Episode Transcript
[00:00:05] My name is Michael Fueling. I'm the lead pastor here at the village church. I want to give you a very special welcome to our Easter service. In fact, I want to give a welcome specifically to those of you who are maybe from out of town or you go to different churches and you are visiting with friends and family. And then I want to give a very extra special welcome to, to those of you who are here and you don't want to be here. You love your spouse or your parents or the boy or girl that you're dating, and you're like, I would rather be anywhere else. And some of you, as an act of great generosity and unbelievable love, you even coordinated your outfit just so you can get really amazing family pictures to you. We honor you, but for real, we pray that this service would be a blessing to you. It would be an encouragement to you. And again, maybe you're here and you're not even a Christian. Our prayer is that maybe even, at the very least, you could understand, have a bit more empathy for what Christianity and the gospel is actually all about. I want to draw your attention to the seat back in front of you. There are what we call connect cards. If you are new and you would love information on village church, if you have bible questions, theology questions, questions about the sermon or service, we would love to respond. We'd love to help you take a next step if you are interested. So you can fill those out after the service. There's a black box in the back. You can turn those in there, but it would be our joy to follow up with you. I know that Easter is a time when people are maybe even trying to figure out, like, do I go back to church? Maybe you're visiting here because you moved into town. No matter what brings you here, we would love to help you take your next step, whatever that is. All right. If you have a Bible, open up to the book of first Corinthians, chapter 15.
[00:01:54] If you don't have a Bible, all the scriptures will be on the screen, and so that'll be up there for you. Now, sometimes we forget to appreciate a thing or a person until they're gone for a bit. So let's talk about a couple things that, if we're being honest, we've probably taken for granted.
[00:02:14] Have you ever considered what would happen if there was no moon? The majority of us have not. But there are scientists who have put their brain to the matter, and here's what has been concluded. First, without the pull of the moon, Earth's tilt would change and the seasons would actually either be extremely severe or there would be no seasons at at all. It could go one of two directions without the moon. Actually, wind speeds all over the Earth would become much faster, much stronger all the time.
[00:02:48] Our days without the moon would last only between six and 12 hours. And so the typical 365 day year a year would be actually over 1000 days. And here's the thing that really gave me a deep appreciation for the moon. If we didn't have the moon, it would be so dark at night that you could not see your hand right in front of your face without some kind of special light, like fire or electricity. Like, could you imagine how many people wouldn't have made it in millennia past if you couldn't even see your hand right in front of your face? I don't know about you, but I'm pretty grateful for the moon right now. So tonight I'm gonna look at the moon and say, jesus, thank you for coming up with that, creating that, and putting that into place. Have you ever imagined a world where there are no cats?
[00:03:35] I have.
[00:03:39] Can you raise your hand if you're a cat person?
[00:03:42] The rest of us are praying for you. We love you. God has a wonderful plan for your life. In 1997, there's a study in great Britain. It found that the average house cat brought home more than eleven dead animals in the course of six months. And so the 9 million cats of Britain were collectively killing close to 200 million wild animals, mostly rodents. And that was every single year. So years ago, I actually just learned this. Feral cats began to sneak into Disneyland in Anaheim, California. And they were living in the trees and the shrubs during the day, and at nighttime they would come out. And it's estimated that right now there are about 200 cats in Disneyland that come out at night to do whatever they do. So instead of getting rid of the cats, Disney's animal wranglers, they control the population. In fact, they have five permanent feeding stations to keep the cats there. And so one of the Disney reps was asked, why do you do this? And here's what she said. She said, they keep the rodent population down. Amen. There's a study in 1979 in New Zealand, and it found that when the cats were nearly eradicated from one specific island, the local rat population quadrupled very quickly. I think I've just, like, converted myself to be a cat person. Anybody else in the room, like, I kind of want to get a cat now and just have him live outside of my house to protect my house from rodents. In the book of one corinthians, something happens that's really, I think, unique. The Corinthians were having false teachers coming into the church, and they were saying, you know what? Jesus didn't actually rise from the dead. And this infuriated the apostles, specifically the apostle Paul. They were so angered, and the people were these false teachers. They were saying, you know what? It's actually just a metaphor. Like, you see, metaphorically rose. We can metaphorically rise to new heights and be our best selves, if you will.
