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The Resurrection Story | Part 1 · Sermon Podcast at Cartersville1st

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If you have your Bible and make your way to Isaiah chapter 52,
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Isaiah 52, we break from our series answering the call of God
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out of the book of Genesis for a couple weeks as we walk through
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Palm Sunday leading up to Easter Sunday.
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And I think that'll become clear why we're turning to Isaiah 52
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and 53 in a moment. I want to ask you this question.
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What if I would have only shown you the last few seconds of the
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race? Would you have celebrated the
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win seeing the last few seconds of the race in the same way you
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celebrated the last few seconds of the race after seeing the
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whole race? Of course you could celebrate
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someone winning by a fraction of a second.
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That's wonderful, right? But no doubt there's no way
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you'd celebrate the win in the same way you'd celebrate that
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win unless you knew the full story.
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Unless you knew that she actually would fall flat on her
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face before getting back up and experiencing victory.
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That changes everything. I don't I don't know about you,
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but I know for me, often times we walk into we come up to we
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lead into Easter Sunday and often times it can feel like
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that Sunday comes and we celebrate the last few seconds
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of the race without realizing and walking through all that led
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up to the days prior to that day.
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What Jesus experienced then the story of this week leading up to
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Easter Sunday that would allow us to see the full picture and
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celebrate the last few seconds. If you have the highlight of the
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resurrection in a that we would not celebrate unless we had kept
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in mind and walked the path that Jesus walked leading up to that
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day, that he walked out of the grave alive.
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So often we celebrate that as we rightly should.
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But I want us through Isaiah 52 and 53 to walk, if you will,
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hundreds written hundreds of years before Jesus would walk as
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was prophesied here. We're going to see things
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perhaps from a different perspective.
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They're going to allow us to see the whole race.
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Today is Palm Sunday. This is the day that we mark in
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history that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey,
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fulfilling the prophecy out of Zechariah. 9/9 This is, behold,
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your king is coming to you, humble and righteous.
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Is he riding on a donkey as he rode in, just like our
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preschoolers demonstrated this morning, The people waved palm
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branches. Those are symbols of victory.
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They're symbols of triumph. They're symbols of peace.
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And as they wave these symbols of victory and of triumph, of
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peace, they cried out, Hosanna, save us, we pray.
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This was the day that set into motion the events that would
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culminate in the cross, this moment when Jesus rides into the
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capital city, hailed as the Messiah, worshipped and called
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out to in prayer, save us, we pray.
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From which this day when it started and this act occurred,
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there was no turning back. He would have, he would have
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either have to overthrow Rome as king or he was going to die on a
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criminal's cross. And this day we mark in history
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leading up to the events of the last week, often referred to as
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Holy Week, that will lead up to the day when Jesus will go to
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the cross for you and for me. Of course, we can read the story
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of the resurrection as historical fact in the New
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Testament, primarily in the four books, the four gospels that
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tell the story of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
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But what's also fascinating and when you might not realize and
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how remarkable it is, is you can also read the story of the life,
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death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.
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An incredible down to minute details as it was prophesied and
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written over 700 years before Jesus ever took on human flesh
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and lived out exactly what Isaiah said would happen.
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And Isaiah 52 and Isaiah 53. It's one of the most majestic,
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all inspiring, magnificent passages in all the Bible.
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I've actually wanted to preach this text for quite a while.
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I just felt like I needed the right occasion to do it.
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And certainly Palm Sunday and leading up to Easter Sunday is
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that it's from from here that I want us to see the story of the
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resurrection from the Old Testament this Palm Sunday and
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Easter Sunday, this text if you need some orientation.
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All right, I don't have time to do much of that, but let me just
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tell you this, It is all about Jesus.
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This text captures and communicates the heart of our
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faith, the gospel. This text will take us to
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Calvary where Jesus died. It will take us there.
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It will take us to the grave, to the tomb.
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It will take us to the resurrection.
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This chapter of all chapters in the Old Testament, this one,
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Isaiah 53 in the end of 52, is either alluded to or quoted more
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in the New Testament than any other Old Testament text.
