Sermon Notes

"The Resurrection,

What Difference Does it Make?"

By General Pastor Peter F. Paine

April 23^rd, 2017

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Please be seated. It's great to be here today. Thank you for having me. My name's Pete. I'm excited about the worship that I've enjoyed today. How many of you have been blessed already?

I understand we're talking about the resurrection this month. The question that I have for you, today—the title of the message is--”The resurrection, what difference does it make?” And, it's important that we really take a look at that, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ makes a difference. It makes a big difference. We're going to talk about that today, and what difference it makes.

As I was praying for some illustration that I could use for this message, I came across an illustration that I had used once before, and, so, I dismissed it, at first, because I thought, “I won't use that illustration, and, I don't remember exactly when, but, sometime I've used this illustration, but I couldn't get away from it. It seems exactly right, so, here it is again, and I'm going to read it to you:

In his book, “Written In Blood,” Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. And her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the same disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, he was the ideal donor.

"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated, his lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room, Mary, pale and thin, Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met Johnny grinned.

The nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube. When the ordeal was almost over, his voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence, "Doctor, when do I die?" Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he had agreed to donate his blood. He thought by giving his blood, he would be giving up his life.

Let that soak in for a moment. Johnny, fortunately, did not have to die to save his sister's life. Each of us, however, have a condition more serious that Mary's, and it required Jesus to give not just His blood, but to give His life.

Let's talk about the resurrection. The Resurrection, what difference does it make? Well, the prophet Isaiah said that something was going to happen. In the Book of Isaiah chapter nine and verse six, we read these words, and the prophet, of course, is speaking of coming Christ, and he said:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, [Let's just stop there for a minute. And His name shall be called Wonderful. What else?] Counsellor, [What else?] The mighty God, [What else?] The everlasting Father, [And what else?] The Prince of Peace.

Wow. Isaiah is really saying a lot's going to happen. “For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given...” And, through this child, this Son, all these things come in that one package. That's a pretty tall order, isn't it? That's a pretty big thing to say is going to happen in the world. But, we come to Matthew, and we read in chapter one, and we start in verse eighteen, and, we're going to read, if you're keeping notes, we're going to read through twenty-five. And in Matthew one, eighteen through twenty-five, we read these words:

Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: [We're talking about the resurrection, today, and what difference it makes. And, now, you know, I'm talking about the birth of Christ. So, why talk about the birth of Christ? Let's see if we can connect the dots. Let's see if we can connect the dots to how important the resurrection is today.] When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. [Who is the Father of this child? The Holy Ghost] Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. [Why is that? Because Joseph didn't understand that this was a Spiritual thing that had happened. What he did understand was that he was espoused to a woman; he had not been intimate with her, and she's having a child. So, he's drawing the only conclusion a man could draw at that moment: “It's not mine; it's someone else's.” Listen what happened (verse twenty):] But while he thought on these things, [Would you be thinking on those things, men? “What happened?”] behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name [what?] JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, [verse twenty-three] Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: [I'd say Joseph loved the Lord. Amen? I would say Joseph loved the Lord. So, Joseph goes to sleep, thinking, “I don't know how this happened, but I've got to put my wife away. I don't want to make a public example of her, I don't want to embarrass her or her family, but I can't go forward with this marriage.” Anybody understand what Joseph's dilemma was? And then the angel says, “Wait a minute, Joseph, God's doing something here.” Did you ever have God speak to you and say it's not what you think it is? It's not what it looks like. God's got a reason for doing what He's doing the way He's doing what He's doing. Maybe in your minds, you need to be reminded right now, “It's not what it looks like.” Malcolm, you did an incredible job of reminding us, today, and James, you did a great job of reminding us today. We've got to ask. And it's okay to ask, “God, what's going on here, God? What do You want me to do?” Sometimes, in our prayers, we tell God what we want Him to do. I'm here to remind you that, at times, it's important to say, “God, what do You want me to do? What do You want me to do, God?” Amen? “What would You have me to do?” Let's read verse twenty-five, here:] And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Joseph wanted to make absolutely sure, in his mind, and in Mary's mind... He wanted to seal the deal as best he could, and that's how he did it. He knew her not until after she had the child. That means he wasn't intimate with her until after she had her child, this was a child of the Holy Ghost. Joseph was being obedient to God. It was a big deal, what happened. Why did all that happen? Why did God speak through Isaiah? Why was Jesus born? Because we need a Savior. We need a Savior. We need a Savior. Amen? What did verse twenty-one say? “And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall...” what? “...save his people from their sins.”