[00:05:46] And this was so appalling to the apostles that they were like, no, we witnessed Jesus executed. We saw the resurrected Christ, we watched him ascend into heaven. This isn't a fairy tale, it's not mythology, it's not a metaphor, but it is actual, objective, historical fact. And these teachers were coming in and they were disturbing the people.
[00:06:09] And so what happens in one Corinthians 15, it's 58 verses dedicated to the resurrection of Jesus. Paul poses a question, what if?
[00:06:18] What if Jesus never rose from the dead? Like, what actually if? And so he actually spends a considerable amount of this chapter unfolding, this idea and this possibility.
[00:06:33] Now, what if Jesus didn't rise from the dead? Why is this even so important? I don't know if you've noticed, but what happens on Good Friday is like the central event in Christianity. This is the moment where God in the flesh, Jesus, paid for our sins and our place on the cross. This is the most consequential event that we can imagine. And the resurrection was God's stamp of approval that Jesus is not just another dead jewish insurrectionist. He truly is the son of God. And the payment that he made for our sins in our place on the cross was truly extreme. And so the way God declared to humanity that Jesus wasn't just another dead guy, he wasn't just another guy rebelling against Rome, is he raised him from the dead. And the implications of there is no resurrection are massive, massive for our faith. So what we're gonna do this morning is we're gonna look at ten implications that Paul draws out in one corinthians 15, of what would happen if Jesus never was raised from the dead. And here's my hope. My hope is that for those of us who have trusted in Jesus Christ, that as we imagine what life might be like without the resurrection, that our gratitude for what God did for us on the cross and then confirm through the resurrection that it would just go through the roof. And again, if you're maybe newer here and you don't maybe believe in Jesus, you're trying to figure faith out. My hope is that you would understand in a fresh way what the Bible teaches about the death and the resurrection of Jesus. So. First Corinthians 15, what if Jesus did not rise from the dead? Number one, the Bible would be a total hoax. Look at chapter 15, verse three. Paul says, for I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures. The scriptures here, it's a really important jewish word, because what it refers to scriptures are writings that are direct revelation from God himself.
[00:08:39] And so what we find here is that if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, the reliability of our Bible plummets. In fact, the Bible goes from being the word of God to honestly, worse than fiction. A lie devised to dupe the masses. I don't know about you all, but like, I am so grateful that when we open up the word of God, it is indeed scripture, revelation from God himself. And that we know, that we know, historically verified evidentially and by faith, that Jesus is not dead. But let's do a little test here. He is risen.
[00:09:18] Just want to make sure you're tracking me the whole way here. Okay. Number two, what if Jesus didn't rise from the dead? The disciples, they would be filthy liars. Look at verse five.
[00:09:30] He, the resurrected Jesus, appeared to Cephas. That's Peter. Then to the twelve.
[00:09:36] Then he appeared to more than how many? 500 brothers at one time.
[00:09:42] Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared also to me. And that's Paul, who's writing this. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we are dealing with some of the greatest and most deceptive masterminds in all of human history. And it wasn't just the twelve, by the way. It was all the men, all the women, all the children who saw him died, who saw him risen. All of them lying. Now, I just. I can't even begin to fathom and wrap my head around this, but there's a guy that some of you might be aware of. His name's Chuck card. And Chuck Colson became a Christian in the seventies, right after the Watergate scandal. He did some pretty terrible things. He was guilty, ended up going to jail. And somebody asked him, after he became a Christian, why do you believe in the resurrection of Jesus? And here's what he said.
[00:10:36] He said, I know the resurrection is a fact. And Watergate proved it to me. How? Because twelve men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead. Then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Everyone was beaten, tortured, stoned, and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate, on the other hand, embroiled twelve of the most powerful men in the world, and they couldn't keep alive for three weeks. You're telling me twelve apostles could keep alive for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.
