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00:00:00 go morning church it's a blessed day that we celebrate today I'm going to look bring us back to the passage upon which what we sang about is anchored the gospel of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ there are few things that change our daily lives I can remember going back years ago my clicker never works can you put the next slide please yeah how many of you remember this picture July 20th 1969 when the first man walked on the moon and we thought one small step for man one giant Le for mankind I'm still
00:00:58 waiting for my space I'm nowhere near I don't think in my entire life I will ever have a chance to walk on the moon and we thought at that time as a young uh child that uh you know this is something for him it will apply for all of us and years have gone by and uh decades later 54 years later on we are no closer for us actually walking on the face of the Moon sometimes there is history that matters and sometimes history doesn't matter so whatever what he has done on the moon he's walked himself and the rest of us
00:01:38 it doesn't affect us but today we're singing Because of a histo historical event that actually happened and mattered which is why Paul says I would remind you Brothers of the Gospel I preach to you it's what what is done in the past which you have received which you stand which means you believe by which you are being saved the process of being saved if you hold fast to the word I preach you unless you believe in vain today the reminder of scripture is that this is a historical event that happened
00:02:16 not unlike what happened on July 20th 1969 but unlike that event this event changes every single one of us if we hold f fast to the word and what is this gospel the earliest gospel Creed in history is actually in this chapter it says Christ died for our sin which means he just didn't just die for anything else he died to save us from the Eternal consequences of punishment from God for our sins it was a real death you know why you bu real people who die and then again he was raised bed on the third day
00:03:02 according to the scriptures as predicted Psalm 16 this is a bodily Resurrection it's not a spiritual resurrection and then more importantly he appeared to Peter Gus and then to the 12 this is the earliest gospel Creed and what we face today is that we've got a continual barrage of even among Christians the tries to detract and reinterpret history and when you try to reinterpret history you run a ground the gospels don't explain the resurrection actually the resurrection explains the gospel it hangs on this one event this is a pastor
00:03:47 senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Georgia Senator Rafael waro he said the meaning of Easter is more Transcendent than resurrection of Jesus Christ whether you are Christian or not through a commitment of helping others we are able to save ourselves so it's not about someone rising from the dead making difference it's about saving ourselves this is Anglican Bishop in the past Bishop Jack Spong Paul for example writing between years 50 and 64 for some 20 34 years after the Earthly life of Jesus came to an end
00:04:23 never describes the resurrection of Jesus as a physical body resuscitated after death how does he actually we believe that when Paul says he was buried actually buried and rose on the third day we've got various belief systems all over the world Hinduism Buddhism there're actually belief systems if you took away gaama Buddha or you took away Krishna or Khali one of their gods it doesn't really affect them at all because it's just a belief system it's not verified by life of a person in Islam they also believe
00:05:01 in a mon single God and you need to be submissive to him you practice the five pillars of obedience and then you've got judgment God's going to come and the last and they believe in Abraham they believe Jesus a prophet they but the last great prophet Muhammad but if you took him out of the sin the belief system still is stable now for for us it's different it is something which we receive which you stand in which we hold fast these are the facts surrounding the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ
00:05:35 there was an empty tomb history testifies fact he was crucified you've got all the disciples witness and beliefs Paul's conversion a persecutor of the church James conversion his brother who would have been last person to believe in him all these are accepted by a majority of and New Testament Scholars and the most plausible explanation is Christ rose again from the dead now why is the history the historical Gospel of the Resurrection important today there are three points that we need to understand from this
00:06:07 passage it reveals the true dimension of life it reassures us that our lives really matter and lastly it empowers us to live victoriously first of all the resurrection tells us gives us an idea what the true dimensions of life is the main issue in Corinth was that some people saying that no resurrection of the Dead they say that because they're influenced by the philosophers of the day if you're epicurian of your sto do epicurian believe that you didn't exist before you were born and you won't exist after you die