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You need to know this text, the next of your Bible, as
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magnificent as it is. We're going to walk through it
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in two parts, just a small portion today and a greater part
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next week on Easter Sunday. Because like a good storyteller,
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Isaiah, before he tells us the whole story, is going to tell us
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the story in part or in miniature at the end of chapter
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52 before we see the whole or the rest of the story.
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And Isaiah 53 next week. So listen to the word of God,
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Isaiah 52 beginning and verse verse 13.
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Behold, Isaiah writes, my servant, that's Jesus shall act
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wisely. He shall be high and lifted up.
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He shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you.
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His appearance was so marred beyond human semblance, and is
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formed beyond that of the children of mankind, so shall He
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sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths
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because of Him. For that which has not been told
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them they see, and that which they have not heard they
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understand. Father, I pray that you would
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open our eyes to behold wonderful things from Your word.
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God give us a clear picture of Jesus and what he's done for us,
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perhaps like we've never seen it before.
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Father, I pray that if anyone is here and never heard and
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believed and received the good news of the gospel, today would
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be the day I pray in Jesus name and all God's people said the
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first thing in your notes there, if you're following along, is
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this the resurrection story is the greatest success story in
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all of history. It is this story is the greatest
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success story in all of history. You can say it like this.
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Isaiah begins with spoiler alert like over 700 years before it
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happens. Spoiler alert verse 13.
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God says riot at the gate before he says anything else about
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what's going to happen, how it's going to go, go down.
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He says, behold, my servant God the Father says through Isaiah
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shall act wisely. You say, Kyle, I don't really
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know what that's spoiling. What is that saying?
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What that means is when it says he shall act wisely, it means he
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shall prosper. This means Jesus will be
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successful. The servant here is none other
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than the Messiah. That's just a word that means
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anointed 1 And this servant here often referred to as the
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suffering servant in Isaiah 53, is the one promised as an
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offspring of Abram. That we've been walking through
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the 1st beginning book of the Bible where God said He was
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going to unfold His plan of salvation by sending one an
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offspring of Abram. That would be a blessing to how
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many families of the earth. So all the families of the
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earth, including yours and including mine.
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Hallelujah, This is him. If you want to go back even
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further, this is the new and better Adam.
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The first Adam kind of messed up.
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Amen. Right fell flat on his face in
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his race. The curse of sin entered all
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creation but God had said guess what, the promise goes all the
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way back to the end. Genesis 315 One of that would be
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a seed of the woman is going to come and it's going to win.
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It's going to crush the head of the serpent.
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This is the new and better Adam. This is humanity.
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Ladies and gentlemen, 2 point O who came this time to get it
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right so that he could get it right for you and get it right
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for me. This is Jesus, this is the one
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that was prophesied that would be the better prophet than
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Moses. Moses LED to physical freedom
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out of Egypt. This prophet and priest and king
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is going to lead to spiritual freedom out of the bondage to
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sin. Do you see who this is?
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This is Jesus, this is the Christ, this is the promised
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One, this is the Anointed 1 and it says he shall act wisely.
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That is, He shall prosper. He's going to be successful.
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Kyle, I need specifics. Here's what I mean.
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He's going to embody the very wisdom of God.
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He's going to live sinlessly, fulfilling all righteousness.
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This one is going to fully accomplish the will of the
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Father. This one is going to fulfill
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perfectly the purpose for which he was sent.
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This one is going to be prosperous.
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And in fact, the way to think about it would be like this.
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There's never been and never will be greater prosperity from
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anyone who's taken on human flesh than the prosperity that
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Jesus will accomplish here as a fully and finally in the
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fullness of time, fulfilled the will of God the Father who so
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loved the world that He sent his Son who came willingly to
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voluntarily give his life to redeem sinful man.
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There's been no greater success story in all of history than
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Jesus. Spoiler alert over 700 years in
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advance. This is what God is saying is is
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going to happen. God is calling the win for his
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son. What he's saying, ladies and
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gentlemen, is Jesus is not going to lose.
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He's going to win. And guess what, If you're with
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and been joined to Jesus by faith in him, guess who's going
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to win too? You and me.