[00:11:11] So committed to the actual historical, physical resurrection of Jesus that ten of them went to their deaths for it, and hundreds more went to their deaths, testifying that we saw Jesus risen from the dead. These people gave up their family, their friends, their normal lives, their finances, their good names, legacies, and reputation because they were absolutely convinced to the point where they were willing to die for this, that Jesus was dead, physically, objectively, and he is now alive physically and objectively. This always rocks my brain.
[00:11:57] James and Jude are half brothers of Jesus, and they went to their death committed to the fact of the resurrection and committed to giving their entire lives to the building of the kingdom of Jesus around the entire world. Would you ever do that for your sibling?
[00:12:15] Ever? And then there's Mary, the mother of Jesus moms. Like, what would it take for you to look at your child and say, my child is the sinless savior, son of God?
[00:12:26] A lot. And Mary committed her life to this fact. And so we are so grateful that what we celebrate is not the testimony of a bunch of filthy liars, but men and women and children who saw the resurrected Jesus. Number three, what if Jesus didn't rise from the dead? Jesus would simply be a corpse. Verse 13, Paul says, but if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
[00:12:59] Jesus would literally be just another dead jewish insurrectionist, a rebel.
[00:13:07] He would be the leader and the chief mastermind of the greatest hoax in human history. But we should not be here at all if he is just another dead guy in the ground. But thankfully, this Easter, we do not believe he is dead. He is risen.
[00:13:23] You're paying attention. I love it. All right, number four, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, Christianity, it is a total waste of time. In verse 14, he says, if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain. And that's personal for me. And your faith is in vain. Vain means useless, meaningless, or purposeless.
[00:13:46] Okay, just for a moment, village church, I want you to imagine with me the thousands, for some hundreds of thousands, for some millions of dollars you could have spent on yourself, and you gave them to your local church or a nonprofit. That's seeking to build the kingdom of Jesus. I want you to imagine the thousands or the tens of thousands of hours you could have spent on yourself building your own kingdom and your own empire, but you spent it working with your local church or a christian nonprofit seeking to build the kingdom of Jesus. I want you to imagine every single time you did the hard thing and it had no foreseeable benefit to your life personally.
[00:14:37] Every single time you did the thing that nobody saw and there was no benefit, but you did it anyway because you knew it's what Jesus wanted.
[00:14:45] Imagine every time you turned the cheek and you took a punch or a hit and you could have gotten them back, but you knew it wouldn't have pleased Jesus.
[00:14:58] If Jesus didn't rise from a dead, from the dead, all of that would be a complete waste. All of it.
[00:15:06] We make pretty bold claims as Christians. We say stuff like, living for Jesus is worth it.
[00:15:12] We'll say Jesus is not just worth living for, but he's worth dying for. Or following Jesus is worth giving up drugs or sexual immorality or sin. Or we'll say stuff like this, jesus can, if you let him, transform your life from the inside out.
[00:15:30] These are really bold claims. If there is no resurrection.
[00:15:36] And so what I want to look at every one of you and say is, listen, on Easter, we have this great, beautiful reminder. Every act of self control, every act of faithfulness, every investment into the kingdom of God, with your time, with your talents, with your treasure, is never wasted. Why? Because he is risen.
[00:15:55] Number five, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead village church, we would be a culture. In verse 15, he says, we are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified that God, about God, that he raised Christ. I need you to catch this. If Jesus didn't raise from the dead, we are preaching and believing and propagating a false religion, and we should stop immediately.
[00:16:24] Consider this. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, and the Old Testament is actually historically reliable, let me share with you the implication. The implication is that you and I are still under old covenant law like we just got done with. Like most of the book of Leviticus, teaching through that. How grateful are y'all that we do not have to live under old covenant law. We can eat all the pork we want, praise God, from whom all blessings flow.
