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Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.
1 Corinthians 15, 1 through 11, would you please stand as we read God's Holy Word together. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have rebelled or believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, and of the twelve, and that he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
After that he was seen of James, and then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
Therefore, whether I or they, so we preach, and so you believe. Father, thank you for your Holy Word, and Lord, you said you'd build your church, and upon this rock you'd build your church, and the gates of hell would not prevail against it. Lord, we desire to glean and to learn the truth.
We desire for you to teach us. We desire that you would give us ears to hear, as you said to the churches of Revelation 2 and 3. He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying. And Lord, we pray that as your word goes forth, Lord, that we'd be nourished, strengthened, that we'd grow.
And Lord, I thank you for confirmation that no matter what's happened here over the last three years or four years, the people that have attended have grown spiritually. I may have really made them angry at times, but Lord, they have grown, because your word doesn't come back void. So Lord, we praise your word goes forth today, that you'd build up and strengthen the body, that you'd make us strong, that we'd fall more in love with you, that you'd reveal yourself to us and equip us, Lord, with the glorious gospel, that we'd not be deceived with a false gospel, a false angel of minister of righteousness.
None of these things, Lord. But Lord, we'd be on point. We'd be clear.
We would know that we know that we know that we're in your will. So help us, Lord, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Would you please be seated? Paul now explains the necessity of believing in the bodily resurrection of the believer. The Corinthians has some questions about the resurrection. They were influenced by the Greeks.
The Greeks thought it was just insane that a God, the deity of Christ, that a God could be killed. And, you know, the resurrection, the incarnation of Jesus, the God-man being crucified, buried, raised from the dead. And so the people were having difficulty with that with the philosophers and Mars Hill and that sort of thing.
But also the Sadducees, the religious sect of the Sadducees, whom the high priest Caiaphas was, they didn't believe in miracles, nor did they believe in the resurrection. They were Sadducees because they didn't. And so they too didn't believe in the resurrection.
So Paul provides three reasons to believe in the resurrection. So you get an Easter Sunday sermon right now. You get the resurrection.
So the evidence for the resurrection is three things. Number one, the wisdom of God. Verse one, moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received wherein you stand.
So what is the gospel Paul preached? What is the gospel that he introduced, that he brought to the church of Corinth? It was the gospel they received. It was the gospel that Paul received. It was the gospel that they were standing on.
And so it was Jesus Christ and him crucified for the remission of sins. So how is Jesus Christ and him crucified, the wisdom of God? Well, earlier Paul was talking to the church of Corinth in chapter one, verse 23, and he explains this. But he had to deal with problems with the gospel, problems with people, the immorality of chapter five, people suing each other in chapter six, marriage problems in chapter seven.
There's disorder in chapter 12, 13, 14 with the exercise of the gifts. And now there's a problem doctrinally. The people don't believe in the resurrection.
It's permeating, it's working its way through, which is the heart of the gospel. It's the very heart of the gospel. And he starts this letter out explaining that in chapter one, verse 23.
We preach Christ crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block. The Jews just couldn't see how their Messiah would be crucified. It was a stumbling block under them.
He was a Messiah in their mind. They only read the verses in the Old Testament that showed him overthrowing the Gentiles, overthrowing the Romans, overthrowing everybody. They didn't see a suffering servant.
They didn't see the God-man. They didn't see even Genesis 3, 15, that the seed of the woman has healed, be bruised, and that he be crucified. But he'd raise himself from the dead and crush the serpent's head.
They didn't see Psalm 22. My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from my roaring? It just didn't register for them. They didn't see Psalm 69.
They didn't see Psalm 16. The Holy One wouldn't see corruption. They didn't understand Isaiah 52 and 53, where a whole description there in Isaiah of the crucifixion, him being despised and rejected of a man, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him.
They didn't see it. It didn't compute. Even still today, the book of Isaiah was written 700 years before the crucifixion of Jesus.
And so we would say, hey, we have the more sure word of prophecy. We have over 300 prophecies that pointed to his death, his burial, his resurrection, his second coming. And he fulfilled over 300 of them, 300 prophecies in his first advent, in his first coming.
So nothing by accident, all planned by God. He's the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the earth. And don't you love it to know that your name was written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation of the earth.
And what a blessing that is that God put me in that book before he got to know me, you know. And what a blessing. I love, I love election, you know, that I'm a winner, that I'm chosen, that I'm predestined in his foreknowledge of me and all.
And so a stumbling block to the Jews. And under the Greeks, foolishness, just foolish. On Mars Hill in Acts 17, Paul's being treated as a babbler, you know.
Who is this babbler, you know? And he's trying to connect and quoting the Epicurean philosophers and all. But when he comes to the topic of the resurrection, you know, they are just disgusted at him. He's not really an intellectual.
He doesn't understand. And who is this, you know, babbler? And, but unto them which are called, that's you and I. What a glorious day when the light bulb went on. The natural man, he understands not the things of God, neither can he know them.
Remember in chapter 2, 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14? The natural man, the body and soul, body and soul. Adam, the day you eat of it, you shall surely die. Adam and Eve, when they partook of the forbidden fruit, they died spiritually.
Death means separation. They were separated from God in the relationship they once enjoyed. Now their body, physical, soul, the seed of the mind, the will, the emotions, but no spiritual capacity to know God.
The natural man understands not the things of God, neither can he know them. Why? Because they're spiritually discerned. And then in chapter 3, Paul said he was having difficulty getting through to some of the Christians.
Why? Because they were carnal. What's it mean to be carnal? It means you're fleshly. And they were sectarian.
They were saying, I'm a Paul, I'm an Apollos, I'm a Cephas, you know? And so they were divided. And in that division, in that carnality, he was having to feed them with milk, not solid food. So their growth was an arrested state of development, right? They weren't growing like they should.
You guys have been growing. You know why? Because you attended churches prior to here that didn't teach the Word of God. They give you little sermonettes for Christianettes.
And so we bring forth the Word of God, and if you don't understand or you can't hear it, it might be that your ears got too much wax in them or something. Something's wrong. Because the Word of God doesn't come back void.
When I speak and my ideas and opinions, you can throw those out. You don't have to agree with anything that's, you know, emanates from me, my ideas. That's why I try to stay with so much of the Word of God, because the Word of God doesn't come back void.
So I spend a great deal of time causing the Word of God to explain the Word of God. You get that? So in chapter 2, 1 Corinthians, but eye has not seen your natural ability to see, eye has not seen, nor ear heard your natural ability to hear, neither has it entered into the hearts of men the things which God has prepared for them that love Him. Contrast, but God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit.
In the present tense, you don't have to wait till you get to heaven. In the present tense, if you're a born-again believer, body, soul, and spirit, you have the capacity to hear, to see, to discern, and allow the Holy Spirit to get into your heart to make His abode with you that God would reveal Himself to you. And that's the glorious gospel.
We're not ashamed of the gospel. Remember when we were in Romans, the theme of the book of Romans? I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and then to the Greek, for therein, within the gospel, therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written, the just, those justified, those made righteous, shall live by faith. And so we could go through and we could look at the just, shall live by faith, four different places, but we won't.
We'll continue here. And so to the Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God. So those that are called both Jews and Greeks, so those that are born again, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.
So the power that raised them is the same power that saved us and will raise us. And so we have a hope that's a living hope, a lively hope. Our hope isn't a dead hope.
Our savior, Jesus, is the only religion in all of history built upon himself being resurrected from the dead. Destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up. Buddha is in the grave.
