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1 Corinthians 15 What Would Life Be Like if There Were No Resurrection? · Living Waters of Grace / Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland Sunday Services

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Good morning. So what would life be like if
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there was no resurrection? We certainly wouldn't be here
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today, would we? Worshipping Jesus?
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We wouldn't know what to do or where to go when our hearts are
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broken by circumstances in life that we have no control over.
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And we come to church not for religious purposes or duty.
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We come as brothers and sisters in Christ because we all know
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that we need Jesus. Amen.
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And the older you get and the longer you live, the more you
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realize that you need Him 24/7, right?
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This not once in a while, and I'm thankful that we're gathered
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together here today to to learn more about him and to learn more
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about the gospel, the good news that the world needs.
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I don't have to tell you about the news media.
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There's wars and rumors of war everywhere, whether it's Ukraine
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or Israel or the potential conflict with China and Taiwan
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and now Venezuela, Nigeria. It tells us in the Bible in the
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last days there will be wars and rumors of wars.
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And boy, we sure have them, don't we?
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It seems like we have an all time high of world conflict and
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division and divisiveness and hatred, especially for truth and
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for the clarity of the gospel. And so we're fortunate, those of
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us who are here today that believe in Jesus Christ, we have
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hope and eternal hope, a living hope, a lasting hope and
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everlasting hope. If you're here today and you've
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never come to faith in Jesus, I pray today would be the day that
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you would recognize you need him and you would open your heart to
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him and invite him to commend your life and change your life
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and save you from the the power of sin that we all struggle with
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until we have Jesus. And when you have Jesus, you
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have a way out of your sinful tendencies.
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You have a way out of the patterns and habits and
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addictions that control your life and ruin it.
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So let's pray, Father God, you've brought each of us here
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today for a specific purpose. Somehow you work in our minds
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and in our conscience and call us to yourself.
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You draw us to yourself, Lord. That's the mystery of the faith.
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Is it that we don't seek You? You seek us, and then you cause
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us to seek you. You cause us to pursue you.
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You cause us, Lord, by your grace, to want to know the
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answer of life. Why are we here?
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Why do we go through what we go through?
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Why do we experience death? Why do we experience heartache?
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Why do we experience tragedy? Why do we experience broken
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relationships? Lord, all the things that affect
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all of us as human beings. And Lord, we are so grateful
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that you've opened our eyes to realize that you are the Christ,
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the Son of the living God, that you are the resurrection and the
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life. And whoever believes in you
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shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
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For you said I am the resurrection and the life.
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He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live,
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and he that believeth in me shall never die.
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Oh God, thank you for coming into this world and not leaving
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us to our sin. You came because you knew we
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needed a way out of the madness and the insanity and the
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brokenness of human life apart from you.
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And we really don't experience life or no life until we come to
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know you. For you are life.
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You are the giver of life. There is no life apart from you.
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We just walk around as dead people until we come to know you
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and are born again and brought into a relationship with you
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where we have a new life and a life that's worth living.
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And we praise you for that, Lord.
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And as we enter into this new year, Lord, we pray by the power
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of your Holy Spirit that you would make each of us and this
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church in this ministry a mouthpiece for the gospel of
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Jesus Christ into a broken and lost world.
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That we would go out, each of us this year.
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And when we meet people and we run into people who are broken
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hearted and hopeless and despairing, that we would, Lord,
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be used by you to tell them the good news that Christ died for
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our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried
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and that he rose again on the third day.
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The day. Lord, we study these teachings
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that you've given us in First Corinthians 15 regarding the
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gospel. And what a wonderful Sunday that
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we can all be here together, starting this new year, focusing
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on the most important thing in life, and that's the gospel of
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Jesus Christ. So Lord, we commit ourselves to
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you. We surrender to you.
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We don't make promises or resolutions.
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Lord, all you ask us to do is surrender to you and yield to
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you to say, not our will, but your will be done.
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And that's I pray the prayer of all of us today.
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And we commit all these things to Lord the day.
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Lord, touch the hearts of all those you brought here in the
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specific and only way that you can to comfort, to encourage, to
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bring hope, to bring belief, and to bring peace, Father, and to
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each heart and the families that are represented here this day.