I had a good Muslim friend. He's passed on, now. He became state representative in this area. We did a lot of civic things in this area. We did a lot of community projects together. And he would say to me, at times, “You know, I don't have a problem with Jesus.” And I would say to him, “Eddie, you should have a problem with Jesus; you're a Muslim. Jesus didn't say He was a prophet; you say He was a prophet. Jesus said He could forgive sins. Jesus said, “No man comes to the Father but by Me.” Jesus said, “I and My Father are One.” Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” Amen? Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place.” Amen? A prophet doesn't say those things. Either Jesus was a liar, or He's God. He's the Son of God, manifested in the flesh, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and He's God's man on Earth. You can't have it both—Jesus wasn't crucified because He said He was a prophet; the rulers of the day could have accepted that. He was crucified because He said He was Lord. Amen? It's a big difference. It's a big deal.

In case you're saying that you don't need a Savior, look at Romans chapter three. In Romans three and twenty-three, we read these words:

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

All have sinned. You've sinned, I've sinned, we've all sinned and come short of the glory of God. No one's going to stand before God and say, “I'm good enough to get to Heaven.” The Bible says that it's once appointed to a man to die. We're talking about the resurrection, today, and what difference it makes. I hope, by the time you leave here, you'll be able to say, “I know exactly what difference the resurrection makes in my life. I know exactly what difference the resurrection makes in my life. I know what difference it makes, and I accept that, and I'm thankful for it, and I embrace it, and I receive it.” Amen? I want to know what difference the resurrection makes. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” We can't earn salvation, but we can receive it. Jim, that's what you said in your testimony, today, about people praying. We can ask. We can ask.

In First Corinthians—this isn't in my notes, I'm just going to talk a little bit. In First Corinthians chapter twelve, Paul had a thorn in his flesh. Paul didn't understand—I'm just going to talk about it, if you're writing notes, you can write verse seven through ten, I think, maybe another verse after that, but seven and following—so Paul the Apostle had a physical ailment, a physical problem. And, for this thing, the Bible says he sought the Lord thrice. Three times he went to the Lord and said, “Remove it.” That's a fair request, isn't it? You've got a physical ailment, it's not wrong to go to the Lord, and say, “Lord, please remove this physical ailment from my body.” That's not wrong. Show of hands: Is it okay, if you have a physical problem, say, “God, please deal with my physical problem.”? There's nothing wrong with that, is there? Paul didn't sin. Paul didn't sin by asking the Lord to deal with it. But, by time three, Paul's at the point where he thought God's not answering his prayer. But God did answer his prayer: No was the answer. He said, “No, I'm not going to heal you. No, I'm not going to heal you, rather, I'm going to teach you a lesson through your infirmity.” And Paul was so thankful for the answer that he got, that he no longer focused on his infirmity being a negative thing, but, rather, saw it as a positive thing. He said, “Therefore, rather, will I glory in my infirmities.” How's that for powerful? “Therefore, rather, will I glory in my infirmities.”

When I was in the Navy, a hundred and twelve years ago, I was stationed in San Diego, and I wanted to go overseas, and, when my orders came in, it was to Great Lakes, Illinois. And I thought, “Lord, anywhere but Great Lakes.” Maybe you've heard the song, “Please Don't Send Me to Africa.” I'm thinking, “Lord, anywhere but Great Lakes.” And I prayed, and God said, “That's where you need to go, son.” I felt that. It wasn't an audible voice, but I felt it. In fact, I was in a position—I was just graduating “A” School when I got those orders, in San Diego. For those of you who aren't military, “A” School, that's usually the first thing you do right after Basic training. It's the schooling for you're rating, and that's where I was at in the Navy. And I finished that, and, because I graduated top of my class, I was—the rule that they had, at that particular time, for that particular group of students was the top two percent of the class get to pick their orders. And, so, I was fortunate, because I thought, “I can go back, and tell them I don't want Great Lakes; I want to go somewhere exciting. I want to go where they have ships.” That's why I joined the Navy. I didn't join the Army; I joined the Navy. I wanted to go sailing, you know, those cruise ships. You've seen them on those commercials, you know, those big white ships with swimming pools on the decks, right? That's what I wanted to do. That's how that works, right? I wrote my dad a letter from Basic Training. I said, “Dad, they're treating us well, here. Tomorrow I'm golfing with the company commander, and the base commander is going to stop by today and check on us. They always cook us breakfast to order, and bring it to our barracks, that's how we're doing it, and, if we're tired, they let us sleep in.” My dad wrote me back, and he said, “Are you sick, son?”

