that so you can follow along with us. We do have a habit of looking at a lot of scripture as we go through our messages here. So I think it'll be a blessing to you to be able to see them for yourself. Thank you to our musicians. What a blessing they are. Amen. Well, before we even begin, I think I want to just let's just take a moment and have a word of prayer today, if we could. Father, we do thank you this morning for this wonderful blessing that it is to be together with our family today. We thank you, Lord, that you have not only redeemed us by your blood, but knit us together by your Holy Spirit. Lord, those that are saved in this room, Lord, we have that bond between us, Lord, a supernatural, eternal bond. And Lord, and we pray that you'd help us, that we might not do anything, Lord, to weaken that bond. that, Lord, we would even love each other more as we should and be drawn closer together to one another as we are drawn closer to Thee. And, Lord, I pray this morning that You may help me and use me. And, Lord, I know that Your Word doesn't need any help today. Lord, it's perfect. But, Lord, I'm far from that, so I need Your help today. I pray that You'd use me. I pray that I could be a blessing. I pray that the Holy Spirit would guide what is said today. And that through all of this, Lord, that men would not get the glory, not me or anybody else, but just the Lord Jesus Christ. May he be lifted up in this place. And I pray that all my brothers and sisters in this room today would go home edified and encouraged and blessed because of the scriptures and because of your ministry to them. We thank you for your great mercy to this church. Thank you for your many, many, many blessings that we don't deserve. If all we had were salvation, it would have been too much. But Lord, then on top of that, all the blessings that we receive every day, your company, this book, the comfort of the Holy Spirit of God, Lord, answers to prayer, seeing people saved, seeing people grow in their knowledge of Jesus Christ. And Lord, then on top of all of that, Lord, a home in heaven that awaits us and your coming, which is just before us. And we pray that we might be a church that remembers those things and is prepared for your coming. and lives with that expectancy in our hearts, Lord. Help us. And Lord, I pray that we would be able to set aside all those distractions in our brain, Lord, that keep us from hearing this morning as we ought to. We pray that you may just capture our attention. Help us, Lord, that we would have ears to hear. And the Holy Spirit this morning would be our teacher. And we ask this now in Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. All right, well, a long time ago, it seems now, I don't know how many months or years it was, we started, I started a series on the Sundays that I was preaching concerning landmarks. And I think, I don't remember when that was. I think it was 2016, maybe 15 or something like that. But I had gotten burdened to do that after being out at a sister church in San Antonio, a church that has meant a lot to me personally and been close friends with this church for many many years a church that early in my ministry the first year that I was pastor here I went to visit them and I learned so much I saw some things I'd never seen before and we tried to bring some of those principles back here into this church and because they were they were not men's principles they were biblical and I had Never seen them really and or never seen their importance and so we tried to you know bring those things back here And they've been they've been a part of our church ever since for these last whatever that is 20 almost 25 years since then and And in being out there to preach for them in San Antonio one of the pastors mentioned to me that he was concerned that his church some of the young people and some of the new people in the church that had come in recent years, really had no memory or any concept of those, the things, the attributes of that church that made it such a great church. And he really feared that the next generation, the new people in the church, there still were some older folks there, but that many of the new people really had no idea as to the things that the church had been built on in the beginning. And so it moved my heart and I realized there's probably a need for that here and maybe in every church from time to time. Just to remind us all, especially for the sake of the next generation coming up and maybe families that are new in our church that don't know anything about the history of First Bible Church and maybe don't understand some of the distinctive things that have made us who we are as a church. We are not like every other church, doesn't make us special in any way, but we have tried to hold on to some things that, unfortunately, over these, you know, last number of years, a lot of churches have begun more and more to abandon for the sake of, I don't know, for the sake of bigger crowds, for the sake of, I don't know, attracting the world. I'm not sure of all the reasons, but in one way or another, one shape form it's it's always a kind of compromise and and it's the you know it's it's common it's part of that Laodicean spirit that is prevalent in the world today and so I just felt it needful to you know reiterate just go through some things that should always be no matter who the pastor is here if one day somebody some other guys are here in Pastor Dean and I's place that Those things may change, the leadership may change, but the principles and the doctrines, the things that are a part of who we are as Christians and as a church should never change. There shouldn't be any compromise in those things. So we felt led to just do that. And so far, we've talked about a number of things. The first thing that we mentioned, of course, was one thing that certainly sets us apart from a number of churches is that we're not identified by any particular denomination. Now, that's weird. People are always wanting to know, well, what are you? But the biblical truth is that in the Bible, the believers were called Christians. Christians. Today, that doesn't say enough for people. There have to be six other tags on that. What kind of a group do you belong to? And there are groups that have a tremendous history. Our church even was started here as a Baptist church, and the Baptists have a, you know, have a wonderful history. It doesn't go all the way back to the time of Jesus Christ, but it goes back to the 1500s. And there are some people that believe that if you're not an independent Baptist today, that somehow you've compromised your, you know, we're sort of the redheaded stepchildren of, you know, of the Christian world in a sense. But we decided a long time ago that we were going to exalt one name and be identified by that name and not anybody else's name, not any group of people, but by the name that is above every other name, and that's the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's the only thing that we really want to be identified by. I wouldn't mind if the wind blew that sign down up there and we didn't put one back. It really doesn't matter. The only thing that should identify us is that we belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. We are Christians. That's the name that is above every name, and the Bible does say Colossians 3 17 it says and whatsoever you do in word or deed do all all in the name of the Lord Jesus all everything whatever you do in word or deed so whatever we do in the ministry here it should be in his name and that is the name that we want to exalt the believers were called Christians the Bible said Paul said that he bowed said I bow my knees to the father of the Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is is named. So the whole family bears the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That should be our name. Anyway, that's a distinctive here, alright? We're not, we don't have any axe to grind. We're not upset with anybody that wants to put some other name on there. That's fine. All of my, you know, I guess whatever few friends I have in the ministry outside of this room right here, you know, most of them are independent Baptist missionaries and pastors. And that's fine. They love the Lord. They love the Word of God. But we made a decision here and it's a conviction here that the name that we want to exalt is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that was one thing, our identity as a church. The next thing that sets us apart is our authority. The authority in this place is not my opinion or Pat Deen's opinion or the opinion of our deacon board. There's no traditions that we hold to. The authority in this place is a book, the King James Bible. And that's our authority. We believe it's true and perfect and pure. I guess it doesn't need to be stated, but maybe we got new families here. We do not correct this book. We do not believe anything in this book, not even the punctuation, should be changed. Now that's, you know, because the world is like quickly mellowing and it's getting, you know, it's getting lukewarmer and warmer, if that's a word. It's getting more and more tepid, like dishwater. And so our viewpoint is becoming, by contrast, more radical. But there was a time when this was not so radical to actually believe that the Bible was true. And one of our young men had a conversation with a pastor, right? On the street yesterday, we were out giving out in Operation Jerusalem, and a pastor and her husband, We had a conversation with one of our