Muhammad's in the grave. Confucius is in the grave. Joseph Smith is in the grave.
They couldn't raise themselves from the dead to prove deity, to prove that they're God. Christianity is the only religion that the very heart of the religion, the very heart of our belief system, is the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. If you want to destroy Christianity, produce a body.
If the religious leaders so hate Jesus and want to destroy this Christian sect, these Nazarenes, then all you've got to do is produce the carpenter from Nazareth. Bring his riddled, scarred body, dead body out for everyone to see, and everyone will go home. Same thing happened in World War II.
The Japanese were deceived that the emperor was deity. And once General MacArthur's there after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the people knew that old boy was just a man, that he was not deity, that he couldn't stop those atomic bombs. And so when they believed, when they believed in him, they're willing to be kamikaze pilots.
They're willing to sacrifice their lives, and so too Muslims. They believe there's 70 virgins waiting for them. But if they knew it was a lie, if the disciples knew it was a lie, that Jesus didn't raise himself from the dead, do you think anybody following a lie would be willing to resist the greatest instinct within their whole body, which whole life is self-preservation? There has to be some sort of a lie, I believe, to go and blow myself up, or it has to be true.
And for you and I, we know it to be true. We have evidence, overwhelming evidence, many infallible proofs, Luke, in writing to Theophilus, many infallible proofs, undeniable facts. Many that have great minds throughout history that have tried to disprove the Bible wind up becoming Christians as they research and try to disprove it.
Overwhelming evidence. And the Apostle Paul was one of them. He was a great intellect.
And once the Lord Jesus revealed himself unto him, and he began to spend three years in the desert of Arabia sitting at the Lord's feet, learning the gospel directly from him, Paul was transformed and changed, and he had a great, great command of connecting the old and the new, and a writer of much of the New Testament. And so the resurrection being the heart, and it's a lively hope, a living hope, to be asked of the bodies to be present with the Lord. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
And so we don't fear. And in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13, when someone in our family, our friends, and when our congregation dies, we sorrow. Sorrow is natural.
Sorrow is good. Grieving is good. Don't hold back on the grieving.
Sorrow. But we sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. We have hope.
We have hope that we're going to see grandma, grandpa, son, or daughter, friend, loved one, who believed in Jesus and has gone before us to the other side. We have hope. And we know that to be asked of the body is to be present with the Lord, that our death day is simply a moving day.
We're moving out of this body into our new glorified body. And there's no more sorrow, no more pain, no more tears, and many of us are yearning for that day. And so we're already crucified with Christ.
Nevertheless, we live, you know? And so we don't fear. We don't fear death. And that's why the Romans, in all their leveraging of their early Christians, they couldn't get them to recant or blaspheme.
Paul couldn't get them to blaspheme and recant because they didn't fear death anymore. They killed James, the brother of John, in Acts chapter 12, and Passover is coming, and Peter is there sleeping. The same Peter that denied the Lord three times on the night that Jesus was betrayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, that same Peter is asleep in a prison cell awaiting execution.
But he doesn't fear death anymore. He's not pacing the jail cell. He's not wringing his hands.
He's not crying out to God. He's not even like the great John the Baptist who was imprisoned and sends his boys back and says to Jesus, are you the one or should we look for another? John was doubting. Cousin John was doubting.
He never in his mind could conceive that he'd be in a prison cell. He's used to be out in the open. He's used to saying whatever he wants and no ramifications, so to speak.
But this time around, he's thrust into jail for saying it's illegal, it's wrong. Imagine him making a moral value statement. It's wrong for you to take your brother Philip's wife as yours.
And so for a party favor, he winds up losing his head. But Jesus just simply told his disciples, you go back and tell John, hey, the lame are walking, the blind are seeing, the deaf are hearing. You know, the gospel's being preached unto the poor.
It's business as usual. And blessed are they that are not offended in me, you know. So John, get back to believing.
Get back to believing and trusting. And so the power of the resurrection. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.
Again, you need that spirit of wisdom and revelation. We need the Holy Spirit to bear witness with our spirit that we're children of God, that the gospel's, you know, that the resurrection's true. If you doubt the resurrection, if you have any kind of doubt whatsoever, you need to dig in and make sure that all doubt is removed.
It's no way to live the Christian life or walk through the motions and all. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward 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 heavenly places. The heart of the gospel is the wisdom of God.
That his son would be crucified, that he'd be buried, that he'd raise himself from the dead three days later, that he'd be seen of many of his disciples, you know, for forty days, and that he would ascend to the right hand of his Father and promise that he's coming again. Let's take it a step further. If you don't believe that Jesus is coming again, you're not saved.
You not only believe he's died on the cross of Calvary for your sins, but your belief system is such that you believe that he's raised from the dead, because if he didn't raise himself from the dead, then he's just a man, and there's no man that could pay for your sins. It has to be the God-man, the son of man. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man comes to the Father but through me. So, the inclusive, non-inclusive exclusivity of Jesus. It makes it so simple for us to believe.
A child could understand. I don't have to worry about all the so-called injustices out there. All I know, the most greatest injustice is that the only perfect man was crucified.
Pilate said, I find no fault in him. He knew for envy that Jesus was delivered. So, the only perfect man that ever walked this planet was murdered.
And if your son or daughter's been murdered, if you've endured a great injustice, God our Father's endured an even greater injustice, because all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God, by which also you're saved. And notice this, if, how many people think they're saved? Does Kamala believe she's saved? Does Trumpster believe he's saved? Do their followers believe they're all saved? Well, if we were to, once they say they're a Christian, they step over a line. I have no problem voting for a secular president.
No problem at all. My whole life long, they're secular, until the election cycle. And all of a sudden now, they're all carrying Bibles.
Bill Clinton, all of them, you know. Obama, he's a Christian at election time, the first time around. Second time, he's not.
I have no problem. What I can't handle is being lied to. I will not tolerate being lied to anymore.
I can't do it. So, if he steps over and he sings hallelujah, and he starts to mimic what it is to be a Christian, now he's judged by this. And I'm not talking past sins.
All that's gone, if he's a Christian, the women, whatever. I'm talking COVID. I'm talking, that needs to be dealt with.
It's in motion right now. It's still happening. You can't just give a free pass.
And then I'll take it a step further, and I'll say, who is Jesus? They already are showing, Kamala's group's already showing a clip of Trump being interviewed saying, has he ever asked for forgiveness? That's a little touchy thing. That's a pretty good question to evaluate if a guy's a Christian or not. Well, I don't know I ever needed to, you know.
I just try to do good, you know. Well, that tells me he needs to spend some time in this church so that we can teach him. Because that's pretty basic.
And then you ask him about the resurrection. You ask him about Jesus, you know. And is he a man? Is he a God man? Is he coming again? That'd be a good one to ask these guys.
Hey, Kamala, do you think Jesus is coming again? Think he's going to set up his kingdom? These are some ways we could evaluate and see if people are truly saved or not, or at least if their doctrine is orthodox doctrine, you know. There's a whole slew of YouTube prophets and people on social media just spewing any and everything, and nobody holding them accountable. It's existentialism.
It's every man doing that which is right in his own eyes. So he says, by which also you're saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you. You've forgotten already? Unless you believed in vain.
Your belief is vain if you forgot about the resurrection. That's the heart of the gospel. In John chapter 11, a good buddy of Jesus was sick.
And his name is Lazarus. And Lazarus lived in a city called Bethany. And in that city, word got out to Jesus he was nearby.
