The Best News | Pastor Carl Henry | April 8, 2012

[SPEAKER_00]: Good morning.

[SPEAKER_00]: Happy Easter.

[SPEAKER_00]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_00]: You could turn with me to the New Testament book of first Corinthians first Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: First Corinthians chapter 15 and before we start reading on like desk, God's blessing on the reading of the word.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

[SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray together.

[SPEAKER_00]: Father, thank you for

[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, this time that we remember, or the author of life himself gained, took on our sins and died, spared, and rose again in beat death, and saved us all, where we thank you for sending your son.

[SPEAKER_00]: For those who despised and rejected him, you sent him anyway.

[SPEAKER_00]: The love you have for us is amazing, Lord, we thank you so much.

[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you for letting us be part of your family.

[SPEAKER_00]: For revealing your son to us.

[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you for your Holy Spirit, Lord, we pray that your Spirit will fill this room today and that you'll bless the reading of your work and Jesus name.

[SPEAKER_00]: chapter 15 verses 1 through 4, more over brethren I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and where and ye stand.

[SPEAKER_00]: By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory which I preached unto you, unless ye believed and thane.

[SPEAKER_00]: For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ,

[SPEAKER_00]: died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, but good morning everyone.

[SPEAKER_01]: This Sunday morning, Easterway, always think of what we have just experienced as a church.

[SPEAKER_01]: And so many are so tired in those who were in the cast who practiced Tuesday.

[SPEAKER_01]: Of course, came to church Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, practice, presentation.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then this morning, if you fall asleep while I preach, it's OK. Long days, long days.

[SPEAKER_01]: folks every year as unique and different and this year again just amazing what God did.

[SPEAKER_01]: Each night Thursday Friday as well as Saturday we saw hands go up that buddy Christ send to their heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: And, of course, the first night, it was neat to see how each night the crowd is different.

[SPEAKER_01]: The first night, I think I had a bunch of charismatic preachers with us, because I was like, I thought I was having church, I'm up here preaching, there are amenity over here in another guy.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hallelujah over here.

[SPEAKER_01]: I mean, I thought, man, this is awesome.

[SPEAKER_00]: But we are a bunch of people say, and then the second night, it was a little bit more of a hush.

[SPEAKER_01]: And even during the resurrection of seeing the night before, there were a plotting and getting all excited.

[SPEAKER_01]: That second group was just kind of very docile.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it was packed house.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we saw a lot of hands go up.

[SPEAKER_01]: And last night, I don't know if I remember a year that so many hands went up for decisions for salvation.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was all over the room, hands that went up, that they had prayed and trusted Christ as their Savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: and pray that some of them, if they don't have a church, you're gonna come here and maybe you are here.

[SPEAKER_01]: This morning for first time for church service with us and maybe you invited Christ into your heart one of those nights And we've been praying for you and we trust that we're gonna be a help for you as as a new born Christian To help you to grow in the faith and we want you to know God We want you to know his word We want you to grow into a great relationship with a Lord and that is gonna be personal That when those trials come your way

[SPEAKER_01]: you're going to be able to call on him with confidence because he's your savior.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is your God, and I love the word Abba.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's your father.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's your daddy.

[SPEAKER_01]: That you can run, too, and the time of need.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've got an awesome God.

[SPEAKER_01]: This was a Mark's first year of taking the big chore of leading the play this year.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this poor guy was sweating bullets.

[SPEAKER_01]: This about as much as this morning, right in back of forcing and everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: and it did a great job, everything was done so well, good job Mark.

[SPEAKER_01]: And being the first year, of course, you're just learning as you're going and growing and he did well.

[SPEAKER_01]: And just thanks the Lord for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: All that you, the support and helped, it was just great.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then also, is Jesus here, Jesus is here with us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he kept his beard on for today.

[SPEAKER_01]: A lot of the guys, his beards were off last night.

[SPEAKER_01]: Man, he retired of the beards.

[SPEAKER_01]: but he does does a great job and we thank a Lord for him and put in all the time in the memorization and new parts this year with you know the one with the well, a scene and and the woman caught in adultery scenes, these different lines he had to memorize that a good job and we understand the Lord's calling this family to ministry.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this may be, we don't know this, but this may be his last year as Jesus for us, because he could be a pastor in a church next year at this time.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's what I know they are hoping.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're trusting the Lord is going to lead him in that area.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we may need to new Jesus, we'll see how that all transpires.

