2024-03-31AM- Because He Lives

The speaker reflects on their own sinful past and emphasizes the importance of recognizing one's unworthiness before God. They discuss how everyone deserves death because of sin, but God provided a solution through Jesus. They mention the resurrection of Jesus and how He appeared to His disciples, showing them His hands and feet as proof of His resurrection. They emphasize that Jesus' suffering and resurrection were necessary because of the consequences of humanity's sins. The speaker concludes by stating that because Jesus lives, there is hope for everyone. I'm going to be reading this morning from Luke chapter 24. As we're in this place today, I think sometimes we just get accustomed to one another, but I remember I was a very sinful individual, very sinful. And I look around and all of us were. There's not a one of us. We've got little ones that were born, and all they've ever known is coming to church. But little Judson got saved not that long ago from his own sins, six years old. Well, saved, yes, saved from his sins, because the Lord was gracious enough to allow him to see that. When Brother Camden was talking about an unworthiness to live, you'd find there's no shortage of people today that would stand up and say, no, everybody deserves to live. Everybody deserves to have a life. Everybody deserves. But when we begin to examine ourselves against the holiness of God, we begin to realize, no, I was worthy of death. The Bible says that the wages of sin is death. The payment for sin is death. And whether it's a bunch of sins or it's a small amount, and you can't even hardly think of any, they're all worthy of death. And Brother Camden said it right. I was worthy of death. But my Lord was gracious enough to me to come and speak to my heart. I knew when it happened. Brother Michael was saying this morning in Sunday school, and I appreciate the Sunday school lesson. A wonderful job really laying things out for us. But you said this morning the Lord came to you. Well, He did to me too. And I find that He's such a gracious God. He's willing to do that for every individual, for He's not willing that any perish. He knows our worthiness for dying, but He doesn't want us to. So He provided the answer, and I'd love to talk to you about that answer today. Luke chapter 24. We're going to begin reading in verse 36 for the Michael Redd from here in Sunday school this morning. Luke 24 and 36, And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, saith unto them, Peace be unto you. They were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And there's a reason they thought that they were afraid. Thought He was a spirit. He was dead. They watched Him die. Well how do we see Him now? They were afraid. He said unto them, Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. When He had thus spoken, He showed them His hands and His feet. Look at verse 44. And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem. Will you pray with me? Lord, thank You so much for our time here today. Thank You that You'd even be willing to hear from feeble people like us praise and honor for Your name. But God, we do offer that today, for we are thankful for what You have done and what You are willing to do for every one of us. I pray for the power to settle in this place today. Give me the words to say that will touch hearts and make a difference. Touch these, I pray, that know You. Touch these that don't know You. And I pray that all will be reconciled unto God by the blood of Jesus Christ today. In Jesus' name, Amen. I want to try to preach for a title today, Because He Lives. Because He Lives. As we read there in Luke chapter 24, and Jesus offered to everybody that He came in contact with that day, He said, well, look at My hands. Look at My feet. They were there. They saw the nails that went through His hands. He didn't have a body double. This wasn't a stunt man that was going to jump up and appear and say, look, I look like Him and this is Me. No, this was Jesus Himself having risen from the dead and meeting with these people. John chapter 14, it's a wonderful chapter. It begins with Jesus telling us, let not your heart be troubled. He tells us that in My Father's house are many mansions. I go away to prepare a place for you. He ends up telling the disciples there that I am the way, the truth, and the light. And He speaks in this chapter concerning the Comforter, the promise that is to come, that God would send that. But in verse 19 of John chapter 14, Jesus makes this statement to all who will hear it, Because I live, ye shall live also. It's not just a statement that Jesus got up out of the grave and today we can acknowledge that He's alive. But His purpose, because I live, ye shall live also. And that's what I want to try to preach, because He is alive today. And no doubt all across this world today on Easter Sunday there's lots and lots of messages that are being preached concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I have no doubts that there are men who will stand in pulpits and take 45 minutes to an hour to defend the resurrection of Jesus and the scriptural account of what happened and how it happened. Brother Michael spoke of it just a little bit in Sunday School. Books have been written. People have dedicated their lives to demonstrate that it really did happen. And I know that there are men that they'll step up today and they'll talk about that. And they'll lay out the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus. Some will go into great detail and talk to you about where Calvary's Hill is located and where Jerusalem is and where the grave of Jesus was. And where these different places, just to demonstrate that what the Bible says is true. No doubt there are those who are going to climb into pulpits right now today and they'll talk about the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And they'll dig deep and talk into great detail of all the things that He did so that we might be saved from our sins. And I have no doubts that there are great men that are very articulate, can speak with great eloquence to