And Jesus purposely waited and waited and waited for Lazarus to die. And his sisters were not very pleased about that. And so in chapter, in verse 12, the disciples said, well, if he's sleeping, or in verse four, Jesus said, it's good.
Or he said, this sickness not on a death, but for the glory of God in verse four. And then down in verse 12, the disciples said, well, if he's sleeping, it's good for him, meaning they were directed toward him being healed. And they didn't think in terms of the resurrection.
And then in verse 21, Martha says to Jesus, if, if he's sleeping, it's good, Lord, verse 12. If you'd have been here sooner, Lord, you could have healed him. And then a little while later, Mary in verse 32 says, if he had been here in your face, Jesus, if you'd have been here, you could have healed him.
Well, prior to that, Jesus said to Martha, you know, you believe in the resurrection? Oh yeah, we believe in a Daniel 12 general resurrection. But Jesus said the great I am, I am the resurrection, the life. He that believes in me, though we are dead yet, shall he live.
And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believe us all this. Oh yeah, we believe it.
We believe it. Paul's saying here, if you don't believe in the resurrection, your faith is vain. Have you forgotten already? Martha had forgotten already.
Now she's, she along with Mary saying, if you'd have been here, you know, you could, could have healed him and all. And then in verse 40, Jesus comes with his if, and his if is, if you believe, didn't I tell you, if you believe, you'll see the glory of God. It's incumbent upon us to believe, to take him at his word.
And then later in chapter verse 48, the the effect of raising Lazarus from the dead, multitudes of people are coming to Christ. Now they're coming to a saving faith. He'd been in the grave four days and he said, Lazarus, come forth.
And he comes out of the tomb and grave clothes and give him something to eat and all. And and so this miracle was an undeniable miracle of raising him from the dead. And then the religious leaders, the Sadducees, they were Sadducees because they didn't believe in miracles and resurrection.
Caiaphas was a Sadducee and he was the great high priest that year. He's the son-in-law of Annas. Annas was acting like the high priest.
He had so much power, especially you'll see that at the time of the trials of Jesus. And they first took him when they were interrogating him to the home of, of Annas. And then they took him to Caiaphas.
And then they took him before the Sanhedrin, the three trials that Jesus spent before the Jews. And then they took him to Pilate and then over to Herod and then back to Pilate. Six different interrogations, six different trials in that one evening.
And so there they are in chapter 11, Jesus just raising Lazarus from the dead. And now they're conspiring to kill Jesus. And they, and they're conjuring up in their head.
They're saying, if this man's left alone, then the Romans are going to take our country from us. We're going to lose our country. So we better kill this guy so that we can remain in control and cooperative with the Romans that this doesn't get out of the hand because you can't trust the people, you know, can't have all these people running everywhere.
And so Caiaphas, he prophesies. And so an unbeliever can prophesy. He says it's expedient, it's profitable that one man would die for the nation.
Not speaking of himself, John says, isn't that interesting? But somebody else needs to die to save the nation. So let's kill Jesus and we'll, you know, we'll save, we'll save the nation. And so this big if here, conditional, by which also we are saved if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain.
So without the resurrection, there's no good news. Our faith is vain. Our preaching is vain.
The heart of the gospel again is the resurrection. Jesus rose from the dead and so will we if we believe. Do you believe? And after Jesus said the great I am statement, I am the resurrection, he asked that to Martha, Believest thou this? Do you believe this? Yeah, I believe it, Lord, with all my heart, all my soul, everything within me, I believe.
So what is an empty profession of faith? Number one, an empty profession of faith is simply an intellectual consent concerning Jesus. An intellectual consent. Yeah, I believe, I believe this stuff's true.
I believe it's true about him. But you're not born again. You follow it intellectually, but you haven't been transformed or changed.
So you attend church, you look at the doctrine, you say, hey, yeah, I consent to that, that Jesus is the Savior. He's one that went to the cross. He's the best one we got.
But Nicodemus, you must be born again. You got to be born again. You got to be body, soul and spirit.
So that intellectual consent to these truths is not saving faith, can change when somebody else comes along to persuade you otherwise. And what if you say I believe, I believe that there's one God. In First John 219, John, or excuse me, James, James 219, he says, you say you believe there's one God, you do well, the demons also believe and tremble.
Isn't it interesting that when Jesus would be near a demoniac, the demons would shriek, they'd know that it's Jesus, they'd speak through this man's voice and say at Gadara, we know who you are, Jesus, that just one. Have you come to torment us? They know their destiny. Have you come to torment us before our time? They understand time.
Do you understand time? Do you understand the brevity of the time in which we live? It's appointed unto all men once to die and then the judgment. Are you gambling with your eternal destiny? Do you know what time it is? If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Today is the day of salvation, for why would you die in your sins? The demons know. The one third of the angels that fell with Lucifer, they know their eternal destiny.
They aren't lying to each other and trying to convince themselves there's any other way. Although it seems that Satan's a psycho and he tries to force his will to maybe force a different way, but it's not going to happen, is it? He's not going to stop Jesus from returning. He's not going to be able to destroy all the Jews so that Jesus can't come back and set up his kingdom, right? He's not going to be able to destroy your DNA because you're going to be like Noah, who was perfect in his generations.
You're not going to allow anybody to give you a mark upon the right hand or the forehead that would change you from being a human to transhuman with the mRNA, you know, vaccines and the nanobots and things that they're doing to try and convert your, to convert your DNA, as Satan tried once before with the fallen angels cohabitating with the women in Genesis 6. And then it says that the Nephilim, the Nephilim were the offspring, and so repented God that he'd made man because the intention of man's heart was only evil and violent, you know, continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, right? So beautiful gospel story that we continue to are amazed in that regard. And so God took Noah and repopulated the planet with the good DNA.
So Satan has all sorts of different ways to try and deceive people. And so James says, you believe there's one God, you do well. The Lord our God is one God.
The Jew would wake up in the morning. The Shema, you know, the Lord our God is one God. Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one God.
And thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, you know, and him only. And they'd thank the Lord that they weren't a woman or a Gentile or a slave, that they were men, godly men. And, and the demons knew.
The second way to have a false profession of faith is not counting the cost. There's a cost involved in following Jesus and saying you believe. Jesus, if any man come after me and let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me, whosoever would seek to save his life shall lose his life.
And except you hate this world, this world system, friendship with this world is enmity with God. Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. All that's in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life is not of the Father but of the world.
And the world perishes in the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abides forever. Except a corn of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.
If any man come after me, let him deny himself daily, take his cross up and follow me. Many people have a false profession of faith because they just want to be a part of the Bless Me Club. They want their best life now.
And we see when the trials begin to beat down upon them, we see their profession of faith erode because they didn't have an adequate root system going deeper with Jesus. Surface Christians, you don't know who they are till they're putting hot water, till they're put through trials. It's when you and I go through trials that we glorify the Lord, where the devil is banking on and boasting that you're going to deny the Lord.
Watch, I'll give him cancer. I'll take his beloved wife from him and he'll curse you to your face. And it doesn't work, does it? You sorrow, but not as those who have no hope.
Breaks your heart. You feel incomplete. And yet you're compelled to drive her closer to the Lord.
The trials drive us to the Lord. The devil actually does us a favor because it drives me to Christ. The only way I can cope or get through it is to draw closer to Jesus.
If I try to go it alone, I can't make it. And so we count the cost. We reckon the old man dead.
We mortify the deeds of the flesh. We crucify the flesh. And we yield to the Spirit.
It's no longer me living, but Christ living through me. Jesus said, you shall know them by their fruits in Matthew 7 16. So you're going to see how people react, how they live.
