Easter 2022 | The Purpose of the Resurrection

All right, if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to 1 Peter 1, we'll look at verse 3.

1 Peter 1, verse 3, Father, God, please, in the name of your precious

Son, Jesus Christ, and through the power of your Spirit, speak through me, a mere man, today the magnificent works of your hand.

In the name of Jesus, I pray, amen. So our regular consecutive exposition is through the book of Hebrews, but we come to Hebrews chapter 9, and it's speaking about the furniture in the temple, so I figured we try to do something a little different than preach on the furniture in the temple on this wonderful glorious day that we celebrate the resurrection.

But the background that we're looking at here concerning 1 Peter is very similar to the background that we see taking place in the book of Hebrews.

Both books are written to Hebrews who are running from the persecution, and you kind of get a glimpse of this in chapter 1, verses 1 and 2.

It says, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles from the dispersion of Pontus, Galatias, Capernaum, Asia, and Bethany, it says, according to the foreknowledge of God the

Father, and the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ and the sprinkling with His blood, may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

So both of these books, our regular exposition and this one, has that in common.

It's a book written to the persecuted church at this time speaking about the

Hebrew Christians who were running for their lives. Our theme for this

Lord's Day is the purpose of the resurrection. The purpose of the resurrection.

And our timeless truth is the same as it was then. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hinge upon the door of Christianity.

Let me say that again. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hinge upon the door of Christianity.

If there is no empty tomb, then there is no Christianity. Right? I gave the illustration before where the door and its hinges.

The only way that that door functions and operates is able to open and shut as if it has the hinges.

It doesn't work without hinges. The resurrection is the hinge upon the door of Christianity.

It doesn't matter what Jesus did if He did not rise from the dead.

Before we read our main text, you don't have to turn there. I'll read it. If you want to, you can. Just keep your finger in 1

Peter. I want to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We'll read the first four verses.

I mean, excuse me, 1 Corinthians 15, we'll read verses 12 through 19. 1

Corinthians 15, 12 through 19. Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can someone say there is no resurrection of the dead?

But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised from the dead. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

And we are to be found to be misrepresenting God, because we testify about God that He raised

Christ, whom He did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even

Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

If in Christ we have hope in this life only. Listen, we are of all people most to be pitied.

If Christ did not raise, and we can gather here today and worship what He did, we are to be pitied if He did not raise from the dead.

If God the Father did not raise Christ Jesus from the dead, then you and I have no business gathering here today in His name.

We have no business here. We need to be somewhere elsewhere. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ stands as the pedulum of the

Christian life and the believer. Just as Christ suffered and entered into the glory, you and I must suffer before we are exalted.

First Peter chapter 1 verses 20 and 21 says this,

For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last time for the sake of you, who through Him, listen, are believers in God, who raised

Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and your hope are in God.

Through Him, Jesus, through Jesus, we are believers in God.

Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, no one can come to the Father except through Me. He is the only way to the

Father. All these old covenant ways that the Jews were relying on could not get them to the

Father, and today no religious system can get you to the Father. Jesus spoke about His exclusivity, that He is the only way.

Worshiping God has to be through Jesus Christ. And if Jesus has not been raised, we worship no one.

It's the hinge upon the door. Now look with me at our text, verse 3.

First Peter chapter 1 verse 3, Blessed be the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to His great mercy,

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Now in our outline, we will see three benefits given to us through the resurrection.

Benefit number one, we receive great mercy. Benefit number two, we receive a new birth.

And benefit number three, we receive a living hope.

So all these three things we receive because He has been raised from the dead.

We receive great mercy, we receive a new birth, we receive a living hope.

And as we transition, ladies and gentlemen, our meeting today is not in vain. Right?

Hallelujah, hallelujah. He is risen. He is not there.

He's not there. There's more evidence of Jesus Christ then than there is of you now.

Many, many men have tried to disprove Christianity by disproving the resurrection and ended up becoming

Christians because it's true. Our faith is not in vain.

We gather together today for a purpose, and it's to worship God through Jesus Christ.

Before in the beginning, Genesis chapter one, the Godhead made a covenant.

And the father purpose that he was going to redeem a people, he was going to save them.

And he's going to do so by his son accomplishing the purpose. And then after his son accomplishes the purpose, the spirit would come and apply the purpose.

And the purpose was this resurrection. He would redeem a people and prove himself to be who he said he was.

2 ,000 years ago, the creator entered creation.

We speak about this in the theological sense of the hypostatic union, the God -man that Jesus is truly

God and truly man. And I think I said this last week. It could have been the week before that. But so the

Bible tells us that God cannot die and that man cannot keep the law of God.

