The Absolute Necessity of The Resurrection

00:02 It's good to be in the house of the Lord this morning on a Resurrection Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. I prefer to use the term Resurrection Sunday because Easter has kind of some pagan connotations, although we don't think of it in that way. But Resurrection, that's the biblical term. And so we're glad for the presence of each one this morning. 00:24 So thankful that the Holy Spirit is here with us today and making the presence of Christ known to us. And what a wonderful service we've had so far. And just was so blessed with the children singing this morning. I was doing a little calculation while they were singing. There were 35 children up here this morning. 00:43 35 between the age of what'd you say? Three, four, two? Two to twelve? Four to twelve? Three to twelve? And that means that there's less... there are more that are less than that age. And there are some intermediates that are over that age. And so that's the hope of the future is our children and our young folks. 01:04 And they're not only part of the church in the future, but they're part of the church today. We say that often, but it's true. But nevertheless, the hope, the hope that we have... I hear parents these days say, and I would have said some of the same things back when we were raising children, that, you know, should one bring children into the world in the uncertain times in which we live? 01:26 And yet I think that plays right into the hand of the enemy who wants to destroy the witness of God and through Christian families. And so we love children. We love grandchildren. We love our youth. We love our parents, grandparents. We just appreciate and love so much each one of you this morning. 01:46 And then I was thinking about a thing that I saw on Facebook this week. There's a few things that... many things on Facebook that aren't worth talking about or even seeing. But there's a few things that come across every once in a while that kind of ring true. 02:03 And I saw it this week that said Jesus is coming soon. And on the white horse was Christ pictured coming down from heaven. And the caption said this: "He's not coming to take sides. He's coming to take over." And I like that. 02:24 I like that. And that's what He did on the cross, which looked like a defeat. It looked like a failure. But it was actually the doorway to resurrection, eternal life, and triumph and glory. And so this morning our faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ. 02:43 It's in the person and finished work of the cross and of Christ. But part of that finished work is the work of the resurrection that completed redemption for us. And whatever you believe about whatever this morning, you are not a Christian unless you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 03:05 And we believe that. That is one of the foundational, pinnacle truths of our faith is that Jesus Christ conquered sin, hell, death, and the grave and rose out of that grave. And you remember a couple of weeks ago we ministered on the subject of the Feast of First Fruits. And we talked about that feast, 03:25 that they took the first fruits of barley and they waved it before the Lord at the same time that Christ was being presented as risen from the dead. And Christ is the first fruits of them that slept. 03:42 What that meant was that just like the first fruits of this harvest were presented to the Lord as a special offering guaranteeing that there was more to come. The harvest was ready to come in. Even so Christ, as the first fruits of them that sleep in Jesus, is the guarantee that there's more to come. 04:03 And that the power of the resurrection that resurrected the body of Jesus Christ will one day resurrect us, not just spiritually, although that is the case at this point where we are spiritually made alive in Christ, but physically resurrected back to dead bodies coming to life. 04:25 Dead bodies coming to life, being reunited with their spirit. And that's one of the cardinal teachings of the gospel of the Christian faith is the resurrection. Now turn in your copies of the Scriptures to 1 Corinthians 15. We want to pick up where we left off several weeks ago on 1 Corinthians 15. 04:43 And 04:46 in verses 12 through 19, I just want to recap a little bit where He says that if Christ is not risen and if there is no resurrection... He's talking to a group of people who had been hearing rumors that maybe this thing of the resurrection was kind of a hoax. It was a myth. It was just a spiritual reality. 05:07 And Paul comes along and says there's literally a resurrected Christ and there is a resurrection that is coming. And He says, "If there is no resurrection, then Christ is not risen." Verse 13. "And if Christ is not risen." Verse 14. 