Are you truly saved? Paul said, let a man examine himself to see whether he's in the faith, lest he be a reprobate. Evaluate. Oh, don't judge, man.
Don't judge. Paul's saying to judge. Examine yourself.
That means to judge. Take inventory. Are you in the faith? Or are you those that are going to one day approach Jesus in Matthew 7 saying, Lord, Lord, you got the lingo down.
You got the Christianese down. You got the shirt. You got the Trump hat, Kamala hat, whatever.
Whoever you decide, evangelicals. Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not do many miracles? They're able to do miracles in your name. And he says, away from me.
I never knew you, you that practice iniquity. What a terrible thing to find out on judgment day, that you're not a believer, that you're none of his, that he doesn't know you. Do you know within your heart? Does the Holy Spirit bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God? Has the Lord given you ears to hear, to hear what the Spirit is saying? Can you read God's word? I don't care what version of the Bible, but can you read a version of the Bible and God speak to you? Can you hear the Lord? Do you have ears to hear? Because remember, the natural man understands not the things of God, neither can he know them, because they're spiritually discerned.
You must be born again. And the third way of knowing that you have a false profession of faith is an unrepentant heart. You're like Judas.
Godly sorrow leads to repentance, like Peter. Peter blew it. Peter's a sinner.
And he went out and he wept, and he wept, and he wept. And he even tried after the resurrection, even tried to go back to fishing. He was so personally dejected inside.
But Judas, Judas knew that he betrayed innocent blood, and he took those 30 pieces of silver, and he threw them at the feet of the religious leaders. And they said, what is that to us? They bought the potter's field with it, broken shards. And Jesus purchased that field, because you're a treasure.
You're not a piece of trash to throw away like a shard. He's the potter. We're the clay.
He's going to make something beautiful out of your life. But for Judas, he didn't get it. Even when he betrayed the Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane with a kiss.
Faithful are the wounds of a friend, the kiss of an enemy are deceitful. The disciples, nobody knew, who were sitting around them for three and a half years, that Judas was a Judas, that he was a Pence. Nobody knew until he acted in that way.
Betrays thou the Son of Man with a kiss, Judas? And at that moment, Judas could have repented. Jesus called him friend. Jesus loved Judas.
But he was proven to be the son of perdition, not a believer. Scares me sometimes the things I'm capable of. I like to project or promote, you know, that, hey, I'm a good guy, and God's going to let me in because I'm good.
And then the Lord reminds me, as I act wretchedly, carnally, fleshly, my thought life, my actions, my attitude of what a sinner I am. And I feel grossly inadequate, and I feel undeserving. And that's where a beautiful word comes in, grace.
God's unmerited favor. For by grace are you saved. God's mercies are new every morning.
Oh, thank you, Lamentations. Thank you, Jeremiah. Fellowship restored.
If we confess our sin, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sin and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. The Christians borrow soap. Confession, agreeing with the Holy Spirit.
Are you saved, or have you believed in vain? You're a poser. Is Harris saved? Is Bill Clinton carrying that Bible still? Is he saved? Is Obama saved? Is Donald Trump saved? I don't know if any of them are saved or not. Jesus said, take heed that no man deceive you or a woman deceive you.
So what's the fruit? What's the fruits of their life? Do you think any of them are going to keep their promises once they're elected? Or how many of their promises? Maybe a couple? Will there be life-changing promises kept? Will we ever get a border wall? Will we ever balance the budget? Will we ever stop abortion? A lot of promises. It's interesting to me that my whole life long, even when the Republican Party says they're against abortion, for four years when they're elected, they're still funding Planned Parenthood. And not just in America, all over the world.
How about we abolish Planned Parenthood? How about we dry them up? No money. No more money for abortion mills. Oh, well, you guys believed us.
We say there's no abortions, but hey, we still got to fund it, man. It's a woman's reproductive rights. The evidence of the resurrection is the wisdom of God.
Secondly, or excuse me, the wisdom of God, your salvation. And secondly, the word of God. Verse three, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received.
So the gospel that Paul delivered and preached did not originate with him. It's the gospel he received directly from God, the very word of God. He says how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
So Paul didn't understand this until Jesus intervened in Acts chapter nine on the road to Damascus. Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Who art thou, Lord? I'm Jesus, whom you're persecuting. And he knows that Jesus has been crucified, but he's risen.
He's talking to me. He's talking to Saul of Tarsus. And then he, he blinds Saul of Tarsus.
And he says, go into Damascus on the street that's called straight, you know, to, to, to meet with Annas the prophet. And Ananias is going to pray for you. And the Lord appears to Ananias and said, I want you to pray for Saul of Tarsus.
Well, he's a hit man. He's a hit man. That guy's dangerous.
Do you know how many people he's killed? Do you know how many people, you know, he's hauled away? How many homes he's ruined? He's a homewrecker. And God says, no, he's a chosen vessel unto me. And show him what things he must suffer for my namesake.
I'm going to cause him to appear before kings, governments. And part of his ministry is suffering. He's going to remind people of the cross.
He's going to bear in his body the marks, the stigmata of my scars. He's going to be beaten with rods three times. He's going to receive the cat of nine tails five times, 39 stripes less one, five different occasions.
He's going to spend a night and a day in the deep shipwreck. He's going to be impoverished and naked and in peril, always dying in his body, but triumphant in his spirit. Paul said, I die daily.
Do you die daily? The old man wants to take control. The old man wants to rise up. But we've got to reckon that old man dead.
We've got to walk in the newness of life, the life of the spirit, or we can't make it. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. So Paul is able to reach back to Genesis 3 15, that God had prophesied that Adam and Eve, no, you're not going to be able to cover your sin with fig leaves, not going to work.
You're not going to be religious around me. Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. And it's impossible in Hebrews that the blood of bulls or bullocks could take away sin.
So I'll give you a system of types that points to the future, that one day Jesus would roll into town and John the Baptist would say, behold the Lamb of God, who not just covers sin, great day of atonement of Yom Kippur, but who takes away the sins of the world, our redemption, the atonement, the atonement, the reconciliation that we enjoy with him. And so in Genesis, we see Adam and Eve leaving the garden in coats of skin, something had to die. And we see them, lest they live for eternity in their sins, we see the angel of the Lord guarding that next tree, the tree of life, that they wouldn't live in eternity in their sins.
Can you imagine if Satan and Elon Musk and these guys were able to achieve allowing people to live 130, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80. Do you know how ugly these people be as their body deteriorates? You ever see them when they're looking at chirogenics of freezing that thing, and all right cut my head off and freeze it, and when you get the technology reattach it to a young man's body, a real strong, you know, these are the kind of ideas they have in place of believing in Jesus Christ. Putting a chip in the brain, different technologies to try and make people think that they're going to live forever.
And the Antichrist is going to be selling that during the tribulation period, that you can live forever. The lie in 2nd Thessalonians 2, because they reject the truth, they're given over to a lie, that they would believe the lie. They're given over to a strong delusion that they believe the lie, which is in Genesis that where Satan told Adam and Eve, you're not going to die.
So Paul's able to look at the psalm, Psalm 22, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from my roaring? I'm a worm, you know, and no man. Psalm 69, Isaiah 50, you know, where he gave his cheeks to those that plucked off the hair in my back, to those that smote me, that smiters. They put deep rows, deep furrows in his back.
He's beaten beyond the recognition of a man, and John in Revelation 5 sees him as a lamb that had been slain. The Word of God prophesied the crucifixion of Jesus. In Daniel 9, 26, Paul would know this, Messiah would be cut off, he'd be crucified.
