Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Man, I don't. John didn't say it. I hope y'all picked up on it. But he wrote that song recently. John, did you write it? Were you repenting from what you said during the Duke Lost in the Final Four, or was it from all the stuff you text me while I'm preaching?
[00:00:17] It was both. Okay. And if you're like me more right.
[00:00:22] No, I had to make a joke because I'll tell you the truth, I got a little weepy there, and I had to find some way to.
[00:00:28] I got a little weepy. It.
[00:00:32] I find myself there a lot. All jokes aside, just. Lord, forgive me.
[00:00:39] Lord, forgive me. Amen. If you have your Bibles, find Hebrews chapter 13. And I do want you, even though it's just two verses, I would challenge you to have your Bible open because I'm going to kick it back a couple chapters in Hebrews. As we go through tonight, I've just been thinking a lot as we look through Holy Week, as we prepare to observe Holy Week, I just kept thinking about this story that happened in my life.
[00:01:08] If you come here a lot, you've heard me say openly how I had a very difficult relationship with my dad and how when God saved me, he put it in my heart to attempt to restore that relationship. And. And then, particularly when my dad came to faith. My dad was one of those guys who thought he was a Christian until he became a Christian. Then he realized he hadn't been a Christian. And the renewal in our relationship was pretty big.
[00:01:33] But he was going back and forth from the va and this was pretty early in my walk, and I was trying to witness to him, and he kept telling me, I know the Lord. I know you know, that kind of thing.
[00:01:45] And so I picked him up and we were leaving from his house, and about the time we got into the. To the north side of the edge of Roxboro, he says, what do you like so much about being a Christian anyway? And I thought that was a good question, you know, And I really started to think, because it was a long list I had in my life, in my wife and I's home, church. I had tons of people who were loving me, who weren't related to me, who I didn't work with. That was a totally new experience for me. And I was thinking, that's pretty cool. And we eat a lot at church. That's pretty cool. And, you know, I really had a lot of neat reasons. And I had been an alcoholic, and every time I was drinking, I would use way too many drugs. Which I don't know if y'all know this, but a little bit's too much. But I seemed to be. When I was sober, I could kind of maintain. But if I started drinking, I would just. And I was sober, you know, praise God. 24 7, 365, for the first time since I was a young teenager. And I was like, well, that's pretty good, being sober, not being arrested all the time. That's pretty nice.
[00:02:54] But, you know, I just kept thinking about it, and I finally. We pulled into the VA hospital and I said, I think I have my answer. He said, to what? I had to remind him what the question was. And I said, you asked me, what do I like so much about being a Christian? And I said, it's peace. It's peace. That was my answer. I said, first. First, I know through Jesus Christ I have peace with God. And I know because of Jesus Christ, I desire peace with people for the first time in my life. I used to not care. Like, I only wanted to get along with. With. With. With women because I just. I like women better than men.
[00:03:32] But guys, I didn't even try to get along with guys. We got along fine if we didn't find to.
[00:03:37] And then peace within.
[00:03:40] I literally used to feel like hellhounds were on my trail 24 7.
[00:03:45] And just to be able to lay my head down and have peace inside of myself was something new and powerful and refreshing. And my dad's response was, oh, okay. And that was a little disappointed. I let him out of the car and I went and parked in the parking deck and I walked back around to take him in to get to his appointment. And.
[00:04:07] And I realized that if you don't know this peace, it doesn't mean anything to you. And worse, if you don't know how disturbed it actually is to be out of sorts with God, you'll never imagine this piece.
[00:04:25] And so I just began to pray for my dad in a fresh way. And I started praying a line from Amazing Grace a lot. As I prayed for him, I was praying that he would know that grace that would teach his heart to fear and that grace his fears would relieve.
