Lessons from the Cross Pt. 3- Pastor Greg Addison - March 31, 2024

Ministering to the heart of Western Arkansas's River Valley for over 165 years, welcome to Chapter and First, the Bible teaching ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.

You'll find sermons and teachings from Pastor Greg, our ministry staff, and guest speakers.

Thank you for listening.

You guys need to learn how to sing.

That was awesome.

Thank you, choir and orchestra.

What a great morning.

Hey, listen, we uh, if we haven't made it clear yet, this is what we believe.

He is risen.

There you go.

Y'all got that.

He is risen.

He is risen.

Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Over the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about hell and heaven and what eternity looks like and how the gospel gives us that promise for eternity.

And all of that is built on the truth that Jesus rose from the dead.

That Jesus stepped out of heaven, lived a sinless life here as a man, and then died as a man because it requires a human death to pay the price for human sin.

Mankind has sinned, and that's why there is a hell, as we talked about two weeks ago.

And there will be judgment.

And we will all make a choice.

Someone has to pay the price for our sin.

When we come to judgment, the question will be are you going to pay the price for your sin?

Or have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ who stepped out of heaven and lived a sinless life so there would be no judgment or death attached to his life?

And then he went and voluntarily died on the cross and rose again, conquering death and sin to offer a new salvation, to give us the opportunity to place our faith and trust in him and what he did on the cross to take our place and to be the judgment for our sin.

And if you do that, if you trust him as your Savior, the fact that he actually lived and died and he actually rose again, and you place your faith in Christ and you place your life in his hands and you follow him, trusting him, then heaven is yours, as we talked about last week.

Now we've begun each journey with this picture of Jesus being nailed on the cross between three thieves.

And we're going to do that again this morning, but first I want you to start right there where you are in 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

And in a world like today, in the culture and all the pressures that are against the gospel, that are against the people of God, against the advance of the gospel, in times when people are challenging the truth of Easter or trying to turn it into something else, it's always important for us to stop and reaffirm what we believe the gospel to be.

Paul says here in these first few verses that he's doing just that.

I want to clarify you for the gospel I proclaim to you.

You have received it and you've taken a stand on it.

You're saved by it if you hold the message I proclaim to you.

For I passed on to you as most important what I received.

And then he makes it clear what we believe is the gospel.

That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

In other words, God put in place the plan of salvation from the very beginning.

And all throughout his work in the Old Testament, and then his work through establishing the children of Israel as his people and using them as the conduit to accomplish the plan of salvation by bringing the Messiah into the world.

Jesus was identified, the Savior was identified all throughout Old Testament prophecies.

And that's what he's saying according to the Scriptures.

The prophecies all pointed out specific facts so that people in the day when the Messiah came, they would be able to recognize that he is the Messiah.

And so there were things about the events itself that point and help us identify Jesus as the Savior.

The prophecy from the beginning was that God would send who they would call the Messiah or the Savior or the Lamb of God, who would actually die for our sins, and there are prophecies about that.

Then the Bible says that he was buried and he was raised on the third day according to the Scripture.

And in unfolding and pointing out what would be God's plan for salvation, he pointed out not only that he would die, but that he would be raised from the dead.

And Jesus came and accomplished those things.

And all of those prophecies that would identify who the Savior is were fulfilled in the life, in the experiences, in the death, and in the details around his death.

And then when Jesus rose from the dead, he again accomplished the prophecies.

And so from the Old Testament, it was pointing to the fact that Jesus would come and die for our sins.

And in the New Testament, we see that Jesus actually accomplished that.

And now we are preaching that gospel, affirming and standing on it, as Paul says.

Look what he says: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture.

That he was buried, that he was raised on the third day, according to the Scripture.

And then we have eyewitness testimonies of Jesus' bodily resurrection from the grave.

That he appeared to Peter, then to the twelve, then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at one time.

Most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.

Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one who was born outside of that time period, Paul is saying that Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus.

Now I want you to read on the screens we have this intro passage that we've been using in Luke.

And here's what the Bible says in Luke 23.

It's describing the events again.

And I'm going to, as I read this, just stop and point out a few places where you will see that there were specific prophecies that identified this moment and this man as our Savior.

And the fact that Jesus was crucified between two thieves or criminals was actually a prophecy from the Old Testament that was specifically fulfilled in this moment.

When they arrived at that place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

Then Jesus said, Father, forgive them, because they do not know what they are doing.