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But you might say, Pastor Kyle, I don't feel like I'm winning
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right now. They've told me I have two to
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six months to live with cancer. There's somebody in our church
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that's heard that very word, those very words.
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That man who's a believer in Jesus wins.
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The parents that I talked to recently who are having some
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severe behavioral problems with their children, they've placed
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their faith in Jesus. Guess who wins?
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Those parents? that Lady who suffered an
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injustice at her job and has lost her job in a way that was
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unrighteous. Guess who wins?
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Because she's placed her faith in Jesus, she wins.
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It matters what we go through in life.
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But no matter what we go through in life, no one can take the win
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for our from us. That is ours in Jesus.
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The salvation, the eternal life, the hope and the joy.
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We all win because of our faith in Jesus.
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If we've been joined to Him, God is calling the win for His Son.
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You say, what do we mean by when?
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I want you to listen to what Isaiah says here, and I want you
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to listen to it and hear it through the lens of what you
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know in the New Testament. He says he shall be high and
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lifted up and shall be exalted. The lowliness, the humiliation,
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the despair and of death and the grave is not Jesus is in that he
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shall prosper to eternal life despite going through all of
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that. Listen to what this how this we
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could we could say high Jesus shall rise high from the what Oh
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come on y'all wait with me from the dead.
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Jesus shall be lifted up. He's going to ascend to be
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lifted up back to heaven. Jesus will be exalted to where
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the right hand of the the Father.
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Before I tell you how the resurrection story begins,
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Isaiah says, let me tell you how it ends.
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Jesus wins #2 The resurrection story is the greatest comeback
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story of all history. Not just the greatest success
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story, but the greatest comeback story in all of history.
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You see, Jesus is when will be the greatest comeback the world
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has ever seen. Listen to verse 14 again.
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It says as many were astonished at you.
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And here's what he means. His appearance was so marred
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beyond human semblance in this form, beyond that of the
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children of mankind. Ladies and gentlemen, friends,
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if you thought Rocky Balboa was battered, beaten and bruised in
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the ring, what he experienced was a day at the spa compared to
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what Jesus, the Son of God would suffer for you and for me.
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Say, Kyle, what do you mean? Isaiah prophecies over 700 years
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in advance that Jesus physical features that his body would be
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so mangled and so marred he'll barely appear human.
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You say, Kyle, what does it say in the New Testament?
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It says they will beat him the rod that they put in his hand
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after a purple cloak that they put on him.
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They will beat him with a stick over the head.
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They are going to spit upon him, covering him with their they're
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going to pluck out his beard. They're going to lash his back
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to it's laid open. They're going to they're going
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to force a crown of thorns on his head.
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They're going to Pierce him to a tree.
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They're going to split his side for you and for me.
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He will not bear the semblance of even looking like a human.
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When sinners are done with the Savior, Isaiah says, people will
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be so appalled they will turn their faces away.
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If you would have recognized him before, after his death, you'd
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be able to recognize him no longer.
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If it ever looked like someone had lost, Jesus is going to
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appear to have lost in the worst kind of way possible.
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By giving his life, by taking the sting of death, by suffering
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unspeakably at the hands of men. And yet looking as if he had
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lost, Jesus is going to save sinners and shock the world.
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You see, what looked to men like the most humiliating of defeats
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is actually the greatest of victories in all the universe.
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The New Testament in Colossians chapter 2, Paul puts it like
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this in verses 14 and 15 when he basically describes the victory
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that looked like a loss like this.
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God was canceling the record of our sin.
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That's your sin and mine. God was canceling your debt on
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him and through his Son that stood against us with its legal
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demands. That's our death.
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That's our punishment. That's what it legally demanded.
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But this he, God the Father, set aside by nailing him, Jesus to
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the cross. He disarmed by doing so.
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He took out the ammunition from the enemy.
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He disarmed the rulers and authorities of the spiritual
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realm, Satan himself, and put them to open shame.
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But Jesus suffering the worst of the worst defeat possible with
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the darkness, thinking they had won, God the Father was
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overcoming it all and making the greatest win possible for
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mankind who had sinned against Him by nailing his Son to the
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cross, disarming the rulers and authorities, putting them to
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open shame by triumphing over them.
