I WILL RISE

 I WILL RISE

 INTRO Lazarus…

 

John 11:23-25 (NKJV) Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”

 

The Cross is the cornerstone of Christianity, but the Resurrection is the capstone. Without both, Christianity disintegrates into a humanistic philosophy masquerading as a religion! Here at Restoration Fellowship we proclaim the certainty of the Resurrection! We celebrate not only the Resurrection of Jesus, but the resurrection of each and every person. 

 

Tenet #6 clearly states:

 

We believe in the resurrection of those who know Christ, and those who do not; one to eternal life in heaven, and the other to eternal death in hell.

 

Daniel prophesied it. 

 

Daniel 12:2 (NKJV) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt.

 

Jesus taught it. 

 

John 5:28-29 (NKJV) Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.

 

The Apostle Paul declared it before Felix, the governor of Caesarea. 

 

Acts 24:15 (NKJV) I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept, that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

 

There will be a day when all the people of the earth will stand before God for judgment.

 

Hebrews 9:27 (NKJV) And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

 

There will actually be two different resurrections and two different judgments. 

 

Christians will be resurrected first. 

 

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NKJV) But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

 

Those who believe in Christ will stand at the Judgement Seat of Christ. This is a judgment of rewards. 

 

Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV) But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.

 

1 Corinthians 3:11-15 (NKJV) For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

 

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NKJV) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.

 

Those who reject Christ will also be resurrected to stand before God at the Great White Throne Judgment.

 

Revelation 20:11-15 (NKJV) Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

 

Revelation 21:23-27 (NKJV) The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. Its gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). And they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

 

Jesus sums it all up in one of His last teachings to the disciples. 

 

Matthew 25:31–46 (NKJV) When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: 42 for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; 43 I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.’

44 “Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ 45 Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ 46 And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

 

Let’s be sure of one thing today. There is life after death and it will be spent in either heaven or hell. Any belief system that teaches differently is false. You can look at all of them and they share this commonality. There is not a clear teaching of resurrection and judgment. 

 

So how do we respond to this?  It is frighteningly simple. If you accept Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then you will be resurrected to eternal life filled with rewards in heaven. If you reject Christ, then your eternal destiny is a resurrection to eternal suffering in hell. 

 

MINISTRY TIME But I have good news for you this morning. God does not want anyone to go to hell.

 

2 Peter 3:9 (NKJV) The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

 

Ezekiel 33:11 (NKJV) Say to them: “As I live,” says the Lord God, “I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?”

 

Hell was not created for people. It was created for the devil and his minions. God doesn’t send anyone there. People choose to go there of their own free will. 

 

Don’t be one of those. Choose today to follow Christ and enjoy all He has for you. 

 

KNOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT

 KNOWING THE HOLY SPIRIT

 Years ago a relatively little known evangelist named Benny Hinn wrote a simple book where he described his experience of getting to know the Holy Spirit. The book, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, has sold over one million copies in the last 20 years. The key to the book? The Holy Spirit is a person and we need to get to know him as a person who communicates with us person to person. Many people treat God, the Holy Spirit as a thing, a force, and miss out on what a true intimate relationship with the Holy Spirit is all about. 

 

In Paul’s last blessing to the church at Corinth he gives this doxology…

 

2 Corinthians 13:14 (NKJV) The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

 

Communion is the English translation of the Greek word koinonia. It is most often translated as fellowship, as in…

 

Philippians 2:1-2 (NKJV) Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind.

 

Koinonia literally means to have a close mutual relationship. So this morning let me ask all of us a question. Do we have a close mutual relationship with the Holy Spirit? 

 

We believe we should have that relationship, that it is possible to have that relationship, and God the Holy Spirit wants to have that relationship with you! It is stated in the 5^th tenet of our statement of faith. 

 

We believe in the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to manifest both the gifts and fruits of the Spirit.

 

Now this morning I am not really going to try to necessarily define what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. I believe the Bible is pretty clear about it, but a lot of time has been spent arguing over what it is and missing the reality of having a vital living relationship with the Holy Spirit. If I live in union with the Holy Spirit He will lead me in what I need to know and grow in me so that I reflect His power and presence in my life!

 

So, how do we grow our relationship with the Holy Spirit? Let’s see what Jesus said about it. 

 

In the upper room where Jesus celebrated His last Passover with His disciples, He began to discuss this One who was to come, who would be just like Him, but different. Listen to Him teach. 

 

John 14:15–17 (NKJV) If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter), that He may abide with you forever—17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.

 

1.    We first get to know the Holy Spirit while He is with us. We sense Something or Someone is there but we don’t really know Him yet. He is our Helper, our Comforter. This is how we know Him first. The Greek word is Paraclete, someone called alongside to help. 