[00:04:44] Because I wanted my dad to really know the Lord. Not just to know information about him, but to know him. So as I prepared, this story kept coming to my mind. Because tonight I just want to encourage the body of Christ. I want to talk to somebody who maybe. Maybe you're trying to search out these answers. You're trying to search out how you can actually have peace within, peace around and peace from above. And so God led me to a benediction, to a blessing. In Hebrews, chapter 13, two short verses packed with a Bible full of truth. Hebrews chapter 13 beginning at verse number 20. Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant. Equip. Equip you with everything good that you may do his will working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Would you pray with me, Father? We, as we pray so much here. Father, we are a literate people. Most everyone here, except for the tiniest of children, can pick up their Bible and read. We can read fluently. We can read quickly. We can even memorize verses. But your Word is living and active. So, Mike, this glad tiding of old, sent to your servant, recorded so long ago, may we hear it from your Word as your word to us today in Jesus I pray Amen. And amen. I have a few very quick things. Well, that's probably a lie. I'm going to try to have a few very quick things. If you're a visitor, you have no idea how big of a lie I just told.
[00:06:33] First, let's see this on this great festival day.
[00:06:38] This is a great festival day. Let us recognize it is the God of peace who raised Jesus back again from the dead. That's exactly what the scripture says in Hebrews 13:20. It's the God of peace who brought again from the dead. Amen. He brought again from the dead. And you have to ask yourself, is there some indication of what this great festival weekend is about? It's that. That the God of peace brought again from the dead the Lord Jesus. And this is so critical in our understanding. Why does God do all of this? Because he's the God of peace.
[00:07:18] He's the God who desires peace. He's the God who will ultimately make peace. He's the God who created the world in such order that nothing was out of harmony.
[00:07:28] I believe Adam and Eve could even tell us how cool mosquitoes were. But I don't know anymore.
[00:07:35] Like cockroaches probably did cool things in the beginning.
[00:07:39] Spiders. I saw a spider this morning that made several people run and several men reach a killing fervor in a fellowship hall in a local church. One little girl even got on top of her chair and was screaming and spitting muffin everywhere.
[00:07:56] I couldn't get my phone out quick enough to record it, but I wanted to. I thought, man, how could this. And it was a big spider by spider standards, you know, that big around. But it was a little spider by, say, dinosaur standards. And I just happened to think, what if one of those dinosaur spiders that rolled up in the fellowship hall? God created everything in order, and it has only been the sin of mankind that has brought disorder. God made everything in harmony and has only been the sin of mankind that has brought everything into disharmony. Now let me do a fun little survey because I know we have at least three or four here. Raise your hand if you're a teacher. You teach children, like in school. One, two, Care. Okay, you're semi retired, I understand. All right, so several, right?
[00:08:44] Don't name names. Okay, look at, look, look at your neighbor say, I'm not going to name names. Teacher, tell them, Listen, have you ever had those days where a certain kid is absent from school and it calms your whole classroom down?
[00:09:02] Okay. Okay. Now who in here is related to other humans? Who has a family?
[00:09:08] Okay, now don't name names. Look at your neighbor say, I'm not going to name names.
[00:09:13] Have you ever had those family gatherings where you were relieved when so and so didn't come?
[00:09:21] David. Don't name my name.
[00:09:26] Don't we know that sometimes just the presence of one person can change the whole vibe in a room, Right? Am I right or wrong?
[00:09:37] I used to have somebody really close to me that I called them to their face. I say, you are a joy sucker. I mean, like, we could just be having a good time. They come in the room and just go, I mean, let me just take all the joy out of the room, brothers and sisters. Sin did that to the harmony of creation. Sin does that to the harmony of fellowship. Sin does that to the peace within that each of us are designed to have. Sin has done that to our relationship with God. On this great festival day, we need to see that what God wants for us is peace. What God wants in us is peace. What God wants us to be is agents of peace. I'm not going to put it on the screen because if I do, I'll get to talking about it. But the Bible says the Lord Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the peacemakers. Does anybody know what comes next? For they shall be called what sons of God. Wow. Do you know that not only does God want us to have peace, he wants us to be agents of peace. Now, you might not want to raise your hand, but I like the movie Jerry Maguire. Don't raise your hands, but has anybody seen that Besides me. Yes, you have.
[00:10:51] One of my favorite parts is when Cuba Gooding Jr's character tells Jerry Maguire, said, you're my agent of Quan. I have no idea what Quan is, and I've seen the movie three times, okay? But I know God wants to give us such peace that he can. He can with joy look upon his children and say, that's an agent of peace for me right there.
[00:11:14] But we got to have peace before we can make peace.