Again, Psalm 22, verse 1, my God, my God, why has thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint, a picture of crucifixion. Death by crucifixion was the most excruciating and cruel means of capital punishment. A person nailed to the tree, the weight of his body would pull and pull and pull, and so now, now you're unable at a certain point to keep your body taught and erect, and now the gravity is pulling your joints, your shoulders out of joint, your body's coming out of joint, excruciatingly painful.
You're dying of thirst, you're dying of asphyxiation, you, your legs are bent, and you've got a little thing to push up off of, but pretty soon you're weakened, and you can't push up to get a breath, so your whole lungs and your chest compartment caves in, and you're dying of, you can't get a breath, asphyxiation, and Isaiah describes this, and the psalmist describes it, all my bones are out of joint, my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels, and so Jesus, when the centurion took the spear, and he pierced his side, it went into the pericardium, the sac around the heart, and blood and water came out, which indicates a ruptured heart, a broken heart, and 100 confirmation that he's dead, which is important for us to understand, that he didn't just swoon, that he really died. The swoon theory that they had to counteract the eyewitness testimony, which we're going to get into, was such that people speculated that Jesus really didn't die, that he passed out, and that when he went into Joseph of Arimathea's tomb, it was nice and cold, and in that cool compartment there, he was revived, he resuscitated, and then he somehow, he overthrew the 2,000 pound stone that was there, was able to get out of the grave clothes, and set him down as if, you know, he just came out of them, dematerialized, you know, and then he's able to overthrow a quatering of soldiers that were guarding that tomb with a Roman seal, punishable by death if anybody did come in there, and did his disciples help him? Did they steal the body? Did they steal, you know, a dead body and hide it somewhere, or was it the swoon? Jesus swooned, and then got out of there, and appeared to everybody, and, and, but the religious leaders tell us really what happened, they said, this deceiver said, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up, so they put a quatering of soldiers to guard it, 2,000 pound stone, and the disciples are all wimped out, they're all cowards, they're all gone, they're not around, and, and once the angels came, and they're seated there upon the stone, the, the soldiers fell like Quakers, they fell like dead men on the ground, and Jesus, you know, is walking out of there, and, and the tomb is opened up so that you can walk in, so that Peter, James, and John can walk in to see that he's risen, risen indeed, and it's so the world could see there's an empty tomb, and, and then he's seen by, you know, witnesses, overwhelming witnesses, which we'll get into in a, in a minute here, he was wounded for our transgressions, Isaiah 53 verse 5, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed, so Jesus died for our sins, his atoning death, and with his stripes, he, the, the stripe that came upon him and his death, he that knew no sin became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, verse 4, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, so if I want to, I can go to Genesis 22 to show according to the scriptures, I can go to Hosea 12 verse 10, and say that the Lord in times of old, he's, he spoke through the prophets, and he also spoke through similitudes, pictures, allegories, so we teach, and we interpret the Bible literally, but we also see that the Lord gives us types, so one type might be the ark that Noah built, the ark is a type of Jesus, those that are in the ark go through judgment, and you know, and they're saved, we can see where Abraham, take thy son, thy only son Isaac to a mount that I'll show you, and offer him as a burnt offering, there you have a picture of God the Father taking his only begotten son Isaac, oh that Ishmael might live before you, oh that Ishmael no, and Isaac shall thy seed, seed singular speaking of the Messiah, shall thy seed be called, father we have the wood, father we have the knife, but where's the lamb for the sacrifice, God will provide himself a lamb for the sacrifice, so whether it's the Passover celebration, the typology in there, where Jesus is the lamb, or whether it's Genesis 22, Abraham's taking his son to where, to Mount Moriah, where's Mount Moriah, it's present-day Calvary, and he's there to offer his son, and we see that Abraham binds him up, puts him on the altar, the fire's lit, and lifts the knife, and the Lord intervenes at that point, he sees that Abraham loves God more than he loves the crowning moment of his life, when his tent was filled with laughter, when Isaac was born with his beloved wife Sarah, 89, he 99, so 100 years old a year later, and so God says, there's nothing Abraham will ever withhold from me, and so look there's a lamb, or a ram caught in the thicket, grab the ram, and slay the ram, and so if Paul understood that, or when Paul was partaking of Passover, if he understood that Jesus is that lamb, the Bible opens up like that once you get saved, you start to discover the hidden meanings, the hidden teaching that's there, but you didn't see it, your eyes were blinded until you came to know Jesus, and the Holy Spirit revealing to you the different truths there, and so he was buried, he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and the evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but the only sign they're going to be given is a sign of the prophet Jonah, so Jonah is a type, when we teach the children in Sunday school about Jonah and the whale, and people scoff when they get into college, like oh yeah, a whale swallowing a guy, and throwing him up, you know, on the on the shore, and all that, how can that be, you know, well I grew up in Bremerton, we got Bay Spanger, and we've got submarines there, men are able to do it, you don't think God can cause a whale to swallow Jonah, and throw him up on the shores of Nineveh, certainly he can, that's nothing, and so there's a picture there once again, so without the resurrection there is no good news, do you believe, do you believe, do you continue to believe, Romans 10 verse 9, that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, so you confess that he is Lord, Jesus is Lord, and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved, so no ifs, no almost pregnant, you're either born again, or you're not, you're either a saint, or you're an ain't, and none of us want to be an ain't, we all want confirmation that we're truly saved, and we want to see the fruit, the evidence of salvation in the lives of our children, our grandchildren, our family members, we want to see the fruit, Jesus said by their fruits you shall know them, we don't want to guess, we don't want to gamble, we don't want to say I hope so, I hope I'm saved, you don't want to leave here today with any kind of question mark hanging over your life, your eternal destiny is far too valuable, purchased with the blood of Jesus, he values you, and he doesn't want you gambling with your eternal destiny, he wants you to know that you know that you know that his spirit will bear witness with your spirit that you're a child of God, when the Holy Spirit comes into your heart and life, so the evidence for the resurrection is the wisdom of God, the word of God, and thirdly the witnesses of God, eyewitnesses of the resurrected Christ, people willing to die confessing Christ, affirming his lordship, professing his deity as God who raises the dead, verse 5, and then he was seen of Cephas, so Cephas is Peter, so Paul's going through saying I saw the risen Christ, I know he's risen, if he's not risen we're of all men most miserable, we ought to eat and drink today, for tomorrow we die, ought to just live for self, he's going to say a little bit later in this chapter, but he was seen of Cephas, so you know the the angels told the women to go get Peter, let Peter know, because Peter was so incredibly dejected, and the women were first at the tomb, Mary Magdalene was first at the tomb, then the other women, and they went in the house of Rhoda, and they told the prayer meeting and all, and they said just like idle tales, just idle tales, we don't believe these women, it's crazy, just idle tales, no really he's he's risen, we've seen him, and so Peter the little stone, Jesus said in Matthew 16, 18, Peter upon this rock, this massive rock myself, I'm going to build this church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Peter is Cephas, the Lord Jesus changed his name from Simon to Peter, which means little stone, so there's these lively stones, the apostles, and Jesus Christ the chief cornerstone that the church is built upon, which is the resurrection.