the truths of the Scriptures and bring forth great messages and just awe people when they leave the house of God. But I stand before you today with just a simple message that I believe for anyone who's willing, there is relief for a life, all because Jesus is alive today. Not just because Jesus came, but as He said in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 8, I am He that liveth, I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. That is the words of Jesus. Not everybody can say, I was dead. But Jesus could say it that day. And when He said, I am alive forevermore, He means that even today in 2024, Jesus Christ is alive. We read there in Luke chapter 24 the timing of our text today. Thank you. I want you to understand that by the time that we get to this place in the text where Jesus is appearing to these in a room separate, there's already been several people that have seen Him alive. Mary Magdalene, she met with Him and she saw that He was alive. Peter, the apostle, had seen Jesus by this time. There were two men that were traveling on the road to Emmaus. Jesus met with these. There are others that are named in the Scriptures that had seen Jesus before this time. But Jesus comes into the midst of this crowd of people, demonstrates to them by showing them His hands and His feet, and tells them that the whole reason everything had just transpired. They had watched Him die. They had just spent some time in mourning and in great confusion. The Bible says in the beginning of this chapter that those who went to the grave were much perplexed. They were in great doubt. They didn't know how to handle what had happened. And they're in a mess. But He comes to them and says, look, the Scriptures already said that this was going to happen. And again, when the Scriptures say it's going to happen, you can count on that it's going to happen. And Jesus said, this is just the fulfilling of the Scriptures. And in verse 46, I read to you that Jesus said, thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. Now, the word in this verse, behooved, that it behooved Christ to suffer, simply means that it was necessary. It was necessary for Christ to suffer. Somebody might give question to that and wonder what exactly does that mean. But in Joseph Thayer's Greek Lexicon of the New Testament, he gives a little broader definition of this word. It literally means that it is necessary because of the consequences of what someone else has done. That it behooved Christ because of what someone else had done. And can I tell you that I'm that someone else that it needed for Christ to die? I made it necessary that Christ would die. It was for the actions which I had done. You go to a local school and they probably employ a custodian. I presume they still do that. You see him out in the hall and he's mopping the floor for some mess. He's not mopping up a mess that he made, but it behooved the custodian to mop up that mess. You can go into a kitchen in any restaurant and see somebody washing dishes. They're not washing dishes that they ate off of, but it behooved them to wash the dishes of the consequences that somebody else laid down. When a telecommunication company comes out here and repairs a cord, a cable that's out here in the front yard, they're not doing it because they messed it up. They're doing it, they're fixing the consequences of somebody else. And when Jesus Christ went to Calvary and He laid His life down, they put the nails in His hands and His feet. And when He hung upon that cross, He was not doing it for things that He had done, but He was hanging there for my sins. And let me assure you, He was hanging there for your sins too. These are Jesus' words. It behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. John said that He is the propitiation, the atonement for our sins. And not just our sins, but for the sins of the whole world. We remember back to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. To that point, it was the single most significant event since the creation of the world. It was fantastic when God said, Let there be light, and there was light. It's amazing that God would put the planets and they stay where they are. The sun where it is, and He made the earth to rotate like it does, and how it revolves around the sun. God did all of that, and that's quite amazing. But the day that Jesus Christ was crucified was the most important event in the history of all the world. And oh, how significant was that event. But you've probably heard at times that when there's a big athletic event like the Olympics, you might catch the news and it says so-and-so just broke the record. I mean, he ran faster than anybody's ever run fast. Write his name down. This is a day that will go down in infamy. The fastest man was the fastest man before now. Now it's the big day. But then it would be in them same games. It might be a day later. It might be three days later when somebody else runs a little bit faster. And then people aren't really paying all that much attention to the guy who just broke the record. But now they're looking at the one who makes the new record. And what happened? The greatest thing that happened since the inception of the world, the crucifixion, the payment for sins by Jesus Christ, was followed up and capped by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. They took Him from the cross and they put Him in a tomb. And there He stayed until, according to the Scriptures, He rose up from the dead. And it now became the greatest event in the history of the world. Romans 5 says that God commended His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He goes on and He speaks about being justified by His blood, being saved from the wrath of God through Jesus Christ because He took our punishment. But He says, but if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more being reconciled we shall be saved by His life. It's not just because Jesus died for our sins, but it's because Jesus is alive. The dead can't give life. It is the living that is able to give life. When we look back to that day when Jesus Christ was crucified on