[SPEAKER_01]: But God is blessed, folks, and it's amazing how God is able to take us and use us in spite of ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: God's word, my memory verses recently has been Isaiah 55, and that verse verse says, God's word will not return void.

[SPEAKER_01]: God's word did not return void.

[SPEAKER_01]: They had accomplished that which he purposeed.

[SPEAKER_01]: and it's neat to see what God did this week.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we pray that God's gonna continue to use.

[SPEAKER_01]: Today, I don't know if you're expecting this particular Easter morning, the folks I just wanna talk about the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is the best news, the greatest thing on this world in this world to talk about what Jesus Christ has done.

[SPEAKER_01]: This text, 1 Corinthians 15,

[SPEAKER_01]: This chapter goes through great detail, not only about the gospel, but its importance, how it has been used to be able to save people because not only the disciples, but hundreds of people saw Jesus Christ resurrected.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then he talks about how some people how on the world they got into the church and they were trying to spread around there's no resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's like, the thing of the past you just don't, you don't talk about because it's not even there.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then he gets into this lawyer mode and begins to say, okay, if there's no resurrection, if nobody's gonna rise from the dead, let's talk about this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you realize that everything you believe in is insane?

[SPEAKER_01]: If there's no resurrection, it's empty.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's the home because of all there is is this life and there's no life after this one We may as well go ahead and eat drink and be married because tomorrow we die and that's it

[SPEAKER_01]: but we see in Christianity in what Christ developed that there is a resurrection and it goes through and says our faith is not in vain, our preaching is in vain, we're not in our sin, so he develops this.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now he talks about how Christ is the first risen, the first Adam we all died, the second Adam through Jesus Christ, we're made alive, it just goes on and on, but it concludes the chapter with you and I.

[SPEAKER_01]: It concludes about, since there is a resurrection, because Christ rose from the dead, this is our hope that there is going to be a resurrection someday.

[SPEAKER_01]: This resurrection talked about is not when you die and you go to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's true, and that does happen.

[SPEAKER_01]: After from this body, we are present with a Lord.

[SPEAKER_01]: But there is a prophecy here given that one day, Jesus Christ is going to come back in the air.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as you tie this chapter with first Thessalonians, for you're going to see how you and I and our bodies are going to transform, change, where we fashion like his glorious body, the dead and Christ are going to rise first.

[SPEAKER_01]: We, who are alive, if you were to come right now, we're gonna follow them right into the clouds, and he says, we will forever be with the Lord, and then he says, in first Thessalonians, comfort one another with these words.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is the greatest comfort that we have in our life.

[SPEAKER_01]: is that Jesus is coming back, and we can't wait for that.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's all because of the resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that's the case that is built throughout First Corinthians in chapter 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: What we have read though, he says, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: The word gospel means good news to proclaim it, to talk about it, to express it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is to make it known, this good news, and then it goes on and says this.

[SPEAKER_01]: This gospel that is preached unto you, and you have received it, and we're in your stand.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we use laying this whole concept, and if you will flow, so it's a declared gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: He says they were the ones that listened to the preaching of the gospel, and then after hearing the gospel, they received it.

[SPEAKER_01]: They claimed it for their own, they took it to their own selves.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was the missing link for me when I was a kid.

[SPEAKER_01]: The song heroes, flashes back to a child in church.

[SPEAKER_01]: That was like the only song that I remember.

[SPEAKER_01]: You follow me?

[SPEAKER_01]: That was the song I remember the congregation singing, but that's all I remember.

[SPEAKER_01]: It made no sense to me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Nobody ever sat me down and said, do you know why Jesus died and made it personal that he died for me?

[SPEAKER_01]: It was so impersonally as God's out there and you know you might know a little bit about him.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's very obscure and you get to pick your own God and that's what it did until I heard the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there is a, folks, there is a power in this, the gospel, the goes far past anything that mankind and humans have ever developed or come up with, the most intelligent men on earth cannot ever compare to what message we have.

[SPEAKER_01]: with the gospel that is able to transform lives.

[SPEAKER_01]: And once a person has received, claimed as their own, this gospel, they are able to stand on it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is like the word is translated off times even covenant.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is something that is an agreement between you as an individual, not a group, individually.

