Resurrection Power
Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 50:33
0 ratings
· 369 viewsFiles
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Announcements:
Teachers Needed: Especially men. We have people missing every 3rd sermon to teach.
MOM Group: First Tuesday of Month, Next Session May 7 (9:30 - 11:00 am)
Kid's AWANA: Done for the summer
Bible Study: Mondays (6:30-7:30 pm)
Month of May: Preaching through Prayer and Baptism. More info to come...
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Welcome (Our Mission - Abide in the faith, love, and truth of Jesus Christ, proclaiming Him and all that He is to a lost and dying world…)
Now - there’s only 1 person mentioned in that Mission statement by name...
…and it’s Jesus Christ.
See Christianity is about the PERSON and WORK of Jesus Christ...
And part of His WORK is something that is celebrated today...
If you’re not aware…Easter is the day that we celebrate the - Resurrection of Jesus Christ - from the dead.
And today - we’re going to not only look back - but we also want to LOOK AHEAD...
Literally = for us - today - to LOOK AHEAD...
…and see what the RESURRECTION has done for those who believe...
And so let’s start by looking back.
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,
45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.
46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.
If Easter Sunday is known as Resurrection Sunday, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, then by implication, Christ would had to have died...
And that’s precisely what He did...
From the OT through to the NT we see countless prophecies - pointing to the death of Jesus Christ...
Of the best-known prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures concerning the death of Christ would be
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53
Let’s look at Psalm 22
16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—
Clearly pointing to the pierced hands and feet of the crucified Christ...
but it continues
17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me;
Christ’s bones were not broken…this is big because usually in a crucifixion, they would break the legs to speed up the death...
But it keeps going...
18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
This is exactly what happened at the crucifixion of Christ…His garments were divided amongst themselves by casting lots...
Now - consider this - THESE words in Psalms were written 1000 years before the crucifixion of Christ...
The other OT prophecy we’ll look at is Isaiah 53…and these words - WRITTEN 700 years before Christ...
3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Here we see these words speaking of man’s REJECTION of the Messiah Jesus Christ...
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
6 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.
Here we see a prophecy of Christ taking UPON HIMSELF - our SINS...
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
Here we read of Christ remaining silent before his accusers…And this is exactly what happened 700 years later...
9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Christ ends up being buried in a rich man’s tomb...
ALL of these things - WRITTEN 700 years prior...
ALL of it - culminating in the DEATH of Christ...
the SIN of the world - placed on Jesus Christ....the wrath of God poured out on Christ…FOR YOU
He DIED
but if it just ended there - then WHAT?
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.
If Christ never rose from the dead - God’s WRATH would remain on us…!
Our belief - AS Christians - WOULD BE IN VAIN!
And so we come today....Rejoicing that this actually happened - in history...
What am I speaking of?
1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
They come to the TOMB…looking to GAZE upon the DEAD body of Jesus Christ...
And yet - the tomb was empty...
“Why do you look for the living among the DEAD?”
“He is not here - He is Risen!”
And then Christ appears to His disciples…and says this:
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
Now think about LIVING this out...
When Christ went to the cross…think of ALL the doubts that would have begun to RISE UP in Christ’s followers!
FOR ALL of the miracles…all of the healings that Christ performed…!
ALL the good that He did....
AND NOW - He’s hanging on a CROSS???!
No DOUBT - the disciples HAD to believe that THEY WERE NEXT!
Right? It was just a MATTER OF TIME!
But then EVERYTHING - changed!
HE Rose!
Which means - Death was - conquered!
And things began to start to become LESS foggy....
What I want to do today - is UNDERSTAND the ministry of Jesus Christ - in relation to His resurrection!
I want us to SEE more clearly - how the Ministry of Christ impacts us today…DUE to the resurrection!
So WHAT did the Resurrection accomplish?
It PROVED that Christ’s sacrifice was SUFFICIENT!
If Jesus would have STAYED dead - it would have demonstrated that He was a SINNER...
Why?
Because DEATH has RIGHTFUL CLAIM - ONLY over sinners!
SLIDE:
Death has rightful claim over sinners
But by Him rising from the dead - DEFEATING death...
It proved that He was - PERFECTLY RIGHTEOUS…(that He was NOT a sinner) and that death COULD NOT hold Him!
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held - by it (death)
SO - Jesus Christ was RAISED - to NEW LIFE!
And this is a - REFLECTION of what happens to us - THROUGH FAITH ALONE in Christ ALONE!
4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
NOW - it’s this NEWNESS of Life that I want to focus on today!
I want us to UNDERSTAND - what this NEWNESS of life ENTAILS…!
I don’t think we understand!
Let’s start this with a question:
Did you know that as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power to raise the dead?