Right? God cannot die. And you and I, as men, we cannot keep the law of God. Jesus, God, leaves his throne.

He comes down and he's truly God and he's truly man. The two do not mix. They don't divide.

And he, as divinity, keeps the law that you and I could not keep.

And him, as a man, dies the death that you and I deserve to die.

Right at 2 ,000 years ago, the creator entered creation. As God, Jesus Christ lived a perfect and sinless life.

And he did so as a substitute. It was in your place. He did it as a substitute in your place.

He loved the Father with all of his heart, with all of his mind, with all of his soul, and with all of his strength. And he loved his neighbor as himself.

And he did this as a substitute in our place. That's a hallelujah moment.

Why? Because you and I are unable to do this perfectly. You and I cannot love God with all of our heart, with all of our soul, with all of our mind, and with all of our strength.

And we do not love our neighbors perfectly. We do not love our neighbors as ourselves.

Jesus came, and he accomplished this purpose so we can be righteous and justified before God.

And after living this life as a substitute for us, he was betrayed by one of his disciples.

He was beaten with fists, rods, and the cat of nine tails, his beard torn from his face. They fashioned a crown of thorns and shoved it on his head, stripped him naked, and nailed him hands and feet to a

Roman cross, left him to die. And at his death, they speared him in the side with a spear the size of your hand.

He told Thomas, stick your hand in my side. He came to his own people, but instead of receiving him, they conspired with their task master to kill him.

And yet, the Bible tells us it pleased the Lord, Yahweh, to crush him.

We see this in Isaiah chapter 53. I'm going to read verses 1 through 10.

Who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

For he grew up before us like a tender plant, like a root out of dry ground.

He had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.

He was despised and rejected by men, and men of sorrow acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

He was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. Upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own ways.

And the Lord, listen, laid upon him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and he was afflicted, and yet he opened not his mouth. Like a lamb led to the slaughter, like a sheep that was before its shears is silent, he opened not his mouth.

By oppression and judgment, he was taken away. And as for his generation, who consider that he was cut off out from the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people.

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.

Although he had done no violence and there was no deceit in his mouth, right here, yet it was the will of the

Lord, Yahweh, to crush him. He has put him to grief.

When his soul shall make an offering for guilt, listen, he shall see his offspring, resurrection right here, and shall prolong his days.

The will of the Lord, Yahweh, shall prosper in his hand.

When evening came on the day of his death, Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man, got permission from Pontius Pilate to take the body of Jesus and to place it in the tomb that he had purchased for himself.

The disciples of Jesus were left confused, not understanding the scriptures and what Jesus had taught them.

All they knew is that the man that they believed to be the Messiah, the Mashiach, was dead.

So the word Messiah, Mashiach, means Christ, the anointed one, Christos.

And the Jews looked at this as a redeemer, right? The Old Testament, right, in the

Old Testament, we have the fall of man, we have broken God's law, and God promises to send a redeemer who would be the

Mashiach, the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one. And in the

New Testament, we have this redeemer, we have the Mashiach comes and fulfills the purpose of God.

Old Testament, we broke God's law. New Testament, God has paid our fine by sending the

Mashiach. But after three days,

Jesus came forth by the power of the Father, and he showed himself to be who he said he was, and that is

Almighty God. And right here, Almighty God, this is El Shaddai, the creator, had entered creation.

And not only to live as a substitute for us, but to die the death that you and I should die as a substitute, him being both

God and man. You and I cannot keep the law, and our death means nothing.

We can't die for one another, we're terrible. We needed someone divine. We needed someone that could keep the covenant, that could keep the law perfectly, and whose death would matter, who earned righteousness in our favor, and took the punishment that we deserve.

Now, let's look at our first point. The benefit given to us through the resurrection, we receive great mercy.

Notice with me, our text is a doxology, a hymn of praise, if you will. The writer

Peter is praising God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ for great mercy. It says, blessed be the

God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy.

So the question is this, what is mercy? The answer is, mercy is getting what you, mercy is not getting what you deserve.

Mercy is you not getting what you deserve. What do you deserve? Punishment, death.

Why? Because you've broken God's law. Mercy is you not getting what you deserve.

Peter, in the recipients of this letter, you and I, we don't get what we deserve because of great mercy.

You and I don't deserve great mercy. The mercy that is shown to us is the fact that Jesus lived as a substitute and that he died as a substitute, both of which in our place.

And without this act of impassive obedience of Jesus Christ, there is no mercy. You know what's left for you?