[SPEAKER_01]: Knowing Jesus Christ, personally, that you stand in Christ,

[SPEAKER_01]: And it is something that is an agreement that God has agreed if you believe and receive it your mind.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you have accepted and agreed to covenant that you are my God, there's no others.

[SPEAKER_01]: You are the one true living God, and this is the one only true Christ Messiah, the died on the cross, rose from the dead, there is none other.

[SPEAKER_01]: You are the one true God.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is the agreement.

[SPEAKER_01]: which is an interesting thing, unless you've believed empty thing, it's like there's no purpose.

[SPEAKER_01]: There have been many people that have prayed to prayer, but the prayer was not about Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was not about the agreement that Christ died and rose again.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was Lord, please get me out of my mess.

[SPEAKER_01]: give me, give me.

[SPEAKER_01]: My friend is not salvation.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not a covenant.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not a stand and cry.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's not receiving the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: He tells us, I'm delivering to you that which I also receive.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to park on this for a moment.

[SPEAKER_01]: You and I, I'm sure as we get older, we begin to really

[SPEAKER_01]: Once it'll allow, when Carl has that quiet time outside walking and doing things, I do, I saw up and look at my life.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I think, where would I be, if I would not have said yes to Christ?

[SPEAKER_01]: If I were to say, not for me, and go on my own direction, my own way?

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't even tell you I'd be alive as a human being.

[SPEAKER_01]: But I thank God that his Holy Spirit worked inside of me, and beautifully drawle me to himself.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we're talking about rows four and a little bit, there's that matter of receiving them and believing in Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And as we do, it changes everything.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not an empty, it is a true belief that we hold to it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a covenant, we stand, this is what I believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not an empty, whatever it is there, and since I've received it, I can tell you about it.

[SPEAKER_01]: We get a little afraid sometimes when we talk about our faith, when we talk about Christ, don't be.

[SPEAKER_01]: We can declare that which we have experienced, that what we know, what we understand.

[SPEAKER_01]: I love how Paul did a couple times in the book of Acts, he didn't go through a long discourse of how he could prove it from the scriptures, how Christ came and died.

[SPEAKER_01]: Instead, what he did is said, can I tell you what happened to me on the road to Damascus?

[SPEAKER_01]: He made it so simple that he just simply gave his testimony of how he personally invited Christ and called on the Lord, the Lord, what we had to do, a submit to him.

[SPEAKER_01]: because you've received it, folks, we as a church have a mission, and it is part of this the great commission, and that is what we, and why we do what we do at Easter with the passion play, and whether down the road it continues or not is not what's relevant because we don't need a passion play to get the gospel out.

[SPEAKER_01]: is what we do every day as we live it out, we share it my word, they are able to say there's something different about you as because Christ is in you, it's real in your life, and you're in a word, you're praying, you're living it out, and you want to see them in heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: So you declare that what you've received, but you can't talk about what you don't have.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you're here today and you haven't yet received Christ, you can.

[SPEAKER_01]: He wants to save you just the way you are.

[SPEAKER_01]: Christ, blood was shed for you, he died, he rose again from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why?

[SPEAKER_01]: Why the gospel?

[SPEAKER_01]: He said it was all according to the scriptures that Christ died for us in, according to the scripture that it was buried in the third day he rose from the dead and it was all according to the scripture.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is what God purpose from the very beginning.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you look at the revelation, Jesus Christ is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

[SPEAKER_01]: This has been God's plan even before man took of the fruit and sin entered into the world.

[SPEAKER_01]: God says, I got you covered.

[SPEAKER_01]: Literally, I got you covered.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's there, it's taken care of, interesting shirt.

[SPEAKER_01]: When we were in Israel, we're on to be at Allerosa, and here's the market, just places everywhere, and we're going down.

[SPEAKER_01]: I had to take a picture, I'll show it to you a couple weeks here.

[SPEAKER_01]: This shirt, it says with a fighter jet in the middle, don't worry, America, we got your back.

[SPEAKER_01]: We got you covered, in other words, it's okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're always talking about taking care of Israel.

[SPEAKER_01]: Trust me, they're doing just fine over there.

[SPEAKER_01]: They got plenty of jets, trust me.

[SPEAKER_01]: In the book of Isaiah, it's a prophecy of the first time that Jesus came.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was a time that Jesus was as he came was going to die on the cross and it talks about his sufferings.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who at the believer I report into whom as a Lord of the Lord revealed and it goes on through.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's right around verse 10 is a phrase that I always park on.