So, back to Apostle Paul and his thorn in the flesh: the Lord said, “My grace is sufficient. I'm not going to answer this prayer the way you want.” You know, when Joseph was met with the dilemma of Mary having a child, he knew it wasn't his, God wasn't going to answer the way that Joseph thought it should be answered. But God had His answer, He said, there's something miraculous taking place, here. Are you willing to accept the fact that, maybe, God has a plan for you that is not what you thought it would be? Are you willing to accept the fact that maybe God's going to speak to you, either from His own quickening of the spirit, or through an angel, as in the case of Joseph, and say, “This is what I need for you to do, daughter,” “This is what I need for you to do, son. This is how I need you to see this.”?

We're talking about what difference the resurrection makes, today, and the resurrection makes all the difference in the world. The resurrection, really, is what makes the gift of salvation possible. We talk about the death, and the burial, and resurrection of Christ, but, imagine if there was the death and burial, but not the resurrection? What if Jesus went to the cross and died, and then He went to the tomb, and there was no resurrection? It would have been incomplete. We're talking about the importance of the resurrection, today; it's essential that He rose.

Go to Matthew twenty-eight, the first eight verses of Matthew twenty-eight, if you would, please, and we're going to see something very powerful, here. This is after the resurrection. I want you to see what happened after Jesus Christ died, was buried, and was resurrected. Then He returned, and for about forty days, He spent time on the Earth, and He spoke to people. Lots of people saw Him. He had lots of interaction. He had to make sure people knew He resurrected. That's why He came back and walked the Earth, so that people could see that He was alive. They knew He had died. They knew He had died. And, you know, this is really important: This was not the first time that someone was raised from the dead; Lazarus was raised from the dead, but he didn't resurrect; he died again, and he stayed dead. Amen? Jesus resurrected. That's the difference, and it's essential to understand the importance of the resurrection. Matthew chapter twenty-eight, verses one through eight, now, we read these words:

Matthew 28:1-9 In the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene [the setting here is after the death and burial; Jesus was in the tomb, and the custom was to come to the tomb and visit it, to pay your respects. Mary Magdalene...] and the other Mary to see the sepulchre [that's the tomb where Jesus was buried]. And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. [Many of you have seen the pictures of what that looks like. I've had the privilege to actually be in Israel, and see a tomb that they say is the spot, but they're not positive, but, at least it's exactly like it would have been, and the stone that we're talking about, that was rolled in front of the door, is a stone that is taller than a man. And, it's rolled by several men, to seal the door, to seal the tomb. And then an earthquake took place and the stone was rolled back. Let's do this: I'll read verse two again:] And, behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen, [That's so powerful: “He is not here: for He is risen...” Our Christian faith couldn't exist if that fact wasn't true. It's really important, today, that we embrace the importance of the resurrection. And I understand you're going to be talking about that all month. And, I hope that what's going to happen this month is that you get a greater appreciation of how important that is to your Christian faith, to your walk, to your daily life, what difference it made that Jesus Christ rose. But, here we see Him after the resurrection. Here we see that He's alive, and well, and walking among us.] as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. [and the angel told them:} And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see him: lo, I have told you. [So, now, Mary and Mary—that's what it said, Mary and the other Mary, right?--so, Mary and Mary are going to tell the disciples the angel said He's risen, right? So, what happens? And we're in verse eight, now:] And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy; [I love that. I love that. I could spend a whole day talking about what it means to live your life in fear and great joy. Fear and great joy. They were afraid, and, yet, at the same time, they had great joy. And I hope you can embrace that, and carry it with you on your journey of life. Put it as a tool in your toolbox, or an arrow in your quiver; whatever works for you. Just say, “It's okay to have those things together. Some of you have been in battles. Some of you have fought for our nation on foreign soil, and you probably know what it is to have fear and great joy. And, when you have the peace of God, you can have them simultaneously. Amen? You can have fear and great joy at the same time.] and did run to bring his disciples word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold,[who met them?] Jesus met them, saying, All hail. And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him.

I love that. They came and held Him by His feet. They knew He was Jesus. They knew He had died. They knew He was buried. And,now they knew He resurrected. Now they knew He was walking among them. And He wouldn't be here, long, on Earth—they didn't know that then—but He was going to make sure that He went and gave the Great Commission. He was going to make sure that He went to those who were going to carry the Gospel message, and birth the New Testament church, and say, “I've risen. And this is what you have to do because I've risen. This is how you have to live because I've risen. This is what changes, because I've risen.” The resurrection changes everything. The fact that we serve a risen Savior makes all the difference.

