1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:11,760 Welcome to Logan City Christian Church podcast where we bring God's Word to you weekly. 2 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:17,280 We pray that what you hear will bring clarity to your situation and open doors in your life. 3 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:18,160 Enjoy the message. 4 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,320 Father, we thank you. We thank you for your presence in this place today. 5 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:32,080 We thank you, Almighty God, for the worship team and all that put their hand to the plow, 6 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:38,880 the technicians and everybody that makes this all happen. We ask that you bless them. 7 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:48,800 But Lord, we ask that we bless you with our thanks and our praise. 8 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:58,000 And we praise what a privilege it is for us as human beings being saved by your mighty grace 9 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:03,440 to be able to be in right relationship with the creator of the universe 10 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:12,800 and to praise you and to sing to you and to worship you is such a privilege. 11 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:21,440 And we thank you for it in the name of Jesus. We all say amen. Amen. You may be seated. 12 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:27,200 Hallelujah. God is just so good. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. 13 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:33,600 I'd like to welcome Pastor Steve Harris today, Global Influencers and another missions that 14 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,800 I can't think of and doing a great work around the world and just a good guy and 15 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:46,080 and Carl Fletchner from Living Deep and Strong, the mentoring program. It's lovely to have you 16 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:51,840 with us again today and I welcome everybody here this morning and our online congregation welcome. 17 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:58,240 I just and if you're new here today, we just want to extend a very warm welcome to you. Amen. 18 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:06,000 Praise God. Hallelujah. This morning, there's going to be an altar called given. 19 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:12,960 For anyone here today that may not yet know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, 20 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:20,240 there will also be opportunity given for prayer and I know like I know in my spirit 21 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:28,640 that today people are going to be set free. As Juliet, thank you Juliet, shared in the 22 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:33,840 communion message this morning that the burdens that have been lifted off our lives 23 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:39,040 some people here today. You sense the spirit of God here. 24 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:47,360 He's going to do a wonderful work. He's already doing a wonderful work. 25 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,800 If we will just let him. If we will just let him. 26 00:02:54,800 --> 00:03:00,320 The title of the message this morning is Jesus is alive. 27 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:11,040 Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive. Thank you for your enthusiasm this morning. 28 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:18,800 Come on, Jesus is alive. He's alive. He's alive. Our Lord and Savior is alive 29 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:21,680 and well. 30 00:03:21,680 --> 00:03:31,280 And as darkest things seem to be and to be getting in this world today is no match to Jesus. 31 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:38,720 And I want to encourage you with the word this morning that if you're in a place where you're 32 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:44,960 feeling that you've lost hope, you feel that you're trapped or burdened to the place where 33 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:52,160 there's no... you don't see any good in life where you're in the right place today. 34 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,880 If you're today and you're thinking that I'm in need of a fresh start, you're in the right place 35 00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:07,200 today. And you know that there's so much that I could say in this message this morning 36 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:14,240 about Jesus being alive, it's limitless. How can we confine into one message 37 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:24,240 eternity? It's impossible. But I just pray that the Holy Spirit will capture the words that are 38 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:32,320 spoken this morning and infuse them into our spirit so that when we go home, we can be 39 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:41,600 alive and infuse them into our spirit so that when we go home, it'll play over and over and over 40 00:04:42,640 --> 00:04:52,800 that Jesus is alive. Amen. I'm going to read from Luke chapter 24, but before I do, 41 00:04:52,800 --> 00:05:02,000 please allow me to go back and to set the stage as to what has previously happened. You see, 42 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:11,680 we thank God for His amazing grace. We thank God for His mercy. He is a good God. 43 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:22,560 And God thought of us so long ago when mankind fell into sin right back in the garden of Eden, 44 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:30,400 that God Himself did not leave us stranded and He did not leave us alone, that it was prophesied 45 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:40,160 in Genesis chapter 3 that there was a coming Savior. And then fast forward, we read how Jesus 46 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:52,720 Himself, born of a virgin, that we see that His life was the beginning of the work of the Spirit 47 00:05:52,720 --> 00:06:01,760 of God, which He conceived by the Holy Spirit. And we see that Jesus Himself, when He was baptized, 48 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:10,320 He received the Holy Spirit. And then we fast forward to Acts chapter 2, and the early church 49 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:21,760 was birthed in the Spirit. So, there's something in the presence of the Holy Spirit in the work 50 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:31,920 of redemption, in the work of salvation. Jesus' birth was a result of the Holy Spirit. 