[00:11:18] In Romans, chapter 16, verse 20, there's a verse that I just treasure. It's got two parts. It's that first part that just lands on me. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Isn't that gorgeous?
[00:11:34] That's just great. That's just great. I watch a lot of 70s and 80s wrestling videos. I can't lie. I love the bad guys. Blackjack Mulligan, Ric Flair, those were my boys, right? And I love it when somebody's getting beat up, you know, and somebody comes in and cheats and helps them. I always love the bad guys, right? The good guys just get beat up. They don't get help until after they're beat up. The. The bad guys come in and help you beat people up. And I was like. I was like, lord Jesus, you know, I don't need you to be Ricky Steamboat. I need you to be Ric Flair. I need you to swoop in and take Satan off of me. I need help. And I know the long term, biblically revealed plan of God is he is going to bring ultimate peace, even against from our strongest enemy. Also, I love how peace works in our growth as people. First Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 23 and 24. Say this now. May the God of peace himself sanctify you. How much, Church? How much?
[00:12:39] Because the idea. And I love Casey, I really do. I love to hear you talk about the truth of shalom, the truth of wholeness, of everything being complete. And really what God is going to do is take every broken thing, every broken relationship, every broken understanding, every. Everything broken, and he's going to set it at peace by making it completely right. Do you know that's what God desires to do in our lives?
[00:13:07] And he. And it says here, you know this prayer from 1st Thessalonians 5 says, May your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. He who calls you is faithful. He will surely do. Now, what's interesting is the God of peace sanctifies us. Not that we get to be perfect in this life, but we're perfectly hidden in Jesus Christ so that at his coming, at his coming, our best testimony can be that I am hidden in him. I am hidden in him. So, brothers and sisters, on this festival day, on this festival weekend, let us recognize the goal, the reason, the why behind the raising of Jesus. It's because the God of peace is doing our work. Secondly, on this great festival day, let us celebrate that the God of peace raised Jesus back again from the dead. Now, somebody ought to just say amen.
[00:14:07] Now, if you're any sort of student, if you're any sort of student, you can study the biblical accounts. First off. First off, you can just see, it's amazing that we have the copies of the Bible in multiple language, in the thousands of copies, and they are accurately portrayed across multiple languages and cultures and centuries. And they're accurate. In other words, it is a miracle that this has survived. It is a supernatural work that this has survived. And you can investigate it like an investigative journalist. And you can see that the reports from the eyewitness are credible. They're reported with familiar fidelity and faithfulness. You can see in an apologetic sense, you can see with a sensible and reasonable explanation that Jesus really died. Say amen. He was actually buried. You know why they buried him? Anybody know? Because he died. Thank you, Clay. Sort of like duh, though, right?
[00:15:08] And he was raised from the grave and was seen of many witnesses. The good news depends on these truths. And it was reported. These truths were reported faithfully. They can be investigated scientifically. They can be investigated with a legal mind, a journalistic mind, a scientific mind. What is the truth that I'm trying to tell you? It's this simple. The God of peace raised Jesus again from the dead. Now, the apostle Paul had a conclusion about the resurrection. He said in First Corinthians 15:14, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile. It's worthless.
[00:15:54] It's not sentimental history. We are following a living Savior.
[00:16:01] We're following one who has been raised from the dead. And here's the truth. He. He's either raised from the dead or he's still dead. Now you can go visit his tomb. It's empty. You can go visit Muhammad's tomb. It's not empty. You can go to Confucius tomb. It's not empty. On and on and on. As the old hymn says, we serve a risen Savior. Anybody know the next line? He's in the world today.
[00:16:28] God raised him again from the dead. Now let me give you a bit of legal jargon on this before we move on, okay? Does anybody know why he raised him from the dead? It's really this simple. You ready? Death had no claim on him. So death is for sinners. He didn't die because he was a sinner. He died because he was paying for other sinners.
[00:16:57] So death had no claim on him. It had no legal claim on him. It had no rightful claim on him. Brothers and sisters, today in this festival day, we should celebrate. We should recognize that it is Christ who is raised from the dead and is the God of peace who did it. Now, I pick on this guy all the time. Y'all excuse me. I don't usually have allergies, but guess what? I got them today.