Jesus was God manifest in the flesh, and, if that sounds new to you, come with me to Timothy, First Timothy, and we read these words:

1 Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh [God was manifest in the flesh. And, if you say, “Well, I thought He was the Son of God?” He was the Son of God, but He was God. It's a mystery. I love the way Paul says it when he was writing to Timothy here, “Great is the mystery of godliness...” You know, can you imagine something that has no beginning, no end? Everything in our life has edges, doesn't it? Everything in our life has boundaries, even if they're not clear to us what they are. We know that there's a beginning and an end to everything that we understand, that we can conceptualize. Even space; you know, you might say, “Well, I don't know where the end is.” But Jesus always was. You read that in Genesis one, and throughout—here it says, “Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh.” I love that truth!], justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

We serve a risen Savior. He's resurrected. He was received up into glory. And Jesus is Lord. And, after the resurrection, we read, in the Gospel of John, where Thomas—sometimes we call him 'doubting Thomas.' This is after Thomas said, “If I could touch You, if I could put my finger in Your hands, and in Your side; if I could have a physical confirmation that You're Jesus, then I'll believe.”

John 20:28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

My Lord and my God. Jesus honored that. We call him doubting Thomas, but, you know what? It's okay to bring our doubts to the Lord. I want to spend a moment, here. It's okay to bring your doubts to the Lord. God doesn't rebuke us because we have doubts. He doesn't rebuke us because we have fear. Mary and Mary had fear and great joy. God doesn't rebuke us because we have fear; He doesn't rebuke us because we have doubts. In fact, in Matthew twenty-eight and nineteen—I'm going to refer back to that in a few moments—they doubted. Jesus dealt with their doubt. Jesus will deal with your doubts, too. We serve a risen Savior; He's available to us. In Revelation we read some powerful words, and I love the fact that God's Word is clear to us about the risen Savior, and, in Revelation chapter one and eighteen, it talks about the fact that He's a live, and He liveth. Jesus speaking now, through John, He said:

Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, [not lived. I am He that what? I am He that liveth. I am He that liveth...] and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

He was dead, but now He's alive. We serve a risen Savior. It makes all the difference in the world. In Acts, chapter four, ten through twelve, we get the confirmation that He's a Savior. Look as we read together:

Acts 4:10-12 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, [This is after the resurrection. This is after the resurrection. He said,] whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

So, after the resurrection, what's the name that we can be saved in? Jesus. He's not just a historical figure, not just someone we read about and can learn from. He's not just a prophet that taught good lessons. There's no other name, under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved. The resurrection matters. And it matters to you today, and it's not just some theological fine print. It makes a difference that you know that Jesus rose from the dead, and He's alive, and He's your Savior.

What difference does the Resurrection make? It's the difference between: Defeat and victory. It's the difference between Hell and Heaven. You know, when you're young, it might be easier to say, “Well, you know, I have a long time. I have a long time.” I heard a story at a funeral once, and it was a very powerful eulogy, and the short version of it is that this guy dies at an early age. He was in his early twenties, and there was a car accident, and went to Heaven, and this is just a story to make a point, obviously, and he goes to Heaven, and the angel says, “You're not supposed to be here, yet. Let me check. Oooh, bad news; you're not even signed up for Heaven.” And the guy says, “Well, wait a minute, if I'm not supposed to be here, can I go back to Earth?” “Let me check.” And he comes back, and he says, “Good news; you're going back to Earth.” “Well, since you're granting requests, can I request that, next time, I get a warning? I didn't see this coming. I didn't expect to die this young.” “Let me check.” And he comes back, and he says, “Yeah, both your requests are granted. Go back to Earth, and I promise you won't get back here to judgment until you've had a warning.” And he says, “Great!” So, he goes back to Earth, and he's living his life, and he doesn't do anything about his relationship with Jesus Christ; he doesn't accept the Lord as Savior, because he knows he's going to get a warning, and that's when he's going to do it, because he understands; he's already been there, and he understands how judgment works. He knows the first time he was there, he got granted a reprieve, his name wasn't there, and he was going to Hell. So, years later, he's back, and it's the same angel. “Oh, let me check. Oh, you are scheduled to be here. This is your day!” And he says, “Well, I've got a problem; I'm not ready.” And the angel says, “You're right, you're not ready. You're going to Hell.” He said, “But, I have to protest, because you said I'd get a warning.” He said, “Do you remember when your left knee gave out, and the doctor said it was arthritis? That was a warning. Remember when that brown hair on your temple started to gray? That was a warning. Remember when your brother died, and he was still young? That was a warning.” And the list goes on and on. You get warnings all the time. Life is short. You're going to die. The Bible says it us appointed to a man once to die, and it's not popular to talk about that in church today, but wouldn't you rather hear it while you've got a chance to do something about it? Wouldn't you rather hear it before you get there and find out it's too late? I want to do what it takes to be ready.

In Romans chapter three and verse ten, we read these words:

Romans 3:10 As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

There is none righteous. You're not good enough to go to Heaven, without a Savior; you can't earn it. You can't earn it. I'm one of the guys, and I suspect that there's many of you in this room. And, for those of you, that, for whatever reason, this isn't your story, my heart is tender towards that. But, I'm one of those guys that, I loved my mom, as far as me thinking of her as a fine person, and, if anybody deserved to go to Heaven, it's my mother. You know? She was just a wonderful human being, and a fine woman, and a great teacher, and all those things that you'd hope a mom would be, and I was blessed to have that. And I'm thankful for that. I didn't have as many years as I would have liked to have, but I did have it in my mother for the years that I did have her in my life. If you said to me, “Your mom's not good enough to go to Heaven,” well, we're going to have to talk about that outside. Does that make sense? I'm just trying to make a point, here, you know. I don't really want to fight anybody, I'm just saying, you know. But, guess what? She's not good enough to go to Heaven. She's not good enough to go to Heaven; she needed a Savior, like you need a Savior. Amen? Amen? And I'm just bold enough to say, “You're not getting to Heaven without a Savior.” I don't care how many priests or popes or rabbis or ministers are in your family, or who you're related to, you're not getting to Heaven without the Savior. It's personal. It's personal.

Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

That's you, that's me, that's all of us.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin [talking about Adam] entered into the world, and [by one man, what else happened in the world, by one man?] death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:

Death, by one man. Well, here's the reality: We get to Grace by One, the One who's the Savior.

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

You know, I thought I was going to be a little louder with this message, but, somehow, it just feels different. I hope this is like a gentle rain for you, today. I hope that you are really revisiting the importance of the resurrection in your life, and how important it is that we tell others about it. How important it is that we share this Good News with others, that we have a Savior, and that the death on the cross isn't the end of the story of Christ. Amen?

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Do you want to go to Heaven or Hell? Do you want to go to Heaven or Hell? Is that a plain enough question? Do you know that you get to make a choice? Do you know that you, literally, get to make that choice? And, by the way, if you choose Heaven, you can't earn it; you have to accept it. Amen? It's a free gift. Now, do we have to do anything to accept it? Well, the Bible says you have to believe. The Bible says you have to repent. Those who believed and repented were commanded to be baptized. Do we have to do anything to accept it? I think we do, but we can't earn it. It's still a free gift. Amen? It's still a free gift. The wages of sin are death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Romans ten and nine says we should confess and believe. Have you confessed Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

What importance is the resurrection? It's part of your accepting of Him as Savior. I'm going to read that again:

Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

According to this verse, we can't even be saved unless we embrace the resurrection. Is the resurrection important? Does it matter? Amen! Jesus wouldn't be our Savior without the resurrection. But He is our Savior. In Romans, chapter six, I'm going to read the first eleven verses:

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

And, in this passage, the writer is talking about the fact that Grace is available to us. Grace is available to us. We get forgiveness, even when we sin. And, after we're saved, even when we slip and fall and make a mistake, we have Grace available to us. So, here's the challenge to us, as Christians: those of you who have accepted Jesus Christ, and you realize you're not living the life you're supposed to, you realize you're not doing everything you're supposed to do to express your love for the Lord to the Lord, and express His love to others, amen? When I was in the Navy—and that's when I gave my heart and life to Christ. I was a single man, I was living in the barracks, I had a roommate, and, at that time, we had a two-man room, and, so I just had one roommate, and I was a brand-new Christian. And I didn't know the Bible; I didn't grow up reading or studying the Bible, but, in the Bible study the night before, there was one verse that I remembered. It was Matthew chapter five and verse sixteen, and that verse says:

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Which is a commission to all of us that are Christians, that we're supposed to do something, right? So, I was going back to the barracks after the Bible study, and feeling excited, and I thought, “Okay, God, how can I let my light shine?” And, so, I thought, “Well, I know what I'll do. When I get to the room, I'll share this with my roommate.” And, so, he had commented that—I had just been a Christian a few days, and he had commented that he had seen a real difference in my life, and in just a few days. So I was pretty excited, and I knew he was going to be open-minded to accepting this, so I said to him, “Hey, Kevin, good news! The Bible says that Jesus said, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' What do you think of that?” And he said, “Okay.” I said, “Do you want to get saved?” He said, “Okay.” And I said, “Let's pray, and accept Jesus.” That was a great Bible study. And, I knew I was destined to be a pastor, you know,because, how many people can share a one Scripture Bible study and someone get saved? But, the truth is, he was looking. He was looking for the Lord. All I had to do was be one willing to let my light shine. As clumsy as that Bible study was, as silly as it was—because I didn't share any Scriptures about salvation—but, basically, what I did was, I said, “Do you want to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” He was attracted to what had changed in my life, because, like I said, we were roommates, so he saw me before and after. He saw the change taking place, and, he told me later, as we continued to grow in the Lord together, he said, “You know, it was really just your testimony, and the change in your life, the things you used to talk about, that you didn't talk about any more, the things you used to want to do, and you didn't want to do them any more, and the friends that you said, 'Hey, you know what, I don't think we should be friends anymore,' and the music you used to listen to, that you didn't listen to anymore, the pictures that you took out of your locker...” I don't have to give you too much detail, do I? I was in the Navy, and I became a Christian, and I was a different person. I was a whole different person. I went home on leave, and my dad said, “What happened to you?” And it wasn't a pleasant, “What happened to you?”, either. He thought I turned in my man-card. I said, “I'm a Christian, dad.” He said, “Oh, no.” It was many years before he became thankful to know that. Many years. I remember that, I remember the first few times he came to church with me, it was many, many years after I became a Christian, and I said, “What did you think of it, dad?” And he said, “Well, it went a little long.” Maybe you're thinking that right now. But, he began to understand that there's a difference. He began to understand that talking about Jesus is not a thing for sissies, it's a thing for women and men who are willing to stand up tall and let their light so shine before men. Amen? I'm not preaching loud, today, but I hope you're hearing form the Lord, today. I hope you're hearing from the Lord, today, that there's a Savior, and the resurrection matters.

I'm going to close with this: When Jesus walked on the Earth, He did many things before He ultimately left to go and prepare that place for us. I'm looking forward to one day being there. But, until then, I want to do everything God that has for me to do. Amen? I'm going to love God, and do my best to serve Him. In Romans six—I don't think I finished that. I want to spend a little more time, so let's go back to Romans six. I think I just read verse one, but I want to read a little further down, so bear with me.

Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? [if you already know Jesus Christ, don't continue in sin that Grace may abound.] God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? [Wait a minute; if it ended there, we'd have a problem, wouldn't we? But it doesn't end there. “...baptized into His death...”] Therefore we are buried with him by baptism [So, when you get 'buried,' you go under the water, and that's the burial; that's where you identify with the burial of Christ. You go under the water, and you get buried. And then he says:] into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Your baptism wouldn't matter without the resurrection, because then they would just put you under the water and hold you there. I don't want to sign up for that baptism, how about you? No, I like the resurrection baptism, where they lift me up! Amen? Amen? Do you understand how important the resurrection is to baptism? If it weren't for the resurrection, baptism wouldn't be part of God's plan for us to identify with His death, burial, and resurrection. Amen? By the way, baptism did not identify with the death, burial and resurrection, until after the resurrection. That's an important thing to understand. Baptism took place prior to the resurrection, prior to the death, but it wasn't for salvation, because there was no resurrection. What difference does the resurrection make? That's the difference the resurrection makes. It makes all the difference in the world. For those of us who are Christians, our job is to carry out the Great Commission that Christ gave in Matthew twenty-eight nineteen. He said: “Go ye forth and teach all nations...” That's a pretty big commission, isn't it? How many people were there when He gave those words? How many disciples were there when, in verse nineteen, when He said, “Go ye forth and teach all nations...”? Eleven. Can you imagine being there with ten other guys and being told, “Go ye forth and teach all nations...”? Like, are you kidding me? All nations?

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, [doing what?] baptizing them [and doing what?] in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

We're supposed to do that. We're supposed to do that. We're supposed to be out, and about our Father's business. You don't serve God because you're going to earn salvation, you serve God because you love Him. My wife and I have been married forty-one years in June. It will be forty-two years, this coming June, since we're closer to the next June than the last one. It'll be forty-two years in June. You know what? I'm not faithful to my wife because I have to be. I'm faithful to my wife because I want to be. I'm faithful to my wife because I want to be. Does that make sense? Let me ask you this: Do I have to be faithful to my wife? I would have said, “Yes,” because I stood there in the altar, in the church, and I said, “For richer, for poorer, forsaking all others until death us do part?” and I said, “I do.” So, if I'm going to keep my word, I have to. Right? Now, I have free will; I could choose not to. But, you know what? The real reason I'm faithful to her is because I want to. Does that make sense? Does that make sense? The real reason we serve God is, not because we have to, but we want to. And I understand—I didn't mean to set anyone up with a trick question—I understand if you say I didn't have to be faithful, because I've got free will. But, is it the right thing for me to be faithful? Of course. And, so, that's what I really should have asked: Is it right for me to be faithful? Of course. Because, that's the covenant I entered into, right? That's what I promised to her. And, so, being faithful doesn't make me a hero. There's a guy in the news, and he found a bag of money that fell off a truck. Sloppy work on the Brink's truck drivers, but they somehow let a bag of money fall off the truck, after stopping at a bank. And he found it, and he returned it. And, because of the documentation on the bag, they knew exactly where it came from, and exactly where it went. And he was being interviewed on the news, and somebody wanted to call him a hero, and he said, “Wait a minute, wait a minute: I found something that didn't belong to me, and, because of the label on the bag, I knew who it belonged to, and I returned it. If you call me a hero, we're in trouble, as a country.” If you find something that's not yours, and you know who's it is, returning it doesn't make you a hero, it makes you alive. That's what you're supposed to do. And, as Christians,we're supposed to serve the Lord, we're supposed to love the Lord, we're supposed to let our light so shine. Amen? And I'm fine with telling you that you're supposed to do that, but don't do it because you think you're going to earn salvation by it do it because you love the Lord. Amen? Do it because you love the Lord. Do it because it's the right thing to do. Amen? And, so, we should live out the Great Commission.

If you're here, today, and you've never accepted the Lord Jesus Christ, well, I was nineteen when I accepted the Lord; I'm sixty-three now. The one question I had when I got saved, at age nineteen, when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, was, “Is this excitement going to last?” I can tell you, I'm more excited today, I really am, I'm more excited today than I was when I started. I'm more thankful today than I was when I started. It's okay to give the Lord a praise. I'm very thankful to be saved. Are you glad to be saved?

As I get ready to close, today, I'm not asking you to join a church, I'm asking to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. If you haven't, then do it today. Say, “Yes, Lord, I want to accept You as my Lord and Savior.” Andy, or Parrish, or myself, or whoever invited you, we'd be glad to pray with you. And there's more Scriptures that we should talk about, about salvation, but it starts with that acceptance. It starts with saying, “Yes, Lord, I want You to be the King of my life. I want to take myself off the throne, and put You on the throne. I want to live for You. I want to enter into that covenant relationship. I want to end up in Heaven, not Hell. Amen? The reason I talked about my age, and how many years ago I got saved, is because I wanted you to know that I never quit being thankful for salvation. It's not just because I want to go to Heaven, although I do, I clearly do, I clearly want to end up in Heaven; it's because I love the Lord, and the reason I love the Lord is because He first loved me. That's why I love the Lord.

So, in this quiet message, today, I hope you had a healthy reminder of how important the resurrection is. It makes all the difference in the world. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we wouldn't be able to grafted in, as Gentiles. We wouldn't be able to have the promise and the confirmation that, as we sang about, today, we're going to Heaven. I love that. Amen? Between now and Heaven, let's live the best life we can live for the Lord Jesus Christ, because, others are depending on it. I love you very much.