Justice. Justice. Without the act of impassive obedience of Christ, you're left with the justice of God, you getting what you deserve.

Not passing go, not collecting the hundred dollars. You're getting what you deserve. Punishment, absence from the presence of God.

This life will be your best life now and your only true life.

Now, as we transition, mercy is not getting what you deserve, but grace is getting what you don't deserve.

And in our next heading, we will see the grace of God made evident. The second heading, the second benefit given to us through the resurrection is we receive a new birth.

Again, let's read that text one more time. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy, right here, he has caused us to be born again.

Right here, the new birth, being born again. This is grace. This is grace, right?

So the Bible says that you're saved by grace through faith. Right here, this is grace. This is the new birth. Notice with me the words he has caused.

He has caused us to be born again. In order not to give us what we deserve, he had to give us what we don't deserve, which is grace.

We deserve wrath. He gives us grace. How? By giving us great mercy and causing us to be born again.

Causing us to walk in a new life. In the context, grace would be our new life, our being born again.

The word born again, if you read it in a literal translation, it means to be born from above.

It means that you have been birthed. No one has ever done anything to cause their first birth, right?

We didn't go to our parents in a vision and say, hey, y 'all two hook up, you'll get me.

We didn't do any of that. Silly, right? But that's what it means. It's identical.

That's what it means. It means to be born again. The recipients of this letter who were Jews, they would have been, like this concept wouldn't have been something new to them.

So they, the Jews, entered the first covenant by natural birth, right? We went through this during our covenant theology series.

They went through, they entered the new covenant by natural birth. And they're being told right now that they're being in the new covenant.

They're entering the new covenant. It's not by natural birth, but it's by a spiritual birth.

The act by which God calls them in his great mercy and by his grace to be born again.

We see this take place in John chapter three. You have Nicodemus coming to Jesus, calling, you know, we know that you're from God and Jesus confronts him and he says, no.

He says unless you're born again, no one can see the kingdom of God.

He's saying to him, you do not know if I'm from the father. You do not know if I'm from God, you cannot know unless you've first been born again.

You cannot see the kingdom unless you're born again. He says, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom.

And unless you're born again, you cannot enter the kingdom. and he's speaking to a man who has entered the old covenant physical kingdom of God because he's a

Jew and he'd entered it by birth and he had received the sign which is circumcision and Jesus is telling him you cannot see the kingdom unless you've been born again.

Something has to happen in order to even see that Christianity is true, right?

If this hasn't happened, Christianity to you is not true. You don't believe in the resurrection. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 16.

I don't know if any of y 'all listen to my podcast. If you don't, I'm shaking my head at you.

I kind of touched on this for a second there. Matthew chapter 16 verse 13.

We'll read the verse 17. It says this,

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea of Philippi, he asked his disciples, who do people say that the

Son of Man is? And they said, some say John the

Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.

He, man Jesus, said to them, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter replied, you are the

Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered him, blessed are you,

Simon Barjona, right here, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my

Father who is in heaven. The Father revealed to Peter that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of the Living God. Man did not reveal this to him. The Father revealed this to him.

Turn with me to 1 John. We'll look at chapter 5 verse 1a.

Chapter 5 verse 1a. This is a very clear verse. Chapter 5 verse 1a.

1 John says this,

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the

Christ, right here, has been born of God. If you believe that Jesus is the

Christ, the Son of the Living God, you have been born again. And let me tell you something, man did not reveal this to you.

I did not reveal this to you. No preacher revealed this to you. This is something that the Father himself reveals to you.

And if that happens, it's my position that God has given you faith to believe.

Faith comes by hearing and hearing of the message of Christ. Romans 10 17.

So how does someone get faith? By hearing the message of Christ. How are they born again? They are given grace to believe.

And all this is because of the resurrection. And as we transition, instead of getting what we deserve, mercy walked in.

When I first became a Christian, I was going to this little country church. There's a very, very special place in my heart for this church.

It's my boss's, my old boss's church. And I just love everyone there. It's a crazy bunch of people.

You don't know what's going to happen, you know what I'm saying? Like it's just phenomenal in a way. But I needed order in my life, so I became

Reformed. But I love these people dearly. But there's a song that we used to sing there, and it's always stuck with me.

It says this, and I'm not gonna sing it, I'm just gonna read it. If you want me to sing it, I'll have him come up.

Stop shaking your head, I'm not singing it. It says this, I stood in the courtroom.

The judge turned my way. Looks like you're guilty now. What do you say?