Calvary Street, there was lots of opportunities, it looked like, from the people who hated Him to run upon Him. And some had thought to do that at different times. But when it came time for Jesus to die, He didn't die at the hand of amateurs. It wasn't a bunch of people who hated Him so bad that they got a hold of Him and finally took His life. The Bible tells us that He went before the council and as Brother Michael said, they couldn't come up with anything enough to kill Him for until they finally took Him to the Roman authority when Pontius Pilate and Jesus stood before Him and He declared, I can't find any fault in this man. But you know, Pilate was such the consummate professional Roman, he could say that a man was completely innocent and still put him to death. He knew how because the government was corrupt. It happens in our world today. In the corrupt government, people know how to take innocent people and prosecute them. In a corrupt government, that's exactly what happened to Jesus. Pilate said, He's innocent, but let's go ahead and kill Him anyway. Pilate knew how to take care of that. He was such an experienced juror, he knew how to proclaim a man innocent and yet condemn him to death. All the beatings that Jesus took, it wasn't the result of somebody picking up sticks and stones and running upon Him. No, the Bible tells us how that He went through the scourgings and that it was at the hands of experienced professional men that they knew how to inflict pain upon a body and keep it alive. They really wasn't wanting to kill Him right then, but they took their frustrations on that man, on the man Jesus Christ, who came to take our sins away. This is the One who stood there while they laid stripes on His back at the hands of those that knew what they were doing, inflicting pain upon His body and then taking Him and getting the most out of a crucifixion. These weren't people who just thought, well, let's put some nails in His hands and His feet and hang Him up. No, they knew exactly what they were doing. And the great thing about all of this is while the bystanders might have been cheering and others might have been crying, Jesus knew that it was going to happen all along exactly like this. And yet, He went along willingly. He had already spoken to His disciples. He said, I lay my life down that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down myself. I have power to lay it down. And I have power to take it again. And we will see in the resurrection, Jesus did exactly what He said He would do. And I want to stand here today and I want to make full acknowledgment that Jesus Christ went to Calvary for my sins. Personally, my sins. He received all of those beatings and the abuse to save me. And when the opportunity presented itself that He could escape and put an end to it, He refused it. John 3, verse 16, the first few words say, For God so loved the world, there can be no other explanation for what Jesus Christ has done for a bunch of sinners, but that He so loved the world. Jesus died that He might redeem sinners. Paul wrote to Timothy and he said that this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That's what this was all about. Sinners. Sinners. You can open up a Bible and you can start to read in Genesis and go all the way through and you'll find that the Bible has a lot to say about sin. I mean, there is a lot of space that is dedicated to the subject of sin. Well, there's a reason for that. All the corruption. All the rebellion. All the depravity. All the deception that's in this world. It's easy for us to say. But the reason that God devotes so much time to calling out sin, in Genesis 3, and it continues on through the book of Exodus and through the law, it lays down and tells us what sin is and not to do it. We've got historical accounts of men who sinned and how they suffered because of it. God talks a lot about sin. There's a reason for that, because the Bible says there is none righteous. No, not one. He chose a subject to cover in this Bible that affects every one of us. If self-esteem had been the common need of every man, that's where the dedication of the Bible would have been. God would have dealt with it appropriately throughout all the Scriptures. You can find books in the Christian bookstore. There are religious writers that they'll write about loneliness. They'll write about depression. They'll write about relationships. They'll write about investing and making the most of your money and they'll talk about recovery and they'll cover all kinds of subjects you can find a book on. But God chose to write in His book about the universal need of man. These books might be able to help you through certain situations in your life. Oh, but it is sin that God covered in His Bible. Now, there's a lot that we can find in the Bible about comfort. There's a lot that we can find in the Bible about rest. And people will turn to the Bible. You go to a funeral and one of the most read Scriptures is Psalm 23. How comforting it is to hear, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And there's a lot of studies. There's a lot of devotionals that have been written and put together, authored to help people. But what fails to happen many times is that the original problem never gets addressed. Isaiah chapter 57 says, there's a reason we can't find comfort when we need comfort. Because the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. So as much as we want comfort from the Scriptures, as much as we want rest by just trying to find me a verse and talk to me about how everything's going to be okay. It's no wonder this world is in the mess that it's in. It's no wonder there's an abundance of anxiety and mental instability. People are denying it. But mankind is overwhelmed with sin. And that's where all of these things take root. If you pull back the pages, if you pull back the covers, and you get to the root of the problem, you'll find that it is sin. We have those comforting Scriptures. Jesus said, I'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee. You can go through the Psalms. It's a great resource for comfort reading. But