05:26 "Then our preaching is futile. It is empty. It is meaningless. It's a lie. It's not true. None of it. None of it's true." In fact, someone has said that either Christ is a lunatic or a liar or Lord. 05:46 You can't have it any other way. Either He was a lunatic and out of His mind with delusions of being something that He was not and with teachings about something coming that was not to come. Or He's a liar and He knew that He was a fake and He taught people astray. Or He's Lord. 06:07 It's really very simple. And if He's Lord, He requires... yes, He demands that we bow at His feet and receive Him for who He is, the Son of God, the God, the Son. So He says, "Our preaching is empty if there's no resurrection and Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, 06:26 our preaching is empty and your faith is empty as well. What you've believed is in vain. It is futile. It is worthless. You might as well give up pretending. Give up pretending." And He says, "If that's the case, then we are found false witnesses of God. We as apostles preaching this Word of God, 06:47 preaching this resurrection, preaching this unique Christ who is different than any other man who has ever lived. Nobody has ever had experienced what Christ experienced in being raised from the dead. There have been some that have been resuscitated from the dead and then had to die again. 07:08 Poor old Lazarus. You know, he just got through death once and then he came back to life and then he had to die all over again. You know, nobody else except Jesus Christ has experienced death and been resurrected like Jesus. Now there's a couple of people who went to heaven that were Enoch and Elijah, but they didn't die. 07:30 They didn't die. They didn't taste death and then come forth. They're a picture of something else happening symbolically and a picture of the church, a picture of the end of the time when we who are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And so if that's the case, 07:49 that there is no resurrection and you are still in your sins, your faith is in vain, you're still in your sins. Verse 17. "Your faith is futile. And not only that, but your loved ones who you thought have gone to heaven to be with the Lord, and they're not. 08:08 They're not. They've perished. They're gone. They're in hell. They're in hellfire. They're in a place of eternal torment if there's no resurrection from the dead. 08:18 Or just about as bad is they're just like a dog that you keel over or you put to sleep and you dig a hole in the backyard and you bury them and forget that they ever existed, which is just about as bad when it comes to the hope for eternity. And then He says, 08:39 "If that's all the case, then we are of all people most miserable and most pitiable. We are to be pitied." But I love the verse 20. Of all the times in the New Testament when Paul used the term, "But now..." He uses it here to contrast the error from the truth. 09:01 And He says, "But now Christ is risen." Why don't you say that with me this morning? "But now Christ is risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, Adam, by man came also the resurrection of the dead, Christ. 09:23 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But each one in his own order. Christ the first fruits. Afterward those who are Christ at His coming. Then comes the end when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, 09:43 when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. For He has put all things under His feet. But when He says all things are put under Him, 10:02 it is evident that He who put all things under Him is accepted." In other words, the one who told Christ to put all things under His feet is the only thing that won't be put under His feet. See? The Father, God the Father, giving God the Son, the order to put all things under His feet. 10:21 Verse 28. "But when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead if the dead do not rise at all? Why then are they baptized for the dead? 10:41 And why do we stand in jeopardy every hour? I affirm by the boasting in you, which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If in the manner of men I have fought with beasts as at Ephesus, what advantage is it to me if the dead do not rise? Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. 11:03 Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Awake to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." You talk about being woke. There's a lot of talk today about being woke. Woke people, woke corporations, woke to this, woke to that. 11:22 I'll tell you what we ought to be woke to. Verse 34. "To righteousness. Awake to righteousness and do not sin and have this knowledge that some do not have." Now, what about this necessity? We've titled the message this morning, "The Absolute." That means unconditional, unquestionable, 11:42 without question, without exception, the absolute necessity of the resurrection. I want to give you several things this morning that are true if there is no resurrection. Going through Paul's logic here, it's very logical, laying things out. 12:01 Number one, without the resurrection, the enemies of God are not all subdued. Okay? 12:10 Without the resurrection, the enemies of God, and there are many, one particular out of which flows all the rebellion and sin and pride and arrogance and everything that flows out of His system, the enemy, the devil, the old dragon, the serpent. Without the resurrection, 12:30 the enemies of God are not all subdued. Verse 24 and 25. "Then comes the end after the resurrection when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. 