And they divided his clothes and cast lots.

In other words, at the foot of the cross, people were casting dice, playing a gambling game to see who would win his cloak.

That is another specific prophecy from the Old Testament that that would happen in the moment of Jesus' crucifixion.

So you can see, as Paul said, according to the scriptures, we are seeing it on, we are seeing it unfold and fulfilled in this moment.

The people stood watching, and even the leaders kept scoffing.

Another prophecy that was fulfilled from the Old Testament.

He saved others.

Let him save himself if this is God's Messiah, the chosen one.

The soldiers also mocked him.

They came offering him sour wine.

Another specific prophecy from the Old Testament that happened in this moment that was given as an identifier that this was God's plan of salvation and the Messiah that he had sent, this offering him of that sour wine.

They said, You're the king of the Jews, save yourself.

And an inscription was above him, this is the king of the Jews.

Then one of the criminals hanging there, he's watching all this unfold, he's hanging on that cross as we've talked about the last two weeks, began to yell insults at him and said, Aren't you the Messiah?

Save yourself and us.

But the other thief who's watching all of this unfold, who is seeing in Jesus something that he has never seen before.

How someone would handle this moment.

He rebuked the other thief and he said, Don't you even fear God since you were undergoing the same punishment?

We are punished justly because we're getting back what we deserve for the things we did.

But this man has done nothing wrong.

And then he hollers at Jesus and he says, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

And then Jesus understanding his childlike faith in that moment.

Where this man is afraid of death.

This man understands and is afraid of judgment.

He sees Jesus and the love of Jesus and all of this happening and unfolding, and the Holy Spirit telling him in his life, look, he is dying for you.

He calls out to Jesus in faith, and Jesus says, I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.

Now, from right there on that cross, not only does Jesus save that man, but you have an understanding there that Jesus understands exactly what he's doing.

He is going to that cross to die to pay the price for our sins.

In another moment on the cross, Jesus hollers out, it is finished.

But Jesus had already prophesied, I will go to the cross.

He had told his disciples, I will go to the cross, but on the third day I will be raised again.

He had told religious leaders, if you tear this temple down using that as an illustration, I will rebuild it on the third day.

He understood hanging on that cross, he would take the full wrath and punishment of God for our sin, but he understood that he was going to be raised from the dead.

That he was going to be resurrected.

Because you see, the resurrection is an integral part of the gospel that Jesus had come to accomplish.

And when we understand that, that Jesus knew and was going to conquer death and sin for us, it should change our entire perspective of life.

And that's why we have picked for the theme today that the resurrection changes everything and it changes it forever.

You're there in 1 Corinthians 15.

I want you to skip down to verse 20 and see what the Bible says.

Now, this passage of Scripture, you guys are safe for lunch, okay?

If you're looking ahead, there are 58 verses in this chapter.

And I know y'all got family lunch, and I want to go home and eat family lunch too.

So I could never get all of the truth out of this incredible chapter that needs to be gotten out of it.

We could spend weeks on this chapter, and in some ways we have the last couple of weeks, as we looked at hell and looked at heaven, and we looked at judgment and salvation, and now we're coming back to how the resurrection accomplishes that for us.

But I want to hone in and get you just a few themes about in our perspective of life, when you understand the truth and the reality of the resurrection, it changes everything forever.

Here in this section that we're pulling from today, the Bible says this But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.

But each one in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

So what is he saying there?

Here's what he's saying.

We have a sin nature because we inherited it from our parents and from their parents and their parents and their parents.

When he says, as an Adam all die, Adam and Eve were created in the Garden of Eden, and there was no sin attached to them yet.

They had not done that, but God gave them a choice, and in the Garden of Eden they chose to reject Him and to fall to temptation and pursue their own desires, and sin entered into the world as an Adam all die.

And everyone since then, that sin nature is passed down through our, through the human race, through the process of how we're all born.

We are all sinners by birth, by nature, and by choice.

It started in Adam and it's gone all the way through.

Jesus is the only man who never sinned.

And so that's why he says here, in Christ all will be made alive.

And so he makes it clear in verse 20, Christ has been raised from the dead.

What happens is he has been explaining that just as he explained at the gospel at the beginning of this, Jesus died according to the scriptures, so we would know there would be a death that paid the price for our sins.

We would be able to identify Jesus as the Savior.

He rose again, conquering death and sin.

