Transcription
Would you lift your hands and just give God some praise and thanksgiving? In the beginning moments of this service, God's about to baptize this place with His glory. I have no doubt that the Holy Ghost is about to overshadow this place in a mighty way. Would you lift your hands? Lift your voices? Come on, everybody! I love you, Jesus. God, I magnify the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Come on, let's give the Lord a good hand clap of praise everywhere!
[Applause] Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
[Applause] I welcome you to the house of the Lord today on Easter 2021. We're going to see great things happen in this house today. We're going to see people's lives change. We're going to see differences made in people's lives and spirits and homes. Do you believe that? While we celebrate the resurrection, we're not going to get so involved in the celebration that that's what it's about. We're going to keep Jesus the center of our focus today. I'm alive because He lives. Are you ready to have church? You can be seated if you need to. Worship with the praise team. Don't forget to share the live stream. There's a whole lot of people that want to see what's going on today. Share the live stream right now so someone can enjoy this celebration with you.
[Music]
[Music] You. It was [Music] I was breathing [Music] out [Music] [Music] into Your glorious days. [Music] [Music] Jesus. [Music] Jesus went [Music] you call my [Music] [Music] glorious. [Music] Is [Music] [Music] is [Music] out of the [Music] Oh, [Music] because I was an orphan, but You called me a citizen. [Music] [Music] Is [Music] [Music] I [Music] Yes. [Music] Yes. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] You call my name and I read. Hallelujah!
[Applause] Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
[Applause] Why don't somebody shout Hallelujah?
[Applause] Come on, let's do it again. Somebody shout Hallelujah! Hallelujah! God bless you. It feels good in this house today. Anybody agree that it feels good in this house today? Anything could happen in an atmosphere like this. Hallelujah! God bless you. You can be seated.
You know, I understand that this day is set aside to celebrate a God that manifested Himself in flesh, and He died, and He rose again. He came out of that grave, and we, we celebrate that today. But I'm telling you, I was sitting over there thinking, you know, I believe that more than, more than we celebrate He came out of that grave, He wants to celebrate you coming out of your grave today. Hallelujah! I just, I just feel that in my spirit that, that you can come out of your grave. He said, "Don't preach His message." Somebody say that to yourself. Just repeat, just repeat those words: "I can come out of my grave. I can come out of my grave today."
You know, Paul, in, in First Corinthians, the 15th chapter, he said, he said, "I declare unto you the gospel." He said, "Christ died for our sins, and He was buried, and He rose again." And on the Day of Pentecost, they asked, they asked Peter, they said, "What shall we do?" And he said, "You need to repent of your sins. You need to die. And," he said, "you need to be baptized in the name of Jesus. You need to be buried. And," he said, "you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and rise into new life." Folks, that's the gospel. That's, that's how we apply the gospel to our lives. We repent, we're baptized, and we receive the Holy Ghost. And I believe that in this house today, there's somebody sitting here, there's more than one person that can do that today. You can come out of your grave today.
We've got a number of guests in this house. Thank you for being with us. Pine Grove, let's welcome our guests. They're coming back to sing. Share the live stream. Share it with your friends and family on Facebook. Let's worship together in this place today.
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Ever stopped Fridays disappoint? Sunday is empty too. Since when has impossible ever [Music] This is a praise. Make [Music] This is the sound of drop on try to [Music] stirring something. [Music] Resurrection power. I believe there's another miracle here in this city. This is the kind of place that opens grains. This is [Music] This is [Music] You're not gonna run. [Music]
[Applause] I believe there's another miracle here in this room. This is the place. [Music]
[Applause] [Music] This is [Music] Somebody might be going through a Saturday right now. Somebody might think Jesus is still in the tomb in your life. He may still be laying there. Somebody may see the stone still rolled over. But I'm telling you, God is here to roll back the stone on Easter Sunday. [Music] My God is able to save and deliver and heal. [Music] If this doing [Music] This is [Music] This is [Music] Is [Music] This is this is [Music]
[Applause] [Music] Oh, this is [Music] [Music] This is what God spoke to the bones. This [Music] Is [Music] Oh, [Music] This is [Music] [Music] Oh, [Music] My God is able to save and deliver and heal and restore anything that He wants to. Just ask. Just ask the man who was thrown on the bus. [Music] Was [Music]
[Applause] [Music] This is [Music] I'm [Music] This is [Music] This is what He said. [Music] This is is [Music] This is the [Music] coming back together. [Music] Hallelujah! There's miracles taking place all over this, all over this place. There's miracles happening everywhere. There's people being touched in their body. There's people being touched in their mind. Come on, right now, let's, let's pray just for a second. Hallelujah! Let's pray for just a couple more seconds. Hallelujah! Jesus, God, You see every need. God, You see every situation. Hallelujah! Somebody speak to that grave right now. Somebody speak to that grave and tell it, "You're coming out." Somebody say, "I'm coming out."