00:06:44 so what difference does it make so basically you live life and you choose the things that make you happy don't choose the things that don't make you don't make happy and then you live your life the stoics believe you need to modify your respon responds to events so it doesn't matter about about things happening to you it's how you actually respond to it you respond to wisdom courage self-control but that's actually like an ostrich isn't it putting your head into the sand and you're not thinking about
00:07:18 life after death nothing really matters you live for today and that's a really dry Aid kind of way you know uh this is a atheist I read who said committing to believing in afterlife won't make make it a reality it's not how the world works I need to find a way to accept the limitations of my lifespan that's a kind of Life which many people live in this world look at King Solomon one of the wisest men or cleverest men that ever live so I became great and surpassed all who were before me in Jerusalem my wisdom remained with
00:07:53 me and whatever my eyes desire I did not keep from them I kept my heart from no pleasure for my heart found pleasure in all my toil and this was my reward for all my toil fantastic Life Sounds like Elon Musk but then again he said then I considered all my hands had done and all the toil I had expended in doing it and behold all was vanity Hebrew word habel water vapor striving after the wind and there was nothing to be gained Under the Sun for all his intellectual power and riches it is all like water vapor makes sense
00:08:34 there was this Japanese gentleman called Satoshi yumatsu and what happened was that he was put on trial in 2019 because in 2016 he was involved in the care of the agent and as he was caring for them in a care South Care Home South of Tokyo in 2016 he actually murdered 19 of them and you know why he murdered them he says there's no reason for them to live they're so disabled why am I looking after them save money we just swallow them poison them and he went on Tri and that was this reason and actually you
00:09:09 think about it if life is all there is now there's nothing before and nothing after then actually he did them a favor right because they would be suffering now does the resurrection make a difference Resurrection changes everything and here we have the argument from the negative he says this is a Archbishop of Perth when when asked him in 2000 uh couple of years ago he he said uh if they found if they found the Tomb of Jesus today and then found his bones there would it make any difference to your faith and here is the Archbishop
00:09:48 of Perth actually saying it wouldn't do anything to his faith Jesus Christ has risen in his heart again he's come at the root of the Gospel the foundation of the gospel and he slashed it because he says there's no bodily Resurrection if there's no Resurrection then then not even Christ has been raised if Christ has not been raised our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain he's the Archbishop of what because if Christ is not risen from the dead his faith is useless and if you look in the rest of the passage if
00:10:20 there's no Resurrection Christ has not been raised our preaching is in vain your faith is in vain you're all guilty of deception and the worst are the leaders of of this church they conning you telling you Jesus rose actually he didn't drive we are the most evil of people you are still dead in your sins and death is truly final and all of you sitting here are most to be ped better go and celebrate harah you sit here and you and Christ is not risen from dead the guys are singing for nothing all the practice is for nothing for
00:10:58 someone who didn't rise from the dead now if in fact though Christ has been raised from the dead the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep this what Paul says he he goes back to the Old Testament Leviticus when you actually have come into the promised land God told his people ver crops that come out a sheath of wheat is taken and offered to God half a IA of FL is given to God one male lamb is given to God that is a representing of a foraste and a sample of what is to come not only is the
00:11:39 forage of what to come it is a guarantee of what is to come so resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is a foraste and a guarantee of what is to come for as by a Man Came Death and by a man came also the resurrection of the dead as in Adam all die and so in Christ shall all be made alive so he bringing the analogy because all of us will die Romans say therefore I just as Sin came in the world through one man and death through sin so also desperate to all men why because all men sin every single one
00:12:16 sited here will one day lie in a coffin why evidence of the fact that we all sin so as by a Man Came Death a man has come also the resurrection of dead so as it them all die so also in Christ shall all be made alive and so therefore just as one man brings sin and causes death one man can reverse that it makes sense all shall be made alive in fact Daniel actually says in Daniel chapter 12 verse 2 and3 and many of those who sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame
00:12:55 and everlasting contempt remember the resurrection of dead in involves every single person not just Christians H you either rise up to Everlasting contempt and punishment or you rise up to everlasting life and the rest of the verse talks about a domino effect when one thing happens it will trigger a whole Cascade of events Christ's resurrection and then it'll be our resurrection and then the defeat of all evil principalities death is defeated all are subject to Christ and Christ is subject to God and God is
00:13:32 glorified that is the chain reaction of a cosmic event no different from The Big Bang that happened 13.5 billion years ago it triggers a chain event and Paul is saying this is not a random event it's part of a master plan which God had triggered into action with the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and his resurrection so God is glorified and we don't have to fear death we don't have to lose heart he says in the second letter to Corinthians says though our outer self is wasting away our inner self is being renewed day by
00:14:09 day for this light and momentary Affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of Glory beyond all comparison as we look not to the things that are seen But to the things that are unseen for the things that are seen are transient and things that are unseen are Eternal so what he's telling it because of the Resurrection we live in a two diim dimensional world it's like if you were snorkeling you breathe the air above the water and yet you have the ability to look down and see the beauty of the coral below and then every single
00:14:44 event you see whether it's joyous event whether it's a crisis in your home or crisis in your country you live Between Two Worlds you breathe the air of this world but you can see the things that are unseen and see what is God doing see the resurrection reveals the true dimension of life you can't live you know I deal with many patients who have cancer and the the first thing they will ask you is what state the cancer is you know why it will tell them how long if they know how long then they can plan
00:15:18 and so therefore how do you live unless you understand the True Dimensions of life and the resurrection tells you that true dimensions of life is actually eternal either eternity spent with our Lord Jesus Christ or eternity in shame the second thing is that the historical Gospel of the Resurrection is important because it reassures us that our lives really matter here's a LifeWay research that asks the American population this question biblical accounts of the physical resurrection of Jesus are
00:15:53 completely accurate and you know 60 over 2third of people actually agree the resurrection but the the people who did the research lamented this belief have so little impact in their life they wer even part of a church two3 of people believe in the resurrection but they don't even belong to the church it's tragic isn't it if you look at Peter Hitchens he's actually the the brother of Christopher Hitchens a famous atheist he was an a before and became Christian and he actually said these words he from
00:16:27 the UK the most dangerous idea in human philosophy and history is the resurrection he quite the opposite you know why because it Alters the whole of human behavior and all our responsibilities it turns the universe from a meaningless chaos into a designed place in which there's Justice and there's hope and therefore we all have a duty to discover the nature of that Justice and work towards at Hope even a non-Christian even the atheist can tell us how important Resurrection is it says it Alters all of us if we reject it it
00:17:04 Alters us as well it is incredibly dangerous which is why so many people turn against it that's why people try to wipe out the resurrection it reveals it the way we live reveals what we believe why are we in danger every hour I protest Brothers by my pride in you which I have in Christ Jesus our lord I die every day what do I gain if humanly speaking I fought with beasts in Ephesus if the day are not raised let us eat drink for tomorrow we die you see I mean so the way we live determines what we believe
00:17:42 if you're just eating and drinking and that's all or twering all the the countries in the world spending all your money after all I'm can't take it with me right it reveals what you actually believe Solomon actually said this words the wise person has in his has his eyes in his head the fool walks in darkness and yet as I perceive the same event happens to all of them that I said to my heart what happens to the fool will happen to me also why then have I been so very wise and he said my heart this
00:18:12 also vanity so if your youth here you can tell your parents why study whether I Got 5 a or 10 a the same guy got zero a why study because it's all waste of time isn't it why become very wise and Solomon realizes this tension in his life all right so do not be deceived Bad Company ruins good morals wake up from your drunken stuper as is right and do not go on sinning for some have no knowledge of God I say to you this is to your Sav what really matters if there is a resurrection is that you need to know God that is the