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In him, Him is Jesus. This story is not just the
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greatest success story, it's the greatest.
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Look like it was a lost story, and yet it was winning it all.
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It was winning salvation for you.
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It was winning salvation for me. To all who would call on the
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name of the Lord to be saved. What an astonishment to those
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who esteemed Him the lowest of the low.
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The resurrection story is the greatest comeback story in all
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of history #3 The resurrection story is the most astonishing
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story in all of history. It's not just the greatest
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success. It's not just the greatest
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comeback. It is truly the most astonishing
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story in all of history. Look at verse 15 again.
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So shall he sprinkle many nations that word for sprinkle.
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There is Old Testament language and imagery for salvation or for
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purification, for cleansing, for redeeming, for purifying.
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Because what they would do is, is they would take that Old
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Testament animal sacrifice and the priest would take the blood
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of that animal and often sprinkle it on the altar and
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sometimes even sprinkle it on the people, representing the
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contact they were coming into of the cleansing power of the
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blood, if you will. And yet the animal blood could
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never fully cleanse from sin. It could make ceremonially clean
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for their worship in the old covenant, but can never fully
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take away sin that was only in the power of the blood of the
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one who sang about His name. Is Jesus, the Lamb of God who
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takes away the sin of the world. Hebrews 12/24 says it like this,
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but you have come. That's you and me to Jesus, the
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mediator of a new covenant, and to the watch this this language
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to the to be sprinkled the sprinkled blood that speaks a
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better word than the blood of Abel.
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By his suffering, by his shed blood, by his death, Jesus would
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win and save sinners from every tribe, tongue, language, and
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nation. If you've been saved, here's
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what I want you to think about in Old Testament language.
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It's because you've been sprinkled, you've been washed,
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you've been cleansed by the blood of Jesus.
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There's no salvation, there's no forgiveness of sin without
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contact by faith with the blood of Jesus.
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If you've called on Jesus to save you, you've called on him
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because of his shed blood for you.
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If you need to call on Him to save you, it's because you've
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realized He has shed His blood for you.
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The only thing that has the power to cleanse you from your
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sin sets you free from what you deserve and give you life in
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Jesus forever. Have you called on the name of
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the Lord because of the power of the blood?
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If not, you can now. You can right now.
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The resurrection story is the most astonishing story.
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It says here sprinkle in verse 15.
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But that word can also mean to startle.
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As in to astonish, like to shock, to call someone great
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surprise, which is exactly what Jesus will do to the peoples and
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leaders and nations of the world.
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Notice that's what Isaiah says right after that.
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Kings are going to shut their mouths because of Jesus, because
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of him. That's a nice Old Testament
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prophet way of saying what you parents told your kids not to
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say, right? Their jaws are going to go up.
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Their mouths are going to close. They're going to get speechless.
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They're going to go mute in shock at what Jesus is going to
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accomplish. Kings of the earth are going to
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go silent because of him. Don't you remember when Anas and
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Caiaphas, Jewish high priest and leaders, right we're opening
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their mouths to falsely accused and questioned Jesus, and
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ultimately they open their mouths to falsely accused Jesus
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of blasphemy. They open their mouths, but
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they're going to be shut. Pilate opened his mouth to
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Jesus. Remember the Roman governor that
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Jesus was brought before? Pilate opened his mouth to
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question Jesus. Are you the king of the Jews?
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Right. And therefore Pilate didn't get
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the response that he was after Jesus didn't.
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He did not refuse the false charges.
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He simply said you said it. You've said I'm the the king of
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the Jews. He was affirming the pilot.
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What he said was right. But Pilate then opened his mouth
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to try to recuse himself and wash his hands and be innocent
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of the blood of the Lamb, the blood of the Son of God.
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And then furthermore, he'd go before Herod.
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Jesus would another ruler. And again Herod would open his
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mouth mocking Jesus, this time sending him on to the cross.
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Yet these same leaders and kings who open their mouths against
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the Son of the living God, whose jaws dropped open in
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astonishment at his suffering and humiliation and death.