12:53 And the last enemy that will be destroyed is what? Death." So is there still death around folks? All right. Then the enemies of God have not all been subdued. And so we're still in this period of subduing the enemies. 13:11 And if the enemies of God are not subdued and death still has control over the human race, then we are told that there is a resurrection that will one day subdue the enemies of God and bring to nothing all of the rulers, all of the authorities, all the power, and all the enemies, the last one of which is death. 13:33 "I have news for the nations of the world that think they are so high and mighty. I have news for those kings and and and rulers and presidents and prime ministers who who who sit back and thumb their nose at God or shake their fists at God. They will be put down. 13:53 They will be put down without exception. Every single one of them will be put down by our Lord Jesus Christ. And that culminates in the resurrection." And so this morning, if the enemies of God are going to be subdued, then that enemy of death is going to be subdued. 14:13 And it must be so by the resurrection. The second thing that is true without the resurrection... Without the resurrection, not all things are not under the authority of God in Christ. It's very similar to the first, but verse 28. "Now when all things are made subject to Him, 14:33 then the Son Himself will be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." We look forward to the time when Jesus Christ comes back not to take sides, but to take over and takes the kingdoms of this world and makes them His and presents them to the Father and says, 14:54 "Here, Father, is everything that You created that I have came to redeem and to purchase and buy back. Everything is finished. And the Father reigns all in all in all in all. 15:08 And there's nothing left but God's glorious, victorious reign." What a wonderful concept. What a wonderful truth that God is going to have the last word. Just keep this in mind. What we're talking about with the resurrection is that God has the last word. 15:29 Man does not have the last word. God has the last word. And nothing that exalts itself against God, no argument, no idea, no concept, no social engineering, nothing that is against God will be allowed to stand whatsoever. 15:53 And that is true because of the resurrection. The third thing we see without the resurrection is man's heart remains unsatisfied. Now this gets a little bit technical here and a little bit confusing in verse 29. He's talking about this glorious truth of the resurrection, putting the enemies under His feet. 16:15 He says, "Otherwise, what will they do who are baptized for the dead? 16:19 If the dead do not rise at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?" You say, "What is that all about?" And if you ever go to the Mormon Tabernacle or the Mormon Temple out in Salt Lake City, Utah, you will be confronted with that verse as an indication 16:38 that they believe in being baptized for dead people. 16:42 And so if you have a lost loved one or maybe they're not so lost, but you don't know if they're saved, you don't know if they're in their own universe becoming God or not, or if they have their spark of deity that has been ignited and is growing forth in their death. If you don't know this, 17:01 then you can have prayers and baptisms for your dead relatives. In fact, there's a good chance that I have been prayed for by Mormons because I have some Mormon cousins that my grandfather on my mother's side, who was her dad, had a brother who became Mormon, 17:23 married a Mormon, and raised his children in the Mormon faith. It's wrong. It's ill-conceived. But there were those who were baptizing people in proxy for the dead. Now the interpretations of this verse are all over the map. 17:43 Some people believe that the word means here that they were actually baptizing people on the graves of the martyrs. 17:53 Baptizing for the dead could also mean over the dead. And so they would be baptized on the graves of martyrs to gain that extra power from their baptism. Other people believe that it was for the dead one, meaning Christ. 18:07 In other words, we could go along with that if that being scriptural, that you're being baptized for the dead one or for Jesus Christ and His death. Others believe that this would mean the dead being washed and prepared for burial in anticipation for the resurrection. So they would be baptized the dead body as it were washing, 18:27 washing, washing the dead body, preparing it for for for burial. Some people believe this means they were being baptized as being dead in Christ. Dead in Christ, buried with Christ, risen with Christ. That would be a possible understanding. 18:43 Other people believe that this baptism was connected to suffering that Jesus referred to when He talked about being baptized with the baptism that He was baptized with in relation to suffering and death. And then in our case, martyrdom. And that could be a possibility. 