[00:17:23] Usually it's not my problem, but it is today.
[00:17:29] If you happen to be visiting, I don't do any better than I'm doing.
[00:17:34] I pick on a former professor of Casey's. He lives, what, 40 minutes from here? Or works 40 minutes from here. Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A guy named Bart Ehrman.
[00:17:45] Now, I need to tell you something so important. Bart Ehrman wrote a book. He wrote a book that he said he truly believed in the existence of Jesus. That he was a real person from a real place who lived in real time and did real things. The problem is believing Jesus existed is not enough.
[00:18:09] Now just imagine. Imagine. Imagine. I told Clay, I was like, clay, I want you to take this fancy key and this fancy little fob, I think you called it. And Clay, with this, you have the capacity and the permission and the tool to go out to my van and get in that joker and adjust the seat for your long legged self and take off down the road.
[00:18:35] Would that information move you?
[00:18:40] Well, here you go. If you don't want to list it around.
[00:18:45] How does it move you?
[00:18:49] Okay. You hear that? He's talking about the first kind of movement. It's the movement within. He says it's exciting potential. If you've ever seen how much fun I have driving a minivan.
[00:19:02] Right? But will that information move the van? No. See, we live in a culture that is full of people who have information about Jesus. But what God wants is for that raised life to be in our life, so that the resurrection becomes our life, so that our life becomes his body.
[00:19:24] So when he raised him from the dead, it was because sin had been paid for and his payment had been accepted. Sin had no claim on Jesus himself, so he raised him from the dead. So in one weekend Jesus solved our two biggest issues, right? The problem of sin that separated us from God and the problem of death that would keep us from God forever.
[00:19:51] He solved them both.
[00:19:55] And Clay, you can be like Bart Ehrman, okay? You can know this information without having transformation. You can know this information and experience motivation. But if you're actually going to move, you're going to have to take the information where I tell you to take it. In other words, you're going to have to put the key in a switch. You're going to have to turn it. You have to put it in gear. You know, this life that God wants us to have, he means for us to live thirdly, quickly.
[00:20:26] The Father raised Jesus by the blood of the eternal covenant. Now, here's where I'm going to be in danger, giving bogged down. So here's what I need you to do. I want you to help me not get bogged down. I want you to flip back to Hebrews chapter nine.
[00:20:44] Now, if you're a regular here, you know, if I put it on the screen, we're in trouble. So I'm trying to save us. We're going to. We're going to get in the page Hebrews chapter number nine. Okay? I want you to find in Hebrews chapter nine, number nine, verse 19. When you find it, say Amen.
[00:21:00] Got it?
[00:21:02] Now listen to what the Bible says. You follow along, okay? For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to the people, Paul's. When the law had been proclaimed, when it had been laid out. You're going to find this very strange. What does Moses do? He took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and. And hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people. And then this is what Moses says. This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you. Okay, pause right there. Do you see that? When the law came. When the law came, it had to be signed and sealed with blood. And they were sanctified with blood. Paul caused. What kind of blood was.
[00:21:56] Was cow blood. And that might be moving, but it's also momentary.
[00:22:05] And it was blood or what else? Goats. And you know what you call that, right? Goat blood. What is it? Guys? It's bad.
[00:22:14] All right. What's the problem of animal sacrifices? Do we ever pause and think about that? The problem of animal sacrifices is an animal is amoral. People are immoral.
[00:22:27] So an amoral sacrifice is really the picture of the necessity of a moral payment for immoral people.
[00:22:39] In other words, it's like saying, this is an IOU and it's pretty ugly. This is the payment must be blood. Hebrews 9:21 goes on to say, and in the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood. And without the what church, the shedding of blood, there's no what? No forgiveness of sins or Some translations say no remission of sins.
[00:23:09] Do you see this? This is incredible. This is important. So what they were going to do. I know I'm going to get technical, but you need this. On Resurrection Sunday, they were in a temporal temporary space, going to use tools to engage by the commands of God with the living God. And those temporary tools had to be purified and sanctify.
[00:23:38] The problem is God. Although God wanted to affect an image, a picture, an illustration, a metaphor, although he wanted to embed in the Israel's the Israelites, he wanted to embed in them the understanding about blood and forgiveness and cleanliness. All of this was temporal tools to paint a picture to the eternal. So sacrifice.