And Paul is explaining in this chapter the importance of the resurrection, that everything hinges on the resurrection.

If Jesus stayed in the grave, there is no salvation.

There is no life to pass on.

But when Jesus rose from the dead, in that resurrection power, he creates that eternal life, that salvation life, that new life that we have in Him.

And so, in just the way that all of us come from the line of Adam, when you make Jesus your Savior, you are now adopted into the family of God, and you are now in the line of Jesus.

And so he says that as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

Verse 23, but each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, afterward at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet, or defeats them.

And the last enemy to be abolished is death.

For God has put everything under his feet, but when it says everything is put under him, it is obvious that God, who puts everything under Jesus, is the exception.

And when everything is subject to Christ, then the Son Himself will also be subject to the one God the Father, who subjected everything to him, so that God may be all in all.

Otherwise, what will they do who are being baptized for the dead?

If the dead are not raised at all, then why are people baptized for them?

Why are we in danger every hour?

Paul is saying here, he is in danger for preaching the gospel.

We know he was beaten, he was run out of town, he was shipwrecked, he was left for dead.

All of this persecution that happened to Paul, because he's preaching the gospel, he says, if there's not a resurrection, why would I be doing that?

Why would I be risking my life?

Why would I be in a spot when they stone me and I die?

If there's no resurrection, why would I put myself at that risk?

Why are we in danger every hour?

I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord, I die every day.

If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good would that do me?

In other words, the animals there, he's using as an illustration, a word picture of the people who are attacking his preaching of the gospel, who are persecuting him or preaching the gospel.

And he says, If I fought them with only human hope, if the only thing I had to place hope in standing against that persecution was me or what hope I can muster up, why would I do that?

That don't make any sense.

Paul is preaching the gospel and the resurrection because he believes in the resurrection.

And he is preaching that Jesus saves because he believes Jesus saves.

And if he, like Stephen, was put to death for preaching of the gospel, Paul's fine with that because his hope is not in this life, it is in Jesus and the resurrection.

And so that's the rhetorical question he's setting up there.

So he says, if the dead are not raised, let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.

If there's no resurrection, why are we working this hard to live good lives for the Lord if there's nothing that comes after this?

If this is all there is, then you just better enjoy it, right?

That's what he's saying.

But we know that's not the truth.

He says, Do not be deceived.

Bad company corrupts good morals.

Come to your senses and stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God, and I say this to your shame.

And so here's what he's saying.

There are people in that culture who had decided there was no resurrection.

And their version of religion or philosophy as it got mixed up with Greek philosophy and all that was that good in and of itself was inherently what it should be, and you live for good here, and there was nothing afterwards, and the good that was inherent in the good was enough for you to be good.

But there was nothing that happens after you die.

And Paul's saying, that's ridiculous.

That doesn't make any sense.

If the only joy in life is here, then you better go squeeze all the joy out of it that you can.

And we see a lot of people who live that way under that philosophy today.

But he says, Listen, I believe that there is a life after death, that there is heaven, and that Jesus has saved us, and he is our Savior, and there are rewards in heaven, and the joy is to spend an eternity with him.

And so here in this life, I live in light of the fact of the resurrection.

The resurrection changes everything in our perspective.

So let me show you this first.

The resurrection first should turn our perspective towards eternity.

We should not be people who live for what's fun tomorrow or what I can do next week or what I can get or what I can buy or what I can experience or whatever.

We should be living in light of the fact that there is an eternity.

Paul is teaching in this passage, because there is a resurrection, because Jesus rose from the dead, he is going to come back, and he is going to save us, and we're going to spend an eternity with him in heaven.

Look what he says.

At his coming, he is referring to the fact that Jesus is going to come again.

Now, you know, when Jesus rose again, as Paul said at the beginning of the chapter, he appeared to all those people, he appeared to all those eyewitnesses, and then in Acts chapter 1, it describes how he's ascended into heaven.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

And we know from several other scriptures that Jesus is now in heaven, sitting at the right hand of the Father, praying for us.

He's praying for us this morning as we are preaching the gospel.

And we are waiting for that time when Jesus will come home.

He will come back to us and take us home.

He will come back to us here and take us home.

We'll be with him forever.

Now you see that reference about some who have passed away.

There were questions all throughout this time.

That first generation of Christians, they were waiting for Jesus to return.