I promised Parrish and Andy I would talk a little bit about what has happened recently. Some of you have received word that I have been in the hospital, and I had a cardiac event. And I did. So, for the last several months, I have been feeling weak, and tired, and ill, and I'm just sharing this with the church family so that you hear it from me. And, I would lose my breath, and I would lose my strength, and I would lose the color in my face, and I would get what my wife described as gray and ashy, and, then, a few weeks ago—I believe it was three weeks ago, today—it was three weeks ago, today, I was in church, and I had sever chest pains, and my jaw, and arm, you know, classic signs of a heart attack, and, so, after church, I was going to go home and lay down, and Debbie decided I was going to the emergency room—that's my wife—and, so, we went to the emergency room.. They did some tests. They kept me there. On Monday they did a stress test, a nuclear stress test. They said I had blockage in my heart. On Tuesday, they did another test, and I've forgotten the exact words, but, it was the treadmill stress test, with the dye; contrast—is that the word? Contrast?—and they said, “You have a blockage.” Wednesday they did an electrocardiogram. These tests get increasingly—as I understand it, as a layperson, these tests get increasingly revealing, so, three tests, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, three tests, and each one says, yeah, you've got a blockage in your heart. So, on day four, they did a catheterization, where they put a scope in your heart, and they talked to me before the procedure. They said, “We know you have a blockage; that's confirmed. What we don't know is where, how many chambers, if you've got bad valves, so, what we're telling you is, since we're going into your heart, we're going to ask your permission to fix whatever we find; because we'll already be there.” I said, “Yeah, please. I mean, thanks for asking, but, yeah.” And, so, they planned several hours, because they were going to fix whatever—whether that was bypass surgery, or stint, or whatever, and, so, there's a big preparation for this, because they're going to—the intent was to do heart surgery. Only, for those of you who are familiar with this, you're in a semi-awake state; there's no pain, they give you some kind of good drugs—pastor said good drugs. Yeah, they give you something so that you're able to be awake but you don't feel any pain. So, I was given a chance to watch the monitor and hear their conversations. And, so, they were probing around in my heart, and they said, “Yeah, that looks good. That looks good. Whoa! Check that out; that's really good! That looks great. Maybe his blockage is over here.” And they kept looking, and finally they said, “Everything's great. How old are you?” And I said, “Sixty-three.” “Doesn't look like it.” And they're checking my heart, and they said, “There's no blockage.” Now, here's why I believe God actually healed my heart, and it wasn't just, well, coincidence, because I feel so much better. And, what I was feeling prior to going in the hospital I've not felt since I left the hospital. So, here's what I think happened: I think God said to me—and, bear with me, I'm just sharing this with you. For those of you who are visitors, I wouldn't do this, except this is my church family, and I don't live here. I have responsibility for our churches around the country, and around the world, and, I'm visiting here, today, and, I'm just sort of updating the church family about this recent health issue. So, I apologize for that, for those of you who are visiting.. I wanted you to hear it from me. And, so, here's what I think happened, I think God said to me, “Pete, you've become lazy. You've let yourself become way overweight. You're not taking care of yourself, and I've got a lot more for you to do.” And, so, I'm on a path; I'm losing seventy pounds. I've lost twelve; eating right and exercising. The doctor suggested that I take a month off and de-stress. He asked about my lifestyle and my responsibilities. He asked if I could take a month off; I said, “I think I can. I talked to the church board, and they said, “Take a month. Take whatever you need.” And, so, I took a leisurely trip up here. I took four days to get here from Virginia. Some of you know I like to ride a motorcycle; I came up on my Harley, and, I'm going leave here, I'm going to take a leisurely trip; I've got to go to a leadership conference in Minneapolis. I'm going to be speaking there, twice. And, then, I'm going to leave there, I'm taking a leisurely trip to our fellowship in San Diego; I'll take a leisurely ride on the motorcycle out to San Diego, and, after San Diego, I'll take a leisurely ride and visit our fellowship in Jacksonville, Florida. That should take close to a month. I'm really excited about it. Thank you for your prayers. It sounds like a vacation, I suppose; yeah, maybe it is. But, there's no place I'd rather be than with my church family. So, if I have to take some time off, and I get to go somewhere, here's where I want to be. And, so, I thank you, and I love you.

And, I feel totally different. I feel totally different than before I went in the hospital, so I know God's working a miracle. I love you all very much. I'm thankful for being here with you. Thank you for having me. Debbie asked me to say hello. Last time we were here, we were here together, and she asked me to greet you. I also bring greetings from the mother of our ministry, Sister Davis. I wish I could tell you how much I love you, and how thankful I am to be your general pastor. It means the world to me.

And, again, not in the way of apology, but, those of you who know me, know that I usually preach with more forceful, maybe evangelistic tone in my voice, or cadence, but, I really hope that today's message was a blessing for you as it was for me, sharing how powerful the resurrection is. How personal the resurrection is. How available the resurrection is to each of us. Thank you.

                           Sermon notes by Pete Shepherd