19:01 Some people had the idea that this verse means that new converts were being baptized to replace the ones who had died. Well, that certainly needs to happen because the one generation passes away, whether they're martyred or whether they die a natural death, they will be no more. 19:15 And another generation takes their place and fills up the church as being baptized in place of the dead. Other people believe that these were new converts who came to faith from the influence of saints who had died. 19:33 So some saint had died and influenced someone else to become a believer. And so they were baptized by their influence of others. Some had the idea that being baptized... 19:45 That the baptized one on behalf of those who died were under instruction and had intended baptism but had died before baptism. So some people think, well, this was... They were baptized for the person who had faith in Christ but had been... 20:04 Was being instructed and had not yet been baptized. And so they were baptized in proxy. All kinds of weird, some rather bizarre interpretations. One person says that this refers to baptism being understood as a cardinal doctrine that attracted people to Christianity. Well, I can go along with that, 20:24 that it is a cardinal doctrine that attracts people to Christianity. Some people will say, well, this is a pagan custom. It is a custom that someone was doing. But what Paul is saying here, he's not condoning the custom. He's saying that this custom speaks of some sort of longing in the human heart to live forever. 20:45 That's what I believe it means. That there's some sort of longing in the human heart that wants to live on after we die. Do you believe that? Do you see that around us? We want that. We want that. 20:57 In fact, many of the cathedrals in the Middle Ages were built as a monument so that someone would be remembered for their glory and for their service to God for a long time after they died. So you have St. Matthew or St. Luke's or St. John the Apostle or whatever, 21:19 all these saints, so that we remember these people after they die. There's something about us that wants to be remembered. Anybody here this morning when you die want to be forgotten? I don't think so. There's something within us all the way from Ponce de León. History lessons, children. Ponce de León, what did he look for? 21:39 The fountain of youth. Thought he found it in Florida. Got to tell you folks, people die in Florida. They get old. They die in Florida. 21:50 But what it is, is there's a desire in the heart of mankind to live on and a desire to live forever. There's something connected to the heart of man. 22:04 And if there is no resurrection, that God-given desire to live and to live on 22:14 goes unsatisfied. There was a missionary who gave this account. When he was in South Africa, he heard one of the Christian men give an address, a message that said, "This is an illustration that he used. When a heathen is dying, the witch doctors put in his hand a dead bone." Why would they do that? 22:34 That dead bone was the passport into the world beyond. Weird, right? 22:42 But there's all kinds of weird things that have been concocted by the pagans or through the years to try to satisfy this inborn need to live forever and this inborn fear of dying. 22:59 That man went on to say that we do not grasp a dead bone as we pass through the veil. We grasp a living hand, the living hand of the Lord. So he... 23:11 Bible says in Ecclesiastes, "He has set eternity in their hearts." There is something of eternity in every heart that God has created. And without the resurrection, that goes unsatisfied. Why would God put it in us if it could never be satisfied? 23:31 Another thing that's true in this passage is that the struggle without the resurrection, the struggle that we go through is futile. Verse 30. He talks about the struggle that he's going through. He said, "Why do we stand in jeopardy every hour?" Or the word could be translated danger. 23:50 Why do we stand in danger every hour? Speaking of his apostolic calling, his calling to defend the faith, his calling to deny the flesh, and his calling to secure the future of the church. 24:09 Why go through all this stuff if there's no resurrection? If there's no resurrection, then the struggle that Paul went through is empty. And the struggle that you and I go through is empty as well. Without the resurrection, the struggle for the faith is empty. 24:29 Why contend for the faith? Why care what anybody believes or does or has available to them? Why care about the gospel? Because there's really no gospel if there is no resurrection. And the inner struggle with the flesh, Paul says in verse 31, "I affirm by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, 24:49 I die daily." Paul, why would you need to die daily? Die daily to what? Die daily to sin. Why would you die daily? Why go to the trouble of dying every day and denying yourself the passions of the flesh? Why? If there's no resurrection, sin boldly. 25:09 Verse 32, "If there's no resurrection, let us eat and drink. For tomorrow we die." And if, by the way, you want to check out early, no difference. We still die. Buried like a dead dog. 25:26 In fact, buried if at buried at all or maybe just discarded along the road like a dead raccoon or possum. What's the point? But we come back. "But now is Christ risen and become the first fruits of them that slept." Next, 25:46 without the resurrection, sin reigns. Verse 32, "Let us eat and drink. For tomorrow we die." The fight with the beast, what advantage is it? Fight over sin, what advantage is it? Trying to contend for the faith and for the eternal destiny of souls, what advantage is it if there's no resurrection? 