[Music] Hallelujah! It's not going to work unless you speak it. [Music] Somebody tell it, "I'm coming out." [Music] Oh, Jesus! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Miracles are taking place. Oh, thank You, Jesus! One more time, let's lift our hands. I love You, Jesus. Come on, church, let's pray. Oh, what a special, special presence that we have in this house. I'm telling you, Jesus is here. Jesus is in this house. Hallelujah! He's here, and He's here to fix things. He's here to put things back together. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Well, just remain standing. Hallelujah! You can make your way back to your seats, though. Just remain standing. The ushers are gonna give you an opportunity to be blessed. Hallelujah! How many of you enjoy making God your partner in your financing, in your finances? He loves, He loves teaming up with you and partnering with you in your finances. We're going to give you an opportunity today to be blessed, to bring your tithes and your offering. Hallelujah! These guys are going to help us. They're going to wait on us. Choir, after you give, you can be making your way to the platform. Thank you, Jesus. God, we ask You to use this offering. We ask You to bless it, anoint it, use it for the furtherance of Your kingdom. Multiply, multiply in Jesus' name. Hallelujah! God bless you as you march and bring your offering today. Choir, you can make your way to the platform. Let's have church in Jesus' name.
[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] Hallelujah! God bless you. You can be seated. How many of you appreciate this choir? I'm telling you, they put in some work. They practice, and they pray, and they lead us in worship so beautifully. And I want to read a couple of scriptures while they're getting ready. Matthew 28 says, "In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulchre. And behold, there was a great earthquake: and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and his countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not: for I know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here: for he is risen." Behold, it says in First Corinthians 15, it said, "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." And the famous scripture says, "O death, where is thy sting? O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" I'm telling you today, we've come to worship. We've come to celebrate a risen Savior.
[Music] We've come to acknowledge that that tomb is empty. And I'm telling you, as this choir gets ready to bless us in song, heaven wants to celebrate your empty tomb. Heaven wants to celebrate your empty grave today. I'm telling you, somebody needs to make it open in your mind: "I'm coming out of that grave. I'm coming out of that grave today." Worship with the choir as they sing.
[Music] [Music] The moon and stars they went. The morning sun was dead. The Savior of the world was falling. His body on the cross. His blood poured out for us. The weight of every curse upon Him. [Music] The Son of God was laid in darkness. A battle in the grave. The war on death was waged. The power of hell forever. [Music]
[Applause] [Music] Oh, [Music] Is [Music] Is [Music] [Music] [Music] The ground began today. [Music] Is is [Music] foreign [Music] Is [Music] We've seen. Hallelujah! [Music] [Music] Hallelujah! [Music] Hallelujah! [Music] [Music] Hallelujah!
[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Is [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Is [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] Is [Music] Oh, [Music] [Music] Hallelujah! Aren't you glad to be in the house of the Lord today on Easter Sunday, resurrection morning? I'm glad to be in God's house.
[Music] Right now would be a good time if you need to go out, use the restroom, get a drink of water, whatever. Get back in this auditorium because when the Word of God's going forth, we want to make sure we're attentive. We want to make sure that the dove is not easily put to flight. We want to make sure that we give God space to talk to us. I want you to know it's not going to be Pastor Copeland talking to you today. It's going to be the Holy Ghost using Pastor Copeland as a vessel. I'm just a mortal, but God has something to say to you in this place today. I believe that, don't you? I want to go to Matthew chapter 27 and verse 59. Matthew 27 chapter, and the 59th verse. If you'll stand just a few moments in honor of the Word of the Lord. While you're turning there, I want to say welcome to every guest that's in our house today. We have a number of guests in the house. We want you to know that you're very, very welcome to be with us in the house of the Lord. We're glad you're here. We pray that you're forever changed by something that happens in this place today. For the next few minutes, I'm asking you to be attentive to God's Word. I understand there's babies, I understand there's necessities, but anything that can be put off, done later, please, let's give our full attention to the Word of God for a few minutes here today. Matthew chapter 27 and verse 59: "And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth." We're going to read through verse 66. "And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock: and he rolled a great, a great stone." Everybody say, "a great stone." "A great stone." Scholars who study that area estimate the stone weighed somewhere around 2,000 pounds. "And rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed. And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre. Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first." He said, "If you think he's been bad while he's alive, he's really going to give us trouble if he rises again." Pilate said unto them, "Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as you can." So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch."