all of these passages are secondary. They are secondary to the salvation of the soul. We have been given these promises not to comfort us while we are in sin, but to comfort us after we have been delivered from sin. It would be an awful thing to live our whole lives God patting us on the back. I'm going to help you through this. I'm going to ease your mind. I'm going to take care of this situation. Only at the end of life, still have a life filled with sin, to be cast into outer darkness, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched. It would be an awful thing to feel the comfort all your life long and still leave this world lost. My own testimony points to this. When I found out that I was a sinful man, God didn't come down and say, It's going to be okay, buddy. I was just a boy. He didn't come down and say, You'll be fine, like other people were trying to tell me. It'll be alright. When I acknowledged my sinfulness, God pointed me to Calvary, to the cross where Jesus Christ gave His life. Now, as we read there in the text, that before Jesus rose up from the dead, they were dealing with what we are all familiar with dealing with. We've all experienced death and loss in our lives. They were dealing with the death of Jesus. And we know how that is when somebody that we know and we love dies. There's this sense of finality. It's over. There's loss. There's a hopelessness that washes over us. And there are psychologists and psychiatrists and social engineers that they have figured out all the processes and why it all happens and how it all happens. And they put it together into books. But the truth of the matter is, it devastates us. We go into mourning. We get into grieving when we lose somebody. We go through such an experience that we experience shock. There is dread before us. There's a great sense of loss. But after a while, all of it starts to settle down. And we realize, I'm not going to see my mom again. We realize, I'm not going to see my uncle again. We get to that place where we accept it. It's just how life is going to be from now on. You know, sin has that same effect on man. Sin will bring about a hopeless feeling. It's always going to be this way. I'm always going to have to live like this. Sin brings that about on an individual. The book of Proverbs says that sin is a reproach to any people. But once sin has taken over a life, it's not unusual for us to begin to ask, why did this happen? How did I get where I am right now? I could even point back to a time and say, why did I ever even start down this path? I knew it was destructive. I knew it was wrong. I've seen it happen to so many other people. And so often when a life spirals out of control, the mind begins to look back to one event or to one series of events. And we think about that one car ride I should have never took. We think about that one relationship I never should have started. That one conversation that if I'd have never got into it. That one look. That one listen. That one touch started it all. And now my life is where it is. And a mind begins to go back and reminisce and begin to think if I had never done that, if I had never gone there, if I had never started that, I wouldn't be in the place that I am today. And it becomes an overwhelming sense like death, of finality, of despair, of there's no way out of this. This is just how life is going to have to be forever. I'm stuck in this. And I know that there's consequences. And it brings terror to my mind. And I don't know what to do about it. And spend the evenings thinking back, if only I hadn't been there. If only I hadn't have done that, I wouldn't be where I am today. But you know, reliving those moments don't really help. All it does is serve as a source of torment. I'm here because of that. But just as our Bible tells us, death is not the end of our lives. It's a mystery to us. We don't know how to deal with it sometimes. But the Bible tells us that when we die, it's not the end. In fact, the Bible says it's appointed unto men once to die. After that, there is an after that, is the judgment. But He said that you're going to have to come to an understanding that because there is a judgment to come, that Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Everybody is going to live again. But by Jesus Himself said, some are coming to the resurrection of life, and some will rise to the resurrection of damnation. Some are going to rise right, and some are going to rise wrong. In the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, He made the payment for everybody's sins. It's covered. But in the resurrection, there is a deliverance from sin. It's not just a payment. It's just not a scribbling out saying, there it is, it's paid for. But now there is a power to not go back. There is a power to be completely delivered from sin. Brother Michael, you could tell the story that it's not just that He paid for my sins, but He delivered me from my sins. And He can put my life on a path so that I can truly live. And because He lives, you can live also. That's what He said. Because I live. Because I was dead. And I'm alive. And I'm alive forevermore. And on Easter Sunday 2024, He is still alive. The debt that He paid for on Calvary is still sufficient to forgive sins. But the life of Jesus Christ provides deliverance from the life of sin. Somebody will lie to you and say, you can never be delivered if He had stayed in the grave. They're right. But He did not stay in the grave. He rose up victorious over death and hell and the grave and gives power that you can live away, apart, above, without sin. He fixes things. Jesus said, I've come. I've come that you might have life. And not just breath, but that your life can be in a life of abundance. I came to give life and to give life more abundantly. And because Jesus is alive and He came up out of that grave, any life that is overwhelmed, riddled with grievous ungodliness against God and against His Bible, all of your sins can be erased from the record book of Heaven. I'm telling you, every one of them. Go ahead and think about it. Yep, that one too. Yes, yes. Well, what about