51 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:39,600 So too, the Christian church. But in between those parameters that I've just spoken about, 52 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:48,400 Jesus, He walked this earth, and anybody that wanted to know what heaven was like, 53 00:06:48,400 --> 00:06:56,080 what the kingdom of God would be like, all they had to do was look and watch and listen to Jesus, 54 00:06:57,280 --> 00:07:04,160 because He was the... and is the express image of God, and He never spoke of His own. 55 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:13,920 But Jesus reflected God everywhere He went. And it was there that the kingdom of darkness began 56 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:21,680 to suffer terribly. What a great conflict that took place when Jesus began to do and preach, 57 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:29,600 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit, with power, who went about doing good 58 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:37,600 and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. And so, for the first time in recorded history, 59 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:44,160 the kingdom of darkness is being challenged. There's a spiritual contest going on. 60 00:07:45,120 --> 00:07:52,880 And here, Jesus, the Son of God, empowered with all might from heaven, from God, 61 00:07:53,760 --> 00:08:02,080 was going about and showing us as human beings the heart of God, the kingdom of God, 62 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:09,920 the power that resided in Jesus, and Jesus went about and doing wonderful things. 63 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:18,880 Jesus at one stage then came, was teaching His disciples. He's saying, I'll put this in the 64 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:29,520 Aussie term, He says, guys, there's coming a day that I'm going to be taken by wicked men, 65 00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:36,400 by wicked men, and they're going to kill me. They're going to crucify me. 66 00:08:38,080 --> 00:08:42,880 But be of good cheer that God is going to raise me from the dead, 67 00:08:44,960 --> 00:08:49,600 and you are going to experience such a wonderful thing. 68 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:58,720 Jesus told them in Acts chapter 1, do not depart, stay in that upper room, stay there, 69 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:06,720 and wait until you receive the promise, the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had instructed them, 70 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:12,480 you are going to need the infilling of the Holy Spirit to do what I've called you to do. 71 00:09:12,480 --> 00:09:19,120 And Jesus prepared His leadership, He prepared His people 72 00:09:21,600 --> 00:09:26,080 to carry on with what the mission entailed them to do. 73 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:34,640 And I can imagine Jesus was preparing them saying that when I'm gone, you'll receive this power 74 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:43,440 from on high, and it's going to be your finest hour that you are going to do exactly what I did, 75 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:50,640 but in greater numbers. You are going to be building and establishing the kingdom of God 76 00:09:50,640 --> 00:10:00,320 here on earth, and so Jesus preparing His people, His leadership. And so, 77 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:09,040 Jesus couldn't do anymore. But how many of us know that we can receive all the training and all the 78 00:10:09,040 --> 00:10:17,040 spiritual input, but if we forget key elements of what we've been taught, it can change the whole 79 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:24,720 narrative of what we see and what we believe. And there's something that these guys totally missed 80 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:35,760 after Jesus when He was crucified and in the grave, and they missed it. It to me is the key point. 81 00:10:36,640 --> 00:10:43,280 Out of all that what Jesus taught, I believe with all of my heart, Jesus wanted them to capture 82 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:49,600 this very thing that Jesus will die, He will be raised from the dead, and that He will live 83 00:10:49,600 --> 00:11:01,200 forevermore. But let's read from Luke chapter 24 from verse 1. Now on the first day of the week, 84 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:11,520 very early in the morning, they and certain other women with them came to the tomb preparing the 85 00:11:11,520 --> 00:11:20,160 spices which they had prepared, but they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in 86 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:27,120 and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about 87 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:36,160 this, that behold two men stood by them in shining garments, and as they were afraid, and bowed their 88 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:45,680 faces to the earth, they said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, 89 00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:55,440 but is risen. Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying the Son of Man must 90 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:04,720 be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and be raised from the dead. And they 91 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:13,120 crucified, and the third day rise again, and they remembered His words. Then they returned from the 92 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:22,400 tomb and told all these things, all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary 93 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:30,560 Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, who told these things to the apostles, and their words 94 00:12:30,560 --> 00:12:41,920 seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb, 95 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:50,720 and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, and he departed marveling to himself 96 00:12:51,760 --> 00:12:52,720 at what had happened. 97 00:12:52,720 --> 00:13:02,160 Church, what I feel in my spirit to say this morning, I pray that it won't be too hard or 98 00:13:02,160 --> 00:13:12,000 offensive, but I pray it'll be an encouragement, that it'll be an enlighten us, and empower us, 99 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:23,600 that it'll be an enlighten us, and empower us, and need be refire us, especially at the revelation 100 00:13:23,600 --> 00:13:38,240 that Jesus is alive. He is alive. And I see that this modern move trying to capture the Christian 101 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:49,840 church seems to be okay with serving a Lord that whether He's alive or whether He's not, they're 102 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:57,280 not too perplexed about that. We see a graveyard Christianity that is being manufactured, 103 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:10,640 and this I believe is exactly what happened to the very people that heard the words from Jesus 104 00:14:10,640 --> 00:14:18,480 Himself, and it said there, and they remembered. They remembered. 105 00:14:21,040 --> 00:14:25,280 But they went down on the first day of the week, early in the morning, they came with 106 00:14:25,280 --> 00:14:32,640 spices, which they had prepared. In other words, nobody goes to the tomb with spices unless 107 00:14:32,640 --> 00:14:39,280 you're going there to finish the embalmment of the deceased. So they're going down there already 108 00:14:39,280 --> 00:14:45,680 with the mindset, Jesus is finished, He's dead. What a great time we had with Him. He did wonderful 109 00:14:45,680 --> 00:14:51,200 things, and we learned a lot from Him. What a great season it was, but it's all over. 110 00:14:51,200 --> 00:15:00,000 And those that were following Jesus, it could have almost sounded like things were going so good, 111 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:12,480 and now He's dead. And then life can continue down that pathway of trying to readjust and remodel 112 00:15:12,480 --> 00:15:22,720 Christianity, that Jesus did wonderful things, but not have the revelation, I'm speaking of a 113 00:15:22,720 --> 00:15:33,680 divine revelation in our spirit, that Jesus is alive. He's not dead, He is alive and alive forever 114 00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:44,240 forevermore. And they lost that. They were overcome with grief. We thought that Jesus was 115 00:15:44,240 --> 00:15:53,520 going to restore the kingdom to Israel. There were so many hopes that in the natural were dashed when 116 00:15:53,520 --> 00:16:00,560 Jesus took His last breath and said, it is finished. I could imagine His followers looking on 117 00:16:00,560 --> 00:16:08,960 and going, we had great hopes that this would be different. They could sense it, you know, 118 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:15,760 when the Spirit of God is speaking or moving, you sense it in your spirit. And could you imagine that 119 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:22,720 all of a sudden, it seemed like everything was ripped away from you. And so here are a bunch of 120 00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:29,360 followers of Jesus Christ that felt that they had everything taken away from them, all their hopes 121 00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:39,600 and dreams. And so here the women come to the grave already accepting this lie that Jesus is dead. 122 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:46,960 They forgot the words and I believe the church of Jesus Christ needs to hear the words again 123 00:16:46,960 --> 00:16:55,040 and again and again that Jesus is alive and alive forevermore. Now what is the big deal about Jesus 124 00:16:55,040 --> 00:17:02,160 being alive? I'm glad you asked because we're going to get there in just a moment. But in their minds, 125 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:09,360 they already had accepted the fact it is finished, He's dead. That's the end of that series. 126 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:19,120 If only they knew it was just the beginning. There are times in our lives when we feel that 127 00:17:19,120 --> 00:17:24,960 all of our hopes are dashed and finished and we feel that it's all over. But I want to let you know 128 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:30,560 that if you hold on to Jesus with everything that you've got and give everything that you have, your 129 00:17:30,560 --> 00:17:36,480 disappointments, your discouragements and give them to Him, that can be the first day of the 130 00:17:36,480 --> 00:17:42,800 rest of your life where you will walk with Christ and succeed and prosper in the things of God. 131 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:50,320 Because we have faith in a living God. We have faith in a living Savior. 132 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:53,680 And He is alive. 133 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,440 But they found a stone rolled away from the tomb. 134 00:18:01,360 --> 00:18:07,120 Could you imagine? This is not like a little stone. This, you know, 135 00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:12,320 in one of the other Gospels, it says, who's going to roll the stone away for us? 136 00:18:15,280 --> 00:18:20,160 And so, they found the stone was already rolled away from the tomb. 137 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:28,480 And they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And still at this point, 138 00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:37,840 they're looking. Where's His body with the spices in their hands? Let us put the final touch 139 00:18:38,480 --> 00:18:47,360 to His burial. Sometimes as Christians, I've done it myself. We can feel so defeated. 