[SPEAKER_01]: to bruise him.

[SPEAKER_01]: When my kids fall, my grandkids fall, I go, and you run, and you almost want to catch them, you don't want them hurt through your child.

[SPEAKER_01]: How can we, in our minds, understand why in the world the Father looked at the cross and says, this pleases me.

[SPEAKER_01]: It

[SPEAKER_01]: And it goes past, okay, this is, this is okay, no, no, no, this is an absolute satisfaction that the Father, as He looked at the cross, said, I am now satisfied.

[SPEAKER_01]: This helps us to understand John 3 16, for God so love the world that He gave is only begots and son that who's whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[SPEAKER_01]: Why the God love the world so much?

[SPEAKER_01]: We're sinners.

[SPEAKER_01]: Come on folks, we're the ugly ones in this whole story.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're the bad guys.

[SPEAKER_01]: And yet, God says, I love you, I love you, and he could say your name right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: He loves you.

[SPEAKER_01]: So what he did, he sent his only son,

[SPEAKER_01]: to die in the cross so that you and I could have a relationship with him.

[SPEAKER_01]: That the father would actually be made happy satisfied.

[SPEAKER_01]: I could have died on the cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: You could have died on the cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: But that's not what God required.

[SPEAKER_01]: God required His own Son, because His own Son was the only one worthy to die on the cross for our sin.

[SPEAKER_01]: There was animals over and over again in the Old Testament, had to go through the death, the death, over and over again another animal, another animal, and yet Hebrews says, Jesus Christ gave His life He died once for the elect.

[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.

[SPEAKER_01]: Three of you are listening today.

[SPEAKER_01]: Once for some, once for all, I believe that, just in case you're wondering what your preacher thought.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some have said it's a waste to have Jesus die for everybody, he only died for the people that were actually chosen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Give me a break.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll prove that in Rome is real quick here.

[SPEAKER_01]: Anyways.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can say with confidence this morning, preacher by the way, he's not a lot of notes, I'm preachers just sharing his heart today, because I get troubled with things.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I can say with absolutely authority in my friend, Jesus Christ loves you, Jesus Christ died for you, God's going to work in your heart.

[SPEAKER_01]: And if you call on Jesus Christ as your personal savior, he will save you just the way you are in this room, you will walk out a child of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: God is not willing that any shepherds would all should come through repentance.

[SPEAKER_01]: He died for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: His blood, literally, was shed for you and I.

[SPEAKER_01]: Three days later, he rose from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: This pleases the Father, and three days later, God says, I understand that my son is going to die, but that's not the end.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have to understand God understood the whole purpose, the whole plan, and Jesus even said, isn't it, it wasn't supposed to die, and rise again from the dead and be glorified.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is like the whole plan.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's talked about in the Old Testament, baby, I'll come on.

[SPEAKER_01]: You should know all of these things.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's talking to the men on the road to a mayor.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's talking to his disciples in Luke 24.

[SPEAKER_01]: Come on, you should know this.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's the whole picture.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not over here.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's not.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is risen.

[SPEAKER_01]: Look with me to Colossians and chapter one.

[SPEAKER_01]: Colossians, chapter one.

[SPEAKER_01]: Colossians one in inverse number 20.

[SPEAKER_01]: Colossians one 20.

[SPEAKER_01]: And having made peace,

[SPEAKER_01]: through the blood of his cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now think about these words.

[SPEAKER_01]: The blood, the cross created peace.

[SPEAKER_01]: You say there was nothing peaceful about the cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a bunch of hate, people spitting and laughing at him.

[SPEAKER_01]: I know we have most of the people coming up and sympathizing with Jesus,

[SPEAKER_01]: You're rid of a sinner, he's horrible person.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, there were some cries come down and save yourself, but most of that was mocking.

[SPEAKER_01]: They hated him.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's nothing peaceful about this, but there's not a talk about that.

[SPEAKER_01]: The cross brings peace between you and God.

[SPEAKER_01]: There is now a uniting between you and God, that there's not just a tranquility, all I feel good about myself.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's not what it was talking about.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's talking about you who were at enmity with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: He has now reconciled, brought back to a proper relationship, and you have peace with God.