00:18:49 most important thing and that transforms you look at believing Thomas all right very skeptical he said that unless you you know I see him and put my hands on his wounds I will never believe he's actually he's not a Believer because he's his hopes have been crushed by the cross the one who spent three years with died and now unless I put my and he did and it changed and empowered his life and Jesus said blessed are those who you know haven't seen this and yet believe and which is us see the there are three
00:19:27 dimensions of the Gospel goel wisdom there's an upside down where Jesus left heaven to come to serve us there's an inside out and a forward backwards and here today the gospel is telling us the most important aspect here of Resurrection is that looking because what he died and he rose we have a future hope which then changes the way he lives to the weak I've become weak that I may win the weak I become all things to all people that by all means I might save some for I do it all for the sake of the Gospel that I may share with
00:20:01 them blessings so so Paul accepting the cross and understanding that to the weak he be becomes weak to be to to he becomes all things to everybody so that he can bring them the gospel his life has been turned around his goals have been turned around so therefore the historical Gospel of the Resurrection reassures us that our lives really matter no matter what you do today you could be singing in the choir you could be doing AV or you could be like Malcolm trotting up and readjusting this mic it
00:20:34 all actually matters lastly the historical gospel empowers us to live victoriously last of all as to one untimely born he appeared to me Paul for I'm the least of the Apostles unworthy to be called Apostle because I persecuted the church you know the most unlikely person to come to know faith is Paul when they actually stoned to death the first Master Steven Paul was there Jager clothes egging them on go on throw a bigger Rock D you missed his head get a bigger one bloodthirsty he was Saul still breathing threats and
00:21:21 murders against the Disciples of the Lord went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus so that if he found any belonging to the way men or women he might bring them bound to Jerusalem this guy is not satisfied sitting and watching TV you know he wants to be part of the action he wants to go directly to Damascus which is outside Israel in order to bring people to Jerusalem knowing that they would be imprisoned many of them will be killed which is why he call himself the least of all the
00:21:56 apostles unworthy to be called an apostle if I were Paul if I look back my life you know what I'll see I see a train wack it's all horrible imagine if I Paul I look back I can see the faces all the victims that I caused at night I may have dreams of then coming back to haunt me imagine Paul preaching at the Damascus church or Jerusalem Church and the mother of some of his victims will come out you you killed my son you killed my daughter you know all of us struggle with guilt over the things we
00:22:47 have done I hope none of you will have to struggle with the fact that a mother will come up and point her finger to you and say you killed my son Paul had to to deal with that but you know the power of the Resurrection by the grace of God I am what I am his grace towards me was not in vain on the contrary I work harder than any of them though it was not I but the grace of God that is within me so there's a Grace there's a Grace that is towards him and the grace within him and the grace is such a wonderful powerful
00:23:28 liberating concept that you know it's very hard for us to understand here's a here's a life way research Paul again and you ask uh God loves me 18% said God loves me because of all the good I've done that's not Grace uh 56% said people must contribute personal effort to their salvation that's not Grace 71% said people first seek God and then he responds with Grace you think Paul seeks God Paul is murdering people they don't understand Grace and what Paul is saying is that no matter what train wreck of
00:24:09 your past even today it doesn't matter the Lord Jesus comes in your life and forgets the past wipes it away and gives you Grace and not only that there's not only Grace towards me but the grace with me which means the effort that you put in now the life that you live in now you can stand up tall when people come and point their finger and say you did this to me you cause my business to go under you lied to me it doesn't matter whatever you've done the grace of God empowers you that you can live victoriously if if God can do this
00:24:47 to Paul he can do this to any single one of us so the challenge of Easter today for us got two roads to take you can take one Road and say if the dead are not raised let us eat drink for tomorrow we die and many of us the way we have our conversations it's as if eat drink for tomorrow we die which is going to be very sad or you could be like the CHR the the people in Athens they have an idol they have a altar to everything they even have an altar that says to the unknown God at least I cover my beds go to the church