I want to preach to you for a few minutes from this subject: Resurrection Realities. Resurrection Realities. God bless you. You can be seated. Would you lift your hands and ask the Holy Ghost to speak in this place today? Would you do that? Jesus, dear Lord, I have nothing to offer these people on my own, God. I'm just a fleshly man. Mortal intellect is not going to do it today. But if somehow the anointing of the Holy Ghost, God, can somehow work through my spirit, hide me behind Your cross, God. Let somehow these people see You in all of Your power and Your resurrected authority today. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Amen.
Resurrection realities. There are some undeniable realities concerning Christ's resurrection. I don't know what you think today. I don't know what your thought processes are. Every guest that's in the house, I don't know what you've been told. I don't know what your family tradition is. I don't know if you cannot believe in the resurrection, or you really believe in the resurrection, or if you believe in the resurrection through, through tradition, but you've never had been convinced on your own. I want to talk to you today about some resurrection realities. There are some undeniable facts about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as I read all four Gospels, because all four Gospels record the resurrection of Jesus Christ, as I carefully read all four accounts over the last couple of days in preparation for this day, I was amazed. I began to make notes and write some things down. And after hours of study, I lifted my hands with tears rolling down my cheeks and said, "God, I've always believed in Your resurrection, but never more than I do right now. Never more than I do right now." Wouldn't it be just like God to do something that was so undeniable that even 2,000 years later, just reading the Bible, that you can know there's just no way to fake this.
I want to start by seven undeniable facts, biblical and historical scholars must admit. Seven real realities concerning the tomb, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Number one: Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. This is not just a biblical record; this is a historical record. Biblical theologians, along with historical scholars, admit that Jesus lived and died and was buried in Jerusalem, crucified by Rome at the Jews' insistence, and that happened there. Number two: He was buried in a sealed and guarded tomb. Now, these are things that are a part of the historical record. Even people who do not believe that Jesus was the Messiah must admit that this all was a part of history. Number three: The disciples were afraid, shattered, and completely lost hope when Jesus was crucified. They did not, even though He warned them, even though He prophesied it, in their Jewish minds, He had come to set up His kingdom in Jerusalem. They never believed that He would be crucified at the hands of Rome. Number four: The tomb was found empty on the third day. It is a matter of history. It's not just a Bible story. Historians that hate Christianity and Jesus still must admit that that tomb was empty. It is a matter of Jewish history, world history, and biblical record. Number five: His appearance after His death was reported by upwards of a thousand people over a 40-day period. Jesus repeatedly appeared to individuals, groups, and large gatherings. Number six: The disciples miraculously rebounded in faith after the appearing of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost set the ma, the, the day that the new, the church of that day, the book of Acts church on fire. Number seven: Preaching of the resurrection and the infilling of the Holy Ghost caused church growth to explode first across that region and then all over the known world. These are seven undeniable historical and biblical facts concerning the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
So, with this in mind, I'm going to talk to you about five undeniable resurrection realities. All right. I want to start with this introduction. The single greatest miracle in the history of the world is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Nothing tops that. In the 6,000 recorded years of man, there is no greater instance, miracle, no greater historical fact than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's not theological alone. It's not physical, philosophical alone. It is a historical event. And this historical event only makes sense, and you, as you will see in my five points, if it's centered around a resurrection, not a hidden body. Nothing but a resurrection works. The life and times of Jesus Christ are credible and accepted part of history. More is known and recorded about the birth, the life, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ than any other person in the ancient world. He is recorded in history alongside Herod, Pilate, Annas, Agrippa, and many others, real, living, historical people. Professor Thomas Arnold, the former history professor at Oxford University, stated this, and I quote: "I have been used for many years to study the histories of other times and to examine and weigh the evidence of those who have written about them. I know of no fact in the history of mankind which is proved by better and fuller evidence of every sort to the understanding of the fair inquirer than the great sign which God has given the world and us, that Christ died and rose again from the dead."
The lynchpin. The resurrection is the lynchpin of all Christian hope. Without a resurrection, nothing else in Christianity matters. Without a resurrection, what we do today is in vain. It is the lynchpin upon which the door of hope swings for the entire Christian world. We would be great fools to do what we're doing today if there was not proof of His resurrection. Paul records this in First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 12. First Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 12: "Christianity could never survive the attacks of its critics without a risen Savior." Now, if Christ be preached that He rose from the dead, how can, how can say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching in vain, and your faith also in vain. Yea, we are found false witnesses of God, if there is no resurrection, because we have testified that He raised up Christ, whom He raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not." He said, "If He didn't rise, then we have no hope over resurrection." For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. Look at this. Three more verses: "If Christ be not raised, your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins. There is no blood to redeem you. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished." There's no hope for those that's dead that went before us. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." If there is not a resurrection, aren't you glad that that's not the case? Aren't you glad that your hope is not in vain?
