Living in the Resurrection How the Gospel Changes Everything—Now and Forever| Pastor Bill Sizemore

This message was preached on Easter Sunday, April 20th, 2025 by Bill Sizemore, Lead Pastor of Reliant Church in Dallas, GA.

What if the resurrection of Jesus isn’t just something we celebrate—but a power we’re meant to live in every single day? In this Easter message, we walk through 1 Corinthians 15 to unpack how the resurrection changes not just our eternity, but our right now. Whether you're wrestling with fear, struggling with faith, or just searching for something more, this message invites you to step out of the tomb and into a life filled with hope, purpose, and victory. You were raised for this.

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Transcript

Well, good morning, everybody. My name is Bill Sizemore. If you don't know me, I get the wonderful privilege of pastoring Reliant. And it's just such a blessing. We are a little over nine years old, and I'm just so excited about all that God's doing and all that God has provided for us.
We've got 28 acres of land right next to Paulden County High School that we're going to be building our new facility on all of which to love our city and to help people come to know Jesus. Amen. There's something powerful about gathering together on Sunday, isn't it? The churches are full all over. People are coming to celebrate the resurrection and just the beauty that that means our hearts are all full of this great history of this resurrection of Christ, and rightfully so.
But today, I want to challenge us to go beyond celebration. We've got to come to the place and understand that it isn't just about a holiday to remember. It's a call to respond. And when we think about the resurrection in our life, the resurrection of Jesus isn't just something we rejoice in once a year. It's the power that we are meant to live in every single day.
So the question I have for you is this. Are you celebrating the resurrection or are you living in it? You see, I think it's one thing for us to come, and I think some people have come today, and I'm not sure why you're here. It could be that, you know, mom dragged you out of bed or wife dragged you out of bed, or Grandma dragged you out of bed, or whatever it is, or maybe. Maybe you even came.
Because, hey, listen, today is a special day. We're going to remember Jesus. We're going to remember what Jesus did. And I'm so grateful that you have come. It's an encouragement to me when you come and celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Amen. So I'm glad you're here. For whatever reason that you're here, you are here, and God has brought you to this place for such a wonderful time as this. But let's be honest. Many of us walked in today carrying uncertainty about the future, fear that won't let us sleep, financial burdens that feel impossible to carry, or spiritual struggles that we bury deep down.
Today we're going to be looking at First Corinthians, chapter 15. And it shows us that the resurrection changes everything. If you're living in the resurrection and not just celebrating the resurrection and celebrating the resurrection is today but what about tomorrow? Tomorrow? Do we go back to our old lives?
Do we go back to our old tombs? What's tomorrow look like? First Corinthians 15 shows us that the resurrection changes everything. Not just our eternity, but our today. So here's the phrase that I want you to say with me.
I was raised for this. I want you to say that with me. I was raised for this. Listen, if you're going to live in the resurrection, you've got to understand what it means to be raised to walk with Christ. And so throughout this sermon, if you hear me say that, I want you to repeat it.
I was raised for this. All right, you guys are almost with me. We'll get there. You were raised above fear, above sin, above empty living. You were raised for purpose, hope, and power.
But I think that some of us don't understand our resurrection. We don't understand what the Lord has done for us. So this morning, we're not just going to remember what happened 2,000 years ago. We're stepping into what Jesus made possible today and forever. So go ahead and take your Bibles and open up with me to First Corinthians, chapter 15.
Now, when you turn to First Corinthians, chapter 15, I'm sure that all over the world today, this passage is going to be preached 1st Corinthians 15 in my discipleship 2 class. One of the things, one of the principles of Bible study that we're just learning is the law of full mention. That means that there is some place in the Bible when God wants you to understand a subject that he just. He just takes a spot, clears off everything else, and says, let me tell you about this, whatever that subject might be. Well, First Corinthians 15 is the subject of the resurrection.
Just about any question that you would have about the resurrection, you're going to find right here in First Corinthians, chapter 15. So as we look at this together, here's what I want to do today as we walk through this passage. I believe that in this passage that we can find five steps for you to live in the Resurrection. Five steps for you to live in the Resurrection. So here's the first one as we get started.
Number one, believe the Gospel. Do you really believe it? And he starts off in verse number one. He says, now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, which you stand. Now, I'm going to assume that there are people here that have accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, that you believe the gospel as a Matter of fact, I wonder if you'd give me testimony of that right now.