00:25:29 and do everything else or you could have your DIY gospel let me say DIY you go to the shop and you pick the stuff that you want especially with cheap affordable tailor make and I copied this illustration from the da Carson it says you know you go with a shopping cart and this the gospel I want happiness not overc commitment I want Holiness but not so much I hate covetousness I hate last I love enemies and missionary service no no no no no no can't can't be that Holy I want Ecstasy but not repentance I want
00:26:04 good habits but not transformation I I want to be loved by people but I don't want to love different races especially their smelly I want my family secure and my children well behaved but I don't want my ambitions redirected and this brothers and sisters as Caron said is a treer ringed gospel if the resur ction requires results to the tree ringed gospel it doesn't work this is a historical gospel and Paul says these words that I might know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his suffering becoming like him in his
00:26:49 death that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead pay very very very close attention right okay I may know him if you know him means you know his power where is God's power greatest in terms of being Unleashed among our Human Experience Resurrection how do you experience the resurrection power sharing his suffering becoming like him in his death which means the kind of power that can only be experiencing dying then the power when talk about power we think about whoa you know come
00:27:31 up here and and the preacher put hand on you and then you fall down you don't have to do anything you just come up but that's a caricature of power it's not real power power is like a rubber ball the rubber ball has a lot of power you know how you see the power you throw it to the ground and it bounces up power is exercised when you actually die when you actually give your life to the cross upside down knowing Christ means embracing his life serving others obedience in the face of opposition because you're
00:28:14 responding to Grace his grace towards us his grace within us experiencing that Dimension you see look at Paul they beat him to a PP in phili apar and then with all his wounds the Philippine Jailer put him in stocks and in stocks it's not like two leg straight in those days the stock is apart so you suffer you walk like a crap after that and despite that Paul and Silas in Acts 16 you know what they're doing they were not lamenting you know they were singing and praising God and suddenly there was a great earthquake the
00:28:58 foundations of prison were shaken the chains fell off and the Philippine Jailer realized that this is something real and you know what right after that when he when he actually repented then only he looked after the wounds of Paul which is Paul was already very badly injured that brothers and sisters is called resurrection power when you're put in prison and instead of crying and lamenting and cursing God they're actually rejoicing you know Luke 14 Jesus says they said to a man who had invited him when you give
00:29:35 a dinner or a banquet do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or Rich neighbors lest they also invite you in return and you'll be repaid don't don't invite the people that can give you angpow back you know but when you give a feast invite the poor the crippled the lame the Blind and you'll be blessed because they cannot repay you for you will be repaid at the resur resurrection of the just that's the power the power of hope you know I like this scene uh the trilogy right we've seen this The Return of the King
00:30:10 isn't it um and it's like you're riding off into this world and the head of where you're riding to in this great Army is our Lord Jesus Christ and our world view as you write off in the spiritual battle is realistic why you know because it's evil everywhere and you know there will be evil but we understand the source of evil but we're realistic we're confident why because the resurrection means they will never defeat us even if death comes there is life after that we are part of a Victorious team
00:30:50 just like Paul Grace towards Paul and Grace within Paul we're both humbled because we didn't deserve it and yet we are immor usly proud because we were part of a team a team that can never be defeated and lastly joyful because we are riding towards the victory because Christ just as Christ came Christ will come again this is what will happen at our resurrection and for many of those who sleep in the dust of the Earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt and
00:31:27 those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above and those who turn many to righteousness like stars forever and ever I tell you many of you sitting here secretly want to be a star you want to be like Taylor Swift news for you like whatever how much you sing you'll never be like tlor but one day one day we will shine better than Taylor swi much brighter and much longer and we will shine for all eternity you know why because Christ rose from the dead that rock of death is split and all we see is a
00:32:13 glimpse of the future and Jesus said peace be with you as the father sent me even so I am sending you let me end with a time of uh the Lord's supper if youve got your elements with you some of you who have not uh got the elements could you just put your hands up and then there will be uh ashers who will bring it for you you know this is a picture of uh the first and second man on the moon and I bring it back because this picture of the first two men one is Neil Armstrong the other one is Buzz Aldren Buzz Aldren went to the moon and