 

When did you first sense that God was with you? I have many recollections: my mom praying over me in tongues, asking God to heal me of leukemia… a 6 year old in church sensing God calling him to salvation… an 8 year old singing at a tent revival where an anointed man laid hands on me and I flew back over three sets of chairs! It was the Holy Spirit! He was with me: calling me, convicting me, convincing me, comforting me!

 

Have you felt Him? You didn’t know what it was, but you felt Him. Ask Him to show you more!

 

2.    Next, Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be in us! Does the Holy Spirit live in you?

 

John 20:21-22 (NKJV) So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

 

This is the moment of salvation. That which you have sensed and felt now becomes reality. You don’t understand it, but you believe it, you know it, you are a different person. 

 

Romans 8:9 (NKJV) But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.

 

Romans 8:16 (NKJV) The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. 

 

1 Corinthians 12:3 (NKJV)

Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.

 

1 Corinthians 12:13 (NKJV) For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

 

Ephesians 1:13-14 (NKJV)

In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.

 

The moment we believed in Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit took up residence in my human spirit. 

 

1 Corinthians 3:16 (NKJV) Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

 

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 (NKJV)  Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? 20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.

 

3.    The third way we relate to the Holy Spirit is when He comes upon us.

 

Luke 3:16 (NKJV) I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

 

Acts 1:4-5 (NKJV) And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

 

Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

 

Acts 2:1-4 (NKJV) When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

 

This is the “upon” ministry of the Holy Spirit. It is an anointing for ministry and power! It is a baptism in the fire of God. Baptism means immersion. I am fully covered by the Holy Spirit, filled inside and out by His power and Presence. What is the result? A deepening relationship with the Holy Spirit that touches everything I do.

 

Look at what happens here in Acts. A multitude come to see what is happening. Peter preaches and thousands get saved. The church is birthed and grows exponentially because of the anointing of the Holy Spirit. 

 

Jesus said that we would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon us and we would be witnesses. Have you received the power of the Holy Spirit upon your life? Are you being a witness in word and sign?

 

Mark 16:15-18 (NKJV) And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

 

Look at this encounter Paul had at Ephesus. 

 

Acts 19:1-2 (NKJV) And it happened, while Apollos was at Corinth, that Paul, having passed through the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” So they said to him, “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”

 

This is the testimony of many believers. They have a relationship with Jesus, but have not even heard of having a relationship with the Holy Spirit. 

 

Acts 19:5-6 (NKJV) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied.

 

The “upon” anointing is so powerful. 

 

1 John 2:20 (NKJV) But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things. 

 

1 John 2:27 (NKJV) But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

 

Everyone here today is in some relationship with the Holy Spirit. Some of you sense He is with you. Some have received Him and He is dwelling, being at home, in you. Some have experienced His anointing and know that He is upon you. Where are you? 

 

Benny Hinn says his life changed when he started saying everyday, “Good morning, Holy Spirit. What do you have for me today?”

 

Are we willing to pursue, seek after that kind of relationship with God the Holy Spirit? I hope we are. 

YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

 YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN

 

INTRO What is so special about Christianity? Many would say that it is just one of many belief systems and they are all basically the same. After all, we all worship the same God and are all going to the same place. Nothing could be farther from the truth!

 

Christianity is unique among all religions. The thing that sets Christianity apart from every other world view is the possibility of change. Man was created in the image of God, but he is fallen. Sin has marred the visage of God in our lives. The eternal good news of the Gospel is that we can be redeemed; we can be made new! We can be restored to the way God created us. 

 

This is the fourth tenet in our statement of faith here at Restoration Fellowship. Let’s read it together. 

 

We believe that lost and sinful men and women must be regenerated by the Holy Spirit in the new birth in order to be at peace with God and become members of His Church.

 

The best explanation of this belief is the words of Jesus Himself. Let’s look at John chapter 3.

 

John 3:1–17 (NKJV) There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

 

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

 

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 

9 Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?”

 

10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? 11 Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

Many years ago, a man named Bill Bright of  Campus Crusade for Christ,  condensed these truths into a pamphlet he called “The Four Spiritual Laws”. Billy Graham has a similar pamphlet called “Steps to Peace with God”. 

 

Just as there are physical laws that govern the physical universe, so there are spiritual laws that govern your relationship with God. 

 

Law #1: God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life. 

God's Love God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God's Plan I come that you might have life, and might have it more abundantly.  (John 10:10)

Why is it that most people are not experiencing that abundant life? Because...

 

Law #2: Man is sinful and separated from God. Therefore, he cannot know and experience God's love and plan for his life. 

Man is Sinful All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) 

Man was created to have fellowship with God; but, because of his own stubborn self-will, he chose to go his own independent way and fellowship with God was broken. This self-will, characterized by an attitude of active rebellion or passive indifference, is an evidence of what the Bible calls sin. 