brothers here and I don't want to repeat the conversation. I wish we would have had a tape recorder. I wish he would have had a tape recorder to get it all down. But the bottom line was he didn't believe anything in here. He didn't believe he had any absolute authority for anything. Everything was just somebody's opinion. And he's a part of a denomination that once preached the gospel and had circuit writing preachers that went all over the place. But today they don't know what they believe or if anything can even be believed. Listen, we have a final authority. So our identity is the Lord Jesus Christ. Our authority is this old book, the King James Bible, that I hope that will never, ever, ever change until the Lord Jesus Christ comes. Or Brother Pat and I are both going to come back from the grave and hunt somebody down. if that ever changes in this place. And if anybody suggests that it ever changed, there should be a lynch mob or something. You guys should, you guys should just like put that guy out and do it nicely. You know, no ropes or anything like that, but put that guy nicely out in the parking lot and tell him to go down to the Methodist church or something, but not to bother us over here. The other thing that we have come to believe as a conviction is that leadership should always be a plurality. Leadership should be a plurality. And we're not going to go back through all the verses, but we spent several weeks going through the scriptures, showing that, proving that, we believe that. Rather than, in many churches today, and we're not fighting anybody on this thing, but the model in the scriptures always seems to be at least two pastors. And, you know, elders, bishops, plural, were in all the churches. Titus was to ordain elders in every city. And so we went all through all through that. But and there's many, many, many, many, many verses that we and I wrote them all down here in my notes today, but I don't want to go through all those with you today. But we believe that we try to practice that. And and we've seen the benefit of that. Amen. There's there's wisdom in that God's ways are always the right ways. You know, his ways are better than man's ideas. And we've had a lot of criticism about that. They think that, you know, well, You know, a two-headed animal would be a freak, and so, you know, you got a two-headed church. No. That is so bizarre. Because doesn't the Bible tell you who the head of the church is? A church has one head. And it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's in heaven. We're just under shepherds here. And the biblical model is that plurality in leadership. Then the other thing we talked about was the unity that there should be in the body of Christ. In most churches, all the ministry takes place from here. The guy up here does it all. I mean, you just sit there like bumps on a log, and if you're going to learn anything or have an opinion, we'll give it to you. You know, that's kind of the idea. But that's not the way a New Testament church is supposed to function. It's a body. It's like the human body in a sense. Every part is important. Every part in your body has a function. Every part of this, we're connected by the Holy Spirit of God. The Lord likens this to a human body. And this is supposed to minister to itself. You're supposed to be ministering to one another, comforting one another, exhorting one another, loving one another, admonishing one another, so on and so, praying for one another. All the one another's in the Bible. Well, when does the church ever have an opportunity to do that? All right, so in our services, especially in the open meetings and in the other fellowship meetings, when we get together, you should understand the importance that that the Lord places on your role, your ministry. It isn't just sit there and listen and give some money now and then. That's the least of it, is that you have something, things that God has taught you, things that you've learned from the word of God, wisdom that you've gained from your experiences. Somebody else here needs that. and you have to not only receive but you have to give and you have to make yourself available to be to be used to minister to somebody else. You have to get into other people's lives. I mean, not to be busybodies or running around checking up on each other, but just to be with one another and spend time ministering, discipling, helping, praying with one another, serving with one another, preaching with one another, whatever it might be. It's so important that we maintain that principle of the body of Christ. Like that's a healthy church when that's actually working And everybody has an equal opportunity to minister whatever God, whatever grace and whatever gifts God's given you, you have that opportunity to minister that to the to the rest of the church. So that's an important aspect of it. And then then we also talked about the integrity of the membership here, how really character is so much more important. And who we are as people is is absolutely essential to the health and the strength of this church. It does not matter how many butts we have in these seats here. We don't keep count. Would I like it always to be full? Of course I would. But I've been in some places that were packed out and people standing around, but I wouldn't give you a nickel for what was taught there, and it may not have glorified God in any way. So, whatever is here, whoever is here, the importance is on who we are in Jesus Christ, our character, what we, how we live, you know, the integrity of the church. And I think back when we were on that point some months or a year ago or whatever, we were looking at Psalm 48, where it likens, where it's speaking about the city of Mount, the city of Jerusalem, the city, Mount Zion. And it's, it's talking about, and I believe a church should be likened to that or is very similar to that. You know, the Lord Jesus Christ was in that city. He's the king of that city, and it was supposed to be a city of righteousness and joy, and the power of God was there, and that's the way a local church should be. And it says in Psalm 48, I think it's verse 12 and 13, or 11 and 12 there somewhere, it's talking about, walk about Zion, tell the towers, or count the towers, right? Mark Gewell, her bulwarks, and consider her palaces and tell it to the generation that you may tell it to the generation to come count the towers you know that was the strength of jerusalem that was its defense i think the towers represent the men in this place that are strong in the lord strong in the word of god i remember back when we were preaching that series of messages one of the one of the young men in this church he's here this morning and he came up to me after that message and he said i want to be a tower I want to be a tower. I want to get the things of God deep down in my heart and I want to get strong. I want to be, I want to be a part of what makes this place strong. And when the enemies came against Jerusalem, that's normally the first thing that a commander would do or any city. And back in those days, and when they had defense cities like that, where your main defense was that wall and the towers around it, they would put the engines of war up on the top of those towers and When an enemy army was going to overcome that city, the first thing, you know, they would do would be to count the towers. Because the towers had to come down first. You had to destroy those towers, and then you could take the city much easier. And listen, the devil knows that. That's normal strategy. If the devil is gonna destroy a church, you can be sure when he comes by here, he counts the towers. He counts the men in this place that are strong, The men in this place that are leading their homes, loving their wives, and trying to train up their children in the way they should go. Men that are capable of exhorting others and teaching others. That's what makes this place what it is. And the devil knows that. So that puts a man like that more under the devil's scrutiny and the devil's attack. You have to pray for one another. But that always should be the case here. There should be... The more towers, the stronger this place is. And then it says, mark ye well her bulwarks, those fortifications around the city that separate it from the enemy. There should be some separation between us and the world. Amen? We don't have to look like the world and act like the world and adopt the ways of the world in here in order to attract the world. The ministry of this church is not to attract the world into this place. but to strengthen you while you're here so that you can go out there and be an effective witness to the world. The world is never going to think very highly of what happens here in this room. This is always going to look like foolishness to the natural man. So we're not trying to draw anybody in. We're not trying to impress anybody. We're not giving away any motorcycles. We don't have any skydivers or belly dancers here to attract your neighbors to church, right? This is for us. This is for you. This is to strengthen you. Now, when lost visitors come in here and get saved, we rejoice. But these services are not really designed with that as the main goal. The main goal here is for you. It's to strengthen you and edify you and teach you, so you become stronger, more knowledgeable, more effective in your witness, so you can go out there in the world and be a good testimony. and not get run over by, you know, like somebody getting hit by a bulldozer. All right. So. So anyway, that was one. And then so we went on and then we sort of shifted gears somewhere back there and we shifted into some doctrinal landmarks, some things that doctrinally really should always be a part of any New Testament church. and should never be changed, no matter what. These things are immutable. These truths in the scripture are unchangeable. And I think so far we've gone through the return of Jesus Christ. We talked about the second coming. We've talked about the judgment seat of Christ. And then for this last, I don't know how many months we've been talking about the importance of faith, precious faith, how essential faith is not only to our salvation, but to the Christian life that we live. Not only do we begin by faith, but we continue by faith. And so, I want to continue on that line. I want to talk about, this morning, we're going to talk about another one of those doctrinal certainties. Those doctrinal absolutes. Those doctrinal landmarks. And the Bible says, remove not the ancient landmarks which thy fathers have set. There are things that being changed people are changing their positions on a lot of these doctrinal things that should never budge and of course the one most obvious one this morning is the resurrection of Jesus Christ the resurrection of Jesus Christ it's a doctrine it's a doctrinal truth that has much more importance than we probably probably give it much more importance than we probably give it. We don't think about it enough and you don't realize how central it is to really everything that we do here. The resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now before we get on some scripture verses that speak specifically of that, I want you to go with me to a couple of verses that just show you the importance of knowing these things in your heart so that we could pass them on to the next generation. Go to the book of Luke. In the book of Luke chapter 1, As you might remember, Luke was a companion to the Apostle Paul. He traveled with him in his missionary journeys. And he was a physician. And as far as we know, he was not an eyewitness to the life of Jesus Christ. He was not one of those eyewitnesses like Matthew and John and Peter. He heard the things and learned the things that he came to believe through the testimony of others. And in the book of Luke, the first chapter, first few verses here, that's what he says. He's writing to one Theophilus here, and in verse number one it says, for as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. You know what? Right there is the precedent for what we're doing. is that every once in a while you just have to set some things in order, make a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, right? And that's what, you know, that has to be done from time to time. Just to remind everybody, because of the new believers coming up and folks that are new to our church, and that's what Luke is doing here for Theophilus, who obviously didn't know these things. So Luke, who learned them second-hand, is now writing them down and passing them on to Theophilus. And it says, "...even as they delivered them unto us." So, the they there would have to be the apostles. It says, "...they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word." So, those that were eyewitnesses and ministered the Word of God to others, Luke is the beneficiary of that. Luke learned from them. He heard their testimony And maybe that's how he came to faith in Jesus Christ through the testimony of the apostles. And he said, and it's verse number three, he said, It seemed good to me also. Having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, that doesn't mean he was bragging in himself as if he knew everything. But perfect sometimes in the scriptures means complete, mature. He had a very full and mature understanding of the things that he was taught. The Holy Spirit can give that to you, by the way, right? You can have that if you want it. The Holy Spirit will be your teacher. He's just looking for students as eager to learn as he is eager to teach. And so Luke was obviously eager to learn and he was given this understanding, a perfect understanding he calls it. of all things from the very first. So he said, it seemed good to me also to write unto thee in order. So now he's going to set some things in order, you know, step by step. This is what happened and that's what happens and so on and so forth. In order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. All right? So that's what we're supposed to be doing. Not only here with our church, you with your family, your children, There should be those times when you set forth before them those things that are most surely believed among us. Go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. I just want to touch for a second here on why it's so important for us to reiterate these things. Verse number one, therefore, Hebrews chapter two, verse number one, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed, give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. All right, that's easy to do. We've heard some things, but you have to hang on to them, take heed to them and, you know, put them in practice in your life. Don't let things slip away. Things that you might have known and understood and learned, but they can slip away. And so, it says, "...for if the word spoken by angels was steadfast..." Paul, who wrote Hebrews, is referring to the Old Testament dispensation when many times God used angels to impart truth, bring a message to prophets. The Lord doesn't do it that way now. He works through the Holy Spirit of God and through the Scriptures. But remember, there was a time when angels were a very important part of the ministry in the Old Testament. The Bible even says that the Jews received the law by the disposition of angels. So there were angels involved even in communicating the law to Moses. It says in Galatians 3, verse 19, that the law was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator. So the angels were involved in communicating it. That was past. That does not happen now. Now the Holy Spirit is our teacher. The Holy Spirit is the one that you're not going to get a visit from an angel in order to learn the Word of God. That doesn't happen. It did in the Old Testament because the Holy Spirit wasn't given then like he is given now. It says, but, and then it says, so if, in other words, in the past, if the word of angels, words spoken by angels were steadfast, dependable, reliable, authoritative, God had given them those words to speak. An angel sometimes communicated those words to God's men. It says, if their words were steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how shall we escape? This is that principle of when you're given more, you're accountable, you know, you're more accountable. Because now you and I have a complete revelation, a complete word. And we don't have to get it from angels. We get it from the spirit of God and from this book. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him? God also bearing them witness with both with signs and wonders and diverse miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will. So, in other words, God The Lord spoke His word, the Lord spoke His word, and then that word was confirmed unto us by them that heard Him. So it's getting passed down, right? The Lord spoke it to His apostles, His apostles wrote it down in a book, and guess what we're doing now? We're talking about it still. 2,000 years later, we're still passing it on to our generation, and then these things just have to get passed on again and again and again, and they have to be handed down to the next generation in the same condition that we receive them. Right? Without any tampering, without any watering it down, without any mutilation of the truth. Not changing it because, you know, our lifestyles have changed and therefore this, you know, this old archaic book, you know, from the 16th century doesn't really fit man's modern lifestyle, so we need to alter it a little bit, we need to change it a little bit to fit the way we live now. Well then, if that's what you and I have the liberty to do with this book, then we do not have a final authority of any kind. Then everything is just relative. And if everything is just relative, what are we doing here this morning? We might as well go party. Because if there's no absolute truth, nothing absolute that you can settle your eternity on and trust your soul to, then it doesn't really matter. Then anybody's opinion is just as valid as anybody else's opinion. Nothing matters. Right? If it's all relative. But it isn't relative. There is an absolute. There is something called truth in this world. Truth. And God put it in a book and you can have it. And it's important for us. That's maybe our greatest treasure that we've been given as believers. And that's what we're responsible to pass on to the next generation. And that's kind of what Paul is alluding to here in this portion of Scripture. Go to Jude, the book of Jude, chapter 1. Or, if you can find chapter 2, go there, but I'm going to be in chapter 1. Jude, chapter 1. Look at verse number 3. Jude, verse number 3. Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith. The faith. What is that? That's those things that are most surely believed among us. That's that body of truth that we've been entrusted with, that's been handed down to us on all these generations. The sound doctrine that it should be central, it's a foundational thing in our church. It's very, very important. Some people come here and they're not really too excited about our church because there's not a lot of emphasis on, although we have a lot of stuff going on, But there's not a lot of activities. There's not a lot of, you know, sporting things and this and that. And it's much, much of what we do centers around the word of God or fixing our parking lot. It's one of those two things. It's either the book or it's the mess out here. It just seems to be that's been our focus here of late. But, but I mean, most of what we do here in one way or another focuses around this book, Sunday school, ladies classes, men's fellowships. even our breakfast for crying out loud. I mean, we eat, but then the book gets open and we get into the Word of God. That's what's important. It's not a ping pong game that breaks out. It's like a, it's a, it's a study in the scriptures and it, it always has to be the heart of what happens here because it's so important. And we ought to earnestly contend for the faith, that body of truth, those, those landmarks, those doctrinal landmarks, those truths that have been handed down to us, And they need to be guarded and they have to be, in a sense, maintained because there's a constant effort on the part of the world to change them and water them down. So teaching is always going to be essential here. And since there is such an importance put on it, and I think that is from the Holy Spirit of God, then you should understand that it's an important thing for you to avail yourself to learn those things. If there's such an importance put on teaching those things, well then take, you know, take advantage of that. And, you know, use us, use this church so that you can learn the Word of God. That's what it's here for. Alright? But the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. And then, of course, this famous portion of Scripture, I guess we all know, and I won't stay there long, but 2 Timothy chapter 4, Paul's last words before he departed this life and headed to heaven. Paul said in 2 Timothy chapter 4, warned us that there was going to come a time when, verse 3, when the churches, and I think primarily here he's talking about the leadership, that the leaders would not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. You know, every new thing coming down the road, every new idea that would help you put more people in your building, every new idea to attract the world, to make Christianity more palatable to a world that obviously doesn't really want truth. They do want to feel better about themselves. They want something that can assuage the guilt. And sometimes religion has the power to do that. Religion can, you know, put a band-aid on somebody's guilt. And so people don't necessarily mind a little spirituality, but they don't have much of a stomach for truth. Because truth sometimes is bitter. It's not always sweet. It doesn't always taste like a lollipop. Sometimes truth hurts. That's a reality, right? It's more than a cliche. It's a reality. Sometimes the truth of this book hurts. Every time you look in here and it shows you what you really are, that hurts. But I'm glad, thank you, Lord, that He's not politically correct, the Lord. And He will hurt you. He will tell you the truth. And He doesn't do it because He's ashamed of you or wants to humiliate you, but He will tell you the truth. And if we're honest with ourselves and we'll come into this book like we should, then this Bible will show me exactly what's wrong with me. But He doesn't leave you there. Then He'll show you how to fix what's wrong with you. And then he'll supply the power to fix the things that are lacking. I mean, that's the kind of a God and the kind of a book that we have. Right. But most Christians don't make enough of this book. It's just something you look for on Sunday morning because you can't remember where you put it last Sunday when you got home from church. So you got to find it so you can carry it back to church again and appear that you are reading it throughout the week. But let's be honest, most of us aren't reading it like we should. And some of you aren't reading it at all. And that's a shame because it will show and it does show. It shows in your life. It shows in your marriage. It shows in every kind of a way. It shows in your speech. And this should be the most important thing that we've ever been given is the truth that is in this book. And so we ought to be, you know, contending for it, guardians of it, protecting it, being watchful when somebody would come in here and try to, you know, I don't know, mess up the sound doctrine that the Lord has given us. Okay, so Go to Psalm 78 Psalm 78 I know I'm kind of rambling around here But I I had the I read these verses and they spoke to my heart and I'm gonna get to the doctrine of the resurrection in a second, but the I really think the Lord wants me to a couple more verses here just the importance of Handing these things down You know on to our family. Maybe I'm getting a little more sensitive about it because I'm not 20 years old any longer Maybe that's why it's become and maybe it wasn't such an issue with me 20 years ago. It's becoming more of an issue now because the reality is I hope the Lord comes tomorrow and I think he could. But if he doesn't come for, you know, another 10 or 20 years or whatever it might be, then the Lord has to grow up the next leaders in this place. And he is. He is. It's happening all over the place. They're tripping over each other in this place, which is a good thing. It's a wonderful thing. But the Lord has to do that, not us. And so it's important that what was begun continues. Pastor Mel, according to Jean, his wife, Pastor Mel, who started this church, according to Jean, she said one of the greatest joys that Mel had was knowing that this church was continuing on sound. Sound. Because he had personal experience that that is not always the case in churches that he was a part of, in other places. And she said he was always so proud of what happened in this place after he left. It's not any reflection on me or Pat Dean, it's just God just being good to us, God being merciful to this church. But it was always a joy to him to know that the doctrine wasn't changing, that the character wasn't changing, that this work was continuing on. And that sets us apart from other churches because that doesn't normally happen. That really doesn't normally happen. And so anyway, Psalm 78. Psalm 78, look at verse number one. Give ear, O my people, to my law. Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children. showing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he hath established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers, that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and declare them to their children. You see that? It needs to be handed down faithfully to your children so that it would become precious to them and convictions to them and they would be able to hand it down to their children and it wouldn't be like the telephone game, you know, where it just changes with every time it's handed off until finally you don't recognize it a couple of generations later. But if it's done faithfully with a respect for the truth, then it can get handed down and be exactly the same generations later. Nothing has to change. And that's what this is saying. That you teach it to your children, they teach it to their children, and they teach it to their children, right? That, verse number 7, that they might set their hope, that they, the grandchildren and great-grandchildren, might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, because hopefully, right, you know, we pray for the next generation and pass the truth down, they might do more with it than we did. They might be more faithful with it than we were, if they get the same thing that we got. If they get something less, then that hope goes out the window. But that they might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast. And then, then one more and then we'll get we'll get to the real message here this morning but Psalm 48 and already referred to this but I just want you to turn there anyway I've come to really love this chapter and love these verses Psalm 48 and again it's speaking about Mount Zion the city of Jerusalem the city of our God is what David is what David called it here And that city is a picture, it's a type of what a church should be. If you think about some of the characteristics and the parallels, it's pretty amazing. But these two verses have really captivated my attention. Verse 12 and 13, walk about Zion and go round about her, tell the towers thereof, meaning count the towers like a teller in a bank, count the towers thereof, Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces. And I thought, you know, palaces, you know, a palace in Jerusalem simply would have been the residence of the king, right? And maybe his family, maybe the princes, you know, would live in palaces. But for you and I today, what would a palace be but a home where the king, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the head of that home. and he sits at the head of that table, and he's in control. That makes it a palace. It's a home for a king. And imagine if we had a bunch of palaces in this place, where this church was made up of homes where Jesus Christ is really honored, where He is the Lord of that home. Not just an occasional guest at dinnertime when it's time to pray, but Lord of our homes. where he's the center of our homes. We sing about it and we, you know, we desire that, but it's not always accomplished. But imagine how strong a church would be if this were full of palaces. Every one of our homes was a place like that. And then it says, then the last phrase says, why should you do that? Why should you count the towers? Why should you mark the bulwarks? Why should you sit and consider the palaces that you may tell it to the generation following. In other words, what made that city in David's time, the city of the great king, that city of beauty and power and strength that it was when David was there, is that the next generation needed to know what made it the city that it was. And our children need to know what made this what it is. I mean, we got plenty of I mean, we make plenty of mistakes. This isn't putting this church up on any kind of pedestal because we're a bunch of knuckleheads most of the time in here. But by the grace of God and because of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God, we can always be a church that brings glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we should be striving to do. And that's what we should be passing on to our kids. All right. So let's consider then, let's consider then the subject, the doctrine then of the resurrection. We don't spend a long time on this today. But I do want you just to think about a few things, why this is so, why the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is absolutely so essential. It's a part of your salvation. Remember in Romans chapter 10, when it says, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord, right, shall be saved. You've go up a little bit further. It says that if we confess with our mouth and believe in our heart, that what? that God hath raised him from the dead. It doesn't even say, believe in thine heart that God hath put his son on the cross to die for our sins. There in Romans chapter 10 it says, confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Right? So, faith in the resurrection is an absolute essential for a person's salvation. Now, you might not have to believe that, you know, Jonah got swallowed by a whale to get saved. I mean, you should, because it happened, and it's in the Bible. But is that essential to a person's salvation? I don't know. But I'll tell you what, one thing, one doctrine, one truth in here, according to the Scriptures, is absolutely essential. Because if you doubt the resurrection, or don't believe the resurrection, then there's no way to even call upon the Lord to be saved. He won't save you. But if you confess with your mouth who He is, and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you can be saved. The Lord will save you. So it's essential. It's an absolute essential doctrine. for your salvation. It was certainly essential to the preaching of the apostles. Go to Acts chapter 4. I mean, when they went out to preach at the very beginning, their main subject was the resurrection. Look at Acts chapter 4 and verse number 32. Acts chapter 4 and verse 32. I mean, I guess I'm just suggesting this is that when we preach, I mean, we put the emphasis, obviously, upon the cross. and what happened there and we should but without the resurrection doesn't the cross lose all of its significance without the resurrection then it's just one more guy dying, executed by the Romans. There's nothing of any great significance without the resurrection, because if Jesus died and he's still dead, and you and I got no hope, we got no reason for even being here this morning, I got no reason to read this Bible, if that grave is empty today, then we got great hope and we could have victory, but if he's still in a grave somewhere, like Buddha, like Muhammad, like Joseph Smith, like all these other guys, you know, then if he's still in a grave, then we don't have anything at all. It's pretty important. And when the apostles went out preaching, that's exactly what they said. Look in verse number 31. 32 it says and when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the word of God with boldness and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own and but they had all things common, and with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all." So when they went out to preach, the central point of the gospel, I mean, of course they were preaching the cross because they mentioned it earlier, but it was the power of the gospel is in the resurrection. Right? The love of the gospel is in the cross. There's the love of God, and there's the mercy of God. But the power of God and the glory of God is in the resurrection. Because that's not God's power on display on the cross, that's God's love. But you know what that empty tomb is a display of? That is a display of the power of God and the glory of God. That gives the gospel its power. That's what can transform a person's life. Yes, Jesus loved me. God gave his son to die for my sins and there's no greater love than that. That one who loved me and died for me then raised himself from the dead and is alive again. That's power. That's the power of the gospel. And I think in my own preaching many times, when we're out on the street or talking to people, sometimes I leave that out. Or I mean, I minimize that in a sense to impress on them why they needed somebody to die for them. And that's important to explain the necessity for the death of Jesus Christ. But wow. We need to explain the necessity for the resurrection because there's a connection there. The resurrection is just as necessary as the as the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The resurrection is just as necessary because without that, then the cross loses its power. You understand? All right. They go together. You can't you can't separate them. All right. Go to First Corinthians, Chapter 15, First Corinthians, Chapter 15. Moreover brethren I declare unto you the gospel. All right. So now Paul is gonna Say something about the gospel. All right. What is the gospel? It means good news. But what is it? It's the good news concerning what? What is the gospel good news about and then he goes down a little further verse number three says for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that I And I think how is important in there, by the way, but we won't dwell on that. How that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and there's no period there, semi-colon, and that He was buried and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures and it doesn't even stop there but then he shows you four times four groups here of witnesses the Lord appeared many many many times after his resurrection to give proof many infallible proofs concerning his resurrection he wanted it not only to be preached but he wanted there to be proof there's evidence that Jesus Christ arose from the grave and so So there's the gospel. You see that the resurrection is an essential part of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, belief in resurrection in general is nothing new. Jesus Christ did not come, when he began to preach about the resurrection, he wasn't really preaching anything new. Because men have believed, even in the Bible, men have believed in the resurrection all the way back to the time of Job, who lived somewhere back around the time of Abraham. And they understood that there was a day coming when they would live again. For example, go to the book of Job. Job believed in a resurrection. But what makes the resurrection of Christ different from everything else, we'll talk about that in a second. But I want you just to see that a belief in a resurrection goes all the way back to very, very, very ancient times in the days of Job. Job had a clear conviction that he was going to rise again. Look in verse number 25. He said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. I'm sorry, 19. Job chapter 19 and verse number 25. Job chapter 19 and verse 25. You got to ask, how did Job know this? He didn't have a Bible. He did not have a Bible. living in the days of Abraham. He did not have a Bible. But when you read the book of Job and you see the conversations that him and his friends had concerning spiritual truths, it puts us to shame. Now, they didn't get everything right. I mean, what they said was the truth, but it didn't all apply to Job. Some of his friends were critical of Job and assumed that Job was suffering everything and that he was suffering because he must have some sin hidden in his life. They didn't realize that what the Lord was doing in the life of Job. But they said a bunch of things. Job's friends sat around and watched him for a little while, and then they began to criticize him. And then they began to preach to him and tell him, well, Job, God is good, and we're wicked, and God is just, so if he's punishing you, then there must be sin in your life. So God accused them of just having, of speaking words without knowledge, because they really weren't applying the truth that they were saying. It didn't apply to Job's situation. But nevertheless, when you read the book of Job, you got to scratch your head. How did they know? They had a lot of knowledge and they didn't have a Bible to read. There were no scriptures yet. Job is the first book that's written down in your Bible. So, I mean, there was so that the subject of God and the subject of eternity and the subject of life and death and resurrection was something that was obviously on people's minds and their conversation all the time. And they had some truth that must have been handed down to them even from the days of Noah. And his children must have been handing down the things that they knew from Adam and Enoch and all of that. So here, but Job knew some things. Verse 25, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. Wow. He did not have the book of Revelation. He did not have the book of Daniel. But somehow Job understood these things. Verse 26, And though after my skin worms destroy this body, it's not a very pretty picture, is it? How did Mel used to say, the skin worms go in and the skin worms go out, right? You just go back to the dust. But what's really important and what's really precious, your soul goes right home to be with the Lord. And the body goes back to the dirt. It says, yet in my flesh shall I see God. So Job understood, alright, one day this body is going to be destroyed, but God's going to put it back together somehow, and in my flesh, I'm going to see God. Verse 27, Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. So Job had a confidence, he had a faith in the resurrection, in his own resurrection. So that's not anything new. That's why, remember when Jesus Christ went to that funeral in John chapter 11? Go there with me for a second. John chapter 11. He went to a funeral. He never attended a funeral without breaking it up. Every funeral he attended, he broke it up and the person came back to life. And he went to a funeral here in John chapter 11 and he did the expected, you know. The guy didn't stay dead long. But in this case, it was the Lord's friend, Lazarus, who was very dear to him. Lazarus and Martha and Mary were very dear friends of the Lord Jesus Christ. Looks like he spent a lot of time visiting their home and having dinner with them from time to time. Verse number four, John 11, verse four. When Jesus heard that he that heard that that Lazarus was sick, he said, This sickness is not unto death. Watch this. But for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby. Verse six. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, Lazarus, in other words, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. He waited. Instead of hurrying to see Lazarus while he was sick so he could heal him, he waited. He just tarried. What do you think he wanted to happen? He wanted Lazarus to die. He wanted Lazarus to die. Because through Lazarus's death, the glory of God was going to be manifested. That's what he said. This is for the glory of God. Now watch this. Go over to verse number 17. Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. So by the time he gets there, he's good and dead. And he stinks. Verse 21. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou had been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou would ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know. I know. I know that. So resurrection is not a new truth to these people. I mean, Job believed it. Mary believed it. Martha believed it. They understood that one day, because of the Lord's power, God would raise them from the dead. What they did not know yet is the one standing right there is God and has that power. And like you said, brother, about Thomas. When Thomas said, Show us the way. And the Lord said, Thomas, I am the way. Here, Jesus Christ is talking about life, resurrection, and he has to say to Mary, to Martha, I mean, I am the resurrection and the life. It's the same thing. It comes back to Jesus Christ. Look at it. Thy brother shall rise again, Martha says in verse 24. I know. I know that. I know that. He shall rise again. Probably, you know, I could make it sound like she's really being snotty here. Just put a comma after the word that. But I know that. He shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I don't think she was being snotty. But anyway, she didn't understand that there was a resurrection coming. But now watch the Lord's response to her. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? In other words, Yes, there's a resurrection coming. Yes, God has that power. But the amazing thing about the resurrection of Jesus Christ is that His resurrection was in His own power. He did it Himself. He raised Himself. Lazarus got raised, but not by His own power. Others in the Bible got raised from the dead, but not by their own power. Job was talking about being raised again, resurrected one day, but not by his own power. He knew that that power was outside of him. It had to come from God. God would have that power to raise him one day from the dead. But Jesus Christ came into this world and by his own power, he would raise himself. That's what he said in the previous chapter. Go look at John chapter 10. John chapter 10, he said it in the chapter just before this. Look at verse number 17. Therefore doth the Father, John chapter 10 verse 17, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down. I have power to lay it down. The only person that has the power to end his own life. You think you do, but you don't. You think you do, but you don't. The Lord has to will it. He had the power to lay his own life down. But watch this, even more incredible. And I have power. I have power. You don't have that. He said, I have power to take it up again. I have power to lay it down. He could yield up his spirit. You can't do that. He could just yield his spirit up on the cross. And then after dying for your sins, he could take his life, had the power to take his life back up again, raise himself up out of hell, out of the grave and live again. And then ascend up back into heaven under his own power. Man. That's pretty impressive. The resurrection, the power. And when he said to Martha and Mary, and to those that told him about Lazarus' death, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but that you might see the glory of God. And it just reminded me that the resurrection is that part of the gospel where the Lord reveals his glory. On the cross, that's part of the gospel, an essential part of the gospel. But that's where the Lord reveals His love, His mercy, His compassion for you. You want to see the love of God? God commendeth His love toward you in that while you were yet sinners, Christ did what? Died. So the death of Christ magnifies the love of God. The resurrection magnifies the glory of God, the power of God. That's His power. The power of God Evident in the resurrection and Jesus Christ had that power to do that Go to Romans chapter 1 and verse number 4 the book of Romans chapter 1 verse 4 Well, let's read let's actually start from verse number verse number 1 it's kind of one continuous thing here Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he had promised, afore, by his prophets, in the Holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh," and watch this, verse 4, "...and declared to be the Son of God with power." When was he declared to be the Son of God with power? according to the Spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. So the resurrection is that demonstration of the power of God. The Holy Spirit of God was involved in that. The Holy Spirit of God helped to raise the Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. Look at Philippians. Philippians. Paul's statement of faith here in Philippians chapter 3 has always been so beautiful to me. Philippians chapter 3, look at verse number 9. He says, he's talking about what he lost as a man in coming to Christ. He had to count everything in his life that had ever been of any value to him in order to be saved. In other words, place a value on those things as if they were nothing. Some people, because they put such a high value on friends, a position at work, or some other thing, you put such an important value on those things that it keeps people from ever coming to Jesus Christ. Some people won't come to the Lord and be saved because their friends are too important to them. Their mother's opinion is too important to them. Their job is too important to them. Imagine becoming a Christian in a country, in an Arab, in a Muslim country or in a Hindu area, where openly acknowledging Jesus Christ, where getting saved and professing your faith in Jesus Christ is probably going to be dangerous or fatal. And some people, obviously, if they put a high value on their own physical life, which is normal, you know, that keeps people from getting saved. too afraid of perhaps being persecuted or killed even for their faith and so it keeps people away from the gospel and so but Paul was like that Paul was a very successful Pharisee a very he was very charismatic kind of a personality type A personality right he wasn't waiting for somebody to suggest an idea to him he came up with an idea as a lost man how to stamp out Christianity and he was going to try to do it on his own if necessary all by himself So he had a lot of energy and a lot of initiative and a lot of push and probably a lot of success. He said he profited in the Jews' religion above his equals. So religion had been very profitable to Saul before he got saved. And so what did he have to do in order to get saved? He had to consider all those things which had been so important to him at one time to be of no importance. And that's what he's saying in this portion of scripture. Verse seven, what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. And you'll have to do the same if you're here today and you're not saved. Don't let the opinion of your friends get in the way of you being saved or what your relatives are going to think. Don't let that stop you from getting saved. Don't let a job keep you from getting saved. I've had people who knew they needed to get saved and even acknowledge the truth of the gospel, but would not get saved because some loved one of theirs had passed away without getting