140 00:18:48,400 --> 00:18:54,160 We feel like there's nothing left. And we can so easily adopt the wrong mindset as such 141 00:18:54,160 --> 00:19:03,040 and feel that it's all over. I'm telling you, church, God Himself, as He sent two angels here 142 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:10,320 to the women to readjust their thinking, cause them to reevaluate the circumstances, 143 00:19:11,360 --> 00:19:17,040 and bring their focus back from their mind as a dead Lord to a living Savior. 144 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:25,920 And I tell you, life is so different living on that side of Christianity. Jesus is alive. 145 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:34,080 And it happened, and it happened as they were greatly perplexed about this. 146 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:39,680 This being perplexed, this amazement 147 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:44,240 was they did not yet have the revelation that Jesus was alive, that He was risen. 148 00:19:45,520 --> 00:19:53,520 So they are in a not a very good place, thinking, how are we going to finish what we started? 149 00:19:56,640 --> 00:20:04,800 See, this runs deep. It runs very deep. And it's still running deep. 150 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:12,960 It runs very deep. And it's still running deep in streams that flow around the world. 151 00:20:14,320 --> 00:20:21,840 That Christianity is just a gathering. People sing a few songs and they say a few words, 152 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:28,880 and then we go home and we do this year in, year out, but no, church, the church of the Lord Jesus 153 00:20:28,880 --> 00:20:36,000 Christ is also alive. It is also living. It is built out of living stones, that's you, 154 00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:40,480 and that's me, and that's you, and you. It's all of us who are truly born again. 155 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:46,160 The church is alive. The church is filled with the Spirit of God. 156 00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:54,320 And the church is doing great and mighty things for the Lord, building the kingdom of God here on 157 00:20:54,320 --> 00:21:03,600 earth. And I might say under increasingly more difficult circumstances, and it happened as they 158 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:10,480 were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 159 00:21:11,520 --> 00:21:17,680 And these were two angels. If you've ever seen an angel, you will know why these ladies were on 160 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:27,840 their face. It is a fearful thing to experience a spiritual encounter as such. Then as they were 161 00:21:27,840 --> 00:21:37,280 afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, now the angels are asking the 162 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:48,160 followers of Jesus a question. Think about that. And this is the question that they asked them. 163 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:54,560 Why? Why do you seek the living among the dead? 164 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:03,600 You see, in that time, people that followed false religions and false gods, 165 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:09,600 and false followers and leaders of false religions, they would often go to their grave 166 00:22:10,320 --> 00:22:19,840 and hope to catch their mantle. You know, people still do that to this day. They call it grave 167 00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:26,560 sucking. They go to the grave of a person that is deceased, an anointed man or woman of God, 168 00:22:26,560 --> 00:22:33,440 and they will lay on that grave in hope to absorb the anointing of that person. 169 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,720 Let me tell you this. I do not believe that that is in Scripture anywhere. 170 00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:50,480 You don't know what you open yourself up to. Why would you do that when Jesus is alive and has 171 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:57,360 already anointed you? And so, there's this coveting of someone else's anointing. 172 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:02,640 We want to be like them. But what's wrong with being you? 173 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:11,120 Do you know that you, as a child of God or as a minister, are the most qualified person to be you? 174 00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:21,040 No one else can be you. God has called you uniquely to do your thing and not to imitate or copy 175 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:30,080 what someone else is doing, to want to be in their success when God has already anointed you in your 176 00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:42,400 success. And so, you know, this chasing anointings. I don't understand it. I don't. 177 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:52,400 And so, these people, they used to go to the graves of the greats, as they will call them, 178 00:23:52,400 --> 00:24:00,320 the great people. They would go to the graves of kings in their eyes that were great, 179 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:07,680 that they established the worship of Moloch and throwing little babies into the fire 180 00:24:07,680 --> 00:24:12,880 as a worship to their God. And they thought it was so great and wonderful, and they would go to 181 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:20,560 their tombs. And these angels are so great, they are so great, they are so great, they are so great. 