I Insist, He is Alive

Vision 2018: Forward Book of Acts Blueprint Psalm 127:1 Introduction: I. Peoples Perspective. Acts 25:19Instead, it was something about their religion and a dead man named Jesus, who Paul insists is alive. NLT A. Spirit versus Carnal. a. In Acts 25 Govenor Festus received the message of the cross & resurrection with great indifference. He could not get beyond his intellect of politics & law to wrap his head around the unseen world. So it is with many today in accepting the truth of the Word of God so loving the world He gave His only begotten Son to die for evil man to be resurrected to life. b. The belief standard Apostle Paul had was one which kindled a fire of “all-sacrificing devotion.” He embraced the message that Jesus, Who died was alive forevermore with such a courage that no terror could crush or repress. c. Oh that the 21st century Church would lay aside the coldness of Festus & clothe herself with the devotion of Paul. Having the assurance 2 Corinthians 4:7we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— 10always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. B. The way of Worldliness: a. Is to choose the pleasuable over the right; the visible over the invisible; the momentary over the everlasting. b. So, to question “What is God?” “What am I?” “What is beyond death?” are all considered unprofitable questions. Yet one day all of Adam’s race will stand before the Almighty confessing Jesus as LORD then will know the answers to these questions. C. Paul insists Jesus is alive. Are you confident enough to "insist" Jesus is alive? a. He is not just some “Dead man.” Church. In order to preach, teach, save, heal, deliver, set free, Baptize in the Spirit & etc. in the Name of Jesus, you MUST be able to affirm, insist, claim that Jesus is living, not dead! b. He is not just some “Dead man.” Even for those who only read the Bible as a book of history, there is no debating Jesus died on the cross witnessed by hundreds. It is a matter of recorded history he was buried in a tomb owned by a man named Joseph of Arimathea. There are also many witnesses, as many as 500 at one time who saw the resurrected Christ. Psalm 19:1-4 (BIBLE) II. I Insist He is Alive Have you experienced a transformation which witnesses Christ is living? Does your life testify, Jesus is alive? Let's hear from the Apostle Paul. As we have read & preached through the Book of the Acts of the Apostles much of the life of Paul is laid out for us. Understand from the words of these chapters comes the Epistles we know as the letters of Paul. Remember the application: To live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 A. Not Ashamed Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. NKJV a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man? b. To say "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ" reveals the heart. Though you live in a sophisticated society, to talk about a crucified Jewish Savior who is embraced by the lowest class of people is to be "not ashamed." B. That I may Know Him Philippians 3:7But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 10that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, 11if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. NKJV a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man? b. When you compare the loss of anything in this life including life itself is worthless when you consider attaining to the resurrection from the dead. C. Know His Love Ephesians 3:16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. 20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. NKJV a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man? b. Man, in this life, can never measure the superiority of the love of the Sovereign God. John 3:16, Romans 5:8 D. A Christ-life Galatians 2:19For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God. 20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. NKJV a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man? b. Jesus bore your sin on the cross, your life was crucified there that you might live. When you live with Jesus as LORD you are not living "your" life. E. Eternal Colossians 1:15Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, 16for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. 17He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. NLT a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man b. ? Paul says, Christ is. What more can be said? He was before Genesis 1 as John records In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. F. Coming King 1 Thessalonians 4:16For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. NKJV a. Does that sound like someone following after a dead man? b. Jesus promised in John 14 Let not your heart be troubled… III. I Insist, Jesus is Alive! A. Paul shared & preached a message of confidence & assurance because he did not just know about Jesus, he KNEW Jesus. His experience was not religious it was relational. Jesus wasn't just some story in a book, Paul had a life-giving transformation as a result of knowing Christ. Do you know Him like Paul knew Him? B. The reason we can do this is because of the resurrection of Christ. - He asks us to: * Repent * Live by Faith * Be Baptized * Be Filled with His Spirit Conclusion: PRESENT THE GOSPEL FOR SALVATION – EVERY WEEK – AND THE NEED TO COME FORWARD IN PUBLIC ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST