SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, good morning, Lake Church. I come today with some good news. I come today with some news, some breaking news straight from Jerusalem. Y'all want to know what it is? The good news? The tomb is still empty. Which means Jesus is still alive. Which means death is still defeated. Amen. And we can praise God for that. Amen. We come today with this good news. This news that we proclaim to the world. That we believe, that we receive, that we that we rejoice about. This good news that Jesus is alive. And listen, this good news, that is the gospel. And I want to preach this simple message this morning on this is the gospel. This is the gospel. Now the word gospel means what? Good news. That's the good news. The gospel that Jesus Christ is alive. And how many are thankful this morning that with all of the bad news going on in the world today, we have some good news we can cling to. I mean, you look around and you see bad news, right? You don't have to look very far to see bad news. You look at the you turn on the TV and you see bad news. You scroll through social media and you see bad news, right? I mean, you you uh you look at the gas prices and you see bad news. The stock market, the interest rates, right? There's bad news everywhere you look. And and maybe you come here this morning carrying in to this church some bad news. Maybe you've walked in here with bad things going on in your life. Maybe it's a relationship, or maybe it's a marriage, or maybe it's uh some children that you got, them crazy children acting up. Maybe it's uh just some struggles in your life, in your family life. Maybe it's financial. There's so many bad things that we can carry on our back, but I want to share this with you. I'm thankful that no matter how bad things are, we can still praise God because the good news far outweighs the bad. The good news that Jesus is alive outweighs any bad news that you could ever receive. And this is the gospel that we share with you, the good news. Now, listen, I want to preach simply on this is the gospel. Now, look, this may be the most uncreative Easter sermon in the world today, right now. Because we're just gonna keep it simple. It's straight from the Word of God, it's straight truth, it's not fancy, it's nothing flashy. This is the gospel. And if you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And we're gonna look at a few verses this morning. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse number one. As you find your place there, I want to clarify some misconceptions about the gospel. Because I don't want to just assume that everyone in here is on the same page about what the gospel is. Because there is so many misconceptions about the gospel in the world today. There's so many false gospels that is, that they try to sell you as good news, but it's really not good news at all. And there's so many lies that's being told, and so many people twisting truth. And I want to share with you some things that are not the gospel. The gospel is not just that you try the best you can. That's not good news. The gospel is not just that God loves everybody and there's many roads to heaven. That's not the gospel. That's not true. So it's not the gospel. The gospel is not if you have enough faith or if you give enough money, God will bless your life with health and wealth and prosperity, and he'll give you all the physical needs of your life. That's not the gospel. The gospel is not self-improvement, the gospel is not tradition, the gospel is not religion, the gospel is not trying to do the best you can. The gospel is not what you can do for God, it's what God has done for you through Jesus Christ. And Paul gives us a very clear definition of what the gospel is. He says in 1 Corinthians 15:1, moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel, which I preach to you, which also you received, and by the way, that little part's very important, and in which you stand, by which, listen to this, also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. And then he says in verse 3, here's the gospel for I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scripture. You see, Jesus rising from the grave, rising from the tomb is the gospel, but it's just one part of the gospel. The gospel isn't just that God, the Son of God, rose from the grave. That's one ingredient, one key ingredient of the gospel, and without that you would have no gospel, but that's only part of it. The gospel is that Jesus died for our sins, was buried, and rose again on the third day. That is the gospel message, and and and and I come here today to share this important message with you. Paul said it's the message that brings salvation, it's the message he says is of first importance. It's the greatest message that this world needs. It's the message that if you have not received it, or if he says right here, if you believed it in vain, you should receive the gospel today because the gospel changes lives. The gospel will change your life and life. And my heart and my prayer and my desire is that you will receive this message with your heart, that you will place your faith in Jesus Christ, in the message of the gospel, and it will change your life. I'm living proof of it. There are people in here that is living proof of the power of the gospel. Paul said in first uh in Romans 1:16 that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe. That's the good news we share with you today. And if you walked in here with bad news, if you walked in here with heartbreak, if you're walked in here hopeless, you you feel unloved, you feel rejected, you feel plagued with worry and fear and regret and shame and guilt. If you walked in here and you've tried everything else in this world and it's left you empty, you've tried religion and it didn't satisfy your soul, you still have an emptiness in your heart. I want to give you some good news this morning that the gospel is powerful. It is good news, and it will change your life. Not just make you a better person, make you a new person in Christ. This is the good news. Here it is. First