182 00:24:20,560 --> 00:24:25,680 And these angels are saying, hey, this has changed a lot here. 183 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:35,920 All of those that came before that are dead are still dead. And today, saints of God, 184 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:44,400 if you had the ability to do so, I don't recommend it. But if you could find the grave of Buddha 185 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:51,200 and you dug it up, you will find His bones in that grave. And if you found the grave of Krishna, 186 00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:59,680 you would find His bones in that grave. And if you exhumed the grave of all the others that 187 00:24:59,680 --> 00:25:04,880 have ever lived, that of the followers that are not of Christ, you will find that their bones 188 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:11,840 are still in the grave. But as Christians, we know, you don't need to go to Jesus with a shovel to 189 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:18,000 dig up to find if He's alive, because His grave was empty, the stones rolled away. He is alive 190 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:22,880 and alive forevermore. We don't have to go among the dead looking for the living. 191 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:35,760 Jesus is risen from the dead. He's alive. That to me is such exciting news. And then if Jesus is 192 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:45,360 alive, then His followers are, come on. You're alive. If Christ is truly your Lord and Savior, 193 00:25:45,360 --> 00:25:52,480 you're alive in God. You're alive in Christ. And He desires to do a great work inside of you and 194 00:25:52,480 --> 00:26:00,160 through you. You know, I remember some people that, you know, one guy, he came to the church 195 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:08,800 probably 20 years ago and he had a $1,200 a week heroin addiction. And he said to me, 196 00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:17,920 am I allowed in the church? And I thought, wow, that is... come and seek among the living, 197 00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:24,960 the living God. And we walked him in and through the worship, he walked out the front, 198 00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:33,200 he fell on his face and his sobbing was as loud as the worship. And we just let him go. 199 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:40,960 The Holy Ghost was all over him. He got up off the ground, sat in the chair next to me 200 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:45,920 and never touched heroin again for the rest of his life. 201 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:54,800 The only way that can happen is because Jesus is alive, He's living. He's living. He's alive. 202 00:26:55,360 --> 00:27:03,920 And He loves people. He sets the captives free. God's not mad at you. God wasn't mad at me when I 203 00:27:03,920 --> 00:27:08,880 was, you know, drinking all those sorts of things and those of us that have been down that same road 204 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:17,200 God wasn't mad at you. If He was, I mean, we'd all be in trouble. But God provided atonement for our 205 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:27,360 sin. And that's the Son Jesus Christ. And this man, he got up, he said to me, he said, Rob, 206 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:33,840 there's more. And I said, yes, you need to give your life to Jesus. And he said, yes, 207 00:27:33,840 --> 00:27:41,360 you need to give your life to Jesus. And see, this happened as an unsaved man. Now think about that. 208 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:47,120 And he got wonderfully saved. And he got filled with the Holy Spirit, 209 00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:53,680 the evidence of speaking in other tongues. And I know that does offend some people. 210 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:59,520 But let me tell you that the evidence of speaking in tongues is a sure evidence of a resurrected 211 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:07,920 Jesus. Because Jesus said, when I rise and I go to the Father, the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit 212 00:28:07,920 --> 00:28:17,440 will come. In Acts chapter 2, the Holy Spirit certainly came and turned ordinary men and women 213 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:25,680 into amazing preachers. Peter preached his first sermon, 3000, then 5000. That's not a bad effort 214 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:32,240 for somebody who's not long been, you know, working for the things of God. That's a pretty good effort. 215 00:28:32,880 --> 00:28:39,440 But the effort that was is the Holy Spirit. Now that guy that came off that heroin delivered from 216 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:46,960 it, I asked him, I said, what did it feel like? He said, through that time on the floor, I felt so 217 00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:48,960 loved. 218 00:28:48,960 --> 00:28:54,160 No condemnation. He said, I felt so loved and accepted. 219 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:02,000 And he just said, it was just, well, I won't repeat what he said, but he used a few expletives and 220 00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:12,320 just describe how good he felt. And he came to the next Sunday and he said, I just want to know 221 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:19,600 that I've got to go reach other drug addicts. I go, I reckon that's the Spirit of God, brother. 222 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:24,800 Let us train you how to do that. He went out and started, oh, he started a fire. 223 00:29:26,400 --> 00:29:32,960 Sitting here today, maybe you feel that something that's not quite aligned with God right today 224 00:29:32,960 --> 00:29:38,800 is going to stop you from progressing in the sin of love, in the sin of being a sinner, 225 00:29:38,800 --> 00:29:43,920 today is going to stop you from progressing in the things of God. I want to address that. 226 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:50,560 God works on us. You see, we were justified when we got born again, just as if we never sinned. 