[00:24:05] In other words, to quote the prophet Vanilla Ice, who said, if you've got a problem, what.
[00:24:21] What was his solution?
[00:24:23] Pick up the beat and let the DJ revolve it. Ice, Ice, baby.
[00:24:29] What is the problem there? You need a beat so you can dance. Okay. Is Vanilla Ice actually serving and solving any eternal problem?
[00:24:39] I highly doubt he'll be leading worship in heaven. He might be part of worship in heaven, but I highly doubt Vanilla Ice will be the choir leader.
[00:24:50] God says, if you got a problem and you have a problem, going to solve it. But so you can understand how desperate the problem is, I'm going to show you can only be solved by blood. Life has to pay for life. Morals have to pay for immorals. Amorality will paint a picture. I mean, just think about it. Think about your favorite food. Mine's a hamburger. It may be great to have a picture of a hamburger, but it won't be great to eat a picture of a hamburger.
[00:25:18] You want a hamburger.
[00:25:20] Which is far more moving than the picture.
[00:25:26] When the God of peace raised again from the dead, the Lord Jesus, the great shepherd, how did he do it? By the eternal blood of the covenant. This is the only moral man that ever lived. He's not amoral like an animal. He's not immoral like sinful man. He is moral. So his sacrifice can count. Not temporary, but eternal.
[00:25:53] And that's what resurrection day reminds us of in part. Now, Acts, chapter 2, verse 24 tells us one very important thing we should read before we moved on. God raised him up loosing what? The pangs of death. Why? Because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Now, you know, if you happen to have a state trooper in your family, feel free to go tell them this story, but don't use my name.
[00:26:22] I was recently stopped, and the guy says, you didn't come to a stop. And you know, I'm always very nice and gentle and compliant. And I said, I stopped.
[00:26:35] And we went back and forth. And I said, I think I said something very pastoral like, just write me a ticket if you need to. There's cameras on that building. We'll go get to film and I'll see you in court.
[00:26:46] I got home and told my wife I was running a little late. Where you been? I said, the popo stopped me.
[00:26:52] And then she was appalled that I had this back and forth with him. But it was this case where I knew in this case now, if he had said I speeding or something, I probably would have been like, yo, bro, you right. You know, it's a lot of things I could not have argued with him about, but I could argue with. And I was also. I said, man, I saw you sitting there. You think I'm not gonna stop with you sitting down? Are you crazy? And I came to. And so we were going back and forth, and he said, I'll let you go with a warning. I said, what are you warning me of?
[00:27:20] Are you warning me of bad police work? I mean, what you warning me of? I said, I warn you. He said, what? I said, I warn you.
[00:27:30] My transmission went out of my car like the next day. So maybe, maybe you reap what you sow and stuff too.
[00:27:38] Now, I wanted you to laugh. It's a true story. But my point isn't go out and argue with the police. It was just very comforting to know that my accuser had no ground to stand on in this. In this one thing, please, if you tell your state trooper, kin folks do not use my name.
[00:28:02] I think I'm already wanted in South Dakota especially. Don't tell them for speeding.
[00:28:09] I'm at peace with the natives. Okay, all right.
[00:28:15] It's a silly illustration, but you can't make this stuff up. Where did his confidence come?
[00:28:21] The confidence came because I was positive. And I was positive not only that I was innocent, but that I could be proven innocent.
[00:28:30] See, my confidence in Christ Jesus is that the sinless one died for me and death couldn't hold him in this Case, I'm completely, utterly, unarguably guilty and I've been declared innocent by the one who pay for sin.
[00:28:50] So the devil can come at me and be like, hey, you just running your big mouth again? I'm like, yeah, please forgive me.
[00:28:58] I'm not asking the devil for forgiveness. I'm telling him he's not the one I'm worried about.
[00:29:04] He's not the one. And the one who has loved my soul says, you're forgiven.
[00:29:09] So when he raised him up, he did not sprinkle blood on it. The blood that was given is eternal. And the reason he didn't stay down is because he didn't die for his sin. Fourthly, quickly, the reason for great hope is through Jesus Christ. Let me give you this one real fast. Real fast.