[00:16:50] And so we kind of pull back. We're like, oh, the new covenant. What? What a great gift. With the death and resurrection of Jesus, the old covenant has been set aside, and there is a new covenant. And because Jesus is written. We're no longer under old covenant law, but we are set free from that. Praise God.
[00:17:08] And we believe this because he is not dead.
[00:17:12] What am I going to say next?
[00:17:14] He is risen indeed. Thank you. I wanted to say it. I'm always on this side, guys, and I wanted to say it. Number six, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, you and I are unforgiven and guilty. In verse 17, he says, if Christ has not been raised, you are still in your sins.
[00:17:35] I trusted in Christ a long time ago, believed that I'm a sinner. Jesus died for my sins and was raised again from the dead. I believed that it was real. God forgave me. And I want to tell you kind of my everyday experience, and there are so many of you in this room that you understand what I'm about to say.
[00:17:51] I never wake up wondering if God likes me, if God loves me.
[00:17:59] I never wonder when I pray, if God hears me.
[00:18:03] My assumption is that when I trusted in Christ, he adopted me as his son. God is my father. He loves me unconditionally. I take him at his word when I mess up. He forgives me every single time. He is for me. Like, I live with this understanding every day of the kindness, love and grace of God. Like, it is the most beautiful experience that I could give you to know that the God of this universe and me are okay. And if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, this more and more becomes your experience. As you grow in the Lord, you wake up with just the certainty that even if everybody in the world hates me, God loves me and likes me because I am his son or his daughter.
[00:18:42] But if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, all of that is a lie.
[00:18:48] That is emotional fabrications that are happening in my mind and my body that are not rooted in reality. The idea that Jesus is dead is unthinkable. But there's also this reality that we see in our own lives, the transformative power of the resurrection of Jesus. We know that we are not who we were, because when we trusted in Jesus, something supernatural began to happen in us, and he began to transform us from the inside out. And all of this is because of the resurrection. Number seven. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, our christian ancestors are perishing in hell. Verse 18, he says, then those also who have fallen asleep or died in Christ, as christians, they have perished, those who died believing in Jesus.
[00:19:41] If Christ was never raised from the dead, they died believing in a false religion.
[00:19:48] And their good works most definitely didn't satisfy whatever God is up there.
[00:19:55] I have done a lot of funerals and I can tell you that when a Christian dies, their christian family, they root themselves in this hope. I will see them again.
[00:20:07] And thankfully we serve a merciful God. So that those ancestors, those family, the friends, the relatives of ours who died as christians, if we have trusted in Christ, we know that. We know we will see them again.
[00:20:24] Number eight, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead christians, we are pathetic and we should be pitied. Verse 19 he says, we are of all people, most to be pitied.
[00:20:37] If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, we are truly sad, ignorant, pathetic, duped people should look down on us with pity. They should feel sorry for us because we have given our life to a total fabrication and lie.
[00:20:55] Phil Church, are you not so glad right now that Jesus is not dead, but he is risen?
[00:21:01] Amen. Number nine, if Jesus didn't rise from the dead, it is time to party.
[00:21:07] Verse 32 he says, if the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. Okay, so if I could prove to you that there was no God, that Jesus was not God, he didn't die on the cross for your sins. He's dead, but not for your sins. He wasn't raised from the dead. What would you do differently with your life?
[00:21:26] I'll start.
[00:21:27] I'd quit my job.
[00:21:30] I'd go try to make a lot of money, and I'd spend the rest of my life devoted to myself and my family.
[00:21:36] And I would worry a whole lot less about other things going on in this world. What would you do differently?
[00:21:42] But here's the deal. We remind ourselves on Easter that we actually don't just give ourselves over to our own whims and desires in our flesh, because we are living for something greater. We are than living not for ourselves or for a dead Jesus, but we are living for a resurrected Jesus. We are living for a resurrected Jesus who will reward every single act of faithfulness in the new earth with our resurrection bodies.
[00:22:07] Lastly, Paul's a pretty creative guy when he thinks about all the implications. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, number ten, Jesus would be looney tunes crazy.