227 00:29:50,560 --> 00:29:56,320 And then comes the sanctifying process of the Holy Spirit. If we yield to Him, the sanctifying 228 00:29:56,320 --> 00:30:03,440 process that God helps us and cleans us up and makes us holy. He brings that out. The Bible says 229 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:09,680 to be holy in all your conduct. And so, you know, when I'm not speaking about a positional holiness 230 00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:14,240 that we received when we got born again, I'm speaking about a progressional holiness that 231 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:23,920 the Holy Spirit works in us and makes us holy. Does that make sense? Yeah. So don't give up. 232 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:31,120 Don't stop God from working in you. But we can't go seeking the living among the dead. 233 00:30:31,120 --> 00:30:36,880 You have a call of God on your life. God might send you across the back fence or He might send 234 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:42,320 you into another state or He might send you into another nation. But whatever it is, God wants to 235 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,120 use you. You have a message. You've got something to say and you've got something worth saying. 236 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:55,440 God wants to use you and empower you. So why do you seek the living among the dead? 237 00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:03,680 Why do you seek the living among the dead? Saints, I believe that this has been widely 238 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:12,160 understood as a comforting thing. Why even try? I'll just be a Christian and a good person and 239 00:31:12,160 --> 00:31:18,640 I'll just live my life till I die and I go to the sweet by and by. But no, God's got a lot more for 240 00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:25,760 you. He's called you to shake the kingdom of darkness because Jesus is alive in you. 241 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:34,320 He's alive in you. You have a calling. You have a mission. The angels said, He is not here, but He 242 00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:45,200 is risen. They remembered. Let's go down to verse 11. And their words seemed to them like idle 243 00:31:45,200 --> 00:31:54,800 tales and they did not believe them. That's a sad passage of scripture. 244 00:31:59,920 --> 00:32:08,720 You see, I'll tell you, I sense the presence of God, the Holy Spirit so, so powerfully. 245 00:32:08,720 --> 00:32:17,440 So powerfully. And I sense in my spirit, the Lord is just speaking in my heart saying, 246 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:24,320 He's going to bring this revelation alive. A revelation many of us know here, 247 00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:30,320 but it hasn't dropped to here. I tell you, when that revelation drops, 248 00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:37,600 you're going to turn the world upside down and inside out and right side up for Jesus. 249 00:32:37,600 --> 00:32:47,600 The scripture was used this morning, Juliet and communion, greater, greater is He that is in you 250 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:56,320 than He that is of the world. This message that we preach, the marvelous gospel of Jesus Christ, 251 00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:04,240 we need to know did not come from this planet. It came from heaven. So we have a message 252 00:33:05,040 --> 00:33:11,760 that is foreign to this world, yet so needed. And we need to understand in this world, 253 00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:18,800 if you run it down to the line, there are two kingdoms that exist in this world. 254 00:33:18,800 --> 00:33:27,040 There's the kingdom of darkness and there's the kingdom of light. Now each kingdom has a ruler. 255 00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:35,600 The ruler of the kingdom of darkness, as we know, is Satan and he's mean. He's nasty. He came to 256 00:33:35,600 --> 00:33:41,760 steal, kill and destroy. There's no mercy, there's no compassion, there's no goodness in Him at all. 257 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:50,640 It's all darkness. And he's doing this on this planet as we live and we're seeing it. 258 00:33:51,120 --> 00:33:56,560 Just turn on the news and you will see it. But the ruler of the kingdom of light is Jesus. 259 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:04,560 He is all good, He is all truth, He is all light. There is no darkness in Him at all, 260 00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:11,920 all light. There is no darkness in Him at all, at all. He doesn't lie, He tells the truth. 261 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:19,600 And He has come to give life and life in its abundance. And so those two kingdoms clash. 262 00:34:20,720 --> 00:34:25,840 And when you and I got born again, we came out of that kingdom of darkness 263 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:34,160 and we were translated into the kingdom of light. So we no longer are under the 264 00:34:36,160 --> 00:34:44,400 power of that old master. And the thing that really amazes me when I got saved, 265 00:34:44,960 --> 00:34:52,560 it was like this revelation then as a newly saved Christian, that when I was being led to Christ, 266 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:59,360 when I made the decision to accept Christ in my life, there was no power of darkness that could 267 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:07,760 stop me from that point. And when I bowed my knee and received Christ, I felt this incredible 268 00:35:08,080 --> 00:35:13,040 power and this experience that there are no words to explain it. 269 00:35:13,040 --> 00:35:19,760 There are no words to explain it. But Christ had come into my life. 270 00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:29,600 When Christ came into your life, it was an incredible experience. 271 00:35:32,880 --> 00:35:39,280 I've been, and I know you guys have too, been privileged and blessed to see miracles take place. 272 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:49,280 Blind eyes open, deaf ears hear, cripples walk. We've seen it. And we rejoice in that, and rightly so, 273 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:57,840 because it's all evidence of a risen Savior. But there is no greater miracle than salvation. 