Would you hold up your hand and say, I have received this message that Paul is preaching. Amen. And listen, you might be here today and you've not received that message yet. I'm so glad that you are here because I want to deliver it to you in such a way that that you can understand it and understand what God has for you. He goes on in verse number two, and he says, by which you have been saved if you hold fast to the word that I preach to you, unless you believe in vain.
For I delivered to you as first importance what I also received. That Christ died for our sins in accordance to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he raised on the third day according in accordance to the Scripture. So here's the first thing that we've got to understand is our core faith. Like what? What are these elements that we're talking about?
And I'm just going to hit these pretty quick. But first of all, we understand that Christ died for our sins. One of the things that we just celebrated is communion together. Because we understand that there, before resurrection, there had to be a death. There had to be a payment that was made.
Colossians 2:13. I think I quoted this last week, but it's so good I'm going to quote it again. It says, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, all of our trespasses. Listen, I want you to understand today that the good news, the gospel message of Jesus Christ is, it doesn't matter where you have come from or what you have done, that the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient to take care of every bit of your sin. God loves you.
God desires for you to have a personal relationship with him. And listen, your sin stood in the way of you having a loving relationship with God. And so the loving God says this. I'm going to send my only begotten son, Jesus to die on a cross to pay for your sin, no matter what it is, to pay for all sin. So that whoever believes in me and receives me might have a personal relationship with me.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. You're a part of that whosoever. So if you're sitting here today and you're saying, well, I don't know, man, I'm fully expecting that. I've got hell to pay for the things that I've done. And listen, the things that you've done probably merit hell to pay.
But Jesus paid it all. Jesus took it. Jesus did that. So that's the first thing of our core belief, is that. And he says this in verse number 14 by canceling the record of the debt that stood against us with its legal demands.
This he set aside, nailing it to his cross. And then we know that he spent three days in the heart of the earth. It's pictured in Jonah, Matthew 12:40. Jesus said this about himself. He said, for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
And some people say, well, what in the world does that mean? Just take our discipleship and we will explain that to you. All right, but I don't have time to do it this morning. But nevertheless, Jesus spent three days in the grave. And then here's the blessing.
Christ rose victoriously over death and the grave. Amen. Like, listen, it wasn't just about the death. It wasn't just about the grave. But according to the Scriptures, death and hell would be swallowed up in victory through, through our Lord Jesus Christ.
He rose again from the dead. Colossians 2, 11 says, in him also, you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you also, you were also raised with him through faith in the power, powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. All right, now wait a minute. There was a change that just happened there. You see, the celebration that we have of Jesus rising again from the dead is that you've got to come to the understanding that the celebration is actually not only limited to Christ, but all of those who come to Christ because you too have been raised again from the dead.
This celebration that we have today is a celebration of life not only for Jesus, Jesus being the first fruits of that, but then all who would receive him have also been raised to walk in a newness of life. The Gospel is not a belief, but a transformation. So listen, you might be sitting here this morning going, yeah, Pastor, I believe that I grew up in church. I believe the Jesus story, but what did it do to you? What has it done for you?
Have you experienced the gospel transformation? Second Corinthians, 5:17 says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come. And I think that's another one of those verses.
It's almost like John 3:16, where you hear it so much that I think that we. That we fail to understand what it's saying when it says, the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. You are a new creature.
But how many times have we thought, well, this salvation that they're talking about, and sometimes even churches have preached it this way. It's just about the forgiveness of sin. So people have said to you, hey, listen, do you want all your sins forgiven? Just bow your head and pray this prayer, Accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and all your sins will be taken away. And although that's a true statement, if we're not careful, it becomes a selfish statement.
And you really don't want Jesus, you just want his forgiveness. But let me tell you something. The resurrection, it doesn't work that way. You can't be like, half resurrected. There's not a time where you can just get the forgiveness of sin and not have the relationship with God.
The whole reason for the forgiveness of sin is. Is so that you might be raised with him to walk in a newness of life. Listen, you have been changed. If you've accepted Christ as your Lord and Savior. My fear.
My fear is that we come to the place where we just want forgiveness. Now, listen, let me tell you something. The forgiveness of sin is not what God wants. God wants you. God was willing to give all to you so that he could have all from you.
