
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we just read said this. And I saw a new heaven and a new
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earth, for the 1st heaven and the first earth were passed
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away, and there was no more sea. And I saw John or I John saw the
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holy city, new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven,
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prepared as a bride, adorned for a husband.
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And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the
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Tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and
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they shall be his people. And, and God himself shall be
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with them and be their God, and God shall wipe away all tears
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from their eyes. And there shall be no more
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death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be
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any more pain for the former things or passed away.
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Are you tired of pain? Who isn't tired of pain?
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The Bible says there will be a time for those who go to heaven.
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There'll be no more pain. This is not just some silly
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promise to weak people who can't handle the realities of life.
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Now, the word of God says it. You can believe it.
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That's right. Bible tells us that we're
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sinners. Believe it.
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The Bible tells us there's life after this.
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Believe it. The Bible tells us that you can
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be saved from that judgment and that condemnation.
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Believe it. You know, the Angel said in
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verse #6 in our text, Come and see, come and see.
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The women were afraid. They didn't believe.
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And by the way, there's a beauty to the fact that Jesus revealed
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Himself to those women first before the disciples.
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You realize that if those women were in court in those times,
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that their account of that day wouldn't even have been
-
recognized. They would have been silly women
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who couldn't even have spoken out in court of what they saw,
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but yet Jesus saw great value in them.
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To be able to reveal himself to them before even his own
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disciples come and see was the message.
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But it reminds me all the way back to the beginning of Jesus's
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ministry when it says in John 137 through 39.
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And the two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus,
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And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said unto them,
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What seek ye? And they said unto him, Rabbi,
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which is interpret, Master, where dwellest thou?
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And his answer, come and see. There's a beautiful harmony
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about the fact that the beginning of Jesus's ministry
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was come and see. And at the near end of Jesus's
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earthly ministry, it was this. Come and see.
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You know what the message of Jesus Christ is for you today
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when it comes in regards to the gospel.
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Come and see. I don't know if Jesus could save
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someone like me. And my answer to you would be in
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this world today, our 8 billion or so souls.
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And God can save each and every one of them, including you.
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And that includes all who have trodden upon this earth for all
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time. His message to you is this.
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Come and see. He wants you to be saved.
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Ephesians 289 For by grace, are you saved through faith?
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We just talked about grace a few moments ago.
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Grace is God's unmerited favor. It's the things that He gives us
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that we don't deserve. What do we deserve?
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Well, we just talked about it. Death, hell, it's what we
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deserve. By grace, are you saved through
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faith? It's not of yourself.
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It's the gift of God, not of works.
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Just any man should boast. Can I talk plainly with you?
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Somebody say you're just going to start now.
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All right. Can I talk plainly with you for
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a few moments? Some of you have been lied to by
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false religion. Some of you been lied to that
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you just have to be good enough and you'll be OK upstairs.
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So that's the kind of talk that's out there.
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You'll be OK with a quote, big guy, if you just do enough, if
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you keep your nose clean, if you go through the religious
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obligations, if you just make sure you give enough.
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Maybe some of you even thought, oh pastor, we know why you
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passed the plates around here. You must have passed the plates
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because the people that give more, they have more assurance
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that they're going to heaven than the ones that don't.
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If that's your opinion, I would hope that you would never given
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the offering plate here. We don't want your money.
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What we want for you to understand is the purity of the
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gospel. And if that's a stumbling block
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to you, then don't even look at that plate when it goes by.
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I'm as serious as I could be because it's not of the works of
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which we have done. Titus says this.
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Paul says to Titus, it's not of works of righteousness which we
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have done because our righteousness is like filthy
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rags. And some of you just keep
-
wondering, why am I not getting the head?
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Why am I not going anywhere? Why do I still not know that I'm
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going to heaven? Because you keep doing and you
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do good, but you also do bad. You say, well, who are you to
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tell me I'm doing bad? Someone who's trying to tell you
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the truth because you do bad and I do bad.
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You say what bad do you do? Well, I'll let you talk to Diane
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after the service and tell you all about it, OK?
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She'll be glad to tell you. And anyone who's been a member
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of this church for 5 minutes could probably tell you a few
-
things too. But This is why I know I'm not
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saved by my good works and you're not saved by your good
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works, but you're saved by the good grace of God.
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When he says you could be saved, believe it.
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Listen When he says he wants you to be saved, believe it.
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It's not just the fact that you can be saved.
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It's the fact that he desires for you to be saved.
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He desires for all to come to repentance.
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The Bible says that he came to seek and to save that which was
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lost. You ever had someone come over
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to your house and you it's because you invited him over.
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You kind of hope They said no. By the way, got four people
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coming over to church after church.
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And I know I'm just kidding. You ever invite someone over and
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you said, you know, I hope they say no and at least at least I
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was hospitable about it. That's kind of the way it works.
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You know, with the Lord, He does not extend the invitation and
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hopes you say no. His desire is that you come to
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repentance. He brought you here today.
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No, He brought you here today. He said I brought myself.
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No, He worked within your life to put people in your path.
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He will be here today because He wants you to have fellowship
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with him. When God says He wants you to be
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saved, believe it. But I'd also say this, when the
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word of God tells us our time is limited, believe it.
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So I've got plenty of time to think about this.
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Maybe you do and maybe you don't.
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Look at. James tells us that our life is
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but a vapor. If I was to bring a spray bottle
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up here and just to spray it in the air, we'd see it for two or
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three seconds and it would be like nothing ever happened.