[00:22:18] I want you to listen to Jesus own words in the book of John, chapter eleven, verses 25 and 26, Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life.
[00:22:30] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. If you came up to me and said that, I would think you were out of your mind.
[00:22:43] And there's this really, I think, wonderful perspective. It's this idea. There's three words, liar, lunatic, and Lord. And it goes like this, that when you look at the teachings of Jesus, when you look at his life, when you look at the things he actually says, you can't separate the good things he does and the good things he says from the crazy things he says. And so when you look at all of this, you step back and you're left with really fundamentally three options.
[00:23:09] Option number one, he is a liar. And he's not just like any kind of liar, he's a really, really good liar, committed actually, to a lie, so much so that he would be willing to end his own life for this lie.
[00:23:24] And then the other option, though, is that you read this and you're like, oh, he's crazy. He is a lunatic. Like, if he is not God incarnate and he actually believes the things that he's saying about himself, this Jesus is not somebody any of us should be listening to at all.
[00:23:40] The other option is that he's not a liar and he's not a lunatic, but he actually is God in the flesh. He is the Lord.
[00:23:47] And so on Easter, we step back and we're like, listen, jesus is not a liar. He is not a crazy Looney Tunes person. He is the king of the universe. He is our creator, and he is our God.
[00:23:59] Let's move from what ifs to what is for a moment. So I'm going to take all ten of these, but we're going to say them backwards. We're going to say them in a way that's actually true. Ready?
[00:24:09] Number one, the Bible is trustworthy and true.
[00:24:13] Number two, the disciples and hundreds more. They actually were reliable witnesses, and nobody's been able to find the body yet.
[00:24:21] Number three, Jesus isn't rotting in the ground.
[00:24:26] Number four, following Jesus is the greatest decision and investment you can make this side of death.
[00:24:33] Number five. Village church. And any church teaching the Bible and the gospel are pointing us to the truth of who God is.
[00:24:41] Number six. All who trust in Christ are forgiven and declared innocent of their sins once for all and forever. Number seven. We will see our deceased christian relatives again if we have personally trusted in Jesus.
[00:24:57] Number eight, christians, we shouldn't be pitied, we should be envied.
[00:25:02] Number nine. We aren't parting like this is all there is. But we. We live differently and we live with purpose.
[00:25:10] Number ten. Jesus isn't a crazy dead guy or a liar. But he is our Lord, our God, our creator, and our savior because he is risen.
[00:25:23] First Corinthians 1520. Paul says it this way. I love it. He says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. For as by a man came, death by a man also has come also the resurrection of the dead. So what we do at village church is when we get to the end of our messages, we end with, so what? Because we believe that the word of God has a demand on our minds, our hearts, and our lives. And I want to share with you two so whats? And I thought about, if I was the apostle Paul, what would I, after writing one corinthians 15, kind of getting to know a little bit of the culture in our church, what would I want to say to village church? Number one, if you are a cultural christian but believe in the resurrection, its time to take your faith seriously. Okay, what do I mean by cultural christian?
[00:26:18] I mean, you believe the gospel as fact. Like, if I were to look at you and say, are you a sinner? You go, yes, I'm a sinner. Do you believe Jesus is God? Yep. Died on the cross for your sins, raised again from the dead? Yep, yep, got it. Good. Like, okay, you got the gospel, but it has almost no impact whatsoever on your life. Jesus, by and large, he's an afterthought and not a first thought.
[00:26:44] You maybe walk through your entire day and he doesn't even come up in your brain.
[00:26:50] There's not even, like, this conscience question even sometimes. It's like, would this make him happy? I'm not sure what God would like. These kind of thoughts rarely, if ever, go through your brain. Jesus is like, yeah, he comes up on Easter or Christmas, and maybe my parents talk about him all the time, but if somebody isn't bringing him up to me, he's not exactly, like, my first thought.
[00:27:12] If these experiences are something that you have, this cultural christian experience, there are probably two reasons. One of two reasons this is happening.