Are you at the point that you're living in the resurrection? That's what I want you to consider today as we move on to our second one. If you've never believed in the gospel, if you've never understood the things that I've talked about here, or maybe you were that guy that said, yeah, I need the forgiveness of God. God forgive me. God forgive me.
God forgive me, me. As a matter of fact, if you've never passed from death to life, you're probably still praying that prayer, God forgive me. God forgive me. God forgive me. And you're hoping that every time that you mess up that you can just ask God for forgiveness and it's going to be okay.
But listen, there's a better life than that. There's a life of resurrection where you can live in Jesus. Not just come to Jesus and not just ask him for forgiveness, but you can live in the glory of what it means. To be resurrected from the dead so that you no longer live in that sin. But if you've never believed the gospel, today is your day.
Living in the resurrection starts when you stop trusting yourself and start trusting in Jesus. Number two. Ready, you guys? Okay? You good with me?
All right. So the first thing you gotta do is you gotta believe the Gospel. The second thing that you've gotta is you gotta stand on the truth. Now, I'll be honest with you. There's some people today that are out there.
They're not in church today, they're not celebrating today, although they might be going to an Easter Easter egg hunt, which we'll have one after this, right? They might be eating candy, they might be getting together with family, but they don't believe that really 2,000 years ago, that there was this moment that somebody actually rose again from the dead. You would be amazed at how many people in church don't actually believe in the resurrection. You say, well, why are they going then? I don't know.
I can't answer that question. But nevertheless, it's true. First Corinthians 15, 5 says, and he goes on, he says, and that he appears, appeared to cephas, then the 12, and then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. And then he appeared to James, and then all of the apostles. Last of all, as the one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
The evidence of the resurrection of Christ is overwhelming. It's absolutely overwhelming. Why all the evidence? Because the resurrection isn't just a spiritual idea. It's a verified event.
So listen, here's what I need you to understand. On April 13th of AD 30, Jesus Christ, who had been dead for three days, rose from the dead, came out of the grave, and lives forevermore. That is a proven, verified fact. Some of you are picking up your phones and you're going to try to fact check me, but there's no Internet in here, so you're going to have to wait until later to do that. But check me out.
It takes much more faith to believe that it didn't happen than to follow the evidence that tells you unequivocally that it did happen. You see, we stand on the truth. We don't stand on cunningly devised fables. You need to understand that these disciples that saw Jesus Christ, including the Apostle Paul who wrote this, they gave their lives for this message. They got nothing from it.
They were burned at the stake. They were. They were crucified upside down. They were boiled in oil. They were done.
You say, well, why would someone hold on to a truth that wasn't true? It's because it's a verified event. John said the one that. But was boiled and all. He said, listen, I touched him.
I. I felt of him. I know that it happened. Oh, doubting Thomas, right? This, this great doubting Thomas guy, he says, I will not believe until I'm able to take my hand and stick it into his side and take my fingers and put it into the nail holes.
And Jesus shows up and says, says, thomas, get busy. Right? Verified event. We stand on the truth.
The evidence is overwhelming. The evidence of the resurrection is in you. Okay, let's come back because we got to understand the full aspect of the resurrection. Romans 6, 3, it says, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried, therefore, with him by baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
You have been raised from the dead. The evidence of the resurrection, the reason why it has gone on for two days, thousand years. Like, wouldn't you think that this fable would have faded over two centuries? You know, two millennia. Sorry, not centuries, but millennia.
Like, wouldn't it have faded since that time? But I'll tell you why it hasn't, is because every time somebody trusts in Jesus, they experience the same thing of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ in their own life. That's why it continues on. You see, my proof of the resurrection isn't the fact of the 500 eyewitnesses that I've never met, or the disciples, or the one born out of time, the apostle Paul. I'm telling you that I understand the resurrection because I myself have experienced resurrection.
And Jesus now lives in me, and I, even more importantly, live in him. That's my life. That's everything. And the amens that you heard around is that we've experienced a time where there was a bill and now there is a new bill.
And I know that that's happened for you as well. You know, I think about John, chapter 11, and I love the story of Jesus as he calls Lazarus out of the grave. Anybody remember that story? You know what I'm talking about? Jesus had been away for a couple of days, and Lazarus, one of his best friends, had died.
And he goes and he, Martha comes to him, says, oh, Master, if you had been here, then my brother would not have died. This is all in John, chapter 11. And he says, do you understand who I am? Do you believe in the resurrection? And she said, yeah, I believe that there's going to come a time in the future when at the end of time, where there's going to be this resurrection.