The resurrection is the starting point for any investigation as to the identity of who Jesus is. If it's not true, then nothing else matters, and Jesus is not God manifested in the flesh. I'm going to take just a moment on this. We're not going to go to all these, but just for a sampling of Old Testament prophecies that Jesus was going to rise from the dead: Genesis 3:15, Psalms 2 and 7, Psalms 16:9-11, Psalms 22:14-15, Psalms 40:1-3, Psalms 110 and 1, Isaiah 53:9-12, Hosea chapter 5, Isaiah chapter 6, Zechariah 12 and 10. First Corinthians 15:3 and 4 is the New Testament prophecy. And then Jesus prophesied His own resurrection in Matthew 12:38-42, Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:9, Matthew 20:19, Mark 14:28, Luke 9:22, and John 2:19. All four Gospels record Jesus prophesying His own resurrection from the grave.
Now, quickly, five resurrection realities that cannot be denied. Number one: All four Gospels record an empty tomb. Even Jesus's enemies confess to an empty tomb and begin a campaign of conspiracy with payoffs and lies. Point A: The high priests go to Pilate and they say, "If His disciples come and steal Him away, if you think we had problems before, if everybody thinks He rose out of that grave, we're really going to have issues. Our problems will have only started." And so Pilate tells the high priests, "Start a watch." Historians agree that there was anywhere from four to 48 Roman soldiers. At least one quadrant. Quadrant comes from the word quarter, which means four. So a quadrant was four soldiers. If there was one quadrant, there was one, so one group of four soldiers. There, most historians believe there were 12, 48 soldiers, almost 50 soldiers guarding that tomb. Somebody said, "Where do you come up with those numbers?" Well, let me just say this: In the book of Acts, the 12th chapter, when Peter was kept in prison, they had four, they had four quadrants there, 16 soldiers guarding Peter. How do you think they felt about Jesus? How many men do you think they had guarding Him? If there was 16 to guard Peter, the whole world was centered on Jesus. There was a lot greater chance of loss if Jesus disappeared. So there's anywhere from 4 to 48 soldiers, depending on how you want to interpret it, guarding this man. We do know that there was at least quite a group because the Bible says some of them just defected when they realized Jesus had disappeared. They just disappeared. That's what the Bible says. This ain't me. The Bible says they just disappeared. They just left. They said, "Oh, it's over. We're going. We're out of here." Another group of them went and presented themselves to Pilate and began to tell him, "Look, we don't really know what happened. All we know is there was an earthquake. We passed out. When we came to, He was gone." That's the story, folks. That's the Bible story. Then begins the conspiracy of a payoff. Look, I'm going to give you money to say that you fell asleep. We're going to get into that a little later. I don't want to get ahead of myself.
Point B: At Pilate's orders, the stone was sealed. Now, this is a stone that already weighs 2,000 pounds. They've already got four to 48 guards guarding the tomb, and then they seal it. So I did a study yesterday of what they would have done in that day to seal the stone, and I came up with a pretty definitive answer for that day. Here's what Rome would do when they sealed something: They would take clay and they would pack it all the way around the stone in a crack, in the cracks. And when the clay dried, it would turn almost like brick mortar. While it was still wet, they would put a rope in it with a Roman seal, and it was a death penalty to break a Roman seal. What that meant was, "Don't touch this stone." Now, if their story is true, I want you to think about this: The disciples came under the cover of night. They passed anywhere from 4 to 48 Roman soldiers. They had to take something to break that seal. They had to take a hammer and chisel and bust that clay seal all the way around that stone. That was some good Roman soldiers to sleep through that. They slept through the breaking of the seal. If their story's true, I want you to think about this with me: If their story's true, they slept through the breaking of that clay seal, then they slept through the moving of a 2,000-pound stone. Does any of that sound reasonable to any of you? And then they went in there and got Jesus out and hauled Him out, and 4 to 48 Roman soldiers slept through the whole thing. See, we know the stone. You say, "Well, how do you know the stone weighed 2,000 pounds?" Well, I'll tell you this: In four Gospels, there were three to four women going to the grave, going to the tomb. And Mark says, on the way to the tomb, Mark records that the discussion that went on between these three to four women was, "How are we going to move that stone?" If we're going in there to christen Jesus' body with these herbs and oils that we're bringing, how are we going to get in? Three to four women knew there was no possibility of them budging that stone, as recorded in the book of Mark. Now, when the stone did get moved, one of the things, listen to me, one of the things that convinced Pilate and made them make the decision, "We better come up with a story." The reason the high priests, joining with Pilate, said, "We've got to come up with a story that we were asleep and His body was stolen." One of the things that convinced them that He was resurrected. Are we, are you listening to this? John records that the moving of the stone was the Greek word *aereo*, which could be where we get our word "aeroplane." It meant to pick up and carry away. The stone was not just rolled back; it was picked up and carried away from the tomb. One, his, one historical writer, the same I quoted earlier, that was over the Garden Tomb for years, said it was carried uphill. Physically impossible for any human. And then D, under the heading of point one: "The soldiers were as dead men while the angels removed the stone and Jesus came walking out of that grave." That brings me to point two.
