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I have been bringing you a series of messages

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on the Great Christian Pledge, or perhaps it

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is better known as the Apostles' Creed, and this

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is the fifth in the series of messages that I

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have been bringing you. Every cardinal doctrine

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of historical and evangelical Christianity is

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emphasized. in this great Christian pledge. The

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third day he rose again from the dead. Everything

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hinges on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His

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resurrection proves beyond a shadow of doubt

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his deity, and his divinity. The makers of the

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creed followed an orderly arrangement in associating

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the triumph of Christ over the tomb with his

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visit to Sheol. Departure from this life to early

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Christians was not a plunge into darkness. No,

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believe me. They understood conditions on the

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other side, and they sought to prepare accordingly

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because they had the word of the master. He had

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promised them. They believed every word that

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he spoke. Death was a portal through which they

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stepped into a better world. The resurrection

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of the master was fresh in the thinking of everyone,

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and this provided hope. This provided assurance

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of victory over death. He was the great example.

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He was their example. He the first fruits of

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them that slept. Life after death is a certainty.

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A certainty for the very reason that Jesus Christ

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came back from the grave. Because he recognized

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his friends during the period between the resurrection

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and his ascension, we know that we too shall

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recognize our loved ones. There is no doubt about

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it. The answer is here, to the question in the

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heart of anyone listening to me as to whether

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or not we will know our loved ones after death.

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Remember something. Jesus recognized his friends.

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He recognized his loved ones during the period

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between the resurrection and the time that he

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ascended into heaven. Therefore, we know that

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we too shall recognize our loved ones. Mary knelt

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beside the tomb weeping. She heard a voice. Thinking

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it to be the gardener, she turned to inquire

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about the body. Instead of the gardener, the

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Christ himself spoke and he said, Mary. And she

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replied, Master. This was recognition after the

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resurrection. Thomas was an honest doubter. I

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believe that just as surely. Thomas was absolutely

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a sincere and honest doubter. He refused to believe

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that Christ had risen until opportunity should

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be provided to examine the nail prints in the

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hands of the Lord and a sword thrust in the side.

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Jesus appeared unto him, saying, Behold my hands

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and my side. Immediately Thomas answered, My

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Lord and my God. This was recognition after the

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resurrection. Our Lord had prophesied his tomb

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experience several months earlier and said, And

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he began to teach them that the Son of Man must

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suffer many things and be rejected and be killed

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and after three days rise again. The fulfillment

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of this prophecy transformed the little band

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of timid followers into flaming evangelists.

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It filled them with boldness. They went out to

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face persecution and opposition the like of which

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human beings never before or since encountered.

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Anna made it with a knowledge that even death

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assured them of entrance into the presence of

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the one whom they loved. Nothing was able to

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stop this group in the grand march of proclaiming

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gospel truth. Oh, sure. Up from the grave he

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arose with a mighty triumph o 'er his foes. He

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arose, a victor from the dark domain, and he

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lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose.

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Beloved, he arose. Hallelujah. Christ. arose.

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The third day he rose again from the dead. I

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repeat, everything, absolutely everything depends

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on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the

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dead. Now pause just a few minutes. And you and

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I are going to continue this little heart -to

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-heart talk about something that to me is very

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precious. Because Jesus said on the day when

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Peter confessed, Thou art the Christ, the Son

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of the living God. Verily, I say unto you, there

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be some standing here. which shall not taste

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of death till they see the Son of Man coming

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in his kingdom. That there are those who contend

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that the fulfillment of those words required

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the return of Jesus and the setting up of the

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kingdom during the lifetime of the disciples.

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And that therefore, because no literal kingdom

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was set up during the lifetime of the disciples,

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that Jesus must have meant a... spiritual kingdom,

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which they claim was inaugurated on the day of

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Pentecost and that Jesus now reigns through the

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church. Is this true? If not, what is the explanation

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of Jesus' words? Here we see the misleading character

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of the chapter divisions in the King James Version

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of the Scriptures. There should be no chapter

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division between Matthew 16 and 17th chapter.

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The passage should read, Verily I say unto you,

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there be some standing here, standing there in

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his presence, which shall not taste of death

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till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

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Continue now. And after six days Jesus taketh

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Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth

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them up into a high mountain apart, and was transfigured

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before them. And his face did shine as the sun,

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and his raiment was white as the light. And behold,

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there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking

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with him. In this transfiguration scene, we have

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a fulfillment of Jesus' words that there were

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some, only three, Peter, James, and John, of

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his disciples, who should not taste death until

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they saw the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.

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For remember something, the transfiguration scene

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was a rehearsal, a grand and glorious rehearsal

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of the second coming. Oh, to me, that's marvelous.

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It was a revelation of Christ's second coming,

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that they should have no doubt whatsoever as

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to that which he said was truth. Like as John,

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and had revealed to him in the book of the Revelation

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the things which are to come to pass in the latter

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days, so Peter, James, and John had a foreview.

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on the Mount of Transfiguration, of the coming

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of Christ in his glory. In that scene, the Transfiguration

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scene, Moses was a type of the first resurrection

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saints. Elijah of those who should be caught

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up without dying. and their glory on the holy

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mount is a sample of the glory of the saints

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at the rapture. Oh, to me, that's very marvelous.

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But let's go on a little further. Jesus has left

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no doubt in the heart and mind of anyone that

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the things he spoke book were truth as surely

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as he left a rehearsal of his own second coming

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which is yet future he also left a rehearsal

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of the resurrection of the saints and this took

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place after after his own resurrection. Turn,

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if you will, please, to the 27th chapter of Matthew.

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We have here the crucifixion. Jesus, when he

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had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up

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the ghost. Continue. And behold, the veil of

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the temple was rent in twain from the top to

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the bottom. and the earth did quake, and the

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rocks rent. Now, and the graves were opened,

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and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

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and came out of the graves after his resurrection,

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and went into the holy city, and appeared unto

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many. Many are laboring under the false illusion

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that immediately after Jesus dismissed his own

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spirit, immediately after the veil of the temple

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was rent in twain, some talked about him, that

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many who had died and were buried arose from

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the dead and appeared to their loved ones in

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the city. No. The graves were not opened. These

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bodies of the saints did not rise from the dead

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until after the resurrection of Christ's own

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body from the grave. And why were the graves

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opened? And why did many of the bodies of the

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saints, and remember it said, bodies of the saints

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which slept. In nowhere do we have a scripture

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telling us that those who died without hope in

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the Lord arose. No. Many bodies of the saints

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which slept arose and came out of the graves.

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After his resurrection, what was it? A glorious

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rehearsal of the resurrection of the saints.

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The bodies of the saints. He gave us an actual

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example. after his own resurrection, a literal

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example of four of you, of bodies being resurrected

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from the grave. And again, they appeared unto

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their loved ones and were recognized. Because...

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He lives. We too shall live. Because he arose

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from the dead in bodily form. One day, this which

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is corruption will become incorruption. This

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which is mortal will become immortality. I thank

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God for our glorious hope in Christ Jesus. Amen.