And when he didn't return, and grandma died and grandpa died, or mom and dad died, and Jesus hadn't come back yet, they were still trying to sort through.

What does that mean?

And Paul is saying, look, because of the resurrection, they haven't missed anything.

They're going to be with him forever in heaven, and Jesus is going to come back.

And later in the chapter, he describes how that happens.

And he says that the dead in Christ will rise and life will happen and resurrection will take us and we will all go to heaven.

He prophesies again that Jesus is coming back.

Scripture tells us we should live as if we believe Jesus is coming back.

Instead of living just doing whatever we do and what everybody else does and whatever gets on TikTok and whatever other thing, we should be living because we believe at any moment this is the time that Jesus could come back.

And take us to be in heaven forever, the heaven that we talked about last week.

And Paul is calling us to that truth.

Look at what he says.

When uh verse 23, each in his own order, Christ the first fruits, Christ is the first one who's risen from the dead, and he has the ability to raise others who know him as their Savior as well.

Afterwards, at his coming, those who belong to Christ.

And so if they've passed away before Jesus comes back, he's going to raise them because they belong to him, and the resurrection is real, and we're all going to be in heaven forever.

And then he describes the end times.

Then comes the end when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father.

In other words, Jesus is ruling, Jesus is expanding the gospel, all those things are happening.

And at the end, as we talked about last week from Revelation 21, the week before from Revelation 20, with hell, when Satan is defeated forever, Jesus defeats him forever.

Jesus defeats death forever.

He remakes and redeems the world that we live in and all becomes as God planned it to be, because Jesus redeems it in his resurrection power.

That's what all this business is right here.

For he must reign until he puts all his enemies on Under his feet.

All of this has got to work itself out.

God is advancing the gospel and people are being saved.

And yes, there is spiritual warfare that goes on now, but we know we're going to win in the end.

And ultimately, as we looked at two weeks ago, Jesus takes Satan and those who follow him and those who have rejected him and he puts them in hell forever.

And they are gone and they are judged, and Jesus defeats them, and they will never create sin or problems ever again because Jesus defeats them.

Jesus defeats death.

And we saw in Revelation 21 last week in heaven, the Bible says that God remakes all of this, and then he creates it as a place for us to live with him, and he will be our God, and we will be his people, and there'll be no more death.

Because he resurrected, he conquered death, and he makes it happen.

He makes all of this new.

Look at the expansive picture of this.

He says, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when he abolishes all rule and authority and power, for he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet, and the last enemy to be abolished is death.

And it's this incredible picture of Jesus sets everything right.

In Colossians, the Bible talks about this.

He talks about creation and how creation is redeemed.

And I just want to read this because this is a there's a translation that's helpful a lot of times for people to read some of these complicated scriptures called the message.

And I want you to hear what it says.

In Colossians chapter 1, he's describing how Jesus is the creator and then ties that to him as the redeemer.

Colossians 1 · chapter mention

And he says, For by him, Jesus, all things were created.

Things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities, all things were created by Jesus and for Jesus.

He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

And he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning and the firstborn from the dead, so that in everything he might be supreme.

Now listen to what how he ends this.

This is a version from the message.

Jesus was supreme in the beginning and leading the resurrection parade, he is supreme in the end.

Now that'll bless you right there.

From beginning to end, Jesus is there, towering far above everything and everyone.

So spacious is he, so roomy that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.

Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe, people and things, animals and atoms, get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies.

All because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross, and his resurrection.

Because he rose in resurrection, power to redeem.

He will redeem it all and put it right.

We should live as if we believe that to be true.

We should share that incredible message with others as if we believe it's true.

If that is the case, and if we believe that, and that is factually what happened, Jesus rose from the dead to accomplish this purpose, and his resurrection means he's going to come back and set it all right.

That is the hope for mankind.

We cannot sit on that message and hide it.

We've got to share it and proclaim it, as Paul says in this chapter.

The second thing that the resurrection should do with our perspective, it focuses us towards eternity, but it should affect how we live right now.

I love this one here.

He says, come to your senses.

Come to your senses and stop sinning.

What's that all about?

He sets up this rhetorical question, this description of, listen, I need so much more hope in life than just what I can generate in myself.

He says, I need the hope that the resurrection Jesus brings.

And that hope is so powerful, I am willing to risk my life and even forfeit my life for the gospel because I know Jesus has resurrected from the dead, he's conquered death, and I am not going to die because of the resurrection.