I spoke up, your honor. I have no defense. But that's when mercy walked in.

Mercy walked in and pleaded my case, called to the stand, God's saving grace.

The blood was presented that covered my sin, forgiven when mercy walked in.

We, the only way to the

Father, is through Jesus Christ. And the life that he lived and the death that he died would not count for anything if he did not rise from the grave.

It's the hinge upon the door. God planned to redeem a people because we could not redeem ourselves.

And the only way that we could be redeemed is someone had to live a perfect life, and someone had to die as a substitute.

And God looks down from his throne and he sees that no one seeks him, so he becomes a man and the person of Jesus Christ.

And when he did, that's when mercy walked in. The third benefit given to us through the resurrection is we receive a living hope.

1st Peter, again, 1 verse 3.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ according to his great mercy. He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

So we were born again for what? For a living hope. Question, what is this living hope that the

Bible speaks about? The answer is given to us in the context. We read about it in verses 4 through 9.

More particularly in verse 4, but it kind of throws us back shadow on it.

To an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfailing, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

In this you rejoice though now for a little while, if necessary you have been grieved by various trials.

And that the testing of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in the praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Through him, I mean, though you, sorry, though you have not seen him, you love him.

Though you do not see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.

Obtaining the outcome of your faith, right here, the salvation of your soul.

So it's my position that the living, I'll prove it, that the living hope is the inheritance of our bodies.

Let's go back to verse 4, to the inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, unfailing, kept in heaven for you.

So I believe that God is so certain about your salvation if you're in Christ.

He is so certain of your salvation to the point Peter speaks about our inheritance, meaning our resurrected body, are already being in heaven kept for us.

You're saying, well that doesn't make any sense, right? It's kind of this idea that you, when you look into Reformed theology, this concept comes up of a already, but not yet, right?

He's all, man, Peter's just crazy. I don't know, I'm not sure if this is what he's talking about. If he is talking about this, he's crazy. Well, then

Paul's crazy too. Ephesians chapter 2. We'll see another already, but not yet.

Paul, I'm a Peter speaking about a physical body that's unfading, unfading, kept in heaven for us.

Look what Paul says, Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 through 6. But God being rich in mercy because of his great love which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, right here, made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved and raised up with him and sit us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

Paul says that we have been raised up and we're sitting with Christ right now in heaven.

Where's Christ at? On the throne of David, ruling and reigning, putting all of his enemies under his feet.

Paul says we're with him. In an already, not yet. In order to lose your salvation, do you realize he would have to remove this spiritual reality and this physical body kept in heaven for you?

Though it's an already, not yet. He is so sure of our salvation.

We are sitting with Christ in the heavens. Paul says that Christians are so in Christ that they're with him.

That our living hope is the inheritance that is kept in heaven and someday it will be sight.

That our faith will someday be sight. Speaking of, as we've been going through Hebrews, we realize that the resurrection points us to what?

That Jesus Christ fulfills the kingdom covenant given to David, the

Davidic covenant. Peter says that when Jesus rises from the dead, that that's proof that Jesus is on the throne of David in the temple in heaven and we're sitting with him in an already, not yet kind of way.

So the purpose of resurrection is so that those who are in Christ on the last day will rise from the dead, clothed in the man of heaven, clothed in a resurrected body that is imperishable, one that will not fade away.

Now if you will turn with me back to 1st Corinthians. This time in chapter 15

I will read verses 1 through 4 to begin with.

1st Corinthians 15 1 through 4. Paul writes to them, now

I would remind you brothers of, listen, of the gospel

I preach to you which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved.

If you hold fast to the word I preach to you, unless you believed in vain.

Right, here's the gospel. For I deliver to you of first importance what what I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the

Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the

Scriptures. Now if you go to verse 20, remember I read verses 12 through 19 earlier talking about if the dead are not raised and our faith is in vain.

It talked about if this did not happen and if we only have Christ in this life we are to be of all people most pitied.

Verse 20 picks up and says this, but in fact

Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by a man came death, by a man comes also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive, but each in his own order.

Christ, the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the

Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power.

For he must reign until he puts all his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. When Christ comes back there will be no more death.

That also will be footstooled. Now let's look at verse 35.

I'm gonna read through 49 and it should answer some questions that might be popping up in your head. But someone will ask, how are the dead raised?

What kind of body do they come? I love this. You foolish person, like Paul was so brave, right?

You foolish person. What you sow does not come to life unless it dies.

And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or some other grain.

But God gives it a body as he has chosen to each kind of seed its own body.

For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for human, another kind for animal, another for bird, another for fish.