[SPEAKER_01]: God looks at you as his child, and there's now a relationship.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hey, we win.

[SPEAKER_01]: Having made peace to the blood of his cross by him.

[SPEAKER_01]: To reconcile all things unto himself,

[SPEAKER_01]: By Him, that's Jesus, I say, whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, there here all things are brought back to a proper relationship, all through the blood of Jesus Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now listen, he says in Galatians 2, the end of it, he was, I do not frustrate the grace of God, because if righteousness comes by law, then Christ is dead and vain.

[SPEAKER_01]: Bottom line is, if you and I could work our way to have and keep the 10 commands or keep at least some of them and get ourselves good enough to get in the heaven, Jesus Christ never would've had to die in the first place.

[SPEAKER_01]: But we couldn't do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what the law showed you and I is that we're weak, we cannot keep the law.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if we've offended the law in one point or guilty of all of it, and so God says, this is what I'm gonna do.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna take care of the law for you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm gonna show you perfection through the law.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to show you how you are not perfect.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to show you who is perfect, and that's Jesus Christ, so that he can create perfection inside of you, and that's why it's called grace.

[SPEAKER_01]: We don't deserve this, folks.

[SPEAKER_01]: We didn't deserve the cross, we don't deserve the resurrection, we don't deserve a relationship with God, we don't deserve peace, we deserve nothing, but death.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it goes, no, no, no.

[SPEAKER_01]: I have it all planned out.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to send my son, his blood is going to be shed, and I'm going to be satisfied through him, not your blood, and not your works, and not your communion, and not your baptism, and not your going to church, and not

[SPEAKER_01]: is known as a bow.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's about the righteousness of Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, I'm going to run out of time.

[SPEAKER_01]: Resurrection.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've seen it here in the first Corinthians 15.

[SPEAKER_01]: And again, we could talk about the forgiveness of sin and verse 17 of that text, but look with me to Romans for a minute.

[SPEAKER_01]: Romans in chapter 4.

[SPEAKER_01]: Romans is an amazing doctrinal book that develops for you and I, a case, and it's not just assumptions.

[SPEAKER_01]: I assume if this, this, and this, then this must be the case.

[SPEAKER_01]: You know, what he's doing is like a lawyer building a case based on facts.

[SPEAKER_01]: The facts of God, the facts of man, and that's why the first few chapters were about us being lost.

[SPEAKER_01]: and then he gets into chapter three and dealing with the blood and the justification is not as a part from the works of the law.

[SPEAKER_01]: And he gets into all that and in chapter four he starts getting into some of the Old Testament saints.

[SPEAKER_01]: In other words, how are the Old Testament saints saved?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, they believe God and it was counted under them for righteousness.

[SPEAKER_01]: So that righteousness they receive was by believing God.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we have Abraham, we have David, other illustrations, and he's going through and building it a little bit on this Old Testament character about Abraham.

[SPEAKER_01]: Verse 17 is his written, I have made the Father of many nations before him whom he believed, even God, who quickness the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Ooh, what's that talking about?

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, there again, remember how they Abraham and Sarah couldn't have a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: The inside of them were old and capable of having a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: And called those things which be not as though they were who against hope believed in hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's an interesting phrase.

[SPEAKER_01]: No one is looking at Abraham and Sarah same,

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to have a baby, even though you are like really old, really old.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you never had been able to get pregnant before for the last 90 to 100 years.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: Nobody had that kind of hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: And yet, he hoped.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now why did he hope?

[SPEAKER_01]: Because God said so, you're going to have a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: was what God said, late as in gentlemen, the only thing we have for hope is what God has said.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is it.

[SPEAKER_01]: I cannot prove to you.

[SPEAKER_01]: I cannot take you right now to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: I cannot show you a power point of Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't show you the golden streets when the power point.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can't take you there.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's no satellite out there, the shooting, shooting these pictures from heaven saying this is what we have to look forward to.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything is faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is all our hope based on what God's word has said.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who, against a hope believed in hope, verse 18, that he might become the father of many nations, not just one, not just the Israelites.

[SPEAKER_01]: but you and I.

[SPEAKER_01]: According to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be.

[SPEAKER_01]: Being not weak and faith, he considered not his own body.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now you're seeing his body was dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: He hasn't been able to have a baby when he was about 100 years old.

[SPEAKER_01]: Neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I love verse 20, and He staggered not the promises of God through unbelief.