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Let us be different when we leave here today, more different
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than we've ever been before because of your word and the
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power of your Holy Spirit. And we pray and we ask these
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things in Jesus name, Amen. If you have your Bible turn to
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1st Corinthians chapter 15. You can Google it on your phone
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as well so you can see where we're at.
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And we're going to look at the 1st 8 verses today.
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And I wanted to thank you guys, Lewis, myself, Cindy Terry, the
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leaders of the church for your prayers, your love for each of
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us as we serve you. The gifts, the cards, the
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prayers, the texts, the phone calls are just amazing.
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As you well know, Cindy, my wife's been really going through
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it this year. So she was in the hospital for I
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think about 8 days over Christmas and they're trying to
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diagnose what's going on. She's having trouble walking and
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having stability, so it's sort of a challenge every day for her
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right now, but she's encouraging the Lord.
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She's trusting Him. She just said to me this morning
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as we were praying, Clerk, all I want to do is go deeper in
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Jesus. Isn't that awesome?
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I'm so thankful that I have a wife that knows Jesus and knows
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that He's the answer for every need that she has.
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And I feel the same way. So thank you for your love and
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your prayers. So anyway, we are in this book
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of First Corinthians chapter 15. Last time I spoke, prior to
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Pastor Lewis's time to teach in December, I had finished pretty
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much with the first part of this chapter regarding what the
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gospel is. I'm going to read it again and
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review and then get into a couple things this morning to
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help us understand more about this history that we have of
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Jesus raising from the dead. Moreover, brethren, I declare to
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you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received,
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and in which you stand, by which you are also saved, if you hold
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fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in
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vain. For I delivered to you first of
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all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins
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according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He
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rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and
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that He was seen by Cephas. Then by the 12.
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After that He was seen by over 500 brethren at once, of whom
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the greater part remained to the present, but some have fallen
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asleep. After that He was seen by James,
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then by all the apostles, then the last of all, he was seen by
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me also as by one born out of due time.
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So the Gospels explain very clearly the history of of what
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had happened. I'm going to go to Luke chapter
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24 and I'm going to read a lot of scripture today.
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This would get you up to speed again in regard to the
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significance and the historical evidence that this is not make
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believe. This isn't something that some
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of this thought up. That would be an interesting
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story. This is all historical fact
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proven by the eyewitnesses that actually saw Jesus after his
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resurrection and Luke chapter 24.
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Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning,
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they and certain other women with them came to the tomb,
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bringing the spices which they had prepared.
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But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, and then
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they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
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And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this,
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that behold, 2 men stood by them in shining garments.
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And then, as they were afraid, they bowed their faces to the
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earth and said to them, Why do you seek the living among the
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dead? He is not here, but is risen.
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Remember how He spoke to you when he was still in Galilee,
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saying the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of
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sinful men and be crucified. And the third day rise again.
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So the Lord told his followers what he was going to encounter
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and that he was going to be crucified, and then he was going
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to die and He was going to rise again from the dead on the third
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day. It's interesting when He did
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that, they didn't catch on like saying, well, he's he's not
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going to stay dead. He told us he would rise again.
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No one picked up on that. Shows you how blind we can be as
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as human beings. And then they remembered his
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words. Then they returned from the tomb
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and told all these things to the 11 and to all the rest.
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It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and
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the other women with them who told these things to the
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apostles. I find it fascinating that the
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guys weren't at the tomb. Why were the women there?
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Well, the women have a very important role in the history of
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Christianity. Jesus decided that he was going
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to reveal himself first to a woman and then tell her to go
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tell his closest followers who were all afraid, hiding out,
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hoping that they wouldn't be arrested or be crucified.
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And so these wonderful women had this privilege of having this
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encounter and they got to go tell the apostles.
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And their words seem to them like idle tales.
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They did not believe them. So these these women come to the
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the house and and begin to tell the story of what they had
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disencountered and and they thought that this seemed like
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make believe. There's no way that this could
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happen. But Peter that we remember
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Peter, Simon Peter had denied Jesus hours before his
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crucifixion. He probably wasn't in a good
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state, mentally or emotionally, definitely spiritually, because
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he knew he had denied the fact that he even knew Jesus.