Man Is Separated from God The wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

 

A great gulf exists between man and God. The third law explains the only way to bridge this gulf. 

 

Law #3: Jesus Christ is God's only provision for man's sin. Through Him you can know and experience God's love and plan for your life. 

He Died In Our Place God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) 

He Rose from the Dead Christ died for our sins... He was buried... He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures... He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred... (1 Corinthians 15:3-6)

Jesus is the Only Way to God Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6)

 

The Cross of Jesus bridges the gap that exists between man and God and allows us to come to Him by faith. 

 

Law #4: We must individually receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord; then we can know and experience God's love and plan for our lives. 

We Must Receive Christ As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name. (John 1:12) 

We Receive Christ Through Faith By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as result of works that no one should boast. (Ephesians 2:8,9)

When We Receive Christ, We Experience a New Birth We read this earlier in John 3. 

We Receive Christ Through Personal Invitation Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him. (Revelation 3:20)

Receiving Christ involves turning to God from self (repentance) and trusting Christ to come into our lives to forgive our sins and to make us what He wants us to be. 

 

Just to intellectually say that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He died on the cross is not enough. Nor is it just an emotional connection. We receive Jesus Christ by faith, as an act of the will. Jesus said it was a spiritual miracle! The Apostle Paul explains it this way. 

 

1 Corinthians 2:9–16 (NKJV) But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”



10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

 

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

 

You can receive Christ right now by faith. 

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9-10)

 

For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

Just pray with me. 

 

MINISTRY TIME

 

 

 

 

ONLY JESUS Part Two

 ONLY JESUS Part Two

INTRO Christianity is all about Jesus. Acts 11:26 (NKJV) And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch. Christian means “little Christ” or follower of Christ or of Christ. If we are followers of Christ, we should have the correct beliefs about Christ. 

 

The third tenet of our statement of faith reads: We believe in the Deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us, and in His personal return in power and glory.

 

There are eight individual phrases here. Last week we looked at the first three. Today we will examine the rest. 

 

4.     We believe in His miracles.

 

Jesus declared that the miracles are enough to believe He is God!

 

John 14:11 (NKJV) Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

 

Miracles are God’s statement of approval. 

 

Acts 2:22 (NKJV) Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know. 

 

Chuck Swindoll makes the following observation:

 

Jesus Did What Only God Can Do

 

When people say they are God, we take them to a psychiatrist. They're delusional! Without proof of His deity, Jesus’ claim would be empty; worse yet, it would be lunacy. So to show the world who He was, He performed deeds that only God could do.

 

He raised people from the dead. (Mark 5:41; John 11:38-44)

 

He healed people. (Matthew 9:35; 11:4)

 

He performed miracles, such as calming the storm and feeding thousands of people. (Mark 4:35-41; 8:1-9)

 

He exorcised demons and defeated Satan. (Mark 1:27; Luke 4:1-13)

 

He accepted worship. (Matthew 14:33)

 

He gave authority to His disciples to do miracles. (Matthew 10:1)

 

Each healing, miracle, or exorcism that Jesus performed provided additional testimony that He was the long-expected Son of God, the Savior of the world. (Isaiah 35:5-6).

 

For many years there has been a concerted effort to bring all miracles in question. People recognize that if Jesus didn’t do miracles, He cannot be God. Not only that, He cannot do miracles in our lives. What hopelessness! We must believe that God is able to perform miracles for us today!

 

We will take the next two tenets together. 

 

5.     We believe in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood.

 

6.    We believe in His bodily resurrection.

 

1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NKJV) For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: 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. 

 

According to Paul, this is the Gospel, the Good News that we proclaim. This is our only message!

 

1 Corinthians 15:1 (NKJV)

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand.

 

This is the gospel that was proclaimed throughout the Bible. 

 

Isaiah 53:3-6 (NKJV) He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

 

Notice that we believe in His bodily resurrection. He was not a ghost, a myth, a fabrication. He got up, folded His clothes, rolled the stone away, and walked out! He overcame death, hell, and the grave. If He can do that, He can handle anything that comes along in our life!

 

1 Corinthians 15:55-58 (NKJV) O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?” The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord  

 

7.    We believe in His ascension to the right hand of the Father to make intercession for us.

 

Acts 1:9 (NKJV) Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.

 

Romans 8:34 (NKJV) Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.

 

1 Timothy 2:5 (NKJV) For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,

 

Hebrews 7:25 (NKJV) Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.

 

8.    We believe in His personal return in power and glory.

 

John 14:2-3 (NKJV) In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

 

Acts 1:11 (NKJV) Who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

 

What is our response to all this?

 

1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 

 

MINISTRY TIME