[SPEAKER_01]: But with strong and faith, given glory to God, bought all me, even before she conceived.

[SPEAKER_01]: God says, Abraham believed me, and it was strong, and it was hoping, and it was going towards this mark.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to have a child, I'm going to have a son.

[SPEAKER_01]: being fully persuaded that what he, that his God had promised, he, God was able also to perform.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, let's stop.

[SPEAKER_01]: How many here, we have any 90 year olds here, any 90 year olds, late 80s?

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay, we got some late 80s.

[SPEAKER_01]: Hans and Tina, can you imagine just starting

[SPEAKER_01]: Are you following me?

[SPEAKER_01]: No, this brings this to reality.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, you're going to have a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're going to have a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: Are you kidding me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, but not for another 10 years And you got a weight and then you're going to have a baby you're going to get all started.

[SPEAKER_01]: They'll be graduating from high school about the time you're 120 Does this give

[SPEAKER_01]: how hopeless the situation was, and yet, God says, I'm going to take you who physically inside or dead, I'm going to bring you back the life and you're going to have a baby.

[SPEAKER_01]: Just at the promise of a word, do you realize how that correlates with you when I, we are literally bodies or dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: There's no life here, folks.

[SPEAKER_01]: And yet, God says, in his word, I am promising you, life.

[SPEAKER_01]: life from that which is dead because you believe my word believe in Jesus Christ the seed promised and you will have everlasting life and was really cool is one day we're dealing with resurrection now not just you leaving from point eight to point b right now but a rapture someday the dead in Christ rise we shall live and remain will be caught up together in the clouds and the world says

[SPEAKER_01]: And yet here we are getting excited about the thought of a rapture, or a resurrection that we can't wait for.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're seeing all these happenings of the world and what God's doing in Israel and the round.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we see the prophecies coming through and we're like, yes, and the world laughs.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we hope even when it seems like it's hopeless.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we don't stagger either at the promise of God through unbelief or strong in a faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: Believing God and persuaded the God's able to do what He promised.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's able to perform it and in verse 22, and therefore it was imputed to Him for righteousness.

[SPEAKER_01]: What was?

[SPEAKER_01]: Rachisus came to him because he just did one thing he believed God was able to do it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him, but for us also.

[SPEAKER_01]: So this is an example.

[SPEAKER_01]: Believe God, trust me, He's going to come through.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's going to perform that which He has promised.

[SPEAKER_01]: To whom it shall be imputed, I noticed this, if we believe on Him, that what?

[SPEAKER_01]: Raised.

[SPEAKER_01]: Here's your resurrection, and amidst all of this.

[SPEAKER_01]: a rapture at resurrection from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: If we believe that he, Jesus, was raised from the dead, guess what?

[SPEAKER_01]: We believe in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: We also receive the righteousness of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: We believe on him, the raise of Jesus our Lord from the dead.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, notice this, who was delivered for our offenses and was raised again for our justification now?

[SPEAKER_01]: He's doing okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: I want to bore you this morning.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: We talked to the pastor play about the Saint Corinthians 5.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's made him to be sin for us.

[SPEAKER_01]: He knew no sin.

[SPEAKER_01]: We might be made the righteousness of God in him.

[SPEAKER_01]: So if you were here to hear those messages and we have this a little bit going on again, a justification.

[SPEAKER_01]: Justification.

[SPEAKER_01]: Some of us said it just as if I had never sinned.

[SPEAKER_01]: Okay.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's good.

[SPEAKER_01]: but I don't think that fully teaches us all of the justification or declared righteous.

[SPEAKER_01]: In this same text as we talked earlier, because he, Abraham, believed God, it was counted under righteousness, yet to understand something else.

[SPEAKER_01]: God wants us to understand when he looks at you and I,

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is an amazing thing because this, again, is all by faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: Believe me what God says.

[SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't see you as you are right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: He sees you with the blood of Jesus Christ that has cleansed you from all sin, and you are looked at as right as you will ever be in God's sight.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's hard for me.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is a declaration act by God.

[SPEAKER_01]: I declare you righteous.

[SPEAKER_01]: Not just, I don't see the sin.

[SPEAKER_01]: No, it's an act where God says, you're innocent, you're free.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's never gonna be held against you.