[00:29:30] Hope in our culture is usually used as wishful thinking. Amen.
[00:29:36] I hope it rains soon.
[00:29:38] I really do, actually.
[00:29:42] I hope the Celtics win the NBA championship, you know, all kinds of things. You know, I hope I get to see my friends soon, you know, and it's okay to use that language. We know what we're expressing. We know we're saying, I would really like for this to work out in this way. Okay? Okay. It's wrong to have that use of language in foolish ways, you know, I hope they remake Titanic and Jack makes gets room on the float with Rose.
[00:30:15] That's sort of dumb. They're not going to do that.
[00:30:19] But that isn't biblical hope. Somebody should already say amen. Biblical hope is fixed expectation. We have great hope through Jesus Christ. Okay, why? Debt's been paid. Sin's been defeated. Okay? Death has been laid low. He took death and laid it in his grave, right? So my hope, my hope of forgiveness, my hope of acceptance, all of this hope is through Jesus Christ. None of it's in Tim bose.
[00:30:54] Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1 says, now faith is. Somebody read that. Faith is what?
[00:31:00] Assurance.
[00:31:02] Assurance of things. What?
[00:31:06] Now, I got to tell you, faith isn't something you wind up in yourself. It is a gift from God. It is the gift of God. And when God gives us faith, he says, I want you to trust in that.
[00:31:24] Faith is the assurance of fixed expectation. How do you have fixed expectation on this Resurrection Sunday? Through Jesus Christ. Lastly, and very quickly. Long point, if you're a note taker, I do not apologize.
[00:31:39] God did this. This raising up Jesus again. God did this not only to make peace with the elect, but also for his glory forever and ever. In a few weeks, just in a few short weeks, we'll be over into Ephesians, chapter three, Matthew. Acrey, aren't you excited?
[00:31:59] Yeah. We're going to have 23 messages out of the book of Hebrews. And Matthew thinks It's at least 218 to few.
[00:32:08] But we're going to get in Hebrews. I mean, Ephesians, chapter three, Ephesians. And it says there that even the angels, astounded or surprised at what God did.
[00:32:21] The angels, their minds were blown by what God did. Through Jesus Christ. God will get glory from this forever and ever and ever and ever.
[00:32:35] Now, Bruce Springsteen would say, glory days. Do what?
[00:32:40] Pass you by. I heard somebody whisper. They didn't want nobody to know they was a sinner.
[00:32:45] I'm a sinner. I know the lyrics. Glory days. They do what? Pass you by.
[00:32:51] God will get glory from this work of Jesus forever. But not only will he get glory from it, not only did he do this to make peace, but he did it so that through Jesus Christ. You ready? He would equip you for everything good that you may do his will.
[00:33:11] Okay. It wasn't sentimental information.
[00:33:15] We needed our Lord resurrected. We need resurrection power. We needed a life of God to come to us.
[00:33:24] And brothers and sisters, I'm here to tell you today that that's what God wants for you.
[00:33:30] That. That.
[00:33:32] That literally is one of the most powerful reasons we can celebrate the resurrection. God makes peace. God gets glory. God equips his saints. He equips them with everything good. He equips them with everything good so that we can do his will. Seeing the time, I'll stop saying all the things I want to say. But let me remind you. I'll just throw it up here. Titus, chapter two. I mentioned this last week and the week before that.
[00:33:59] The grace of God has appeared. Okay. Amen. Grace of God has appeared. The unmerited favor of God has appeared when Christ came. Okay. Isn't that awesome? But I want you to see too, that the appearing of the glory of our great God is coming too. And we're living between two appearings. The grace of God is open to mankind.
[00:34:26] And when he comes back, the glory of mankind, of God will be revealed to mankind. Let me say that again. The grace of God is open. But we will see the glory of God when He returns.
[00:34:39] What are we doing in between?
[00:34:42] Okay, A. If you respond to the grace of God by faith in Jesus Christ, this will bring salvation to you. And a saved person will be being trained. They'll be being trained. You see it in verse 12. Be trained in what? Be being trained in Renouncing ungodliness, you'll start to agree with God about what's right and wrong, what's good and bad.