And then he says, Listen, what's all this bad company corrupts good morals?

Sometimes even mom will say that to you, right?

Or something like that.

We take on the attitudes and the actions of the people around the most.

But this is really a rich picture right here.

He says, Listen, you of all people, as the Christians, should live in light of the resurrection.

You should be telling people about Jesus because you know they'll be saved for eternity.

You understand that judgment is coming, and so you're going to live for Jesus because you're going to give an account for what happens in your Christian life when you get there.

He says, but here's your problem.

This whole bad company, what he's talking about in that bad company corrupts good morals.

He is addressing the fact that there are people who don't believe in the resurrection.

And he's like, listen, when you're running around with people who don't believe in the resurrection, they are affecting you.

This word company is a beautiful word.

It means that I am in the presence and conversation with people, and that conversation affects me.

And he says, listen, when you spend all your time with people who are just trying to buy what they can get now, why would you ever tithe because you haven't thought of eternity?

You don't have any thought about people being saved.

You just want what you want here, and it's because you are living a life outside of a hope for eternity because you're spending your time with people who don't have a view of eternity.

When we're running around with people that are only talking about things now and they don't understand the future and they don't understand what's happening, then we're going to live that same way.

And he says, listen, come to your senses.

How in the world can you live and spend this time where the people that affect your life that you're in conversation with that are affecting your perspective?

They are giving you an earthly perspective with no sense of eternity.

Come to your senses.

Why are you living that way?

I mean, he gets on to them.

Come to your senses.

Stop sinning, for some people are ignorant about God.

He says, Why are you paying attention to them?

Why are you seeking advice for them?

Why are you doing the same things they're doing?

Why are you pursuing the same things they're pursuing?

Why do you want the same things they want?

Because you are a person who believes in eternity and what's going to happen under the reign of a resurrected Jesus.

It should change how we look at our life now.

If I'm waiting for Jesus to return, if I'm believing that Jesus is going to reward the choices I faith now, if I'm looking at the people around me and I'm realizing you're going to die and go to hell.

You need Jesus, then I've got to change my behavior to live like I believe in eternity.

And in our church life, in our personal lives, man, we've we've got to get a grasp of what eternity means for us.

First of all, it gives us hope.

Paul says, look, I'm out here risking my life preaching the gospel because I have real hope.

I don't have human hope.

I have Jesus hope.

And if I end up martyring for the gospel, praise God, I'm just in heaven.

In Philippians chapter 1, he says, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1 · chapter mention

Like, go ahead.

Send me to heaven.

That means I graduated and won.

Like, let's go.

I mean, he's got that.

It gives us a hope and a power.

It gives us an incredible power to know that we are serving a resurrected Savior.

Listen, I prayed today for people to be saved.

I pray for people to be watching and being saved.

I pray for people here to be saved because I believe Jesus saves.

I'm praying for people to be saved because I believe Jesus conquered death and sin.

He really did.

And if we'll share that, people will be saved.

It changes our perspective and it turns me into a person, or it should, that says, Man, get your mind right, Greg.

Jesus rose again.

And let's go tell somebody about it.

Let's live like it.

Let's not get frustrated.

Let's not lose our faith.

Let's not look at the things around us, but let's look at the fact that Jesus conquered death and sin, and that's going to change how I live.

That is a hope for life that no one can take away from you.

That Jesus conquered death.

He rose again.

The resurrection changes our perspective.

It gives us an eternal perspective.

It changes how we do life now, which brings to the end of this chapter that it affects how and why we serve.

Look at the end of the chapter.

When you come to all the end and all this description of all of that, as we sang this morning, look in verse 55.

Death wears your victory, death wears your sting.

Now the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Our resurrected Lord Jesus Christ is what he's talking about.

Therefore, because of that truth, my dear brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Listen, when you serve Jesus, it resonates for eternity in heaven.

When you share Jesus, it resonates for eternity in heaven.

When you participate in missions or when you sign up for the prayer force and you're praying over that mission trip, you are participating in ministry that resonates forever in heaven.

Listen, we need, he says here, to be steadfast and immovable in our service.

We should be pursuing Jesus with all we have and serving and living that way because we know that we know that we know it works because it is driven in the resurrected power of Jesus Christ.

He is shouting at the end of this.

There are exclamation points.

There are places of dramatic where he pulls it together right here.

He says, Listen, the resurrection matters.