So the one Jesus placed so much confidence in, the little stone, the one Jesus prayed for, as Satan desired, he says Peter, Satan desires you that he may sift you as wheat, but I prayed for you. What's Jesus praying for Peter about? That your faith fail not, and when you're converted, when you come around, when you come to repentance, after you deny that you even know me three times, you're going to be really reeling, it's going to be hard on you, because your perception of yourself is like you're rocky man, though everybody's going to betray Jesus, not me man, I'm little stone, but I'm rocky, and I'm ready to rock and roll. Well these women were saying your speech betrays you, and they get you to the point where like if I had to talk to Hillary, she'd get me cussing, you know I'd be cussing pretty soon, and so Peter's cussing, he's swearing, I don't know the man, and he's cursing, it's a believer, it's a leader in the church, reaching that place of frustration, so dejected, and yet once he saw the Lord raised from the dead, he still was having a difficult time, but the Lord Jesus was there to restore him.
I'm praying for you that your faith fail not, and when you're converted, strengthen your brethren, you're not only going to continue to serve me, you're going to serve me in a capacity as a leader, I'm counting on you to lead these men. So Peter the fisherman of Galilee, brother of Andrew, business partner of James and John, the sons of thunder, Peter the one who denied the Lord at crunch time, Peter the one the angel told the women to tell, he is risen, then of the twelve, so then he's seen of the twelve, but Judas isn't there, and Thomas isn't there, eight days later, before the twelve, with maybe Matthias, but basically the twelve, the apostles, Thomas being present, and Thomas said earlier that I'm not going to believe, even though he had a, you know, word from the other guys, hey we saw him, Jesus appeared, Thomas being absent, I won't believe unless I can take my finger and put it within, with a centurion pierced his side, and Jesus appears in the room eight days later, Thomas behold my hands, my feet, put forth your finger here, and Thomas says my Lord and my God, and Jesus said blessed are they that believe and haven't seen, you and I believe and we haven't seen, why is it we believe, because we have God's word, because we have the witness of the Holy Spirit, bearing witness with our spirit that we're children of God, and that this is true, and we have the more sure word, a prophecy, over 300 prophecies fulfilled in his first coming, and Peter Stoner in his book described the compound probability, mathematical probability of one man fulfilling just eight of those 300 prophecies that point to his first coming, you would take the state of Texas and cover it, a pretty big state I hear, two feet deep with silver dollars, it's 10 to the 17th power, the compound probability of one man fulfilling just eight of the prophecies pertaining to Jesus, two feet deep, you mark one, you blindfold the guy, you spin them around like pin the tail on the donkey, you put them into the state of Texas somewhere, the compound probability of one man reaching down and grabbing that one silver dollar that you mark is 10 to the 17th power of eight. Now when you get to 300, it's a certainty, factual, beyond the mathematical aspects of the equation, a certainty, and so no Judas there, Thomas eight days later, he says verse six, and that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, and so Matthew 28 16, Jesus told the disciples to go on a mountain nearby, and Jesus in the area of Galilee, and he's able to appear to over 500 people at once, of whom the greater part remain under this present, but some are falling asleep, and so Paul's writing this church, this letter about AD 55, about AD 33, the crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, so it's a little over 20 years ago that these 500 have seen him, many of them are still alive today as eyewitnesses, some have fallen asleep with this, which is, they died, but they'll be raised again, some are falling asleep.
Psalm 17 15, now behold thy face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. After that he was seen of James, his brother, in Matthew 3 21, his brothers came to him, and they thought that Jesus was mad. King James says, beside himself, our brother the carpenter thinks he's the messiah, he's beside himself.
In John 7 verse 5, his brothers were unbelievers, he had four brothers, two of them wrote epistles, James and Jude, but he also had Simon and Joses, he had three sisters, these were stepbrothers and sisters, they did not believe in him. In John 1, he came unto his own, and his own received him not, right, he was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. Their brother, they didn't even know that he's the messiah, they didn't, and he never sinned, isn't that amazing, they didn't know, they thought he was beside himself, they thought he was crazy, they did not believe until after the resurrection, and then James became a leader in Acts 15, he's one of the leaders within the church, and then Jude, we see him, his epistle, the epistle of Jude, they described themselves later as not just, you know, not his brother, but servant of the Lord Jesus, isn't that amazing? Then of all the apostles at the ascension, so on the 50th, Pentecost is they're waiting, the 120 are waiting in the upper room, and they're waiting for the promise of the Holy Spirit, but they're also waiting for Jesus to ascend to the right hand of the Father, the same Jesus of what you've seen ascending shall so come in like manner, he's coming with the clouds, he's coming for you and I, and so the eyewitness testimony, the ascension, and last of all you've seen of me also as one born out of due time on the road to Damascus, one born out of due time speaks of abnormally born, aborted, miscarried, apprehended on the road to Damascus while going the wrong way, where did Jesus find you, which way were you going? I wasn't seeking the Lord, I wasn't looking for the Lord, I was not a seeker, I was happy, content with my life, there was something uneasy, there was something empty, there was, you know, I was trying to figure it out, I was trying to make sense of it, I knew a lot of different roads and avenues I'd been down were the wrong way, and I quit going in those directions, but I wasn't seeking the Lord, but he was seeking me, and that night when I went to a concert at a church, a guy preached the gospel, the very first time somebody shared the gospel with me, and I responded, God was after me, God is after you, Jesus said, you didn't choose me, but I chose you, and ordained that you would bring forth fruit, and your fruit would remain, that whatsoever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it you, the beautiful privilege of prayer, and getting to know God, come to the understanding that he chose you, that he predestined you, that he foreknew you, what a blessing it is, did this love for you extend into a jail cell, maybe a hospital room, maybe a very painful divorce, or rejection by a girlfriend, a boyfriend, and it's his love that reached you in that crucible, in that place of pain, where are you, Adam, where are you, the Lord doesn't know where Adam is, no, it's a question, a rhetorical question, Adam, Adam, where are you, what happened, man, Adam, I miss walking in the garden in the cool of the day, I miss fellowship with you, Adam, what happened, think about it, Adam, think about it, think for a minute, you had it made, what happened, maybe you were a Christian growing up, and the Lord's saying to you, Adam, where are you, what happened, I miss the fellowship, you're religious, you're going to church, but I'm kicked out of that church, I'm knocking on the door, but nobody's listening, they're self-satisfied, they're Laodicean, they're insipid, they're lukewarm, they're powerless, but Adam, I'm knocking on the door for you, man, if any man hear my voice and open that door, I'll come in and sup with him, and he with me, where are you today, are you right with God, Jesus wants to reveal himself to you, right where you are, right here, and right now, while we were sinners, Christ died for us, for I am the least of all the apostles, that I'm not mean to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, undeserving Paul, the least, the last, the losers, Jesus said I didn't come for the righteous, but for sinners, those that are righteous, those that are not sick, those that are whole, they don't need a physician, I came to restore, I came to win the lost, I came for sinners, the least, the last, the losers, L7, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, now what's interesting about this is if we want to look prophetically now, if we go into Revelation chapter 11, there's two witnesses, and I know their names, they're unnamed in the Bible, but it's in my book, I'm gonna let you know, one of these days, and these two witnesses, they witness for the Lord, you're a witness, in Acts chapter 1, Jesus said you're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, in Bremerton, can anything good come out of Bremerton, you're here in Bremerton, there's a whole lot of good here, you're his witness, a witness is a Greek word, you're his martyr, you're already dead, boy, tell me about it, yeah, and so these witnesses, they get to witness for 1260 days, which is 42 months or three and a half years, and they torment the earth dwellers, they're able to call down fire, and they're able to, you know, testify of the Lord and all, and at the midpoint of the tribulation period, the Antichrist, Jesus said in John 5, I came in my father's name, you received me not, another shall come in his own name, and him you will receive, the world is being ripened, the world is being prepared for the Antichrist, that anti means in place of Jesus Christ, a false Christ, and so he's gonna look real good from the outside and such, but his desire is to set the stage for the whole world to worship the devil, Luciferian, to worship the dragon, and so the second person of the Trinity, Jesus, you have the counterfeit Antichrist, and then you have the false prophet, the counterfeit Holy Spirit, and Lucifer, the devil, Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, wanting to be, you know, wanting to be God, and so God allows the Antichrist to slay these two witnesses, after their, it says, after their testimony is complete, you and I are invincible until Revelation 11 verse 7, their testimony is complete, once their testimony is complete, the Lord allows the Antichrist, public stage, Elon Musk, satellites hanging down real low, everything, everybody watching everything, everybody with their, whatever they got by then, and did you get your new iPhone yet, you know, you're tied into the whole system, did you go down, did you go down into Bremerton, have you been watching it, Fred