26:07 Without a resurrection, sin reigns. And without a resurrection, there's no power over sin. May I remind you that the resurrection power, while it is about raising us at the last day, it is also about giving us the power and strength and victory over sin day after day after day. 26:28 The same resurrection power that abides in Christ abides in us to overcome sin. And so this morning, if you believe in the resurrection, then you must also believe in the Spirit of God which raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken you. Your mortal bodies, 26:48 your spirit, your soul, your spiritual condition can be victorious because of that same power. Next, without the resurrection, the glory of God in mankind is not fully restored. 27:08 God created men and women to represent His glory. For for the past 6,000 years since Adam did what he did and Eve did what she did in the garden, we have not reflected that glory very well at all, have we? 27:25 Even those of us who name the name of Christ don't reflect it very well sometimes. And if there's no resurrection, there's no resurrection power. And with no resurrection power, there's really no way to reflect God's glory well. And even if there is a resurrection power and no resurrection of the body, 27:45 well, then we're still not representing Him very well. You see, God wants everything back, including the body. He wants everything back. So that's why there must be a final resurrection so that God can fully be glorified in man. 28:03 Let's look at what He says in verses 43. 28:10 "It is sown in dishonor." Well, what is? The body that dies. "It is sown in dishonor. 28:17 It is raised in glory." Having watched a number of people die, one of which was my mother from cancer, you've heard me say this before, but watching that death, 28:35 I came to realize there's nothing glorious about death according to the flesh. Nothing. I mean, we see them when they're really made up. They got the nice clothes on them. They got their glasses just right if they're on at all. They got the makeup. They got... I mean, I've actually seen some people that look better in the casket than they looked in life. 28:55 I'm serious. Because of disease of the body. And they get all nice and do the best they can. But folks, brothers and sisters, death is an enemy. It is an enemy. 29:08 And it is not a glorious thing unless there's a resurrection and unless there is hope of the resurrection. And so it is sown in dishonor, that old body that gets discarded and lovingly, lovingly and tenderly because it was the house of God. 29:29 God dwelt in that body, in that personality. We don't defame the body. We don't desecrate the body any more than we would desecrate a church which represented God's presence in a community. And so we respectfully honor this body, but it's sown in dishonor. 29:51 But it's raised in what? 29:56 Verse 43, power. 30:00 It's raised in power and glory. Just take the resurrection out of it, and this is what you get. So also is the body. It is sown in corruption, period. It is sown in dishonor, period. It is sown in weakness, period. It is sown a natural body, period. 30:23 Without a resurrection, that's what you get. In fact, Thomas Jefferson didn't believe in the resurrection. And he did his own translation of the Bible, of the gospels. Guess where he stopped in his translation of the gospel? He stopped with the crucifixion and the burial. 30:41 And they took and laid the body of Christ in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, and he was buried, period. That's not good news. That's actually sad news. Because the sad news is you can live a perfect life and still have a period after your death. 31:02 Jesus came to give a comma, a comma. There's more to come. The sentence is not finished. And so without the resurrection, the glory of God in mankind is not fully restored. Next, without the resurrection, the Word of God is not dependable. 31:23 Now we're going to get a little bit more personal here. Without the resurrection, the Word of God is not dependable. Verse 55, "Because the Scripture says, 'O death, where is your sting? O Hades, O hell, where is your victory?'" You see, that was a quotation from the Old Testament. Death is swallowed up in victory, a reference to the Old Testament. 31:44 The Word of God is not reliable if these verses do not mean a resurrection. The Bible says in Hosea 13:14, "I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be your plagues. O grave, I will be your destruction." Daniel 12:3, 32:03 "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake," comma, "some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." There's a comma there. There's more to come. Daniel 12:13, "But you, Daniel, go your way till the end, 32:22 for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days." These are promises, the promise of God in Psalm 16:9-10. "Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. My flesh also shall rest in hope." What is hope? It is the confidence that there's more to come that is better than today. 