[00:27:24] Number one is you might be a true Christian, but you are living in sin and you know it. In fact, I don't even have to give, like a maybe it's a this, maybe it's a that. Right now you automatically. You know what it is.
[00:27:41] And so there's this phrase that the Bible uses that we quench the Holy Spirit. Like, the Holy Spirit is a fire, and then we throw water on it to try to keep the temperature as cold as possible. I don't want to see that. I don't want to think about it. And so, like, maybe, like, we're in this place where like, I am living like a cultural Christian because I have so thoroughly quenched the Holy Spirit and I don't want to have to hear what he has to say because the moment I start listening, I know exactly what he is going to ask me to do. This is actually more common than you would think.
[00:28:11] The other reason you might be a cultural Christian is because you might not be actually a true Christian. Now, some of you are like, how could you. Like, if you're not a true Christian and I didn't warn you, how could I not? And so, again, at village church, we're fairly blunt, right? And so maybe you're walking here into this church and you're like, that cultural christian person sort of described me. Let me give you a few reasons why you might think you're a Christian, like a true Christian, but you're actually not. Here's a couple. And I think 99% of cultural christians are going to fall into one of these categories.
[00:28:50] Number one, you walked into this room really believing that good people go to heaven. I'm a pretty good guy. I'm not Hitler. I'm not as bad as my brother or my sister or whatever. Everybody's fine, right? And like, that's how you go about life, because you're not as bad as someone else. If your good works outweigh your bad works, like, you're going to be a okay and just fine. And by the way, the Bible doesn't teach that at all.
[00:29:12] In fact, the Bible teaches that there's nobody good. There's nobody. Nobody has enough good works. In fact, only forgiven people are truly real christians.
[00:29:21] Maybe you're here and this cultural Christian described you, and you think you're a Christian because when you were little, you were baptized.
[00:29:30] And I have, this may not sound like good news, but I have really great news for you. Your baptism can't save you. It has no power to save you. The only thing that can save you is apologizing to God and believing in the life, death and resurrection. But the amount of people who are like, I was baptized as a kid, God and I are good. Somehow, something I had no control over and that I wasn't even that interested in somehow got me saved. And I don't have to worry about Jesus for the rest of my life. And when I die, I'm gonna be with him because someone baptized me. It's not how it works.
[00:30:01] Here's another option. Maybe you're a cultural Christian. You're not a real Christian because when you were little, you made a profession of faith.
[00:30:09] But if you're being honest, that profession of faith was not because you loved God or sorry for your sins. It was because you just didn't want to go to hell. And then after you trusted in Christ, even though you made that decision, it had no impact whatsoever. Your life.
[00:30:25] Maybe you're here and you think you're a Christian because you grew up Catholic and you went through the sacraments and you thought, as long as the church baptizes me or I took communion a couple times or I go to confession, that somehow me and God are good. And I also, again, this may not sound like good news, but I have great news. Salvation is never through Sacramento. In scripture, salvation is through faith in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. And let me tell you why it's good news. Because if you're trying to earn your salvation by sacrament and or good works, how do you ever know if it's enough? How do you ever know if you've accrued enough? You live in this what if and this anxiety, which is why, I mean, I know a lot of current and ex Catholics and this catholic guilt, this Catholic what if. What if I'm not going to heaven? What if it's not enough? How many years of purgatory mechanism? Son, these are real things. And I just have great news for you. Whether you grew up Catholic, whether you got baptized as a kid, whether you walked in here thinking that good works is going to get it for you, great news. Let's remove all the anxiety. That's not how you are reconciled to God and forgiven and receive eternal life. Which brings me to my second so what?
[00:31:34] Believe in the resurrected Jesus and receive eternal life.
[00:31:40] Let me share with you something very simple. It's the abcs of how to actually become a true Christian.
[00:31:48] A is very simple. It's apologize to God. I can't tell you how many people have never, ever told God, I sinned against you and I'm sorry. Will you forgive me? Like that is an actual, real thing. People are like, I have to apologize to God.
[00:32:06] You do, because it's a relationship.