There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind and the glory of the earthly is of another.

There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of star, for star differs from star and glory.

So it is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown perishable, what is raised imperishable.

It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness.

It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body.

It is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there also is a spiritual body.

Thus it is written, the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam, the spirit of Christ, became a life -giving spirit.

But it is not the spiritual that is first, but the natural and then the spiritual.

The first man was from the earth, a man of dust. The second man is from heaven.

And as the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust. And as the man of heaven, so also are those are of heaven.

Just as we have born the image of the man of dust, we shall bear the image of the man of heaven.

We have this Creator entering creation at His birth and He lived, you know, like sometimes when it comes to Christmas and Easter, we have the the

CEOs of the church, Christmas and Easter only, you know. I know a lot of people, they don't publicly profess that, but it's true, right?

And so a lot of times I see that, you know, that this is the worship of Christ.

And although we do worship Christ these days, but there's a lot that went, that happened from Christmas to Easter, from His birth to His death, burial, and resurrection.

And it's these 33 years of Him living that perfect, perfection life.

Him being the perfect lamb that was to be slain. And it was for the purpose of taking men who were born with the image of Adam and making it to where they can be clothed in the image of Christ.

The Bible is very, very clear that He created Adam in His own image.

But then we see when Adam had a son, that this son bore the image of Adam. But y 'all didn't notice that, right?

He had the image of Adam. Adam is the broken image of God.

It's the broken image of God. And now Christ has come to fix the image, and we are called to be conformed to the image of His Son.

How's that done? We have to have this man of dust, Adam, removed from us in order for the man of heaven,

Christ, to be placed on us. And that's by His great mercy, us being born again and given this living hope that we find today in the resurrection.

Jesus Christ lived that life we could not live, took upon Himself the punishment we deserve in order that by grace through faith we can be conformed to the image of Christ, who is

God, blessed over all. Jesus lived the life we could not live, and in doing so, when we believe in Him, we are credited with the righteousness that He earned on our behalf by living that life.

And by living that life, He kept the law, and like I said earlier,

He was able to die as a substitute. When mercy walked in, He became your life.

The life that He lives become your life, and the death that He dies becomes your death. And you, if you're in Christ right now, you are positionally righteous before God because of His great mercy.

He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Do not think for a second it's because of something that you have done.

Don't pat yourself on the back just yet. 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 22 through 23.

This is beautiful. 22 through 23, having purified your soul by the obedience of what?

Of our works? No, of truth for a sincere brotherly love. Love one another earnestly from a pure heart since you have been born again, not of an perishable seed but an imperishable seed through the living and abiding

Word of God. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing of the message of Christ. He has done it all, all to Him we owe.

Death has made a crimson stain, Jesus has washed it white as snow. We were gathered here together to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and so we are, and the

Bible tells us that as goes the King, so goes the kingdom. Because He died, was buried, and rose from the grave, you and I one day are gonna die, we're gonna be buried, and we're gonna rise from the grave.

That's the hope of the resurrection, that you can be sure of the resurrection because Christ Jesus has been raised, and your faith is in Him.

How do you know you're gonna rise from the dead? Because Christ Jesus has risen from the dead, and your faith is in Him.

That's your assurance. Don't look to yourself, look to Him. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the hinge upon the door of Christianity.

If there is no resurrection, there is no Christianity, and there is. And the call of faith and repentance is found in Romans chapter 10, verse 9 and 10.

Romans chapter 10, verse 9 and 10. Paul says, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is

Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

For with a heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

Now I know we live in a world where most people have professed with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, and they've walked away from the church, and they've walked away for one reason, because they have not believed that God has truly raised this

Jesus from the dead. If you truly believe that God has raised this

Jesus from the dead, you shall be saved. Salvation is believing that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is the

Christ, the Mashiach that came to pay our fine, that God the

Father has raised from the dead, you shall be saved. And Christian, my call to you is this, is that not only does that save us, but that's what sanctifies us, that that is our life, that is our truth.

I'm available to anyone who wants to talk. Pastor Cal as well, and so is our deacon

Josh. Let's pray. Father, it is indeed great to worship you this day.

Lord, we just ask that you continue to bless our service. Lord, I pray for this church as we are about to partake in the meal that you have prescribed for us to take.

Lord, I just want to reiterate what Calvin said, that the supper is not for the for the strong, but it's for the weak.

And we come here today weak, hoping to be used by you. Lord, we love you.

I pray that you bless them as they prepare their hearts to share in this meal. We pray this in Jesus' name.