that? Yes, He can forgive that one too. And not only does He forgive sin, but He gives life. The Bible says if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. That'd be enough if it was just, well, He took away the old things. But He says, behold, I make all things new. Hallelujah. This doesn't just mean that He's instructing us, you've got to live different now. It means that He transforms a life and He does make it new to anyone who will be saved. Now your sin, you can get plenty of worldly counsel out there right now. And the world, many will tell you, you can't do anything about your life. You'll just have to live with it. You'll just have to accept it. It's the way that it is. Somebody's going to say, just embrace the fact. That's who you are. That's who you were born. That's who your father was. Your grandfather. It's just who your generation is. It's your nationality. It's your background. Just embrace it. It's who you are. Some will tell you that you answer only to yourself. Don't worry about anything. Celebrate who you are and your uniqueness and the things that you want. But the Bible says your iniquities, your sins have separated between you and your God. That's the source of all this trouble that we're in. That's why this world is in the condition that it's in. God has wondrously, joyously, miraculously performed a work on your behalf. Brother Austin, would you come to the piano please? And just as death is not the end, because there is a resurrection, neither does sin have to be your ruin. You don't have to carry it anymore. There is forgiveness. Because Jesus rose from the dead, there is opportunity today for anyone and everyone to be saved from sin. Jesus said there in my text, it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name. Would you stand with me? The opportunity exists. There's no plausible denying man's need to be saved from sin. There's really no good argument to be made that we don't need that. God made it possible that we could be saved through the crucifixion and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And today, for any soul in this house that has sin plaguing your life, and it's made a difference, you know it's made a difference. You know that there's lots of situations you wouldn't be in today if it had not been for sin. You know that there's not all of that if it had not been for sin. It's not just something I'm born with. It's not just something that was going to happen no matter what. No, sin is to blame. But there is a Savior who takes away sin. Father, I pray in Jesus' name this afternoon. God, we need You in this house. Lord, You're alive today. To save. You're alive today to listen to the prayers of any who would repent, and You would relieve them of their sins. And I pray, God, that You work on souls right now. We're in need. God, we're in great need today. This world is a mess, and we recognize it. Lives have become broken down and in a mess. And people know no way to get out of the mess. But here You come, offering a way out. I'm praying today that You'll work on hearts. That this altar will be a place that someone can find relief. In the name of Jesus, Amen. It's our practice to give opportunity. If you're lost, it's a place to pray. How do I know I'm lost? If you are not in an active relationship with Jesus Christ Himself. If you've accumulated sin to yourself, and you've not asked Him to take it away, that's lost. That's what you're in bad shape today. Bad shape. That goes for every individual in this house. If you've become separated from God by sin, there's just one answer, and it's Jesus Christ. So I make this invitation today. Would you like to come and get rid of some sin? He won't just come here and say, I'll take that one, and that one, and that one, and you'll have to deal with the rest. No, if you come to Jesus, He'll take it all away. He'll wash it all away. He'll give a brand new life. So a lot of problems will get solved when sin is gone. Is there somebody who'd like to respond to this altar call today? Somebody who'd like to step out and say, well, I thought I was alright, but the Holy Ghost is moving on my heart right now. I'm going to tell you, this preacher doesn't have that power to put conviction. This preacher doesn't have the power to trouble a soul. Only God does that, and He does that for a reason. Because He'd like to revive. He'd like to give life and life more abundantly. So is there anyone? You'd like to come today, pray in this altar. Find the only answer for sin and unrighteousness. You can philosophize. You can reason things out. But only one thing can wash away sin, and it's the blood of Jesus. And He'll apply it if you'll ask Him. And come on now, somebody today. There's a need. A need. I know my need, and I need to take care of it. Don't fall away from the invitation that God makes. Don't let God walk away and say, I tried. I offered. Why go back to a certain mess? Why go back to a great uncertainty? Why go back and continue on with the loss, the dread, the consequences of sin, when God can take care of it right here, right now? Would you like to come today? I can't take your sins away. There's not an individual in this house, no human in this house can take away your sins. But Jesus can. Would you like to respond today? Oh, God. Can I have the church come on in, and let's seek God in prayer. Because He lives, I can praise Him. And when you acknowledge your need. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Jesus doesn't come for condemnation. His church does not exist for condemnation. But to say, to rescue, God's got the answers. Because He lives, God's got the transforming power to save. They called Him Jesus. He came to love me. Heal and forgive. He lived and died. He died to buy my pardon. An empty grave is there to prove my Savior lives. Because He lives, I can praise tomorrow. Because He lives. All fear is gone. Because I know He holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives. And we do hold a newborn baby, and feel the pride and joy it gives. But greater still, the calm assurance this child can face on certain days. Because He lives.