274 00:35:58,960 --> 00:36:06,080 When a person comes out of slavery into freedom, out of darkness into light, there's no greater 275 00:36:06,080 --> 00:36:13,920 miracle. Forgiveness of sin, eternal life, what a wonderful blessing. I'd like to go now to Ephesians 276 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:24,480 chapter 1. I just spend a little minute here, and no that is not my first close for those that are asking. 277 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:34,480 Praise God. And I'm going to cut in at verse 19 of Ephesians chapter 1. 278 00:36:35,760 --> 00:36:41,120 And what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe? Do you believe today? 279 00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:46,240 Do you believe? Well, there's an exceeding greatness of power for you. 280 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:53,600 Toward us who believe according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He 281 00:36:55,600 --> 00:37:02,240 Come on. When He? From? So that means that Jesus is alive. 282 00:37:04,240 --> 00:37:10,240 Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand 283 00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:19,360 in the heavenly places. Right hand symbolizes authority. Now listen to this. Far above all 284 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:26,480 principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age, 285 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:33,200 but also in which is to come. And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be the head 286 00:37:33,200 --> 00:37:40,880 of all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. 287 00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:50,240 Let us grasp the picture here. When Jesus was raised from the dead, 288 00:37:52,240 --> 00:38:00,640 He was raised far above, not just equal to, far above all principality and power and 289 00:38:00,640 --> 00:38:07,200 might and dominion. What is that? They are the ruling ranks of the devil's kingdom. 290 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:18,000 So it's made very clear here that number one, Jesus is alive. Number two, Jesus has been exalted 291 00:38:18,000 --> 00:38:24,720 to heaven at the right hand of the Father with all authority. Number three, He has total authority 292 00:38:24,720 --> 00:38:32,640 and power over every ruling dominion of the kingdom of darkness. Now we should start to be 293 00:38:32,640 --> 00:38:42,400 getting excited about this because this is what I want to say. There is no power of darkness that 294 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:56,960 can overrun your life unless you let it. Because as I said, Jesus is alive. 295 00:38:56,640 --> 00:39:03,280 You've seen it, I've seen it. Like my friend who was delivered from heroin, 296 00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:08,000 that is one of many that we have witnessed over the years. 297 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:15,360 To see what Jesus has done, that people being in outlaw gangs, there are some of you here today, 298 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:22,720 I won't point you out, but you know who you are. You came from a very dark background 299 00:39:23,680 --> 00:39:32,960 and yet Christ still received you. You know, what a rejoicing moment when a person comes to you, 300 00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:41,200 you know, what a rejoicing moment when a person comes from darkness and calls upon the name of 301 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:48,240 Jesus to save them. Jesus said that all of the angels, not some, all of the angels in heaven 302 00:39:48,240 --> 00:39:54,960 rejoice with this guy who might be covered in tattoos, been stoned and stolen, all those sorts 303 00:39:54,960 --> 00:40:01,840 of things, that there's a place in heaven for a person who repents. There's a place in heaven. 304 00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:08,160 How can that be? Because Jesus is not in the grave and when He rose from the dead, 305 00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:15,920 He Himself as the sacrifice now became the high priest and He took His own blood when He ascended 306 00:40:15,920 --> 00:40:22,560 into heaven and poured out His own blood in the mercy seat in heaven that makes atonement for the 307 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:28,240 sin of the world. And that's why the Scripture says in Romans chapter 10 that whoever calls on 308 00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:34,320 the name of the Lord shall be saved. Why? Because atonement has been made for the whole world. 309 00:40:34,960 --> 00:40:43,520 Hallelujah. God is a graceful God. He's a good God and the atonement is there because Jesus is 310 00:40:43,520 --> 00:40:51,600 not dead, He's alive. Come as you are. Come as you are. That day that night I got saved, 311 00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:56,480 I was under the influence of several different things. I remember saying to Chantel, 312 00:40:56,480 --> 00:41:01,680 let me get out of my pajamas and give me a couple of days to dry, you know, and she said, 313 00:41:01,680 --> 00:41:07,680 you just come right now, boy. She knew that I was trying to buy a bit of time, I think. 314 00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:16,080 But let me give you an example how powerful it is when you receive the living Christ in your life. 315 00:41:17,040 --> 00:41:21,520 Before I became a Christian, I alluded to this last week, I never finished the story. 316 00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:34,400 Okay. I was being attacked physically by a demonic being and it went for around about six months. 