Point two: Why were the soldiers not imprisoned or put to death if their story was true? Shouldn't something be done? I mean, this is the greatest historical moment in the world. If He was to be crucified, He is the greatest threat that exists in that day, and they slept and let His body be stolen. Shouldn't there be some repercussion for that? Let's look at our Bible records and see. First Kings 20 and 39. First Kings 20 and 39 says, "I don't have time to go there." Let me just tell you that the, the, the servant went out in the midst of the battle, and behold, a man turned aside and brought a man unto me, saying, "Keep this man: if by any means he be missing, thy life shall be for his life, or else thou shalt pay a talent of silver." I'm giving you this man to guard, and if he goes missing, it's your life for his. And in the story, the man says, "I was busy here and there, and the prisoner was gone." Probably in verse 40. And he said, "Well, I want to remind you, it's your life for his life." It was a death penalty for your prisoner to go missing. You say, "Well, that's Old Testament." Well, then let's go to the New Testament. Let's go to Acts 16 and 27. In Acts 16 and 27, the disciples are kept in prison, and they pray and sing, and all of a sudden the foundations are safe, shaking, everyone's. And, and so, let me, let me before you get ahead of me on the, on our story. Somebody said, "Well, what about the earthquake?" Were the, were the prisoners responsible during an earthquake? There was an earthquake here too, and the prison guard felt fully responsible for his people, no matter what the calamity. Immediately all those were open, everyone's bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prisoner, waking out of his sleep, seeing the prison doors were open, drew out his sword and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. Here's what they understood: When you're guarding prisoners, it's a death penalty. But yet, there's no biblical or historical record of anything being done to these 4 to 48 soldiers that just let Jesus' body be taken. It's not an accurate account. It doesn't make sense because it's not true. Jesus' body was not taken. He was risen. Even in the case of an earthquake, listen to me, even in the case of a great earthquake, if a great earthquake broke the seal, threw the stone uphill a long ways from the mouth of the grave, when they did wake up, a dead man would have still been there. They could have at least went in there in the mouth of the open tomb and guarded the body. Dead men don't leave, even in an earthquake. They would have still been responsible for the body that was still in the tomb. Dr. Bill White, formerly in charge of the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, said there was some undeniable evidence in which makes it impossible for the chief priests to bring any charges against the guards. The Jewish authorities must have visited the scene, examined the stone, recognized its position, remember what I said earlier, uphill, too far away for any by any physical group, recognize its position as making it humanly impossible for their men to prove it, permitted its removal. No twist of human ingenuity could provide an adequate answer or even a scapegoat. So they were forced to bribe the guards and seek to hush the story.
Point three: The response of the eyewitnesses. They went from hopeless, unbelieving, to fire-baptized evangelists, preaching the death, burial, and resurrection as the pattern for the new birth. As Jesus appeared and reminded them, they went to Jerusalem and waited for the outpouring of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. The revival started in Jerusalem, of all places. If they had a conspiracy in Jerusalem, wouldn't they have started their revival in Asia Minor? Oh, y'all just going to sit there and look at me. I mean, don't people that make a big mess and lie somewhere, go somewhere else and start over? Why didn't they start it in Turkey or Italy if they had nothing to hide? Or, I'm sorry, if there was something to hide. The reason they started in Jerusalem is because that's where the real resurrection took place. It spread like wildfire because they believed the story was true. And it's easy to sell what you really believe in. And it's impossible to sell what you're lying about. Oh, come on, somebody. I said, it's easy to sell it if you really believe it. And then last point under that heading: James, the brother of Jesus, was not a believer because who wants to believe their brother is the Messiah? Any of y'all like to, any of y'all like to just stand up today and profess that your physical, biological brother is the Messiah, the Christ, come back to save the world? James was a skeptic. The writer of the book of James was a skeptic until this point. But when his brother was crucified, and his brother was put in a bar, a tomb, but three days later, his brother standing beside him saying, "Feel the scars in my hands, feel my riveted side," James became a believer and became one of the main preachers and proponents of the new birth, the death, burial, and resurrection of his own biological brother, because the resurrection was real. If nothing else, let James' conversion tell you there was an empty grave because Jesus lived again.