00:33:04 you know what he did on the moon watch Netflix no he went to the moon and he asked Houston you think we can celebrate the Lord's Supper he actually went to the moon and became the first human being in history to celebrate the Lord's Supper because he he recognized that going to the Buddhist no big deal but he went to moon to celebrate one important point that what Christ did on the cross will change every single one of you and wherever he goes bu alen he will never forget the cross the cross is a
00:33:50 symbol of God's grace to us the cross is a guarantee of God's grace within us us and the cross is a look into the future it is a declaration of Victory when he stood on the face of the Moon he declared the victory of Jesus Christ and that's what we're going to do today all of you who believe in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus all of you says I want to know God I want not to know the power of his resurrection and share in his suffering and becoming like him in his death that is what the resurrection of
00:34:35 the Lord Jesus Christ is about so let's take off the cover of the bread at the Last Supper Jesus Took the bread and said this is my body broken for you let's take a minute and I want you to think and meditate on what that actually means to you if it means a tree rigate gospel DIY then please don't take the bread because if you take a bread it's insulting it's insulting because he gave everything and you're just giving three ring and it's better you don't take it it's a challenge to you by faith oh Lord just as you gave all I
00:35:36 know it's I don't like suffering I don't like pain but I want to experience the power of your Resurrection the only way I can do this is to die to my sin and start living for you no matter what the cost oh Lord we all struggle we all should struggle to take this piece of bread for you it is not just a piece of bread it is a rededication of your entire existence when we take it we says I want to know you I want to know the power your Resurrection I want to share in your suffering I want to become like you
00:36:15 in death in sense that we serve each other we serve our community we serve this world so that's how we feel brothers sisters with great fear and trepidation let's take this bread together now then comes the wine the wine represents the blood and the blood represents a new covenant which Christ established with us where his holy spirit lives within us and when we drink of this wine we are declaring Victory we are through the gospel of the Resurrection we have caught a glimpse of the future and we look in the
00:37:17 future you know what I see I will see all of us shining brighter than the Stars God you know do you believe that God can can do this that God can bring you back one day and you will shining brighter than the Stars Daniel says this and you need to believe this and so this drink is a drink to the Future that we will shine brighter than the Stars longer than the Stars more strongly than the Stars let's take this for together let's declare sing after me see there The Great I Am a crown of thorns upon his
00:38:16 head the Father's Heart displayed for us oh God we thank you for [Music] Lift It Up Lift It Up on calary hill we cursed your name and even still you [Music] bore and the oh God we thank you the cross Behold the Lamb Behold the Lamb the story of redemption written on his hand Jesus you will re forever more the victory is yours we sing your praise Endless Hallelujah to your Holy Name Jesus you will re forever more the victory is [Music] yours and offer this saice for every sin savior di the Lord of can't be
00:40:07 contain Our God has Ren from the gra sing it our God who our God has Ren from the grave hold the lamb the story of redemption lifted on his hands Jesus you will re forever more the victory is yours we see your praise headless Hallelujah to your Holy Name Jesus you will re forever more the victory is your and when the age of death is done we'll see your face bright as the sun [Music] b the King of Kings oh God forever we will see Behold the Lamb the story of redemption written on his head Jesus you will re
00:41:49 forever the victory is yours behold behold the lamb the story of redemption is on his head Jesus you will R forever more the victory is yours we sing We Sing Your prise headless Hallelujah to your Holy Name Jesus you will reain for forever more the victory is yours you re forever more the victory is yours King Jesus reigns forever more the victory is yours [Music] the victory is our Lord's so Paul ends this chapter as our benediction therefore my beloved brothers be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work
00:43:16 of the Lord knowing that your labor in the Lord your labor is not in vain may God bless you as you go home to Community to your workplace and live out this victory for Jesus sake amen you may be seated those of you who want to be ministered to you can come forward our pastors and Elders are here to pray with you if you struggle with this