[00:35:02] The saved person will be renouncing worldly passions. That means we'll have a battle with our own flesh. Not a battle with God to do what we want in our flesh, but a battle against our flesh whereby we ask for the help of God to do what pleases him.
[00:35:18] And we'll be learning, we'll be training how to live self controlled, upright and godly lives today, not just off in heaven sometime, right? Not only that, we'll be waiting, waiting for the blessed hope with fixed expectation. We'll be waiting for that blessing of the glory of God to appear. Let the church say Amen and we'll finally be redeemed out of lawlessness. We'll see Satan crushed and he'll finish the work of purifying us as a people for his own possession. Amen. I need you to see, I need us to revel in the truth today that the God of peace raised up again Jesus from the dead, the great shepherd by the eternal blood covenant that he could, that he would equip us with everything good that we might do his will for the glory of God forever and ever.
[00:36:13] You want to know why Resurrection Day? Why celebrate him getting up out of the grave? I just gave you like 93 reasons and I couched it in five.
[00:36:25] Now if you're a believer today, I need to caution you. Okay? I need to caution you in love. Christians say Amen Way back in Hebrews 2, the writer of Hebrews said this. We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard. Why?
[00:36:42] As we drift away, that's the image of a boat, the rope coming loose and the rope coming loose from its mooring and a boat drifting off in the middle of the night.
[00:36:55] Pay attention. Why? Because it's so easy to drift. Why do we celebrate Holy Week at East Rock Community Church? It's one of those things that helps us to remember, not to forget. It's one of those things that helps us pay closer attention. It's one of those things that reminds us to be careful lest we drift. Why do we have church on Sunday when the Hebrews they would have Sabbath time sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Why do we have church on Sunday? Because the church celebrates the resurrection every single week. Amen. Every single week.
[00:37:30] Why? Because if we don't remember the benefits of Jesus defeating death, we're more likely to drift on and on and on. I could say, let me Ask you, do you know him today?
[00:37:45] Are you in a right relationship with God?
[00:37:48] And the Bible says In Romans, chapter 10, if we believe in our heart, that's when you really believe something.
[00:37:54] And we confess with our mouth that Jesus was raised from the dead, the whole of our faith. That's why Paul would say, if you don't believe he's raised from the dead, your preaching is worthless. The whole of our faith hinges on what we believe about the resurrection.
[00:38:09] Isn't that incredible?
[00:38:12] If you believe in the seat of your affections, and if you confess with a muscle of belief that Jesus was raised from the dead, you will be saved. Saved from what? The wrath of God, the destiny of hell, the judgment of sin, the snare of Satan? The list is long.
[00:38:32] If you believe, and if you confess your belief, God will save you now. Christian, Christian, where are you at in your faith today?
[00:38:46] Have you been drifting?
[00:38:50] I can't remember the line exactly from John's song, but it was in the second chorus. It made me kind of weepy. But the line basically said, you know, it's become too easy to do life apart from you. That's what my heart heard. And I was like, oh, you know, when you can take care of your health needs and you got groceries and, you know, you stay out of conflict. You're not impoverished, you're not sick. It can get really easy to coast. You even got to be in the gross end. You don't suddenly have to become a crackhead or a bank robber. You. You can just start coasting and drift away from the Lord. So, brothers and sisters, where are you? May this resurrection day sermon be your reminder to pay close attention to what you've heard. And if you're drifting, come on back to the shore.
[00:39:42] Tie off to the rock.
[00:39:45] Let me pray for us. Father, thank you for this teaching moment. Thank you for this worship moment. Thank you, Father, for a chance to celebrate the resurrection, to point to the truth and the power of the resurrection. Would you now, Father, as we begin to respond by singing, would you, by the power and the unique work of your Holy Spirit, speak to our hearts? If there are specific things that believers need to confess to realize, would you help us realize it and bring it. Bring it to the. To the full cross, and would you help us to experience forgiveness and new life in fresh ways? And, Lord, if there be any soul that is yet to yield to you, I pray, God, that you show them that you are the God of peace. And that's what you really want, is peace. Peace from them, for them. And with them.
[00:40:41] So, Father, help us as we begin to respond, to respond faithfully in Jesus I pray. Amen.