You're living in a city, in a culture, in Corinth, where they're trying to take away the resurrection and they're trying to say it doesn't matter.

And I'm telling you, the only thing that matters is that Jesus conquered death and sin.

And when you understand Jesus conquered death and sin, you've got to live like it.

You've got to affect the people around you rather than affecting you.

This week I'm going back to Memphis and I'm getting a chance to speak in chapel in the high school that I went to, which is a little bit intimidating.

And so I talked to the principal this week and he said, Are there any teachers still here from when you were in school?

And as I started running through all the names of the teachers, not only were they not teaching anymore, they were all dead.

That's a little, that's a little, uh, oh wow.

I'm that old now, right?

But going back and I'm thinking through when I was there, and I remember, I remember being in chapel as a high school kid.

I remember being taught this is what we believe.

The Bible is true.

It told us that God had a plan for salvation.

It tells us that Jesus came to be that plan of salvation.

It identified him as our Savior.

It tells us that Jesus rose from the dead.

We have eyewitness testimony of hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people who saw the resurrected Jesus, who touched him, who heard him preach, who saw him alive.

People who died preaching that message and standing for that fact.

I remember as a high school kid being told, you've got to set your life for Jesus because the only thing that will matter, with your life in front of you and all the things that you see, the only thing that will matter is what lasts forever.

And that's the things we do through Jesus, for Jesus in his power.

But when they last, they last because they were done in the power of Jesus working in your life and through your life.

You have the opportunity with Jesus as your Savior to have the resurrected power of Jesus working in your life.

Working through your life.

Listen, every time you teach a Sunday school class and you tell a young person about how to be saved, it resonates for eternity.

Every time you show up faithfully in church and you impact the people in your Sunday school group and you encourage them to walk with Jesus and you spot someone who needs to be prayed for, and you show up at their house and you cut their grass or bring them a meal, it resonates for eternity, forever.

Every time you witness in that workplace and you may not even see the result, but every time you share Jesus, there are seeds that are sown that the Lord of the harvest, He waters and He germinates and it resonates in eternity forever.

Be steadfast and immovable, always excelling in the Lord's work, knowing, knowing, knowing that your work is not in vain in Jesus.

How do we know that?

Because it is led and empowered by the resurrected Jesus Christ.

What are we pursuing?

What are we pursuing?

You see, that's the question.

Has the resurrection changed your perspective?

Are you living in light of eternity?

Are you brokenhearted for people who are going to spend an eternity in hell?

And you want them to know they can spend an eternity in heaven?

Are you investing in the lives of people around you?

Are you investing in the advance of the gospel?

Who are you taking with you to heaven?

Who are you encouraging and building up so that they are living that way?

As we close this morning, I want to ask you, has the perspective of the resurrection changed your life?

I want you to bow your heads before we close.

And we're going to have an opportunity for you to make a decision.

I'm just a moment going to pray.

God's people are going to stand and sing a testimony, and we're going to give you an opportunity to give your life to Jesus, the resurrected Savior.

We've shared the gospel all throughout this message.

But the upshot of it is this.

If you know you need to be saved, just like that man on the cross, you call out to Jesus, knowing I can't do anything to change this, but Jesus changes it all.

If you've never accepted Christ as your Savior, I'm going to invite you to come.

We'll have pastors at aisles, we'll have somebody near the balcony, you come.

If you want someone to pray with you, you come.

If you need a church family and you need to join so that you can get involved and be steadfast and immovable, always bounding in work, then you come and serve with us.

If you need someone to pray with you, you come.

We are here for you.

I'm going to pray and then we're going to stand and sing.

And if you need Jesus, you come.

Lord, we pray this morning that you'll take this message in truth that Paul taught us.

And give us the freedom to respond.

If there's someone who's never trusted Christ, help them to know they can be saved by the resurrected Jesus.

He loves them and he did that for them.

If we know Christ is our Savior, challenge us, encourage us, point out to us how we can make a greater commitment to live in light of the resurrection.

This is our prayer.

We ask you to move.

In Jesus' name we pray, and all God's people said.

We pray this message has been a blessing to you and helped to strengthen your walk with Jesus.

Please know we want to minister to you and pray for you.

Send an email to contact us at fsfbc.org and let us pray for you and help you in any way we can.

Thank you for listening to Chapter and First, the Bible Teaching Ministry of Fort Smith's First Baptist Church.