[Applause] Number four. Title four: They were willing to die for their gospel. Peter was crucified upside down for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Paul was beheaded for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Andrew was crucified like Jesus for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Thomas was ran through with spears by four soldiers for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection. And remember, he was the doubter until he put his hands, hands in his hands, and his hands in his side. Matthew was pierced through with a sword for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. James was stoned to death for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Matthias, who replaced Judas as one of the twelve, was burned at the stake for preaching the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Why did not at least one of them say, "I've got a wife, and I've got children. Let me live. We hid the body and lied"? Just one. Every one of them died believing and preaching and confessing the death, burial, and resurrection. Wouldn't, wouldn't there just be one traitor in the lot? Just one? If it would have been conspired, if it, if they would have got together and said, "Let's hide the body and tell, and tell that He resurrected. Let's hide His body and start a movement that He resurrected." Number one, would it have spread across the known world? And then, number two, would all of its proponents been willing to be martyred for the lie? I'll tell you, somebody somewhere, to save their own body, to save from burning at the stake, somewhere, somewhere Matthias, halfway through the burning, would have said, "Get me down. It's a lie. We made it up." But not one recanted because they couldn't, because He did come out of the grave. While people will die for the truth, you can't find a group that everyone will die for a lie. And then, number five, last point: The body has never been found. Wouldn't somebody somewhere? I mean, they couldn't have went far. It wasn't planned. They didn't know He was going to be crucified. The reason murders are solved all over the country is because they make mistakes, especially when it's a, it's a crime of passion, in the heat of the moment. There's no planning. They didn't plan it. They didn't know He was going to be crucified. They couldn't have carried Him far. Do you know how many people have dug up Jerusalem over the last 2,000 years? Do you know how many archaeological digs have happened in Jerusalem? Do you know how many countries are digging in Jerusalem? Do you know how many universities have dug in Jerusalem? And they've never found the body and said, "I think this is Jesus." Where did they take Him? The reason they never found a body is because there was no body to bury. There was nobody to hide. He was risen.
Stand together and lift your hands. I need the musicians to come. Come on, somebody cry out to the Lord right now. Come on, somebody. Needs to lift your hands and say, "I've never been more convinced." Come on, somebody needs to cry and say, "I've never been more convinced." We serve a risen. Come on, somebody. Come on, somebody. Come on, help me, church family. God wants to do a miracle in somebody's world today. Come on, help me, help me, help me, help me. We need some help around here. Just a few moments. It's 1:19. We got time for an altar call. God wants to work a miracle for somebody in this house right now. Come on, come on. Reach out to Him. Reach out to Him. Reach out to Him. Do you think for a moment nobody looking around? Hands raised. Saints praying. Intercessors reaching out. Prayer warriors crying out. Somebody needs to let the spirit of travail get a hold of him right now. Because in the last moments of this message, I want to tell you, He didn't rise just to rise. He didn't come out of that grave just to live. I thought Brother Forsyth was going to preach my altar call message. There's only one reason why He came out of that grave: because He wants to walk you out of whatever you're in today. He came out of His tomb so He could bring you out of yours. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Come on, pray for somebody around you right now. There's people in this place today. You came to this Easter service in a tomb of despair. You came to this, you came to this Easter service in a tomb of depression. Addiction is ruining everything that's precious to you. You're in a tomb of hopelessness. You're in a tomb. You wonder if you'll ever get out of it. It's no shame. We've all been there. The reason I'm a preacher today is God walked me out of my tomb. You can look around you and say, "Look at all these Christians. Look at all these religious people. Ain't nobody ever been where I am." I'm here to tell you that every one of us have been where you are. I'm going to tell you what you're looking at today. You're looking at people that's been delivered from alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addictions, depression, fear, anxiety. I'll never reveal who they are, but there's people