And Jesus just looked her eye to eye and said, no, I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection. Do you believe that? You see, she had to change her mind in understanding what resurrection was. It wasn't something far off in the future.
It wasn't something that was going to happen. Jesus says, the resurrection is standing in front of you right now. And now he comes to this throne and where have you laid him? And they bring him to the tomb. And Jesus stands before that tomb.
And listen, Lazarus had been dead for four days, not three days, to the point that they said, lord, surely I'm a King James guy, right? Surely he stinketh.
And he said, lazarus, come forth.
Now what's going to happen when the resurrection is a person, when the resurrection calls your name, what happens at that moment? You see, for Lazarus, what happened at that moment? He didn't pray some prayer. He didn't ask the Lord for forgiveness. Let me tell you what happened to Lazarus.
Lazarus come forth. And he said he came walking out of that tomb. The stone was moved, the tomb was opened. And here he comes all in his grave clothes, right? And he's just all bound up.
And he walks out as much as he can because this is all he can do right now. And Jesus says, loose him and set him free. That is the power of the resurrection.
When you experience the resurrection, you don't need others to prove the resurrection to you. You are the resurrection. We're living in Jesus. The resurrection is our firm foundation. As we go on in our passage of First Corinthians 12:17, I want you to notice this.
He addresses the skeptic, right? He says, now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God because we testified about God, that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise.
If it's 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. You're still in the tomb. All of this power that we've been talking about.
If Christ didn't rise again from the dead, then neither have you. Oh, but we know better, don't we? In this world that's drowning in opinion, we got to stand on what's proven. When doubts come, remember, the resurrection has witnesses. That witness is you.
You're the witness. All right, so we gotta embrace the truth. We've got to stand on the truth. And then number three, we've got to embrace the victory. You see, if you've been raised with Christ, why are you still living in the tomb?
The power of the gospel is found here in First Corinthians 15:20 says, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. So all of these skeptics, he says, listen, if you believe that, then you're without hope. He said, but the truth of the matter is in verse 20. But the fact is, I love that. But in fact, Christ has raised from the dead the first fruits of those that have fallen asleep.
For as by one man came, death by a man came, has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. There is victory. You say, well, I'm not feeling any victory. I wonder if that's because you're still living in the tomb.
Because, listen, there ain't no victory in the tomb. There's no victory in those three days that Jesus was laying in that tomb. Now, I could talk to you about Ephesians, chapter four that said that he ascended into the lower parts of the earth and that he preached the gospel to those who had been captive in that place called Sheol that had been waiting on Christ. But the real victory comes in that moment on Sunday morning whenever the stone is rolled away and Christ emerges from that death. There's victory over death.
He goes on at the end of that chapter, in verse 54, it says, when the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I've lost my father. How many of you guys in here have lost a loved one? You've lost a father or mother? Yeah, just most of the hands.
Listen, there was a strange thing that happened to me when I lost my dad. There is no question in my mind that My father knew the Lord Jesus Christ because he lived a resurrected life. And I knew that. And so for me, there wasn't all kinds of mourning that went on. And do I miss my dad every day.
There are times that I think about my dad. There are times I dream about my dad. But here's what I know. I will see my father again. There's no question about it.
Because my father, although he was like Lazarus in the grave, Jesus says he's just sleeping. What does that mean? What does that mean? That means he has not passed from existence. I will see my father again.
To be absent from this body is to be present with the Lord. There's victory that comes over death. You don't have to live in fear of death, guilt or defeat because Jesus rose. You were raised for this. Say that with me.
I was raised for this. You see? I want you to get that down. You guys are getting horrible. You're getting worse as we go.
I was raised for this. Say it. There you go. I want you to get this thing down. You need to understand, today is your celebration.
Today to. Today is the day that you celebrate the fact that not only Jesus rose again, but that you rose again in him. That's where it comes from. Number four. All right.
We got to wake up to our purpose. We got to wake up to our purpose. If we're going to live in the resurrection, our purpose has got to change. Now, I don't know about you guys. Anybody skittish over needles?
When you're going to go to the doctor and you're going to get a shot in the arm, all right? Some of you are like, boom, that's me right there. Right? Okay, so here's the thing. I don't necessarily mind the needle, but I'm going to be honest with you.