32:43 "For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell," Hades, the place of departed spirits, "neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to see corruption." The body of Jesus was not allowed to decay. And our body, while it may decay and does decay, will be renewed. Two more things, brothers and sisters. 33:05 Without the resurrection, Christ Himself is a deceiver. Jesus Himself said, "Marvel not at this. Don't be surprised at this." This is nothing to be all that alarmed about. He says, "The hour is coming in which all that are in the graves, 33:27 all, all that are in the graves shall hear His voice and shall come forth, they that have done good unto the resurrection of life and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." Now, if there is no resurrection, then Jesus just told a lie. 33:50 He just lied to us. And if you can't trust the prophet in one thing, you can't trust Him in anything. If you can't trust Jesus and the Word of God in this, you'll never be able to trust Him in anything else. The last thing that I want to share with you that is true, if there is no resurrection, 34:11 then if there is no resurrection, death has the last word. Death has the last word. And if death has the last word, who else gets it? Well, if death is an enemy of God, 34:32 where does death come from? It comes from the enemy of God. 34:40 And so death being the enemy is a reflection of the enemy, the devil. Now, God uses it. We get that. But ultimately, it comes from being separated from God and gone after the enemy of God. 35:01 And so if death is not defeated, death has the last word. And if death has the last word, Satan has the last word. Brothers and sisters, this cannot be. I can imagine God saying to Himself, "This cannot be. 35:19 This will not be." Amen? I don't know how you can sit there like that this morning. 35:30 This will not be. And He's not coming to take sides. He's coming to take over. So hold on. Revelation 20:6 says, "Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection; over such the second death has no power." Revelation 21:4, 35:50 "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain. For the former things have passed away. 36:05 And in the middle of its street, the streets of the New Jerusalem, and on either side of the river was the tree of life." We lost that back in the Garden of Eden. We're getting it back. God having the last word. 36:24 And that tree of life bore 12 fruits, each tree yielding its fruits every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse. God having the last word. 36:46 There's one more thing we must be reminded of, and that is with this feast of first fruits. Remember the feast of first fruits that this all comes out of? With the feast of first fruits, no one could partake of the harvest until the feast of first fruits, the first fruits offering was presented. 37:07 And then all the rest of the harvest came. Nobody, nobody, nobody can experience the fullness of the resurrection until Jesus was presented to the Father that first day of the week after Passover. 37:23 And then watch it come, the harvest, the harvest. 37:30 God is gathering a harvest today, a harvest to present to His Father and say, "Father, I told you, here's all this other grain that is following me." The story is told of a missionary writer 37:49 in Korea years ago. Sat beside the bedside of a dying wife, grieved, racked with tears and pain for the separation that would come through death. Her last thought as she recognized His suffering, 38:09 she left Him a message that said something like this, "Honey, do not grieve for me. You'll get me back. You'll get me back." About a month later, that same father was by the bedside of a dying boy, 38:29 his own son, losing his wife and son within a month of each other. And the boy being cognizant said, "Daddy," remembering what his mother had said to Daddy. He said, "Don't cry, Daddy. I see a great shining light. It's coming near, Daddy. It's coming nearer. It's Mother. 38:48 It's Mother. And I want to go. I want to go. But don't cry, Daddy. Don't cry. You'll get me back. You'll get me back." A few days later, they were riding through town in a funeral procession for that little boy. One of the native Koreans said to the other, he said, 39:08 "How sad, how sad to see a father lose his wife and his son in such a short time." And the one woman said, "Don't weep for the foreigner. Weep for yourself, woman. You have lost a little girl, and you will never get her back. I have lost a little boy, and I will never get him back. 39:27 But let me tell you something. 39:28 These foreigners have a strange way of getting their dead back." And while that grief-stricken father laid the white flower on the coffin of his little one, he bowed his head before the Lord and gave himself anew to preach to the people the gospel of Jesus Christ that the dead shall live again. 