that's in this church, and at one time was a part of this church, that was delivered from prison sentences, death sentences. We had a member of this church for years that only was able to come to this church because the governor pardoned, a governor pardoned, let them off death row. Don't tell me, or maybe it was a life sentence. Life sentence to a death row. Whatever it was, it was bad. I don't want either one. Do you? You can sit here today and say, "Nobody knows where I am. Nobody knows where I..." Oh, you just don't understand. We can say like Paul, "And such were some of us." The only thing that separates us is not just our ties and our suits and our nice dresses, because most of us, when we walked in those back doors, walked in on our last leg. Some considering suicide, some considering overdoses, some wondering if they would accidentally overdose accidentally because they were so addicted to their drugs. People sitting right here today that I, I'd never point them out, never embarrass them, but they know that I went with them to get them out of their last DUI that was going to put them behind bars for many, many years. And now those kind of people teach Sunday school classes. Now those kind of people are going to be over the Easter egg hunts today. Those kind of people sing in the choir. Those kind of people are on the ministry team because God didn't come out of His tomb to leave you in yours. He came out to walk you, to walk you out. Somebody lift your hands and cry out. I'm not a singer today. I'm not a singer today. And I want them to sing whatever they have planned. But if I was going to sing today, I would ask this question: Does anybody know about the love of Jesus? Does anybody know about the, the deliverance of Jesus? Why don't you testify? What don't you say, "I do"? Does anybody know how He can set you free? Does anybody know how He can pick up the pieces of a broken world and put your picture back together again? Does anybody know how you can gather up the water that you spilt on the ground and put it back in your picture? Does anybody know how you brought Him a bundle, a bundle that looked like yarn tied in knots, and God brought your bundle and put it back together again? Bring the broken pieces. Bring your brokenness. Trust Him with your problems. Let Him walk you out. He's a resurrected, resurrected Savior. Come on, lift your hands together. Come on, as people begin to gather around these altars, I want to tell you today, He wants to resurrect your dreams. He wants to resurrect your hopes. He wants to resurrect your family. I'm not here just to preach you a pretty sermon today. God wants to resurrect your world if you'll let Him. Don't come to the altar by yourself. Grab somebody and say, "Go with me." Everybody ought to come today. Leave the altar so the aisles open. Come in close enough that it opens the eyes up where others can get in. We got a flood coming around these altars today. We need to make sure these aisles stay open where everybody wants to come can come. Come on, don't remain in your pew. Let Jesus give you hope today. Let Jesus restore your world. He's here to pick up the pieces. He's here to resurrect your hopes, your dreams, your life, your world.
[Music] Somebody's standing back there saying, "I gave up hope on myself." [Music] Everybody else has given up hope in me. I don't believe I can ever be changed. I don't believe I can ever be free. [Music] I'm here to tell you today that every one of us had to reach that point somewhere in our world. Somewhere in our world, every one of us had to reach the point that we said, "I've done all I can do. I've taken myself as far as I can go. It's either going to be suicide, live a life drugged out of my head, or there's got to be a miracle." I'm here to tell you today that everybody you see around these altars represents their own miracle. Everyone you see around these altars represents their own miracle. There's no good people that come to Jesus anymore, not in the world we live in, not in this world of drug addiction, pornography addiction, sex addictions, not in this world of alcoholism and fear and anxiety. I'm going to tell you how people come to Jesus today: with their life in broken pieces, and they gather it all up and put in the basket, and they hope they got all the pieces in the basket, and they come to Jesus and say, "My God, I've lost all hope. Can You do anything with this mess?" I don't care how good they look on the outside. I don't care how together they look on the outside. The reason that the worship was as demonstrative as it was today is because we know where we came from. I don't care what I look like. I know where I came from. And the reason I lift my hands is He's brought me a mighty, mighty long way. I'd given up on myself. I didn't have any hope left until Jesus. Come on, sonny, lift your hands and cry out right now. God wants to work a miracle for somebody. These altars. Come on, God wants to work a miracle for some of these altars. Come on, God wants to work a miracle. Pray for somebody around you right now.