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So Peter Rosen ran to the tomb, and stooping down, he saw the
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linen clothes lying by themselves, and he departed,
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marvelling to himself at what had happened.
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I find it fascinating that he ran to the tomb.
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Something in him caused him to think or to know that something
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miraculous must have happened. And he sees the garments lying
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there and thinking like what has gone on here?
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What has happened? Now down the road there, several
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of the other apostles are walking.
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Now behold, 2 of them were traveling that same day to a
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village called Emmaus, which was 7 miles from Jerusalem.
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They talked together of all these things which had happened.
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So it was while they converse and reason that Jesus himself
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drew near and went with them. But their eyes were restrained,
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so they did not know Him, so they weren't able to recognize
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who was walking along with them. He said to them, What kind of
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conversation is this that you have with one another as you
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walk and are sad? Then the one whose name was
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Cleopas answered and said to him, Are you the only stranger
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in Jerusalem? And have you not known the
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things which happened there in these days?
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And he said to them, What things?
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And they said to him the things concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
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whom was a prophet, mighty indeed in Word before God and
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all the people, and how the chief priest and our rulers
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delivered him to be condemned to death and crucified him.
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But we were hoping that it was he who was going to redeem
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Israel. Indeed, beside all this, today
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is the third day since these things have happened.
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Yes, in certain women of our company who had arrived at the
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tomb early, astonished us when they did not find His body, and
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they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who
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said He was alive. And certain of those who were
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with us went to the tomb, and found that just as a woman had
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said. But Him they did, we did not
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see. Then He said to them, O foolish
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ones and slave heart, to believe in all that the prophets have
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spoken ought not to Christ to have suffered these things and
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to enter into His glory. And beginning at Moses and all
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the prophets, he expanded to them all the scriptures, the
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things concerning himself. How awesome was that?
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They're getting like this eyewitness, perfect miraculous
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account of everything that was prophesized regarding Jesus
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coming to this earth throughout the Old Testament and that
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everything that happened, happened according to what the
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Scriptures had foretold. And he started way back in the
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time of Moses and he went through all the prophets.
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We don't have time today to look up all the verses that talk
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about what happened and how these were all fulfilled 100%.
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And he and he explained to them all these things.
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And so they drew near to the village where they were going,
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and he indicated that he would have gone farther, but they
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constrained him, saying, abide with us, for it is toward
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evening and the day is far spent.
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And he went to stay with them. So he's getting ready to take
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off. They convince him to stay and
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hang out for a while. And they were probably
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wondering, like, how in the world does this guy know all the
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stuff he's just told us? Now it came to pass as he sat at
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the table with them, that he took bread and he blessed it and
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he broke it, and he gave it to them.
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So every week we take the Lord's Supper and this represents the
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body that was given for us, the Lord's body and the blood that
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he was shed for us for the remission of our sins.
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When Jesus was in the upper room the night before his
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crucifixion, he had what was called the Last Supper.
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And when he broke the bread and gave the cup, they had never
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experienced anything like that ever before because he's telling
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them that this represents him, his body.
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So that was the last thing they remembered before his
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crucifixion. And so here's Jesus now sitting
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with them at the table with them.
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He takes the bread, He blesses it, He broke it and gave it to
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them. There's no one that can break
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bread like Jesus, right? It's it's a supernatural
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encounter. And whenever he did that, it
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says their eyes were open and they knew him and he vanished
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from their sight right away. They said this is the Messiah,
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this is Jesus. We've seen him.
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He truly has risen from the dead.
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And they said to one another, did not our heartburn within us
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while we talked with us on the road and while we opened the
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Scriptures to us. And that's what happens to me
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and to you every time we open the Word of God, whether it's 5
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minutes or five hours, it doesn't matter.
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You read the Word of God. It's a living word and it goes
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into your heart and to your spirit.
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The Holy Spirit takes what it is you're reading and begins to
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burn things in your heart and make them real and make them
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alive and make them living. And they they said the evidence
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of this experience was that whenever this word was
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proclaimed to them, something was happening internally in
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their heart. And that's what my prayer is
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every time we come here together and gather whoever is preaching,
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whoever is teaching the studies throughout the week, the women's
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studies, the men's studies, a small group studies of the
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pastor teachings, the Wednesday night guys.