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These kings and countless, countless, countless more would
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have their jaws shut in absolute silence and shock that what they
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thought they were witnessing was actually something completely
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different and would astonish them in such a way that Jesus,
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who was considered the lowest of the low, would actually be, was
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the highest of the high. It says here Isaiah writes for
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that which has not been told them they see, and for that
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which they have not heard, they understand.
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What they had not been told, what they had not seen or
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understood, was the message of the gospel.
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Listen closely to me if you're here and you don't exactly know
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or think you don't know. What is it that we Christians
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believe? What is the good news?
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What is it that you must understand in order to have
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eternal life? It is this message that they
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didn't fully see or comprehend, that is now so clear that they
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have seen, that they have heard. It's that Jesus, the Son of God,
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took on human flesh, that he lived a sinless life in your
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place. Because you and I have sinned
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and fallen short of the glory of God.
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What we deserve is death. We've fallen short of the
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holiness and the righteous standard of God our Creator.
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And yet God so loved us that despite the fact that we deserve
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death and separation from Him forever, God sent his Son after
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us to live for us, to die for us, to be buried for us, and to
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walk out of the grave defeating death for us so that all who
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call on the name of the Lord will be saved, rescued from what
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we deserve, set free from sin, given eternal life and the hope
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of heaven. That's what a Christian
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believes. That's who a Christian is.
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There's been a moment in time that became clear in their heart
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and soul. They gave their life to Jesus
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and called on Him to save them. That's the action you must take
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if you are to be saved. Have you taken that action by
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faith? You too can call on Jesus as we
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speak. How is it that these would see
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what they missed? How is it that these would
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understand what they didn't understand?
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Well, I want you to think about it like this.
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They would see the empty tomb. They would see the lives of the
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apostles transformed and turned upside down.
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They're going to hear the rumor around town.
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He's alive. He's alive.
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They're going to hear it. They're going to see the church
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explode. They're going to see the Gospel
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go forth. They're going to see the word of
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God go forth with such fire and rapidness.
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Despite the blood they would spill of all the martyrs trying
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to stop the witness to the fact that Jesus was alive.
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They would see. They would be in shock because
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something started that though they didn't understand it, they
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couldn't stop. And the world, the world will
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stand in awe. Kyle, how do you know it's the
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gospel message Isaiah is prophesying?
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Well, if you want a New Testament connection, Romans
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chapter 15 verse 20 through 21. Paul puts it like this.
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He says I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where
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Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's
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foundation, but as it is written and he quotes Isaiah 5215 as it
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is written there, those who have not been told will see and those
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who've never heard will understand.
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Isn't that amazing that he's quoting there The Old Testament,
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the gospel prophesied over 700 years before Jesus ever walked
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the earth. Listen, if if you're here this
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morning and you're a little skeptical of all of this, you're
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like Kyle, I'm just not sure, man.
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You know, being raised from the dead, that sounds a little
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beyond rationality to me. Listen, you know when they
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discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls? You should check this out if
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you've not investigated. The Dead Sea Scrolls were
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fragments and whole scrolls of Old Testament text.
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And beyond that, a shepherd boy in the desert in the Middle East
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shepherding his sheep through a rock randomly heard a clunk in a
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clink that he didn't think he should have heard.
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Investigated, and sure enough, the rock went in a cave full of
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many Old Testament manuscripts. One of the ones they found was
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the entire scroll of the prophet Isaiah that predated any
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complete scroll that we had in existence by 1000 years.
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And you know what it said The exact thing your Bible says
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today that was written, that this particular one they found
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was in existence and came into writing 100 to 125 years before
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Jesus walked the earth. And Isaiah writes in this.
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If you read in your homework this week, Isaiah 53, you'll
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read it as if Isaiah was standing by the cross almost
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1000 years in advance watching what God said would happen,
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unfold. You can't tell me faith is not
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rational. They've yet to be able to
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explain the empty tomb to this day.