Whenever they go and I see the. And I see the syringe, the very first thing I do if they're going to put it in this arm, is I do this.
Go ahead, do what you're going to do. I'm not going to watch. There's just. I don't know what it is. I don't mind the pain.
I don't want to see it right now. It's changed a little bit since I've been a diabetic. It makes no difference to me at all at this point. Right? But there was a time where I was like, I don't want to listen.
Okay, this next point is going to be that shot in the arm. So you might flinch up a little bit, but you need to hear what I'm about to say. I want you to grab. We're going to be. We're going to go to the doctor's office for a minute.
You guys with me? You okay? All right. We're going to have to change our purpose if we're going to walk in the resurrection. We got to wake up to your purpose.
Now, these are not actually my words. Let's look at the apostle Paul. In verse 32. He says, what do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
Do not be deceived. Bad company ruins good morals. Wake up. Look what he says. He says, wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning.
For some of you have. Have no. For. For some have no knowledge of God. And I say this to your shame.
Like what. What is being said there? In other words, if the resurrection is true, and it is, stop sleepwalking through life. Wake up. We are so distracted by things, we got to stop acting like things don't matter.
If you've been raised with Christ, then live like it. Say this. I was raised for this. See, this is the thing that you've got to understand, is that if your purpose doesn't change, if you're still walking in the things of the world, in the ways of the world, then how in the world are people going to see the resurrection in you? And Paul comes back and he says, you need to wake up from your drunken stupor.
Not my words. The apostle Paul. Right? Because there are people that are around you that do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and he says that to their shame. How can we have a community of people that we say that we love, and we're going to love our city, and yet we're going to be walking around sleepwalking in our drunken stupor and not showing the resurrected life.
Life. Do you understand what it means for us to live in the Resurrection? Those risen with Christ seek Christ. Colossians 3:1. It says, if, then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above.
Now, I'll be honest with you. I think some of you are like, you're having that light bulb moment. Come on. And you're like, wait a minute. This resurrection is not about a thing 2,000 years ago.
This resurrection is about me. This is about what God has done in me. This is what Jesus has done in me. That I was resurrected through the Lord Jesus Christ, that I might walk in a newness of life. If you have then been raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
Set your mind on things above and not on the things of the earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ and God. Whoo. Listen, when I think about that, some of you guys, you understand exactly what I'm talking about. Because the way of Jesus has become your way of life.
You know why I'm a pastor? Well, because you can speak. Well, no, let me tell you, that is not it. That is not it. That is a learned skill.
I can't spell. I can't read. Let me tell you. Let me tell you why I'm a preacher of the gospel. Because nothing else matters.
Do you understand what I'm saying? Nothing else matters. I remember when I was at the bank as a bank manager, and a lady walks in, and something in my spirit just told me that she was a Christian. And I said, do you know the Lord as your Lord and Savior? And she said, oh, yes.
I said, man, isn't it an exciting, exciting time as we see the things coming where Jesus is coming again? She said, I'm scared to death. I said, what do you mean you're scared to death? I thought you were a Christian. She said, I'm scared to death.
I said, but God hasn't given you the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Are we living in that? Are we still living in the tomb? See, it's fearful in the tomb.
Those risen with Christ seek Christ. Don't be distracted by worldly things, man. I could spend three sermons if we wanted to talk about worldly things. We could talk about everything from video games to sports to travel ball to anything that comes to your mind that takes you away from the things of God. As a matter of fact, some of you, you've replaced other things with what the church body is supposed to be doing.
You've replaced it with other things. Instead of giving yourself to what Jesus gave himself for, which is the church. Listen, some people would look at me and they say, bill, you're just a Jesus freak. And I would say, guilty. I'm guilty.
I am a Jesus freak. But listen, what that means is that my purpose in life is to produce Jesus followers of faith that expand God's kingdom, which is the mission of Reliant. And the reason why it is the mission of Reliant. Well, what does it mean to expand the kingdom of God? It's a kingdom of love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance, self control.
See, that's the kingdom that we expand because that is God. That's the fruit of the Spirit of the Lord. Are we doing that, or are we more concerned with other things? Is there a relationship that you have that's keeping you from walking in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ? Are there money concerns that you have where you're working yourself to death so that you can buy the things that you want to buy or do the things that you want to do?
All to know that what you buy is going to rust away the world has duped us into thinking that there are value in things that have no value.