Meyer, I'm told I didn't see it there, but I did see it, the 7-Eleven in Bremerton the other day, where they've got this tower, this pole that goes up about 20 feet high, and then it's got a camera on the top, and then it has solar panels, and I'm being told by some guys that these are all around Bremerton, and all over cities in America, and what happens is, it's facial recognition, it's artificial intelligence already here, and you pull it in your, in your car into these areas, and police officers can show up really quick, especially if you're licensed, you're a, you know, a felon, or there's a call, or whatever, and so already artificial intelligence watching everything, already happening here, and it's when those satellites get even more and more out there that Elon Musk and others are putting out there, they're going to be able to, the surveillance system is going to be unbelievable, so anyway, these two witnesses in Revelation chapter 11, they're slain, they're allowed to lie in the street for three and a half days, they don't bury them, they don't honor them, they're mocking them, and the demons came out in Revelation 9, and tormented all of them, and now in chapter 11, here's the two witnesses there, and man, they're throwing a party, they got a party going on to celebrate the Antichrist, and he's the one that defeated these two Bible thumpers, man, finally got rid of them, and I don't know if they were a Trumper or a Kamala, I don't know which, I don't know, I don't know, these evangelicals, you just never know, but they're God's witnesses, and they're dead in the street for three and a half days, and then uh-oh, an uh-oh moment, they stand up, and the whole world goes, and the whole world's watching on their devices, uh-oh, and the Lord allows them to ascend right there, now the resurrection is the heart of the gospel, Satan is a counterfeit, his counterfeit Christ, the AC, Antichrist, in chapter 13, survives an assassination attempt, and it's not one of those phony ones of turning his head, and the fake blood here, you know, it's not one of those, it's not crisis actors, and everybody acting, this is the real deal, I just said that, you can take note of that, I'll go to the bank with that, anyway, he uh, it appears that he's dead, and then he's raised from the dead, and Zechariah 11, the reason I say appears, that he may not have died, but if he did die, Satan doesn't have the power to raise him from the dead, so it'd be God that would raise him from the dead, but in Zechariah chapter 11 verse 7, there's an indication that possibly his right arm withered, and he lost the use of one eye, so now he's a pirate, and the kids really love him, and so, but he's, it's a counterfeit resurrection to get people to believe in him, that he's conquered death, and then he's able with the mark of the beast in chapter 13, to give this mark to everybody, the right hand of the forehead, to try to convince them that they too can live forever, that they'll never die, do you see it, do you see the deception of what's coming, and yet we have the true and living God, and in his truth, so don't fall for the false, for I am the least of the apostles, and I'm not mean to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God, he wasted the church, he describes himself as the chiefest of sinners, and really did some bad things, but by the grace of God, he says here, I am what I am, by the grace of God, you are what you are, by the grace of God, Trump is what he is, what he is, none of us fault him for his past life, if he's come to Christ, he's a new creature in Christ Jesus, the old things are passed away, all things are become new, God can save Kamala, God can save Biden, and wipe away that drool, God can save Hillary, God can save Manasseh, which he did, the most wicked king the nation of Israel ever had, who sacrificed his own children, there's nobody beyond the reach of God, God saved Nebi, King Nebuchadnezzar, God used Cyrus, and he saved Saul, the chief of the sinners, nobody's too far for God to use, for God to save, you're a big sinner, he's a bigger savior, and he cast them to the east, the west, he remembers them no more, I'm concerned about the present tense, of those who profess to know Christ, that's what I'm concerned about, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, did you take the grace that God gave you, and just bury it, did you bury your gifts, did you bury the excitement, and the joy, and blessing of being saved, and said well that's a good fire insurance investment, I'll just bury that, I'll put it in the safe, I'll pull it out later when hell's, the flames of hell are coming close, toward the end of my life, but meanwhile I'll live just like the world, Paul's saying no, he didn't labor, I didn't labor in vain, my life belonged to him, and man I was willing to take the ships, I was willing to travel, to walk, to go all over the known world, to spread the gospel wherever I could, but I labored more abundantly than they all, Paul's able, and he's not boasting, it's a fact, I labored more than all those guys that got to be with Jesus for three and a half years, Peter's got a wife, he's just settled down in Jerusalem you know, and I'm walking around single working with leather, building tents, I got beaten by beasts when I was in Ephesus, he's getting beat wherever he goes, I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me, and so when I'm weak, then I'm strong, God's grace is sufficient for me, for his strength's perfected in weakness, he prayed three times that the Lord would remove a messenger of Satan that was giving him really bad headaches, a messenger of Satan that was buffeting him a tent stake in the Greek, and the Lord said no, the first time he prayed he said no, and then Paul said well I better, I better adjust my words, I better figure out how to pray this in a different way so God understands what I'm asking him, so now I'm going to read somebody's book about prayer, and how did they get what they wanted out of God, how did they rub him, they rub him on his belly, did they rub him on the side, did they give him a hot cup of cocoa, did they promise God that I'll, you give me that lottery winnings, and I'll buy you a van, and, and, and I'll take the kids to Sunday school man, I'll show them the salmon down the street there, yeah that worked, and he prayed a third time, no, no, no, God answered that prayer, is God answering your prayers, no, there's nothing wrong with you, you're writing God's will, he just has something better to show you, that his grace is sufficient, that his strength perfected in weakness, you're no longer relying upon your ingenuity and your genius as Saul of Tarsus, the most brilliant man of the age, raised at the feet of Gamaliel, a Pharisee of Pharisees, you can't fight the devil and win Paul, you're going to need my grace, you're going to need my help, grace, grace, it's all grace, we respond to God's grace and watch what he'll do in your life, he says verse 11, therefore, whether it I or they, so we preach and so you believed, we all preach the same message, we don't have a new gospel, we all preach the same message, Jesus Christ and him crucified for the remission of sins, the message hasn't changed, it's not going to change, in fact if anybody comes with a different gospel, Paul says in Galatians 1, let him be anathema, let him be accursed, he warns the church of Corinth in chapter 11, you remember or in 2nd Corinthians 11, that he says, I'm jealous over you with a godly jealousy, that even as the serpent beguiled Eve, that someone would come and seduce you and take you away from the simplicity that's in Christ, that they present three things, be careful, that they would present a different Jesus, you're going to present Jesus as the son of man, the son of God, the God-man, fully man, fully God, that he was crucified, buried, raised from the dead and incarnate, you know, the incarnation, the virgin birth, you know, they're going to refute the virgin birth, so Jesus, a different Jesus, they'll come, a fraudulent Jesus, secondly, a different gospel, thirdly, a different spirit, and you got to be aware of the antichrist spirit at the end of the age, that was still around, that was around way back then too, the in place of Jesus Christ, taking the place of Jesus, vain is the hope in men, don't hope in men, don't place your hope in men, make sure you're looking up, even in this election cycle, you do the best you can, but man, be looking up and be praying for Kamala, tongue-in-cheek, Trump's going to get it, you know, he's going to get it, but be praying for Trump, be praying for your president, be praying for your house, your senate, be praying for your local, locals here, can we bring a reprieve, I don't know, we hope and pray, but we know that God's sovereign, he's on the throne, he's in control, we see Nebby take the glory unto himself and God caused King Nebby, who is a world empire leader, he's out there eating grass for seven years, he lost his mind, he went over to McDonald's and started eating McDonald's, I don't know why he would do that, but he did, he proved who he is, by being crucified, buried and raised himself from the dead, just as he said on the third day, Jesus said, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up, he's challenging, do you know any buddy on the world stage today that can say, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up, you got Noah, Yuval, Harari saying, we're going to live forever, we found a way to live forever, those are just words, rather than Caiaphas going and killing somebody else, the useless eaters, Noah, Yuval, Harari, how about we start with you, how about we start with Bill Gates, let's, Bill, go to the cross, allow yourself to be crucified, we'll confirm that you're dead, we'll put a spear in your heart and allow the blood and the water to come out, you'll die of myocarditis and then we'll bury you, oh boy, and let's see if you can raise yourself from the dead, they're not going to take that, but Jesus is looking, the power of Rome, the power of the Jews, and he's saying, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up, and it's not just words, because after he's crucified, the religious leader said, this deceiver said, it wasn't talking about the Jewish temple, this deceiver said, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up, and they did us a favor by putting a quatering of soldiers around that tomb, and Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus embalmed the body, brought it to Joseph's tomb, put 2,000 pound stone uphill, had to be rolled uphill to remove it, and they guarded that tomb, and that's the, that's such a blessing that they did that, because it refutes the notion that the disciples could steal the body, or that a swoon theory, or any other theory, it's irrefutable, and an eyewitness testimony thereafter, and the transformation and change in their lives.