[00:32:11] Apologize to God. Ask him to forgive you. You may not have the right words. You are never going to remember all the sins you've ever committed. It's actually kind of not the point. It's probably good to remember a few. But like God, I am sorry. Will you forgive me? Here's the b and the abcs.
[00:32:28] Believe in Jesus death and resurrection.
[00:32:33] Do you believe? Let's just talk factually for a moment. Not just that you're a sinner who needs to apologize to God, but that Jesus is God and that he died for your sins and was raised again from the dead. Like, in order to be a true Christian, the Bible is very crystal clear. We actually have to believe those things. But I want to tell you this. Do you know who also believes that they're a sinner? That Jesus died on the cross and was raised again from the dead?
[00:32:58] Satan does, and he's definitely not going to heaven.
[00:33:02] And so you can actually, it's interesting. You can believe the facts of the gospel without being a true Christian. Which brings us to the sea.
[00:33:12] Confess your belief, your trust in Jesus as your God.
[00:33:19] I want to read to you from the book of Romans, chapter ten. It's a really beautiful verse.
[00:33:23] If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. That is amazing.
[00:33:36] Here's the difference. The devil can believe, but he doesn't confess Jesus as his God. He hates him. Let me read this again. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Now you might be sitting here right now thinking, oh, no, I'm a cultural Christian. I don't want to be a cultural Christian. I want to be reconciled to God. And I have awesome news for you here. Now you can say, God, I'm sorry. I believe in life, death and resurrection of Jesus. You are my God. Forgive me. And what is God's answer to every person who sincerely asks them for forgiveness when they believe in Jesus? The answer is yes.
[00:34:14] And maybe you're here and you're like, you're an idiot. I don't want to talk to you. I'm hungry. I want to go to lunch. Fine, that's great. We're gonna be here for three more hours, so just sit tight. I'm kidding. You'll be fine. But maybe a month from now, five years from now, 50 years from now, God will do something in your life and will make it so apparent to you that he is real and that you and him are not. Okay. And I just have great news. Wherever you are, anytime, night or day, you can tell God the ABCs. I am sorry. I believe in you. I confess that you are my God. And in that moment, his promise is salvation. And by the way, he will give you his holy spirit, who will help you become more like Jesus and empower you for the christian life. And when you fail, like we all do, you will lean on the blood of Christ, who covers all of our sin and our failure. All of this is true because he is risen.
[00:35:05] Let's pray together. Father, I want to thank you for seeing our plight, our helplessness, our inability to make right the things that we made wrong through sin.
[00:35:20] Jesus, I want to thank you just personally on behalf of every true Christian in this room and say thank you for dying on the cross for our sins willingly. You knew that there were no other options. There was no other way out. I am personally so grateful. We thank you, feel our gratitude regularly for this reality that you did what we could not do. Without you, we would be nothing and destined to hell. Father, I thank you that you raised Jesus from the dead. I thank you that we now have proof and evidence that what Jesus did on the cross was an acceptable substitute sacrifice for our sins in our place. Thank you for even being willing to take substitute sacrifices. We are so grateful.
[00:36:01] God, there might be some people here who, we have quenched your holy spirit like we are true christians, but we have not been living for you and we have been trying to avoid you. God, I pray that you would wreck us, but, God, that you would also give us the courage and the power to let go of the thing that stands between us and you. Lord, if there's someone here, and they really, truly are a cultural christian, Lord, you don't want them to be deceived. They don't want to be deceived. So, God, I pray that you would show them that reality and you would give them the courage and the ability to apologize to you and to ask you to forgive them, them of their sins.
[00:36:39] And God, we thank you that because Jesus was raised, we can look back to that. We know that. We know that you have power over death. And one day you're coming back, and we will be raised imperishable, and we will no longer have to deal with these bodies of sin and death. We cannot wait for that day. And so in the meantime, we will continue to worship you, to praise you, to lift high the name of Jesus, and we will celebrate Easter not once a year, not even once a week, but every day of our life. We love you. We pray all of this, and we worship you now in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