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And that's our life. It's here for a moment and it's
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gone the next. We're friends with a family that
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used to be a pastor in Connecticut and just a few days
-
ago traveling down the road foggy Connecticut, a foggy
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morning crossing a state highway, a car with a mom and a
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bunch of little kids because they couldn't see what was
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ahead. Hit a head on collision with
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another vehicle and a 7 year old boy passed into eternity.
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And I heard that in my heart broke for that family as they
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all experienced broken bodies, but that one young man slipped
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into eternity to be with his Jesus.
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My heart breaks for them. But you don't know what tomorrow
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is. And I'm gonna try to make you
-
paranoid. I'm just telling you.
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You don't know, you say, well, I do know.
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Well, you know you're lying. You don't know.
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And what I'm saying is when the word of God says you don't know
-
you have tomorrow, believe it. Thou knowest not what a day may
-
bring forth, Believe it. There's a lot of believers here
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this morning. I believe there's a lot of
-
people who know Jesus Christ, their savior.
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I'm thankful for that. You even said Amen.
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That's that's good. Yeah.
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You know, the word of God talks to you too.
-
You know when the Bible says he'll never leave you or forsake
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you, believe it. When the Bible says that he will
-
be a friend that sticketh closer to a brother than a brother.
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Believe it when the Bible says that that that you can have a
-
peep in the midst of the storm, as Paul talked about, when he
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said that his grace was able to work within his life and made
-
him in his weakness made him strong.
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You can believe that. You know the Bible says that God
-
is holy and we are to live holy. You ought to believe it when the
-
Bible tells us that you can't live a holy life on yourself,
-
which is why the Holy Spirit lives inside of you to help you
-
live out that life. You need to believe it when the
-
Bible says if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to
-
forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,
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Believe it. When the Word says it, believe
-
it. Here's the problem.
-
We've been conditioned. When man tells us something, we
-
know man's not always shooting straight with us.
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And maybe even right now you're hearing me and say, OK, yeah,
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pastor, you're really funny. You're really handsome.
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Thank you. Because I know that's what
-
you're thinking. But you're thinking you're
-
really funny. You're all these things.
-
But I just don't know if I believe it.
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And my answer is from just some of the things I've just said.
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Don't believe it because of me. Who am I?
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I'm just like you. I may be a pastor that has a
-
calling upon his life, but I'm just like you are.
-
Don't take my word for it. Search the scriptures and Jesus
-
told the Pharisees those religious hypocrites, he says
-
search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal
-
life meaning this. They clung so tightly to those
-
scriptures but they didn't even know the scriptures who didn't
-
even follow them. Just go back and search those
-
things you think you know so well, because if you read them
-
you'd realize I am who I say I am.
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But man will let you down. God will never let you down.
-
I'll give you this story and I'll be done.
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Some of you who've been here a while have heard me reference my
-
Uncle Al before now. My Uncle Al I love greatly.
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He's my father's brother. My father had two brothers much
-
older than him. He was born about 20 years after
-
his two older brothers. And so I love my Uncle Al.
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But my Uncle Al, he was a talker.
-
And I remember being a young guy, just a little guy to every
-
holiday he'd come over to the house and especially as a young
-
boy, he'd sit me on his knee. He said, Adam, we got to go
-
fishing. I said, I like that.
-
I like to go fishing. He says, next time I come, I'm
-
going to bring you a fishing pole every holiday.
-
He said, every holiday you bring you a fishing pole.
-
No, I'm still waiting for the first fishing pole.
-
My Uncle Al was the one that if you were to search his name, and
-
I did this just a few days ago, I searched his name and the word
-
bingo. Say pastor, where you going with
-
this? I searched his name and the word
-
bingo. The first thing that came up was
-
a Riviera Bingo casino in Cranston, RI, which I didn't
-
even know existed. But the second thing that came
-
up was his indictment in 1993 for running a bingo parlor and
-
running a scam out of a bingo parlor.
-
And one of the greatest moments in Rivero history, if you were
-
to look online, is my uncle being indicted by the FBI and
-
his son who was also indicted. My cousin with a jacket over his
-
head going into federal court. That is the high watermark of
-
the Rivero family. 1993 Tampa, FL Right there you say, pastor,
-
why are you saying this in front of all of us?
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I'm saying this because man will let you down.
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I have let people down. You have let people down and you
-
say, well, I'm a better person than your uncle or I'm a better
-
person than this other guy over here.
-
You've missed the mark completely because the Bible
-
says this in Second Corinthians. Comparing ourselves among
-
ourselves, we're not wise. Compare yourself to another
-
Sinner just makes you both sinners.
-
Well, I'm a bigger Sinner than that Sinner.
-
I'm a lesser Sinner than that Sinner.
-
You're both still sinners. Listen, if someone sinks on the
-
boat quickly and someone sinks on the boat and it takes some
-
time, the boat still going down, you're in the same predicament.
-
It's only Christ who could save you.
-
When the Word of God says it, believe it.
-
Remember that little girl at the beginning?
-
She spoke the truth. No, a lot of people didn't want
-
to hear what she had to say about how many people were in
-
the church that day, but she spoke the truth about the church
-
being full. Do you want to leave here full
-
today in your heart? Well, the way you can be full in
-
your heart today is recognizing that you're a Sinner and
-
standing in condemnation before a thrice holy God.
-
But yet Jesus, the way, the truth and the life said this.
-
I'll go and prepare a way before you and you can be saved.
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And if he said it, believe it. Thank you for listening to the
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sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church.
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If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we
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can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at
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[email protected]. Or you can visit us this Sunday
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at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA.
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May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.