Revelation 118, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and have the keys of hell and of death. In John 11 25, I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he are dead, yet shall he live, and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believest thou this? Do you believe it? I believe it, believe it, believe it, I believe it, it's true.
So it all comes down to faith. Do you believe the evidence? Christianity is not a blind faith, it's not a blind, I hope so, I wish, I wish, wish I woulda, coulda. Christianity is based upon irrefutable, many infallible fruits, fruits, Theophilus, as Luke the doctor would write, many infallible proofs, and, and John's writing at the end of his gospel, that if you were to take all that Jesus did, the libraries of the world couldn't even hold all that he did.
These are just, these are just a sample of the things that he did. If you don't believe my gospel, believe me for my very work's sake. All I know is I was blind, and now I see, in all of history, as ever there been, a man that born blind at 40 years old able to see.
You decide who this guy is. I think he's the Christ. But some people, no matter what evidence you present, they still won't believe.
They don't have ears to hear, and that's where prayer comes in. It's a miracle that you hear. It's a miracle that you were chosen, that God chose you to reveal himself in you.
And so we don't walk around chest all puffed out. We know the gospel goes out to whosoever will let him come, any of them, all of them. He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their sin.
Turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die, O house of Israel? God's long-suffering not willing that any would perish. We don't know who the called are. So the call goes out to whosoever will.
It's in the will. Will they? And we have the glorious gospel, and we have a glorious commission to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I commanded you. And lo, I'm with you always, even at the end of the age.
Jesus is here with us now. The gospel hasn't changed. The message hasn't changed.
You and I are his messengers. We're the ones he's entrusted with the glorious good news of his coming kingdom. The evidence for the resurrection, the wisdom of God, your salvation, the word of God, our confirmation, the more sure word of prophecy, the witnesses of God, our inspiration to live for God.
Believest thou this? God promises that if thou will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you shall be saved. Whosoever will, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus said, no man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day.
And whosoever comes unto me I'll no wise cast out. So you have election, and you have the moral free will responsibility. He's not going to reject you.
So come. It's incumbent upon you to respond and to come. And so in John 1, as many as received him, to them gave he the power to become the sons of God.
Are you willing to receive Christ this morning? Do you believe that he was crucified, buried, and three days later he raised himself from the dead? Forty days later he ascended to the right hand of his Father, and at any moment, any moment, he's coming again. He's coming. He could be coming, right? He could be here at any moment, any moment.
And so we have this hope. He says, but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep or dead, that you sorrow not even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
So shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. It's because of the resurrection.
We don't fear death. We sorrow, but not as those who have no hope. For me to live is Christ and what? And die is gain.
So what can the devil do to you? To silence you? To stop you? To paralyze you with fear? Can he threaten to kill you? Certainly he can. But you're invincible until your testimony, your witness is complete. And at that point he's doing you a favor.
Do me a favor. Hey, to be asked of the bodies, be present with the Lord. I don't fear you, O King.
Our God is able. Our God's able, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego said. Our God's able.
Do you like how they talk to him? That attitude, that swagger. And even if he doesn't, we still won't bow down to your image. You know, give it your best shot.
And that's the way we need to walk today, with the courage, with the boldness that we've already won. We've already won. Jesus spoiled all principalities and powers.
He triumphed over them at the cross of Calvary. We win. And we're just waiting for Him to return and to set up His kingdom.
And the only reason He doesn't, is because He's in love with the losers, with sinners, with broken people, with broken lives like you and I. And He wants to put them back together. He wants to save them. And He's invited you and I to be a part of His salvation, His work of salvation in these last days.
The saving souls. It's about souls. So in this election cycle, don't ever forget that.
It's about souls. So Father, we come before You and we thank You, Lord. We can get so distracted and divided, and just on this camp and that camp, and crazy times we're living in.
But Lord, we thank You that we belong to You. That You've given us the Holy Spirit, the earnest of Your Holy Spirit, the engagement ring. We're marked out, Lord.
The devil knows it. Our name's already written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We have a new name.
Lord, we have a future and a hope. And Lord, we thank You so much that we belong to You. That nobody's going to ever be able to snatch us out of Your hand.
That nobody's ever going to be able to blot our name out of the Book of Life. Thank You that we're secure in You. We cherish, we love our salvation, Lord.
We love the intimacy and the fellowship of communion with You. And while your heads are bowed as you continue to pray, we take a moment to invite anybody that's here this morning to receive Christ. If you don't know Him, if you don't have a relationship with Jesus, this is your moment.
This is the divine appointment of the Lord, like He did in John 4, when He met with a woman at the well, at Jacob's well, the Samaritan woman. A hated woman, hated by Jews. A woman that had five husbands and couldn't be filled, couldn't fill the void and the emptiness in her life.
But Jesus met her there, and He said He had living water. Water that she'd never thirst again. Jesus said on the great day of the feast, if any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink.
He that believes in Me, out of his belly shall flow torrents of living water. Jesus is the way. He doesn't teach a way.
He's the way. I am the resurrection and the life. Believest thou this? Just lift your hand up.
We want to lead you in prayer as you receive Christ. Anyone this morning? You're turning from your sins. You're crying out to God.
Anyone here this morning? Father, thank You once again for the sweetness, the peace, the joy that we have. We ask now, Lord, as we partake of communion, that You bless this time as we worship You, as we finish up, and Lord, move and work by the power of Your Holy Spirit in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.