saved and I've had them tell me I don't want to be separated from my loved one even if it means being together in hell so that that's an unreasonable kind of affection that's a human affection but boy that stands in the way sometimes of people actually being saved and getting eternal life and so you have to count all those things but loss That's what Paul said here. Yea, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do, here it is, and do count them but dumb. Why? That I may win Christ. So it's worth giving up anything you have to give up to in order to be saved. Anything you may have to give up in order to be saved. Don't let anything stand in the way of you knowing Jesus Christ. And then he goes on to say, "...and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may..." It's still all one continuous sentence here. He's talking about what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be saved. "...that I..." And this is Paul's prayer. "...that I may know him..." He's already saved when he writes this. And saved a long time when he writes this. He's in prison near the end of his life after many missionary journeys when he writes this. And notice, his desire is still that he might know, really, really know Jesus Christ. A real, close, personal, intimate relationship with the Lord. That was God's desire when He saved you. Not to just pluck another sinner out of danger and put you safely in the body of Christ, but as He wanted a relationship with you wanted to have fellowship with you and wanted you to know who he is and to know him and Paul said that I may know him and watch this and the power of his resurrection the power of his resurrection the power that brought Jesus Christ back from the dead is knowable by the believer you can you can know that power that power is available to us In fact, that power is a person who happens to live inside of you. Right? That power, the same power that did the impossible, did the incredible, did the miraculous, bringing Jesus Christ back from the dead, out of hell and into heaven, that power is in every believer. If it's not possible for a believer to experience that power and have some personal knowledge of that power, then why is Paul putting this here for us to read and to think about? Paul said, I want to know him and the power of his resurrection. I want to know in my life that same power. Well, that power is a person. That power is the spirit of Jesus Christ living inside of us. And that power is available to you. What do you do with it? Walk in victory, overcome temptation, live a life that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. It sets you apart from the rest of the world because you live and can live if you and I want to. We can know him and we can experience the power of his resurrection. If we'll ask him to let us experience that power and live in that power and walk in that spirit, you and I can have that. that power of the resurrection. That was Paul's prayer for Christians. Look at Ephesians chapter 1. When Paul prayed for other churches, many, many times he mentions this. And Ephesians chapter 1 kind of really makes it clear, but he mentions it in Colossians. He mentions it in other places. When Paul prayed for us, notice how he prayed. And if he prayed that way, you can be sure the Holy Spirit is praying this way for us. You can be sure that Jesus Christ, when He intercedes for you and I, He's praying this way for us. He's not always, the Lord is not always praying for you. Remember, He ever lived to make intercession for you. He's not always praying for you to get a better job or get the car of your dreams. He's not always praying for you to get better from every sickness that you experience. Now, I know 90% of our prayers for one another is when somebody's sick or having surgery. And we don't normally think beyond those kind of terms, but The Lord heard about Lazarus being sick, and He said, He'll be alright. He's gonna die. He'll be okay. I mean, He wasn't too concerned about Lazarus getting healthy at that moment. Because even sometimes that can be for the glory of God. But when Paul prayed for believers, he seldom prayed for their health. He prayed that they might experience the power of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What a way to pray for one another. Imagine if we prayed that way for one another in this place. I'm not saying don't pray for somebody when they're sick, or they're having surgery, or they got the flu. I mean, I don't know, I think sometimes we might weary heaven, though, because we don't really understand what we ought to be praying for. We don't understand what we ought to be praying for. The Holy Spirit knows how to pray, and I think Paul gives us a little demonstration of that, a little explanation of that here. Look in Ephesians chapter 1. It says here, verse 15, wherefore I also, Ephesians chapter 1 verse 15, wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, talking about the church in Ephesus, he heard how well they were doing, how they had grown, Paul had spent a lot of time there in Ephesus, three years teaching them, loved them very dearly, when he said goodbye in Acts chapter 20 from that church, the people wept and wept, held him, hugged him, kissed him, And so he really had a love for that church. And when he heard about how well they were doing, he said in verse number 16, I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers. And here's his prayers. I know sister so-and-so is not feeling well and hope she gets better. And I know brother so-and-so's got the flu. I hope he feels better. And I hope, you know, you're not going to find that in any of Paul's prayers. I'm not making light of those things. I'm only saying it's sometimes an evidence of our own, my own lack of understanding, my own lack of appreciation for what is really important in the Christian life. Maybe it's an indication of yours too, but it's definitely an indication of mine. But it says here, here's Paul's prayer, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom, So that, you know, wisdom. Pray for a brother or sister in Christ to have wisdom. And revelation in the knowledge of Him. So, remember what Paul was asking for in Philippians chapter 3, that I may know Him. He's praying the same thing for the Christians in Ephesus. That you may, that the Lord may give you revelation in the knowledge of Him. Verse 18, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, so that your eyes might be opened, that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, We've talked about that many times, the hope of His calling, and we won't go on, you know, talk about that right now. And what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, in verse 19, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He wrought in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places. If it wasn't possible for a Christian to know the exceeding greatness of the power of God, then Paul's prayer here is completely wrong. He is praying for these believers in Ephesus to have the power of God in their lives, that same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. So that power, the power of the Holy Spirit, brought Jesus Christ up out of hell, out of the grave, off the earth, into heaven, sat Him on that throne in heaven. That was the power of the Holy Spirit of God. That's God's glory. You and I are supposed to be experiencing some of that in our Christian life. Your Christian life is not supposed to be lived in weakness and defeat. You don't need Joel Osteen to tell you that, you know. But it's not the power of positive thinking. It's the power of the Holy Spirit of God. It's the power of a person having complete sway in your life. Now, He lives in you. He's there. If you're saved, the Holy Spirit of God, you got Him all. You didn't get two fingers and a toe. You don't need more of the Holy Spirit of God. You didn't get half of the Holy Spirit when you got saved. People say, give me more of the Spirit of God, more. You got Him all. The problem is he doesn't have all of you. He doesn't have all of you. And he has to have control because that's when he manifests his power. He's a gentleman. He's not going to roll over you like a steamroller. There's the king of the universe, the God of heaven, the Spirit of God living inside of us. And we still want to run the show ourselves. We still want to, you know, in a sense, we're sort of telling him, it's OK, I got this. Thanks for saving me. Thanks for coming inside of me. Thanks for sealing me. But I got it from here. We'll be okay. I'll see you in heaven. Like, come on. Like, I need Him every minute. And if I would only realize my need and surrender my need and yield myself to Him, then I'd stop making so many mistakes. And I'd stop putting my foot in my mouth so many times. And I'd stop hurting people. I'd start living and talking and living more like the Lord Jesus Christ and having victory over the things that we stumble and struggle with. Because that's the power of God. Can you get victory over life-dominating sins by His power? Absolutely. There's a room full of evidence to that in here. The Holy Spirit of God can give you victory that no program can ever give you victory in. He has that power. I'm not minimizing those things and helps and whatever. But I'm saying, you have God Himself inside of you. God Himself, Creator, Savior, Lover of your soul in you. And that's that resurrection power that Paul said, I want to know the power of His resurrection. I need that in my life. You need that in your life. And