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You look at creation and see that one must have the design
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mind and spoken it into existence, that this didn't come
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out of a random dryer of the universe and all fit together
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and work right. It's unbelievable how clear the
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word of God is pointing us to the truth of reality, of a God
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who made us, who loves us and sent his Son for us.
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Have you looked to the cross by faith and believed you All the
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shock, this humiliating death would be just a tiny tremor on
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the seismic scale of the shock of his resurrection and the
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proclamation of his gospel. The gospel message is not just
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that Christ died, but it's that Christ died for our sins.
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This is the part that shocks. If you've never been shocked by
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this, you're missing it because Jesus did not die.
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He was not mangled beyond recognition because he was
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guilty. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, I
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want you to hear this clearly. Jesus.
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Jesus suffered to the point that you would not have recognized
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him had you known what he looked like, because you and I were
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guilty. That's the shock of the love of
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God. That's the shock of the gospel.
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That's the scandal of the gospel, that God would love and
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accept sinners who deserve that, but he would send his Son in our
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place to take it for us, that we could be called the
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righteousness of God. Do what?
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Do what? Mouths will be shut.
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There's nothing to say. What do you say?
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All there is, is to stand in awe of the love of God.
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How could it be that blood would be shed for you and for me?
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Because of the life, death, burial and resurrection of
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Christ? We can tell every nation, every
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tribe, every tongue, every person that God so loved the
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world that God sent His one and only Son, that whosoever would
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believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
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This is the most astounding story, the most astounding story
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in all of history. There's one more thing I want to
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show you and it's really how I want us to end.
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And it's a challenge that I want you to leave with today on Palm
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Sunday. To take this challenge before
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Easter Sunday. Listen to what the Word of God
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says in verse 1 of chapter 53. Who has believed what He has
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heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the
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Lord been revealed? When he says there who has
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believed what he has heard? Isaiah is implying that you
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would think people would immediately be drawn and
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believe. But that's not what happened.
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Israel as a whole did not believe.
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Guess what? The world as a whole has not.
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What #4 The resurrection story is the most rejected story in
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all of history. This is the most rejected true
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story in all of history. To whom has the arm of the Lord
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been revealed? I love what 1 preacher said.
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He said when God made the universe, according to Psalm 8,
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David says he only had to use his fingers.
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When he put the billions upon billions among billions of
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stars. The universe God only had to use
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his fingers and he knows them by name.
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When God he said set the people free out of slavery in Egypt,
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God used his. Well let me look back what he
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says because I don't remember. He used his strong hand.
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God went from fingers to creating everything to his hand
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and setting his people free. This is what I do remember.
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But when God went to save the souls of mankind, God flexed and
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used the might of His almighty arm, sending His one and only
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Son. I like that right there that God
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would show His might most clearly and His love most
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astonishingly, and sending His one and only Son, Jesus, the
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innocent Son of God, dying in the place of sinful human
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beings, taking the place of guilty sinners, paying the price
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of our salvation. It's a message so unbelievable,
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who could hardly believe God would say it and do it?
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It's an announcement so marvelous, right, that unless
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the Spirit of God opens the eyes of the heart of a man, woman,
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boy or girl, who could believe it?
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And yet the Bible says this. This is how it's believed that
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if one turns the eyes of their heart to the cross and you see
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Jesus hanging there for you, marred beyond recognition, when
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you get the fact that it was for you when it was for you, because
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when Jesus went beyond what people could recognize because
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God was doing it for you, that's the moment everything changes.
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And if by faith you place your faith in that Savior who
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substituted himself for you, by faith, the Holy Spirit quickens
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your spirit, makes you alive, brings you from spiritual death
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to life, inhabits you by the Holy Spirit, forgives you of
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your sin, and destines you for heaven.
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Can I ask you, have you realized it was for you, for you and as
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everything changed, if not today, it can.
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This is how the story goes from rejected to received.
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Isaiah 53. One, as I was looking at this
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again this morning and just praying through, I felt like
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this would be the best way for us to end with the challenge
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this week, in a week that we celebrate the fact that Jesus is
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alive. So let me just tell you, when we
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celebrate something, we talk about it, don't we?