[Music] [Music] Holy Ghost. Come on, somebody. No wonder You're our Savior. [Music] [Applause] My God, my God. Yes, Lord. Yes, Lord. No wonder we call You. Come on, the Holy Ghost is here to work miracles today. [Music] [Applause] Jesus, You made a way. You made [Music] Holy Ghost. [Music] You made a way. Not God. Let God bring you hope today. Jesus Christ. Come on, God wants to work a miracle for somebody in this house right now. Don't take your problems and go back out the back door. Don't take your brokenness and go back out the back door. Lift your hands and give God an opportunity today. Let Him have your situation. Come on, pray for somebody around you right now. God wants to work a miracle. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] Listen, nobody looking around. I got to make one last push. Please. Every head bowed, every eye closed. Please work with me just a moment. I know this is a different day, a different atmosphere. I know there's celebration. There, we got plans. I understand every bit of that. But somebody's desperate today. Somebody's desperate today. I can't just let this thing go because there's somebody in this building right now that you're at your wit's end. In fact, you're past wit's end. You came today acting like everything's all right because I know you don't want to put your problems off on anybody else, and you've got it. And I understand all that stuff. But why in the world would I be any kind of preacher at all if I didn't give you one more opportunity to let God have it? [Music] Look, you've had it up till now, and it hadn't gotten better. You've progressively gotten worse. There's no shame in any of that. Every one of us have been there. But as He sings it one more time, man, we all, every one of us need to, we, we need to have discernment here today. [Music] Reach over and pray for somebody. Go to somebody and say, "Man, let me pray with you." We're not looking down on you. We're not acting like you need help and we don't. We're simply saying we know what it feels like to be there. Every one of us are here not because we're good, but because we've been redeemed. God saved us in the nick of time. Come on, let God help you today. Come on, pray for somebody. Come on, let God resurrect somebody's dreams today. Come on, let God let you resurrect somebody's hopes today. Come on, pray for somebody around you right now. Come on, pray for somebody around you right now. Come on, open these aisles up. People are coming. [Applause] Come on, come on through. Come on through. My God. Come on, preachers, help me. Come on, preachers, help me. Help create healthy preachers. Come on, help me preach this God. [Music] I love you, Mary. God loves you, Mary. Come on, Jesus. Come on, come on, come on, come on. It's working. It's working. There's hope in this house. There's life in this house. When it's broken, when it's broken, God can give you life. When it's broken, God can turn it around. When it's broken, God can make the difference. Don't hold back. Let God do it. Don't hold back. Let God do it. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. God's not done. There's people praying. Oh, this film. Come on. [Music] Come on, come on, come on, come on. Don't stop. Come on, don't stop. [Music] Come on, push, church. Come on, push, church. God's killing people with the Holy Ghost. God's changing people's lives. God is for you. [Music] God, I want You to work a miracle right here. God, I can remember being right where she is. But God, You're my hope. You're our own. God, You know how to put our life back together. I'm telling you, you're not here by accident. God wants to give you your life back. You had a dream of what you wanted to be, and life just went off the rails. But don't feel bad. It's happened to all of us. But God knows how to make us real again. God knows how to make us stream again. Come on, that's it. Come on, don't stop. Let God do it. Let God do it. [Music] Can I pray for you? God, when this sweet lady came around this altar, I couldn't help but notice. There's all kind of people standing here, God. But there was something about her crying out. I know why, God, because she loves You. She believes in, she believed in You before I preached the message. It wasn't a message. She, she's believed in You for years. The God, brokenness and hurt happens to us all. I don't know what's caused the emptiness and the pain, God, but You know how to take care of it. I'm asking You in the name of Jesus, and through the power of Your blood, to show Yourself to her today, right here in this altar, like never before. I'm asking You to take her to a level in Your spirit that she's never been before. In the name of Jesus. That's it. Just talk to Him. God's gonna answer. God's gonna answer. Jesus. Holy Ghost. [Music] Jesus. [Music] Come on, let's lift our hands. God's not done. Come on, come on, just a few more minutes. God's not done in these altars. Come on, just a few more minutes. God's not done in these altars. Come on, reach out. There's hope for you today. There's hope for you today. There's hope for you today. Come on, there's hope for you in this house today. There's life for you in this house today. Ghost, church family, would you lift your hands and just begin to praise Him for what He's done today? Come on, everybody. Everybody, everybody lifting, lifting your voices, lifting your hearts. Come on, come on. Love Him in this house today. Jesus, He's our hope. He's our hope. He's our own. Come on, come on. That's it. He's our hope. There's hope in this house. There's hope in this house. There's life in this house. Come on, don't stop your push. Just a little bit more. We're gonna go have fun in a little while. But right now, right now, let's help God do this work. Let's work with God. Let's present the atmosphere. Yes, Lord. Christ tearing. [Applause] [Music] It go. Come on, come on, pray. Come on, preachers, help me. Preachers, the Holy Ghost is working. No wonder we call You saved. [Music] Baptize them, Jesus. Fill them with the Holy Ghost. [Music] Come on, everybody. Reach it out. Everybody, hands raised, hearts. [Music] God, I want You to work miracles. [Music] [Music] Come on, somebody reach out. The Holy Ghost is working. Come on, the Holy Ghost is working in this place right now. Come on, the Holy Ghost. Jesus Christ. [Music] Jesus Christ. [Music] Yes. [Music] Jesus. [Music] Know one last time, could we lift our hands all across the building? Come on, one last time, let's magnify Him together. Come on, come on, come on, come on. [Music] That's it. Come on. [Music] You made a way. [Music] Holy Ghost. Jesus. Jesus. Aren't you thankful you serve a risen Savior today? Come on, aren't you thankful you serve a risen Savior today? [Music] Aren't you thankful you serve a risen? There's a Christmas you can believe.