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Every time the word's broken, something's happening in the
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heart. And that's why you want to take
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advantage every time the church is open.
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And when the word is being broken, come and fellowship and
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allow the Lord to work in your heart through the word of God.
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And so they. Are amazed at what has happened
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so they rose up that very hour they returned to Jerusalem and
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found the 11 and of course we know Judas had committed suicide
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so he wasn't there yet anymore and the apostle left at this
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time who were with them gathered together saying the Lord has
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risen indeed and has appeared to Simon exclamation point and they
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told about the things that had happened on the road and how he
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was known to them by the breaking of bread.
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It's interesting how the Lord encourages us to take the Lord's
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Supper as frequently as we possibly can, because every time
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we take the Supper, Jesus says we remember his death till he
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comes again. Something happens to us
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supernaturally when we take the Lord's Supper.
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It's not a ritual, it's not a routine.
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It's something that glorifies God beyond what our imaginations
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could even consider, that He loves us to remember what He's
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done for us because it's easy for us to forget it.
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It's easy for us to take it lightly.
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And every time we have the privilege to break the bread
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together with Him and with one another, he does something
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supernaturally in US. And now in verse 36, as they
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said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and
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said to them, Peace to you. These are these are some of the
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occurrences of the eyewitness accounts after Christ rose from
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the dead. And they were terrified and
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frightened and supposed they had seen a spirit.
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He said to them, Why are you troubled?
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And why do you doubt? Why do these doubts arise in
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your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet that
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it is I myself handle me and see.
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For the Spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I
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have. So he had this resurrected
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physical, actual body, flesh and and bone, but but a body that
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was now never going to die again, never suffer again.
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So he gave them the opportunity to touch him.
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And it would have been great to have been in that room to see
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that. I don't know what you would have
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been. I've probably been like, he's
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really here. This is not a ghost.
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This is a real person. And then everybody else, I'm
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sure we're gathering around hugging them and who knows what
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they were up to. And when he had said this, he
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showed them his hands and his feet.
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And while they still did not believe for joy and marvel, he
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said to them, have you any food here?
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Now when he shows them the hands and the feet, the, the, the nail
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pier scars are still there and they'll be there throughout all
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eternity. When we're in heaven one day,
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we're always going to remember when we're with Jesus for what
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he did for us and why we're actually able to be there with
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him because of what he did for us.
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And we know Thomas, who wasn't at that particular meeting, he
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shows up down the road later. He actually, you know, didn't
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believe until we was able to put his hand into the Neil Pierce
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scars and then he recognized that it was the Lord himself.
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But Jesus knows that they're still like, and their rational
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minds thinking like, OK, I'm, I'm experiencing this.
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I'm seeing this, I believe now and I but how I need a little
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bit more help to really think that this is really real, right?
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So then Jesus says, do you have any food here?
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The Lord didn't need anything to eat, but he wanted to prove to
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him that he still liked to eat. And that's sort of interesting
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because when we get to heaven, we're just not sitting around in
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clouds, you know, kumbaya worshiping all the time.
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Our worships going to be involved in every activity that
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we experience in heaven and there's going to be food in
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heaven. What do you think about that?
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Are you excited about that? No, no food poisoning.
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I guarantee the the best fillets that are probably ever possible
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be able to be put out there on a table.
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This a marriage supper to the lamb that we're all going to
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experience in that that first opportunity to be with him in
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the Kingdom. This wonderful, wonderful days
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ahead for us and those the Lord. So they gave him a piece of
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broiled fish and some honeycomb and he took it and he ate it in
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their presence. Then he said to them, These are
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the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that
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all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of
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Moses and the prophets, and the Psalms concerning me.
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And he opened their understanding, that they might
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have comprehend the Scriptures. And he said to them, Thus it is
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written. And thus it was necessary for
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Christ's suffering to rise from the dead the third day.
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Now this is what I want us all to capture and think about, and
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that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His
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name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
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The last thing He said to them also said it in Matthew.