how, I don't know, how shameful, how embarrassing that we go through our life never really, never experiencing that. All right, we've got to wrap this up. All right, let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I only have two more portions of Scripture. They're really, really long ones, but there's only two. But no, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. First Corinthians chapter 15. I mean, it's amazing that your Bible has chapters like First Corinthians chapter 15. Do you know that this is almost God's entire explanation about resurrection, the future? I mean, you've got a book that reveals all of this to you, all in, I mean, it's spoken of many, many other places in the Bible, but here all in one chapter, a long chapter, but one chapter it's, Almost like everything you need to know about the resurrection, but just a few of these verses here I want you to see how how essential this is. All right, and we're gonna close with this. We're gonna end with this verse number 12 now Now what if what if Jesus had not risen from the dead? what if he had preached love and forgiveness and Raised people and given sight to the blind and all the miracles that he did and then he was crucified died and he's still there somewhere You can go to Medina over in Saudi Arabia and see Muhammad's grave, if you wanted to. I don't know why you'd want to. But I mean, you could go, I guess, and see Buddha's grave somewhere. You could probably go see Joseph Smith's grave somewhere. I don't know, you could find them all. Every single Pope, you can find his grave. You can't find the Lord's grave. You can't find it. You can't find it. No ordinary man. No ordinary man. That grave is empty. And watch. But what if it weren't? What if it weren't? Well, here, look at this. Verse 12. Now, if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Because people make fun of that doctrine. It's just too fantastical to believe. You know, it's just too crazy. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, if there's no such a thing as the resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain. All right? We might as well go home right now. I am wasting my time and all the messages that have been preached for 2,000 years were a complete waste of somebody's time. It meant zero. It meant nothing. This means nothing. If Christ is not risen, preaching means nothing. It means nothing. It's vain, vanity, just a show. It says, And your faith is also vain. So if you have any faith at all in God, your faith is wasted if Jesus Christ, because there are so many promises in the Old Testament that he would rise from the dead. And if he didn't rise, then your faith in God is completely vain. You should be an atheist. Many Christians are practical atheists. They live as if there is no God. But it says, yea, and we are found false witnesses of God. So the apostles were false witnesses. because they testified that he was raised from the dead. People looked in that empty tomb. You know, Mary Magdalene did. Peter and John did. Others did. Then he showed himself alive to his disciples on a number of occasions. In one case, over 500 brethren at one time. And so there were many infallible proofs of his resurrection given. He stayed around for 40 days to make sure that everybody knew he was alive. But then I guess everybody was lying. And all of those people were all false witnesses. Because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. And if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, and here's even worse, then all of us are still in our sins. You see, then, all of that whole story of Jesus going to the cross did not avail. If He didn't rise from the dead, then all of us, in spite of Him dying on the cross, then all of us are still in our sins. The resurrection is God's, basically it's the receipt. It's the receipt. The payment was made on the cross. The resurrection is the receipt that that payment was accepted. Right? You know how you make a payment and then you get a receipt in your email, you know, confirmation. The resurrection is God's receipt that the payment was accepted by the Lord and that that's our confidence that our sins are forgiven. The empty tomb, we've stood in that empty tomb. I mean, we won't go into whether it's the real one or not, but there is a place in Jerusalem, in the garden, the garden tomb there in Jerusalem, and you can go in that tomb. It's certainly, all the evidence points to that being the one. It's 99% sure that that would be the one. It's in the right place, and everything about it is exactly right. It's near Golgotha, and so many things. But there's a tomb there, and we can stand inside of that tomb, and it's It's even the way it's laid out matches what the Bible says. And it was quite an experience. I think maybe the most amazing thing that some of you have been with us over there. It's the most amazing thing to stand inside there and realize that your Savior was here. And He's not here anymore. He's not here. He's risen. He's risen. He's risen. That empty tomb is like an exclamation point. to the gospel. The gospel doesn't have a period at the end. It's got an exclamation point. And the resurrection is the exclamation point. It's the glory of God. It's the power of God. It's the receipt from heaven that your sins are paid for. And if He didn't rise from the dead, then we are all still in our sins. And look at this, verse 19, And if in this life only we have hope in Christ, then we are of all men most miserable. We're worse than the world. The world should feel sorry for us and pity us and shake their heads at us poor deluded Christians who need something like that to get through life. We're miserable if there's no resurrection, then the power is taken out of the gospel. But now, I like this because there is a period at the end of verse 19, right? But now is Christ risen. But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. And then these two verses here, for since by man came death, you know who that man was? Your great-great-grandfather Adam. By man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. It was the sin of a forefather, Adam, that got us all in trouble, that condemned us and damned us to hell. And we confirmed that we were sinners a thousand times since we were born by practicing it. And then Jesus Christ came to take all of that on Himself. But all of that would have meant nothing if that tomb is not empty. And He rose from the dead, and it means your sins are really forgiven when you put your faith in Jesus Christ. It means a lot of things, but some things come to mind right now. If He has risen, then it means that you and I have hope for the future. Because if He lives, then we live too. Right? We're going to live too, forever. It means that I don't have to walk through life with guilt because I know my sins are paid for. I know that God accepted that payment, and I don't have to live with the guilt of my own transgressions anymore. I did a long time ago, but I don't have to anymore. If that tomb were not empty, I'd always wonder if it were enough, if God was happy with it, with the payment that Jesus made. But I don't have to wonder. The tomb gives me hope. The tomb, that empty tomb, takes away my guilt. That tomb, that empty tomb, is also a reminder though, and we'll end with this verse, it's also a reminder that all of the world is going to come before God one day and be judged. And go to Acts chapter 17, and we'll close with this verse. Acts chapter 17. The fact that Jesus Christ is alive is evidence that there is a judgment one day for all of men's sin. Look in Acts chapter 17. It says, verse 30 and 31, In the times of this ignorance, speaking about Old Testament times, God winked at. But now commandeth all men everywhere to repent, because he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. In other words, is there a judgment one day for all of us? Absolutely. What assurance do we have? God raised His Son from the dead. Jesus Christ will be that judge of the quick and the dead one day. If you're here today and you don't know the Lord as your Savior, if you've never trusted Him, God has made it so, so simple for you to have eternal life. Nobody's asking you to put your faith in us or this church. You don't need faith in me to be saved, or faith in First Bible Church to be saved. You need faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and faith in the fact that He is alive. He died for you on the cross because He loved you, but He rose from the dead because He's God, and He had the power to do that. And if you put your faith in Him, He gives you everlasting life. He makes you a child of God. Your sins are all blotted out. You have a home ready for you in heaven. He becomes your companion every day. He gave you a book that will give you wisdom. He put his Holy Spirit inside of you to give you the power to live a victorious life. A victorious life where you could even overcome the world, overcome temptation. It's all yours and it's all free. He paid for everything. All you have to do is really open your arms, open your heart, receive Him. Everything's all paid for. What kind of a deal is this? What kind of a deal is this? That the Lord would give us all of that paid in full, all because of His love, His grace, His blood, His power. The only thing needed on your part is just the faith to believe that and the faith to receive Him as your Savior. And if you need to do that this morning, this is a great place to do it. It's a great time to do it. And I hope that you will. Let's bow our heads right now.