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If you're not talking about something, you're not
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celebrating something. So I just got back from
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Columbus, Ms. where my brother-in-law was competing in
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his hometown in a professional bass tournament.
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This was a dream of his from a child to be a professional bass
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fisherman, he's become one. He was competing in his
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hometown. It was a dream come true on
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water. He had fished 1000 times, had
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the hometown crowd rooting for the hometown kid.
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He was the hero. The crowd was going wild, right?
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He desperately, desperately wanted to win this tournament.
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What a place to win. Well, he didn't win.
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He had to make the top 10 out of 101.
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You got to make the top 10 to fish.
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On Sunday. He was 12th.
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He missed the cut by 11 oz. Even still, it was the talk of
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Columbus, Ms. I was driving back yesterday.
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I had taken my dog, who, by the way, got sprayed by a skunk.
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That's a different story. And I'm trying to bathe my dog.
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I'm trying to get ready to preach.
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I'm trying to, you know, all the things and my buddies are still
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calling me wanting to talk about, you know, who.
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What if he'd have done this? What if he wouldn't have left
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that area this way? What would?
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They were still celebrating even though he hadn't won.
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They were and they were by talking about it, they were all
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right. So if we celebrate something, we
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talk about it. Now listen to this challenge and
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I'm going to I'm going to change one word in the sentence.
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Are you ready? Who has believed what he has
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heard from you? From you?
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Who's going to have a chance to believe the most greatest
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success story in all of history, the most greatest comeback story
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of all of history, the most astonishing story in all of
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history, and yes, even to this day, the most rejected one.
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But who's going to have a chance to hear it and believe it this
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week because of you talking about it, because you're what?
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You're celebrating it. I guarantee you this week,
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Easter, the word Easter is going to come up and go in.
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It's going to go into your ear canal this week.
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It's either going to come out of your mouth, it's going to go
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into your eardrums. When it does, I just want you to
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hear bingo. It's an opportunity for someone
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to hear the rest of the of the story.
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Because guess what? For those of us who know it,
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there's no greater celebration or way to celebrate it than to
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see somebody hear it and discover it and believe it for
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the for the first time. What if this week they heard it
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from you? What if this week more people
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got to hear it on Easter Sunday because of your invitation for
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them to come hear the rest of the story next week?
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And more people heard it, and perhaps more people believed it.
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And one day through Carter's will, first fab this than I've
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ever heard it and believed it before.
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Do you think we'd celebrate? What do you think we talked
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about the week after the people found out Jesus is alive?
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Father, I want to ask in these next few moments that if anyone
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is in the room that has never placed their faith in you,
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Jesus, that today would be the day, God, I pray, Lord, that you
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would open up the eyes of somebody's heart today by faith,
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realizing that you were marred beyond description for them.
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Father, I pray they'd be bold enough to step out from where
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they are to come take me by the hand and say, Pastor Kyle, I
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need to, I need to trust Christ. God, I want to pray for those in
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the room that we know the story, we've received the story and the
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truth we've been saved. God, I pray that we would
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celebrate in the highest of ways this week by taking the
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challenge to share it with at least one person who has
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believed somebody to see the arm of the omnipotent Almighty God
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flexed for them out of his love for all eternity for them
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through His Son that they could hear and believe, hear and
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receive this week. God, I pray that we as a church
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would celebrate Easter this year like we've never celebrated it
37:36
before. God, I pray if it's your will, I
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pray more lost people would be here than saved people would be
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here on Easter. I pray, God, we'd be praying for
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the person to our right and our left that we'd be willing to go
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forward with them. We'd be willing to share with
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them and pray for them as they see, as they receive.
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God help us, God help us celebrate by sharing and you
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getting all the glory in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
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Church, would you stand with me? Maybe you need to come because
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you've trusted Christ today. Maybe you need to come and ask
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God to help you be the spokesperson of the story this
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week for someone who needs to hear and you just want to commit
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yourself to that this week. Maybe you got a burden on your
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heart. You feel like you're losing.
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If you're in Christ, you're going to win.
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Heaven is on its way. We're not citizens of earth, but
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of heaven. Just come and put your heart
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before God this morning as we worship you.
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Come.