[SPEAKER_01]: You're declared righteous in my sight and you can't get any better.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you realize you can't get better in God's sight?

[SPEAKER_01]: You say,

[SPEAKER_01]: You have a car, you have them with me this week.

[SPEAKER_01]: I can get a lot better trust me.

[SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I agree.

[SPEAKER_01]: But there's a difference between our state and our stand.

[SPEAKER_01]: Our state in Christ, we're trying to develop to be like a Christian.

[SPEAKER_01]: But our stand in Christ, you are as clean, pure as you're ever going to be.

[SPEAKER_01]: Do you know and

[SPEAKER_01]: may holy, and God's psyched.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's made you that way.

[SPEAKER_01]: You didn't become it yourself.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is the stand we have in Christ who did one thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's all you got to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's what he says.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm not making it up.

[SPEAKER_01]: know where in that text he say and by the way you need to do this and you need to do this no he says you do one thing you believe in the righteousness that Christ can give you through his blood when he did on the cross and you believe in the resurrection because you can't leave the resurrection out when it comes to the gospel

[SPEAKER_01]: It's not a half a story.

[SPEAKER_01]: You believe this whole thing.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to declare you righteous, just like Abraham believed, and resurrection from the dead, in his body, and God counted it to him for righteousness.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you believe, you will be declared righteous in God's sight, period.

[SPEAKER_01]: In our state, this is what God wants us to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: Live for him.

[SPEAKER_01]: But it's not to get us to heaven, it's because we're going to heaven.

[SPEAKER_01]: We want to do it because what Jesus did for us, if there's anything folks that moves us to service, it's the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

[SPEAKER_01]: We'll see you down here on our missionaries.

[SPEAKER_01]: His guy is going to Haiti and he's sharing the gospel and he's teaching the

[SPEAKER_01]: because he wants to serve the Lord, his dear wife read it, just wonderful people.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is what we do here.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what you do at work.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is what you do in your life.

[SPEAKER_01]: We want to live for him while we're here.

[SPEAKER_01]: For me to live is Christ, though, and I die.

[SPEAKER_01]: Oh, it's game.

[SPEAKER_01]: We have the greatest story to tell.

[SPEAKER_01]: Over the next weeks, we're going to be changing gears one Sunday mornings, and we're going to begin talking about the great I Ames out of the gospel of John.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to see Exodus.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to see the revelation, but most of the time we're going to be going through John.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I'm going to be sharing with you right now.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're going to have his salvation messages.

[SPEAKER_01]: As we share the gospel of Jesus Christ, my job will be to preach it.

[SPEAKER_01]: Your job is going to be to bring him in.

[SPEAKER_01]: and where it folks trust me.

[SPEAKER_01]: There have been more people that have gone probably most Sundays through Walmart than there are in church, okay?

[SPEAKER_01]: They're out there, spring them in.

[SPEAKER_01]: We wanted to clear the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: This is our number one job.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then once they're here, both we are prepared to mentor and to cycle them, to see them baptize, to see them grow in the faith, get some homes healed, to see some people that are burdened and dysfunctional, get their eyes open up and realize, oh, life is supposed to be fun here.

[SPEAKER_01]: We get to serve Jesus, and we get to do things for God, and life is actually good, not miserable.

[SPEAKER_01]: People are out there with no hope, miserable.

[SPEAKER_01]: Let's give them hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: Death, resurrection, gives hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: In a time, there is no hope.

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything is negative around us.

[SPEAKER_01]: Have you washed the news this week?

[SPEAKER_01]: Tell me something that's good on TV.

[SPEAKER_01]: This like boy did that refresh me.

[SPEAKER_01]: This sitcom was so encouraging to me and how to handle my home.

[SPEAKER_01]: Are you kidding me?

[SPEAKER_01]: Everything is negative.

[SPEAKER_01]: So let's give them something right.

[SPEAKER_01]: The positive of Christ, what he can do in their lives, folks, we got a job to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've got a job to do.

[SPEAKER_01]: I'm sensing in my life, in our church, that we're getting complacent.

[SPEAKER_01]: We're getting into this, yep, yep, yep.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's time to wake up, because Christ is coming.

[SPEAKER_01]: It could be today.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's time for us to realize why we're here is a church.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it is not for ourselves.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is for Him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And church, we've got to get our act together.

[SPEAKER_01]: It is time to get serious for God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, we have so many people that are dying and go to hell going to hell around us.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I wonder if we even care anymore.