And we've got to come to the place that we're not distracted by the things of the world first. Thessalonians 5, 6. He says, so then, let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk are drunk at night. Must have been a lot of drunk people around as there is today.
But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for the helmet. The hope of salvation for God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. What are you focused on? Are you in the tomb? Are you out of the tomb?
First John 2:15 says, do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. Hmm? What are you desiring?
What captivates your heart? Is it God? Is it the lostness that's around you? Or is it something else? We live in a world that's drunk on distractions.
You know, we talk about how after Covid, for whatever reason, the church has decided they're only going to show up two times a month at best. Fully devoted followers of Christ means that you come maybe twice or three times a month. Do you realize that the disciples met every day? Every day. Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is, but even much more.
As you see the day approaching and we hear these things, we're like, yeah, Pastor, but you don't understand. Like, the church is not going to be my life. I beg to differ. You are the church. It's not a part of what you do.
It's who you are. Listen, let me tell you where Jesus is every Sunday. He's with his body. He's with his church. You say, oh, Pastor.
So this whole sermon is just about church attendance for you to. No, what I want is encouragement for you. What I want is for you to be a part of this force of resurrection. Because there are people to our shame that do not know Christ, that are right down the street from us. That's on us.
We have to take responsibility for that because we have the resurrected life living in us, and they need to know it.
We're drunk on distraction. We're drunk on comfort. We're drunk on self promotion. It's easy to slip into this spiritual stupor, functioning but not flourishing. That's why Paul said, wake up from your drunken stupor.
Don't coast through life clinging to Christian labels while living like a practicing atheist.
Is there any difference in your life in an atheist? And yet somehow the Lord has called your name out of the tomb.
All right. Did we take the shot? We. Okay. All right, number five, last one.
There is a future resurrection. We are looking for that future resurrection. He goes on in First Corinthians 15, talking about our final transformation when he says, behold, I will tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trump will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
You see what God has started in you? The earnest that he gave. The Bible teaches us in Ephesians, chapter one, that when you accept Christ as your Lord and Savior, that he gives you an earnest of the possession. Now, if you guys are homeowners, there was probably a time that when you looked at that house that you wanted to buy, you had to put down, what earnest money, right? That was to take it off the market.
And sometimes it's 2000, 5000, 10%. Whatever. Whatever it is, you got to put that down. Now, listen, if your finances don't come through, if you can't finish what you start, you lose that earnest money. You with me?
Okay, so here's what the Bible tells us, is that God said, I'm going to finish what I start. And just so that you know that I'm going to finish it, I'm going to take my Holy Spirit as an earnest of salvation and I'm going to put it inside you so that you know that you are a purchased possession. I no longer belong to myself. And listen to me more importantly, I do not belong to this world. I do not belong to the line of Adam.
For I have been resurrected in the Lord Jesus Christ. I am a precious possession, and you are too. If you've accepted him as your Lord and Savior. Are we going to live in that?
Our final victory over sin? He goes on, in verse 54, he says, and when the perishable puts on imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, but the power of sin is the law. We have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the future that we long for. Bodies made new, death undone. Eternity with Christ.
What started with Jesus rising from the grave will end with us rising, too. Your full resurrection is coming. You ready for that? Say, I was raised for this. I was raised for this.
This is where we are today. So let me ask you, are you living in the resurrection? Are you just remembering it once a year? Listen, if you're celebrating the resurrection today, I'm excited about that. But does your celebration just last one day?
And then we go back to the tomb. We come out of the tomb for one day, then we go back to the tomb. You can't follow the risen Christ and remain stuck in what's dying. You got to live in life. You were made for more than the grind, more than the fleeting pleasures, more than the endless chase for just a little bit more.
If I can just have a little bit more. Paul said, I've learned to be content with whatever situation I'm in. You know why? Because he had Jesus. God will provide all that you need.
You know what you need? You need Jesus. And once you have Jesus, you have all that you need. I wonder if we could find ourselves in contentment, not chasing after the things of this world, but chasing after the things of God. Set your affections on things above.
Listen, I want all of you to stop for a second and I want you to say, what is that thing that's keeping me from walking in the full power of the resurrection in my life? What is the distraction that causes me to live in a drunken stupor? What are those things? I want you to identify it in your mind right now. Listen, you might be sitting here today and you might be saying, well, I think it's my sin.