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He says it to us today. What needs to be done is that we
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need to tell people they need to repent from their sins and that
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Jesus will forgive them and cleanse them from their sins and
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give them everlasting life. This should be preached in His
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name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
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So our job as followers of Jesus Christ in studying about the
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resurrection is to take this message that God has given to
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you and me and give it to everyone we possibly can.
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Amen. Looking for opportunities to
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tell people that don't know anything about what it is.
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We know that don't even think there's a possibility of
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forgiveness from guilt and shame and sin and we've all committed.
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The people for the most part are hopeless and they don't realize
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that there is the potential to have life after death.
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It's good news. I remember someone saying years
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ago, and if you've lost people to cancer or you've had cancer
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yourself and it's a wicked, wicked disease, if you had a
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literal cure for cancer, you would not hide that cure and
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that answer for that disease. You would be breaking down every
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hospital door in room where a patient was suffering from
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cancer and say, I got good news for you.
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I'm going to tell you something and if you believe it, you're
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not going to have cancer anymore.
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You would tell everybody, well, we have a message that's greater
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than the cure for cancer. We have the message, the cure
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for death, that people can have life everlasting and forgiveness
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of their sin. And so Jesus, he went through
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all this, not only for you and me, but he went through this for
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everybody that would come to live after you and me, so that
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they would hear this perpetually from one generation to the next
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generation until he comes again and he says, and you are
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witnesses of these things. Now these people were
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eyewitnesses. They were standing there, they
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were experiencing his literal physical body.
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They heard his voice, they saw his presence.
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Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you.
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And this is the power of the Holy Spirit.
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But Terry, in the city of Jerusalem until you were endued
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with power from on high. So they had to wait till they
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had the Holy Spirit's power to have the boldness and the
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courage to tell people about what Jesus had done for them,
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because they knew that they were potentially going to be martyred
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and killed because of following Jesus.
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And this is one of the greatest endorsements of the reality of
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the history of the resurrection. There's no way people would give
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their lives to potentially die and be martyred for something
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that was not true. These men and these women
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throughout the histories of life and martyrdom said this is worth
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dying for. This is worth giving my life
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for. We received the Holy Spirit when
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we were born again. When we receive Jesus into our
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heart as our Lord and Savior, we're not alone anymore.
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God lives within us and so when we hear the word of God, if
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we're believers, it resonates is the truth.
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We don't doubt anymore. We know it's true because he
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lives within us. What propels us to do what it is
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we do for God in Our Calling and our giftings is made possible by
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the Holy Spirit that lives in each of us.
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So you and me and, and, and everyone else that believes in
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the Lord, we're out in the marketplace, we're out in the
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world, we're out in the culture, we're out in our jobs, our
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occupations and our families and our sports activities, our
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leisure. And there's always an
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opportunity to run into someone that knows nothing about what we
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know. And the Holy Spirit convicts you
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and you think, how can I get a conversation going with this
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person I'm starting to enjoy being with?
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To tell them more about my life and how many kids I have, or
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where do I live, or what kind of job I have, or what kind of car
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I drive or where do I like to go on vacation, All that kind of
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stuff. Small talk, weather, politics,
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whatever. To find a way that I can tell
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them about what Jesus has done for me.
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Get that conversation going. And then hearing them either
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blowing you off and ignoring you or laughing at you, which
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happens sometimes, or someone saying, that's interesting, I'd
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like to know more about that. And they ask you questions and
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you build a friendship, you build a relationship.
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And, and because of those conversations, God uses you to
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to see people LED into the Kingdom of God to believe in
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Jesus Christ and become saved and on their way to heaven.
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And he led them up out as far as Bethany, and he lifted up his
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hands, and he blessed them. This is the last thing they
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remember seeing. Now it came to pass while he
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blessed them, that he was parted from them and carried up into
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heaven. So they saw the ascension occur.
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And this also is discussed in the book of the Acts.
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It said, Madam, brethren, why are you looking up?
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Remember that the same Jesus is being taken up from you shall
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come again in like manner. So physically I saw him come up
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and the Bible says the second coming of Jesus physically, eyes
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will see him come back to this earth, establish his Kingdom in
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Jerusalem for 1000 years, the millennial Kingdom and they
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worshipped him and they returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
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And we're continually in the temple praising and blessing
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God, I should say. So this was a real revival.
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This wasn't something like the Steelers will win the day and
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then we'll rejoice and we'll be excited and and then two hours
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later, we could care less, right?
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This is an event that you can't ever get out of your head.
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And and it says that they they return to Jerusalem with with
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this great joy. And I think we say happy New
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Year, right? I think we should say joyous New
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Year because happiness is based upon circumstances.
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And is everybody happy? Yeah.
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Sometimes you're happy, sometimes you're sad, sometimes
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you're mad, sometimes you're glad.
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But joy is a fruit of the spirit.
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When the joy of of the Lord is in US, they can't be drained.
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It's it's eternal, it's supernatural, it's something you
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can draw from no matter what you're going through and what
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you're dealing with in life. The joy of the Lord is our
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strength and we see that in the lives of each other.
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When we suffer, we're not excited about suffering and
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tragedy and difficulty and heartache.
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But when Jesus is in the midst of your suffering, there's this
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presence of joy, isn't there? It's and it's not something we
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can manufacture or try to make happen.
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It's something that's supernaturally is given to you
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and me as a gift. It's a fruit of the Spirit, the
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love, the joy, the peace, the long-suffering, the gentleness,
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the goodness, the meekness. All the attributes of Jesus are
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in us because Christ is in US, Christ in you the hope of glory.
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And so whenever we we watch that little video clip there of of
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Jesus showing up at at Lazarus death.
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It's it's interesting because Lazarus is about his figure
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about 30 years old when that happened and Jesus, he knew all
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about it ahead of time and he didn't show up immediately
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because there was a reason for what had happened and why it
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happened the way it happened. But Lazarus was supernaturally
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resurrected from a terminally dead condition.
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Of course, it wasn't the final resurrection because even though
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he was healed and brought back to life, he eventually died,
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right. But but Jesus resurrection was
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the fact that he can never die again and never will die again.
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And so whenever we're resurrected, we're never going
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to die again. And so this this issue of what
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happened with Lazarus was the fact that it was a precursor of
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about 6 days before Jesus would actually be raised from the dead
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himself. And they wanted to eliminate
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him, the enemies, because of what he had done for Lazarus.
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Because a lot of people there were skeptics up until that time
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regarding Jesus and his message of repentance and remission of
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sins became believers because what had happened to Lazarus.
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So they saw Jesus as being a great threat to the rest of the
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nation of Israel, and they wanted to eliminate him and get
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get rid of him. And so Mary and Martha and
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Lazarus lived in Bethany and Jesus throughout his lifetime
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had developed a friendship with them.
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So on his way to celebrate Passover, he would stay at their
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house. So they were really, really
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close friends and Jesus hung out there a lot with them.
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And whenever Martha first came and said, Lord, if you would
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have been here in time, he wouldn't have died.
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He saw the anguish in her, the heartache, the desolation, the
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confusion. Because Jesus is a man of
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sorrows and acquainted with grief.
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There's not one thing you and I go through that we go through
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alone as his kids. He suffers with you when you're
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suffering. He, he enters into your life and
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the times that you're broken and your your heart is blown apart.
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He's there to bring comfort. He's there to bring courage.
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He's there to bring strength. He's there to bring hope and
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reason and peace. And the longer you walk with the
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Lord and the more you begin to know Him and the older you get
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in your relationship to Him, He never doesn't show up and
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minister to you. Now at first when you're going
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through whatever it is, you, you, you want a miracle right
37:59
away. You want help now, not like 10
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minutes from now or two days from now.
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Lord, I need you right now. And he's there.
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We just don't sense it sometimes He, he lets us like get
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desperate to really push into him and the struggle to really
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find him. He says if you seek me with all
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your heart, you'll find me. If you seek the Lord with just a
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superficial heart, He's still there, but He's not going to
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show up the way you want him to. But when you're desperate for
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Him and you're crying out to Him and He knows you're at the point
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of ready to receive and experience Him, He will show up
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in a very powerful way. So even though Jesus knew he was
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going to raise Lazarus from the dead, when Martha shared her
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brokenness to him, you know what it says in the Bible?
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Jesus wept. Why would He weep?
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He knows the end from the beginning.