317 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:44,160 And most nights it happened, not every night. But what would happen, I would be paralyzed in bed, 318 00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:52,960 fully awake, and this creature thing would try and torment me and it did a good job. And I tell 319 00:41:52,960 --> 00:42:00,880 you that every time that I tried to resist it with all the might that I had, this thing's power would 320 00:42:00,880 --> 00:42:08,160 increase just multiplied. And I knew that I was subservient to the power of this thing, that I was 321 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:17,280 not going to win. And I knew this thing wanted to kill me. I knew it. I would be choked, half dragged 322 00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:24,320 out of bed. But often in the struggle and the thrashing, Shantel would wake up, she never saw 323 00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:36,880 it. But as soon as she touched me, this thing would stop, just stopped. And I thought, you know, 324 00:42:36,880 --> 00:42:43,280 then the following days I'd think, Lord, this is all wrong. You know, we as the men of the house 325 00:42:44,400 --> 00:42:53,520 need to be the protector of the house. But now it's like, wake your wife up, honey, there's an 326 00:42:53,520 --> 00:43:00,400 intruder in the house, get them and pull the sheets over your head. That's what I felt like. 327 00:43:00,400 --> 00:43:07,600 How many men can, you know, align themselves with that? Come on, there must be more than one. 328 00:43:11,440 --> 00:43:17,360 And so, I was totally overrun by this thing. And eventually this one night, 329 00:43:18,480 --> 00:43:24,480 it went ballistic and I thought I was going to die and Shantel ministered to me. And it was that 330 00:43:24,480 --> 00:43:31,760 night that I received Christ. And she said to me something that I didn't really take seriously and 331 00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:38,960 I want us to grab hold of this this morning. She said to me, if that thing ever comes back, 332 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:47,440 you now have an authority that in the name of Jesus, you can command this thing to go. 333 00:43:47,440 --> 00:44:00,560 Now, in here, I'm thinking, but I'm a this and I'm a that and she's, no, you're not. 334 00:44:01,680 --> 00:44:04,480 That's what you did. It's not where you're going. 335 00:44:09,360 --> 00:44:13,440 And about two weeks later, I said to Shantel, I should have done this years ago. I'm a very 336 00:44:13,440 --> 00:44:20,160 slow learner. I had such wonderful peace and rest and I would stay because I had a back injury at 337 00:44:20,160 --> 00:44:24,960 the time and I couldn't work. And so I was trying to stay awake at night and sleep during the day. 338 00:44:24,960 --> 00:44:31,200 And and my whole life was just turning around upside down inside out. And until one night, 339 00:44:31,840 --> 00:44:37,440 about two weeks later, Shantel went to sleep. Let me, how many of our wives, as soon as their 340 00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:41,760 head hits that pillow, they're gone. If you want to have a conversation, forget it, write it down 341 00:44:41,760 --> 00:44:50,960 and talk tomorrow because you're not going to wake them up. So this thing came back and it was furious. 342 00:44:53,360 --> 00:44:57,120 And I was sitting against the head of the bed, is that what you call it? 343 00:44:57,120 --> 00:45:10,320 And I was saying, Jesus, get him, Jesus, get him, get him, Jesus. And this thing was going to tear me apart. 344 00:45:12,640 --> 00:45:14,240 And then this thought came back. 345 00:45:16,400 --> 00:45:23,040 Rebuke it in the name of Jesus. And I said, in the name of Jesus, I rebuke you thinking 346 00:45:23,040 --> 00:45:31,600 that this is weird, right? But you try anything. And when I said, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus, 347 00:45:31,600 --> 00:45:38,800 this thing just stopped. You could see like a sudden stopping. And I realized I had something. 348 00:45:40,160 --> 00:45:45,760 And I said it again. How many of you know when the bully, you find out the bully's a coward, 349 00:45:45,760 --> 00:45:52,720 that suddenly you're no longer intimidated that now you're the aggressor? Anyone ever found that? 350 00:45:54,640 --> 00:46:02,240 That's what happened. And inside of me rose this boldness. And I remember saying it quite loud, 351 00:46:02,240 --> 00:46:09,760 in the name of Jesus, I rebuke you. And this thing burst into like billions of particles 352 00:46:09,760 --> 00:46:16,560 and it was like an upside down tornado. And as it left, Chantel woke up, the curtains were being 353 00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:22,960 blown around, all papers on top of the wardrobe, and there was like a carnage in the room, and then 354 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:33,520 there was a rest. Why do I say that? What is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who 355 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:38,960 believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised 356 00:46:38,960 --> 00:46:43,760 Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand and in heavenly places, far above all 357 00:46:43,760 --> 00:46:48,480 principalities and powers of might and dominion in every name that is named, not only this age, 358 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:55,760 but that is which to come. And He put all things under His feet. If you are a believer today, 359 00:46:55,760 --> 00:47:02,880 a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ and serving the Lord Jesus Christ, you have the authority 360 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:12,080 of the living Christ that lives inside of you and at the name of Jesus, at the name of Jesus. 361 00:47:12,080 --> 00:47:19,680 If Jesus was dead, He would have no power in the realm. If Jesus was not alive, the devil would not 362 00:47:19,680 --> 00:47:25,760 be threatened. When I was confronted with one of the devil's servants, He didn't know anything, 363 00:47:25,760 --> 00:47:31,040 He didn't respond to any of my physical strength except with more of His strength. There was a 364 00:47:31,040 --> 00:47:38,800 battle I was never going to win, but I'm telling you, when Christ is in you and He is living 365 00:47:38,800 --> 00:47:44,720 alive and you have a revelation that He is there, you will go across every rough sea in life, 366 00:47:44,720 --> 00:47:51,600 you'll go through the fires, you'll go through the waters, Christ, He's with you. Why? Is because He 367 00:47:52,400 --> 00:47:54,800 is alive. 368 00:47:54,800 --> 00:47:59,840 Thank you for joining us. We pray God's richest blessing on your life. If you haven't already, 369 00:47:59,840 --> 00:48:04,880 make sure to join us on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. You can also find us at 370 00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:25,920 LoganCityChristianChurch.com. See you next week.