39:52 It's a unique message that comes to us from the Lord Jesus Himself. Where does death come from? From Satan. Where does life come from? From God. Where does the death of Satan take you? 40:11 To hell. Where does the life of God take you? To heaven. Where are you going? Is your confidence in Jesus Christ today, or is it in the flesh? Have you made your preparations for heaven? Have you come to the place where you have said, 40:33 "I am a sinner and under the condemnation of sin and death, but by faith in Jesus Christ, I give my heart and my life to Jesus, to Jesus. And I believe that He is God's Son, that He is the Savior, 40:52 that He is the bridge to that eternal life in His presence." You see, it's really very simple. The only thing that is uncertain is our decision. Let's pray. 41:13 While we were worshiping this morning, I felt drawn by God, prompted by God to give an invitation this morning. What better time to invite people to Jesus Christ than Easter Sunday morning? 41:28 I realize that most, if not all, would claim Christ today. But possibly, you do not have the assurance of your salvation. Possibly, you don't have confidence in Christ. Possibly, you've never made a decision to receive Christ into your life. 41:47 We're not talking about being Mennonite. We're not talking about being religious. We're talking about knowing Jesus. We're talking about surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and entering into a new life with Him. And maybe you've never done that. Or maybe you have done it, 42:09 and you want to make it public this morning and take a stand for Jesus Christ. I'm going to ask Tim to just play soft music in the background while we pray. 42:22 And we're going to open the altar this morning that if there is someone by chance that feels God speaking to you in a way maybe you've never felt it before, and you are becoming convinced that Jesus is the Savior, He is Lord, He did die for sin, 42:41 He did rise again for eternal life. And God would speak to your heart saying, "I want a relationship with you. I want you to know me. I want you to be my child. I want to forgive you of your sins. 42:57 I want to take you home with me 43:02 when this life is over." And God speaking to your heart, you know when He is. You know when He is. And if He is, we're going to give you an opportunity this morning to just get up out of your seat, come down here to the front, and have someone pray with you. 43:18 Father, we take a few moments here this morning as probably the most important part of an Easter service is to give people an opportunity to know Jesus Christ, to know that their sins are forgiven, and to know that they're on their way to heaven, 43:40 to confess our condition, and to confess Christ as Lord. And so, Father, if there's someone here this morning, Lord, Holy Spirit, would You just convict and convince of righteousness and of sin and of judgment? 44:01 If you find yourself this morning 44:05 away from God and you want to get right with God, I invite you. Come, come. We're not going to take very long. 44:16 But this is the opportunity. 44:20 You say, "Do I have to go forward?" You don't have to go forward, but it helps because what it does is it takes a stand, and it makes the decision that you want to make in your heart more real and solid. 44:34 Is there anyone? God bless you, sister. Someone come pray with her, please. 44:43 Is there anyone else? 44:47 This is a safe place. It'll never get any safer. It'll never get any safer. It'll never get any easier to give your life to Jesus. Well, He did so much for us. He did so much for us. Gave His life, gave up His position, His power, His authority, 45:08 come under the authority of man who put Him to death on a rugged cross, blasphemed Him, spit on Him, beat Him, put nails through His hands and His feet to pay the price for our sins so that we can be forgiven. They laid Him in an old, 45:28 dark, damp tomb, wrapped Him up. Some cried, some wept, and some said, "Good riddance. Cover Him up." But the power of God infused the body of Jesus Christ on that resurrection morning and said, 45:48 "I am Lord, and I am in authority over death, hell, and the grave, and sin, and every enemy that Satan has tried to throw against the plan of God and the person of Christ. 46:03 He rose triumphant." And one of the greatest sins that a person can commit is to hear that and know that and walk away from it 46:18 because there's no other place for forgiveness, no other place. And so God loves you this morning. He loves you. Is there anyone else that would come and confess Christ this morning? 46:35 All right. Father, thank You for this resurrection morning. 46:41 Thank You for paying the price for my sin, for my sin, for my rebellion, for my pride, 46:55 my anger, my hatred, my bitterness, my perversions and impulses that have left to themselves would bear fruit of unrighteousness. But thank You, Lord, that You gave us eternal life and divine power, 47:16 and You've given us the Holy Spirit to live the life of Jesus Christ within us, to bear fruit, to bring forth fruit of eternal life. And so, Lord, we just rejoice this morning that You are alive. You're not a cunningly devised fable. 47:37 You're not a myth. You're not just a symbol of something better. You are real. You are Lord. You are my Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen. God bless you this morning. Shall we stand together? 47:57 Brother Justin, would you have a song for us? Let's stand and sing it.