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Beginning from the end. He weeps for us because He knows
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we don't understand at times. Why, Lord, why?
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And our hearts are broken, but he puts the heart back together
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again. And I find through crisis and
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adversity and suffering and tragedy, it's a paradox because
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it's the best thing that can happen to a human being because
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it causes them to look for God and then perhaps even maybe
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believe in God because of what they've gone through or what
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they're going through. He's a master physician.
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He knows how to touch the heart. He knows how to pull out the,
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the stuff that needs to be exposed and to, to be repented
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of and to, to be seen as as ugly as it is.
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And why he had to die that violent death on the cross for
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the sins that we've committed against him, past, present and
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future. The the lack of.
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Compassion that we have for this great God at times is that's
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what I marvel about. I say, Lord, how can you love me
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so much when I've loved you so little?
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But His love for me and you is not predicated or conditioned
40:38
upon a temperature of what He thinks or sees and how we love
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Him. It says He loved us, and while
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we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, our worst place in life
40:54
and time. He died for us because He loves
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us. So when we look at this section
41:06
in First Corinthians 15, I pray, and this is a long chapter,
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we're going to get into a lot of interesting teachings regarding
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what happens to the body after death and the type of the
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resurrection that occurs. For the resurrection from the
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dead, for those resurrection of righteousness believers and the
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resurrection of condemnation and guilt for those who are
41:32
unbelievers who unfortunately will suffer all eternity and
41:37
hell because they refused to believe on Jesus and accept Him
41:42
as their Savior. All these people that were
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exposed to this experience, Peter Cephas, that's another
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name for Simon Peter. Then they called him the 12,
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even though there was only 11 left.
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They were known as the 12 apostles, the 500 people that
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saw him at one time, then James Peters or Jesus brother, half
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brother that the whole life of growing up as a kid in the
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house, as I mentioned last time, all these other brothers were
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always getting in trouble. I'm sure getting spanked.
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Jesus never got spanked once and they would call him goody 2
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sandals. Jesus never does anything wrong.
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You love him more than you love me because he never he's
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perfect. They didn't even know what they
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were saying. Surely he was perfect and is
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perfect without sin. And then Paul, we'll get into
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that next week. He says last of all, he was seen
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by me also as by one born out of due time.
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And how Paul got saved is a miracle in and of itself.
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Martyring Christians, putting them in prison, having them
43:07
killed because they followed Jesus and the and the humor of
43:12
Jesus. Guess who I'm going to pick to
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be one of the leaders of my, my New Testament church?
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Paul Tarsus, You got to be kidding me.
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This guy was a murderer. You can't trust him.
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We hate you know no way but God chooses a weak and foolish
43:29
things of this world to confound the wise that no flesh your
43:33
gloriness present. I am the last person and I Lewis
43:37
will say the same to be doing what we're doing.
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You got to God. You got to have a good sense of
43:41
humor to you would call us out of our sinful lifestyles and our
43:45
self centeredness and our pride and our greed and all these
43:49
weaknesses of our human feralities and feelings.
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And you, you choose to speak through us.
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He could speak through a donkey, right?
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He can speak through an ass, right?
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So it's humbling. So as a worship team can come
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forward, 11:45 I stop at 11:45. Lewis stops at 1155 S.
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Do you like me better than Louis because I quit sooner.
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No, I used to like preach for an hour and a half.
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I was telling Louis and finally I realized like people checked
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out like a long time ago. So we only have so much
44:40
bandwidth. But anyway, it's a privilege to
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be able to teach this to you today, and I pray that the Lord
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will touch your heart and bring healing to where it needs to be
44:51
healing. I know some of our family in
44:53
this church has lost loved ones this year.
44:56
Some are dealing with serious illnesses.
44:59
Some are dealing with wayward family or broken kids, marriages
45:04
that have been in disarray, whatever.
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But we're also grateful for all the answers to prayer that we've
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had at Calvary Chapel this year, all the wonderful things that
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God has done in your lives and the lives of many that we care
45:17
about and love. So keep praying, keep trusting
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the Lord, keep asking questions, and we're here for you to help
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you in your path and your walk as you help us as well.
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Let's take the Lord's Supper together.