Like, I think that the sin that I have in this life is keeping me from God. But listen, I have good news for You Jesus paid for that. And all you have to do is receive him as your Lord and Savior. You were raised for this. So the first thing I want you to do in an action step is I want you to trust God today.
If you don't know him as your Lord and Savior, you need to start trusting God today. Because you know what I believe? I believe that Jesus is calling your name. I believe that he's standing outside of your tomb. And just as he called Lazarus from death to life, he's going to call your name.
He's calling you now. Can you hear it? Can you hear him calling your name? Listen, do you understand that when Lazarus came out of the grave and he came out bound in those clothes and they loosed him and set him free, two weeks later is when Jesus died. Two weeks later, Lazarus comes back from the grave.
And then two weeks later, Jesus comes back from the grave. You think he was trying to prove a point in the mouth of two or three witnesses? Let a thing be established. The Bible says you don't only have one resurrection, you got two within a two week period. One of them is the Lord.
But Jesus says, but what you need to understand is I am the resurrection. And he was calling people out of the grave before he ever went to the grave. And he's calling you today. Second thing is you need to live on purpose. Live on purpose.
Ask God where you've been spiritually asleep. And choose to live boldly for this gospel. And then last, we hope forward. We keep our eyes focused on Jesus. We keep our eyes focused on the second coming of the Lord.
And we share as much as we can with those that are around us. Listen, I want everybody to stand, if you will just stand to your feet with me.
Some of you are standing right now at the doorway of the tomb and you're listening and the Lord is calling your name. And you got to decide whether you're going to come out or whether you're not. Others of you have believed the gospel, but you haven't. But you've gone back into the tomb, you've not come out. There's still things that are keeping you.
There's still boulders that are keeping you from following after the Lord with all your heart. So I ask you, what's keeping you from following the living God? What's keeping you in the grave? What are you holding on to that's so strong that you won't come find the love of Jesus Christ? You say, well, I'm going to be embarrassed if I come down today.
If I If I make a decision to. To come to Christ today, embarrassed by who? You're surrounded by, people who love you, that have invited you, that are inviting you into a relationship with God, there's no shame here. There's only blessing. We want you to come to Christ.
You say, well, I don't know what to do. That's okay. We'll help you. I've got elders and elders, wives, if you guys will just come and find your place. Place here in the front.
You want to come and you want to pray with somebody. Listen, when you come down and you say, man, I'm ready to come out of the grave, I need to know Jesus as my Lord and Savior. You can come this morning. You can do that. But listen, I asked you earlier to identify something in your life that's keeping you in the tomb, that's keeping you from your resurrection power.
I wonder if you'd come and lay that down today. I wonder if you'd find yourself at the altar of the Lord, saying, lord, I sacrifice whatever this silly thing is, and I. I want to get out of my drunken stupor so that I can follow after you. I bet you all of us have something. And maybe you even want to come to one of the elders or their wives and.
And say, hey, I need you to pray for me on this. I need some accountability on this. Or I just need to give it up. I just need to be done. Listen, you know what I found about people that are stuck in something like smoking cigarettes, for example?
You know, the only people that I've ever seen that have gotten over it, somebody who just lays them down, they just lay them down. Now, I've talked to some other people and. And I said, hey, how's your smoking going? Because they told me they wanted to quit. And they said, well, I'm trying.
You know what that means? Nothing. It means that. What that means is, is that they're smoking, right? But this is not about smoking today.
This is about something much greater. And I'm wondering, you ready to just lay it down? You ready to be done with it? You come down to the altar today, you say, jesus, I'm done with this thing. I'm gonna lay it at your feet.
I'm gonna walk away from it, and I'm gonna walk away in power. So listen, as we begin to sing, I wonder right now, if you just respond. I'm not gonna try to talk you into it. I wonder if you just respond to the Lord, maybe you need to come lay something down. Maybe you need to be saved.
Today. Maybe you're ready to come out of the tomb. Would you come forward today? Listen, the altar is open for you right now. Why don't you come?
I'm going to pray that God would give you some boldness. Father, I pray right now that there would be people that would understand the blessedness of the resurrection, that they would want to walk in the power of that resurrection. And as we have this moment for people to respond, that you would give them a spiritual strength to make a decision to follow after you. I pray it in Jesus name. Amen.
Come on. Come and respond to the Lord. There's time for you. There's people for you. There's encouragement for you.
Come now.