Jesus actually gives us a glimpse of this during His earthly ministry...
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Do you see?
You might be thinking to yourself - OK, that’s a story of Jesus RAISING the DEAD…!
But MIKE - YOU just said that WE have the power to RAISE the dead??
We MUST understand!
What we see here - in this story - is a PHYSICAL demonstration - of the Spiritual POWER we have in us - TODAY!!!
See - The Physical Miracles of Christ - REFLECTED the power we would have - POST RESURRECTION!!
And so - Understand this!
SLIDE: Raising the Dead: His Power; Our Power
Raising the Dead
Raising the Dead
We must KNOW THIS - as Christians!!
Lazarus - in this story - was DEAD in the tomb...
How dead was he?
Well - it says 4 days dead, but are there LEVELS of dead?
NO - you’re either DEAD or ALIVE
And it’s no different - when it comes to Spiritual Life...
The Bible teaches that you are either Spiritually DEAD or - Spiritually ALIVE
The Bible says - apart from FAITH in Christ - we’re Spiritually DEAD...
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
The Bible teaches us that APART from FAITH in Christ - we are spiritually DEAD…!
And so - let this HIT HOME...
Think of your family members that you know - that DO NOT trust in Jesus Christ!
Think of your friends that do NOT trust in Christ...
Your coworkers...
neighbors...
They are - Spiritually Dead… and eternal destruction awaits...
THEREFORE - KNOW THIS...
CHRISTIAN…you have the power to RAISE the DEAD!!
HOW?
Listen - they need to BE SAVED…!
13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Ok, they need to CALL on Jesus...
But how does that happen?
We need to keep reading....
14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
v17
17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Faith COMES by HEARING the WORD of Christ...
THEREFORE...
Our proclamation of the Gospel is EQUIVALENT to Jesus Christ standing outside of Lazarus’ tomb…(REPEAT)
saying what? - Come forth!
And the dead man - rose from the dead - and came forth - TO JESUS
That’s why Jesus said this...
15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.
Because WHEN we do -
Spiritually DEAD people - are - RAISED TO LIFE!!
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
We preach - to SAVE those who believe!
They go from DEATH - to LIFE...
We literally RAISE people from the dead when they BELIEVE in Christ due to our witnessing to them!!
And so when we LOOk at the miracle of Christ raising Lazarus from the dead...
It was a direct reflection (Physically) , of the power that we would have (Spiritually)....post resurrection!
But that’s not all!
Where Christ’s miracle of RAISING the dead was a reflection of Spiritual Salvation… (going from DEATH to LIFE)
Could it be that His HEALING miracles point to Sanctification?!*
Where in scripture we had DEAD people - COMING to LIFE… (salvation)
We also see people who are alive - yet they NEED healing - and so they receive HEALING (sanctification?)
Listen - if this isn’t what they’re MEANT to do - the concept is still RELEVANT and true!
And SO…another question
SLIDE:
Did you know that as a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the power to give sight to the blind?
Who remembers this story in the Bible?
1 As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.
4 We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
6 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud
7 and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
Remember this?
Jesus heals the man BORN blind - by giving him SIGHT!
He was BLIND…but after meeting with Jesus - He could SEE!
Now - you may be thinking - what does that have to do with my Sanctification??
JUST LIKE the RAISING of Lazarus from the DEAD - What we see here - in this story - is a PHYSICAL demonstration - of the Spiritual POWER we have in us - TODAY!!!
SLIDE: Giving Sight to the Blind: His Power; Our Power
Giving Sight to the Blind
Giving Sight to the Blind
This world is FULL of BLIND people...
UNABLE to see Jesus Christ for who He is!
Right - We know this!
We know that the BIBLE often refers to the LOST (unbeliever) as - BLIND
3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.
4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
The unbeliever in Scripture is OFTEN referred to as one who is - BLIND
Physically blind?
NO - Spiritually blind!
They are UNABLE to discern spiritual things...
And so JUST LIKE CHRIST - when he walked up to that BLIND man and wiped that mud over his eyes - RESTORING his sight...
We TOO - have that same power....SPIRITUALLY!
When we PROCLAIM the gospel to BLIND people...
the GOSPEL is - what?
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
When we PROCLAIM the gospel to lost people - and they BELIEVE...
Their eyes are AWAKENED to the truth of God - they FINALLY SEE Christ for who He is!
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.
39 Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
The Lord opens the eyes of the BLIND - through our proclamation of His truth!
16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
We must KNOW what the resurrection has done for us...
It has GIVEN us the power to GIVE SIGHT to the BLIND...
Our example in Scripture is Christ...
His physical demonstration reflects our Spiritual demonstrations…!
SO YES - going from Blindness to Sight - CAN refer to salvation...
BUT - EVEN as Christians - there will be times that we get stuck in a BLIND SPOT!!
Right?
Even as believers - we struggle with SEEING Christ clearly!!
this is a part of Sanctification....
AND SO - we’re called as Christians to HELP EACH OTHER...
13 But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
HELP each other! This is saying!!
the Christian life is a life of “LAYING YOUR LIFE DOWN”...
THAT can take a toll...
THIS WORLD is constantly screaming at us to - LOOK OVER HERE!!!!
THAT can cause a blindness…And so we NEED each other!!
We need to continuously help each other SEE Jesus....
And YET - it’s not just - BLINDNESS that we struggle with as Christians!
Remember this story?
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
We looked at this story a couple months ago...
Remember - this man had been an invalid - FOR 38 YEARS!
And so for Christ - He took a man who was - Physically weak - and He made him - Physically strong!
SO - make the connection!
If Physical Blindness - Restored ...
…equated to - Spiritual Blindness - Removed!...
Then THAT MEANS - that we - As Christians...
Post-Resurrection - have the power to take the Spiritually WEAK - and make them Spiritually STRONG!
So -
SLIDE: Healing the Lame: His Power; Our Power
Healing the Lame
Healing the Lame
Question:
Did you know, Christian, that you have the power to heal the lame?
to heal the Spiritually WEAK?
What does Spiritual WEAKNESS look like in the Christian life?
Pride
Zeal without knowledge (Peter comes to mind)
A Pursuit of the World
And again, we COMBAT these things - TOGETHER!
In His WORD together...
Growing together!...
For the sake of EACH OTHER and the sake of the GOSPEL!
When we look back at the Healings of Christ that entailed the LAME…the sick
It could easily represent a LOST person coming to Faith...
It does...
But it could also represent a Christian who is struggling in their WALK of Faith...
Anyone ever struggle in their WALK
As Christians:
We struggle sometimes with:
Hearing God in His word!
Even Speaking to God in Prayer....
We struggle, but KNOW that Christ healed the man who was DEAF and a MUTE…*(sometimes we…)
So when we struggle with HEARING God…and Speaking to God...
We must LOOK back and KNOW that Christ healed the man who was Deaf and a Mute...
We too have this power - to Spiritually heal
We can help heal others, and be healed as well...
Falling away and not using our gifts and abilities for the Lord…instead using them for other things...
We struggle, but we also KNOW that Christ restored the withered hand...
There are times we get sucked into what the world is offering us...
AND we begin devoting ourselves (hands and feet) to pursuing the world...
AND WHEN WE DO THAT - our hands become Spiritually WITHERED (we need help)
SO WHEN WE DO STRUGGLE with this - we must KNOW and find HOPE in the fact that Jesus healed...
the man with the WITHERED hand!
We too have this power - to Spiritually Heal!
And sometimes our issue isn’t seen by others, but is on the inside…a hidden sin
We struggle, but we also know that Christ healed the woman with the issue of the blood.
And sometimes we struggle mightily even believing that God saved us!
How could He have saved ME??!!
I’m a horrible person!
And we feel like such an OUTSIDER - when it comes to being a Child of God...
We struggle, but we KNOW that Christ healed the woman from Canaan...
…seemingly - an OUTSIDER - not worthy of RECEIVING BLESSING...
And yet - He healed her...
there’s HOPE in this for us...
And for those around us...
We TOO have the power to HEAL those who feel on the OUTSIDE...
SOMETIMES we struggle as Christians - with FEAR...
We FEAR that we don’t KNOW ENOUGH to be able to be used by God
We FEAR what others will do to us if we spoke for Christ...
SO FEARFUL - that DON’T DO ANYTHING…for Christ...
Spiritually - FROZEN
We struggle with this, and yet we KNOW that Christ healed the paralyzed man...
Jesus RESTORED the strength in him to - MOVE
There’s hope for us - in our FEAR...
AND
We too have the power to HEAL the paralyzed in this world…the Spiritually paralyzed!
We could go on and on...
When we look at the earthly ministry of Christ...
and we look at His miracles...
We must know....
SLIDE:
The miracles of Christ were physical demonstrations of the Spiritual power that we now have, as believers, post resurrection.
As the song says:
He made the lame walk and the dumb talk
And He opened blinded eyes to see
That the sun rises on His time
Yet He knows our deepest desperate need
And the world waits while His heart aches
To realize the dream
I wonder what life would be like
If we let Jesus live through you and me
SUMMARY:
Raising the Dead
Giving Sight to the Blind
Healing the Lame
And so - we came in today expecting to hear a story about a man who rose from the dead...
We heard that...
But we also heard WHAT THAT EVENT (resurrection) does for us today...
May we leave here BELIEVING it...
Let’s Pray