[SPEAKER_01]: You've been saved for 10, 20, 30 years.

[SPEAKER_01]: Who was the last person you talked to Jesus about?

[SPEAKER_01]: This last person you have by a church gave track, tried to encourage them.

[SPEAKER_01]: What are we doing?

[SPEAKER_01]: What are we doing?

[SPEAKER_01]: We're choosing to go through the great items over the next weeks.

[SPEAKER_01]: Because if there is anything that is going to get us refocused, it is that Jesus Christ is, and I stop right there on purpose.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is.

[SPEAKER_01]: and he is the alpha and the omega.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is the beginning, he is the end.

[SPEAKER_01]: He is the great I am.

[SPEAKER_01]: And there is a lot of confusion going on in the world right now about who is Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: John reveals that like really good.

[SPEAKER_01]: So we're gonna show you that.

[SPEAKER_01]: And it's time for us to realize this Christians.

[SPEAKER_01]: We've got to get people knowing Jesus, who he is, not drawing people to myself, drawing people to him.

[SPEAKER_01]: And when we put our Savior, Jesus Christ, number one in our life, and we realize he is my Alpha, he is my Omega, he is my beginning, he is my God.

[SPEAKER_01]: It transforms our lives, and we've got to get real.

[SPEAKER_01]: is Christians.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we got to live it because we love them.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you know why we love them, because Jesus loved them.

[SPEAKER_01]: Generousing His Jesus dies on the cross, He hangs this way.

[SPEAKER_01]: His arms are extended in both directions.

[SPEAKER_01]: And we know who is on both sides of Jesus.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's interesting that God reveals all of this, that we have two men hanging one across beside it.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's a beginning we know that they begin to both kind of laugh and mock and such and then after a little while the one guy is like, don't you have any respect?

[SPEAKER_01]: We deserve to be dying on the cross here.

[SPEAKER_01]: This man has done nothing.

[SPEAKER_01]: And then he looks at Jesus and I'm sure blood is dripping down him.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's beat up to a pulp too and he says, Lord, would you remember me when you enter into your kingdom?

[SPEAKER_01]: I say today, you're going to be with me in paradise.

[SPEAKER_01]: Though works declared righteous because of faith in Jesus Christ alone.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is what we have on one side one becomes a believer and on the other side is the lost and that's everybody in this room.

[SPEAKER_01]: or you're not, and there's nothing in between.

[SPEAKER_01]: If you share the gospel, there's going to be some that are going to become believers, and there's going to be some that are going to laugh and mock at you.

[SPEAKER_01]: And that's OK.

[SPEAKER_01]: If they did it, the Jesus, I guess they can do it with us.

[SPEAKER_01]: You just share the faith.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I trust that we're going to see people come to

[SPEAKER_01]: For God to love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, the whosoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[SPEAKER_01]: For God's set not as son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

[SPEAKER_01]: He believes not condemn, not gonna happen to you, but the person that doesn't believe in Jesus Christ is condemned already because He's not believed in the name of the Son of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: And this is the condemnation that's coming to the world

[SPEAKER_01]: comes Christ.

[SPEAKER_01]: He's the light.

[SPEAKER_01]: What do you wait for?

[SPEAKER_01]: The order I get, the war I realize that at the wicked age of 19 years old, how much a decision can change the life of a person.

[SPEAKER_01]: And you may be there today, it's the decision time to believe.

[SPEAKER_01]: It may be, secondly, decision time is a Christian.

[SPEAKER_01]: It's time to get serious for God.

[SPEAKER_01]: Nine been in a word, not even praying, not even caring, just drifting, drifting, drifting.

[SPEAKER_01]: Well, let's get serious for the gospel.

[SPEAKER_01]: Now, Father, we share some concepts and Lord, you know, my heart, I just wanted to share my heart today.

[SPEAKER_01]: And I pray, Lord, that as we have walked through some verses to understand a little bit about the gospel, it's important to you and it's application to us.

[SPEAKER_01]: I pray that, Lord, if there are any here this day, they do not know Christ's savor, that they would realize the love of God.

[SPEAKER_01]: The Holy Spirit you do the job of working in their hearts.

[SPEAKER_01]: Help us Lord as a church to fulfill the great commission.

[SPEAKER_01]: That's why we are here.