off, Christ died for our sins. Amen. Christ died for our sins. And we see this truth that Jesus died. And we have to ask the question, how can that be good? We talk about Good Friday, right? A day where we remember our Savior being nailed to a cross. And we say, how can that be good? How can a day so dark be now considered good? I mean, when you look at the crucifixion, there's not a lot of good going on, right? I mean, when I think of a good day, I think of like sitting at my house eating some bluebell ice cream, maybe going to make some fishing trips. I think about taking uh, you know, the family on a vacation. I think about sitting back on my couch with a hot cup of coffee with nothing to do. That's what I think about a good day. I don't know about y'all, but being nailed to a cross does not sound like a good day. And you look at the the events leading up to the crucifixion, you know, Jesus being falsely accused and this mock, unjust trial that they set up at midnight to sentence the Son of God who never did anything wrong. He was sinless, he was holy, he was perfect. And they brought false witnesses in to accuse him, to falsely accuse him. And he just stood there and took it. You know what's amazing to me is Jesus, the Bible says over and over, he did not say a word. He remained silent. And you see this dark, evil, sinister scene where the evilness of man is crushing the light of glory. And you see them beat him with a scourge, and you see them crown him with uh crown of thorns and they beat it into his brow, and they they they they scourge him where he's barely uh able, where he's where he's barely recognizable as a man, they pluck the beard out of his face and they and they spit upon him. How can that be good? And and you see them pull, they take Jesus and they make him carry his cross up to his site of execution, and they stretch his hands out on the cross and they take nails, these spikes, and they nail his hands and his feet to a cross. And we gotta ask the question if this is good news, how in the world can we see any good in that? How can we see good in the sinless Son of God dying? And I'll give it to you in three little words for our sin. The reason we call it Good Friday is because Jesus died for us. He took our place on the cross, he died our death, and this Savior, this the Son of God, Jesus. Look, let's let's back up here. I want you to think about why this is good. It's good because of who died, who he died for, and why he died. Jesus, the Son of God, God Himself, Emmanuel, God in the flesh, came down from heaven and chose to die. They didn't take his life, right? We looked at that last week. They didn't take his life. He willingly laid down his life. Jesus, the Son of God. And all throughout this scene, all throughout this scene, you see people declaring him innocent. Why is he innocent? Because he was the Son of God. You see people declaring his deity throughout the whole evil scene of the crucifixion. You see, and and and we can, uh if you want to turn there, I'm gonna be in Matthew 27 a little bit. Uh I'll just read it if you don't want to bother turning there. But Matthew 27, we see uh in verse number three, we see here where it says Judas. It gives the account of Judas. It says his betrayer, Judas, seeing that he had been condemned, was remorseful and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, saying, Listen to this, I have sinned by betraying what? Innocent blood. Innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? You see to it. Then you then you go down to verse number 19. What do we see? Uh in chapter 27. While he was sitting on the judgment seat, talking about Pilate, his wife sent to him, saying, Have nothing to do with that what? Just man. Just, that he was perfect, he was sinless. For I have suffered many things today in a dream because of him. And then look, verse number 24, we see Pilate saw that he could not prevail at all, but rather that a tumult was rising. He took water, washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this what? Just person. You see to it. We see throughout all this scene them testifying of the innocence and the sinlessness and the holiness of Jesus. And not only Judas and not only Pilate, which Pilate did it over and over three times, I believe Pilate declared the innocence of Jesus, uh Pilate's wife. I think about the thief on the cross that said, you know, to the other thief, he says, Look, we've done wrong, but this man has done nothing wrong. The man hanging on the cross next to Jesus testified of his innocence. I think about Herod, who Pilate sent Jesus to Herod to kind of get him out of his hair and try to let Herod deal. But Herod said, I find no fault in him, he's not worthy of death. I think about the centurion after Jesus died. He said what? He said, Surely this was the Son of God. This was a righteous man. Jesus was not just innocent, Jesus was sinless. And Jesus was sinless because he was, is, and will forever be the Son of God and God the Son. God Himself died. And he died for you. He took our place and died our death. Listen, Jesus did not die because he was guilty. He died because we were guilty. He took our place. And you see a beautiful picture of substitutionary atonement or that he died in the place of sinners when you look at the thief on the cross. When you look at the thief that wasn't on the cross. You know, we think about the two thieves on each side of the cross, but y'all know there was another thief in that scene, right? Who was the other thief? Barabbas. And Barabbas was guilty according to the law. Barabbas, it says he was a notable, notorious criminal. Barabbas deserved to die according to the law. He was condemned to death. And you, I mean, think about Barabbas. He's waiting on death row. He's about to face his execution. He's about to face the penalty of his sins. And all of a sudden, he hears the mob cry out, release Barabbas and kill Jesus. And in doing that, the guilty was set free, and the innocent died in his place. What a picture of you and me. Because whether you like to admit it or not, or whether we like to acknowledge it or not, we are all guilty. Church, listen, y'all don't try to act all holy in here. I know it's Easter, I know it's resurrection Sunday, but we are all guilty. The Bible says, for all have sinned. Raise your hand if you're a all. You're one of the all. Everyone have you just testified to your guilt. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We've all sinned against God. We've all broken his law. It's not just that we've done a few things wrong here and there. It's not just that we've messed up, you know, in our past. It's that we are guilty in the eyes of a holy God. And when we face the the judgment of God, we stand condemned. But the good news is that there was an innocent, sinless, holy Son of God who died in our place to set us free. He died so that we could be released and set free. He took the nails in his hands so that we could get off Scott free through faith in Christ. You know what the word the name Barabbas means? I love this. It means son of the Father. Jesus, the Son of God, God, died for Barabbas to give him the opportunity to live up to his name. Because he died for Barabbas, because he died for you, because he died for me. We have the privilege to call ourselves the sons of God through faith in Christ. Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we can be called the sons of God. But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to those that believe. We have the privilege to be the son of God. Listen, I'm gonna keep nailing this down before we move on. Barabbas had a cross with his name on it. And so did you. Barabbas burst into tears and he just pointed at the middle cross and said, There was a man named Jesus who died for me. Church, that is us. That is the same cry that we can cry today that Jesus died for our sins. He not only died for our sins, but he was buried. He was buried. We see in Matthew 27, verse number 57, it says, Now when the evening had come, there had came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his new tomb, which he had hewn out of the rock. And he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary sitting opposite the tomb. On the next day, which following the day of preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember while he was still alive how that deceiver said, After three days I will rise. Therefore, command that the stone be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night and steal him away and say to the people, He has risen from the dead, so the last deception will be worse than the first. You know what I believe? I believe they really thought Jesus might rise from the dead. I think they were just using the disciples as an excuse. You know, we don't want the disciples to come take his body. You know what they're worried about? This man who they came and took in the garden, who spoke a word, and they all fell down at the power of his glory. This man who rose Lazarus from the grave, amen. This man who gave sight to the blind, they were worried that he was not going to stay in the tomb, and they were right to worry. But Jesus died and was buried. And then he goes on to say, therefore, command in verse 65. Pilate said to them, You have a guard, go your way, make it like this, make it as secure as you know how. So they went and made this tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard. We see a lot of details, very specific details, in the burial of Jesus. We saw that they were worried that the disciples were gonna come take the body, you know. Uh, they they they made it as secure as possible. They set Roman guards out in front. They put a Roman seal, which is like a rope with a Roman insignia, uh clay uh on one each side of the tomb to represent the authority of Rome. So that if you break that seal, you are guilty of death. So they were making it as secure as possible, but what they were really doing is they were even more so validating the miracle of the resurrection. They tried to keep him in, but in doing so, they took out every human possibility, they extended every resource, they put forth every uh process to keep Jesus in the tomb, and in doing so, they made it even more believable and more proof that Jesus rose from the grave. He rose. He died, he was buried. And you know, a lot of times we think. About the Good Friday. We think about the Resurrection Sunday. But sometimes we forget about that day in between. That silent Saturday. When it looks like all hope is lost. Maybe you're here today and you feel like you're in that season. When it looks like you're in darkness, it looks like God is nowhere to be found. I mean, the disciples went back home. The Pharisees felt accomplished. The Roman soldiers said, We did our job. Pilate said, I'm finished with this man named Jesus, he thought he was. It looked like everything was done. There was this silent Saturday in between Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, where it looked like God was finished. But listen, God's silence is not God's absence. Just because you don't see him, and just because you don't feel him, and just because you think that he is nowhere to be found, he is still at work. And I can I mean we could get all into the theological depths of this, but Jesus' body was dead in the tomb, but Jesus' spirit was still at work. He was still making things happen. Amen. You may be in a season right now where a season of confusion, a season of worry, a season of fear, a season of uncertainty, a season of darkness, of silence. And you think God is nowhere to be found, but listen, just like then, he may be just setting up for a greater miracle. He is up to something. What looked like the end was actually God setting up for the greatest victory. And I want to give you the last thought this morning. We'll close. Christ died for our sins, He was buried. I told y'all this is going to be simple. Can anybody guess what the last one is? He rose again on the third day. Jesus rose again on the third day. We come now to the crowning proof of Christianity. The greatest event in history. Jesus conquering death, rising from the grave, proving that death could not hold him in the grave. And he had victory over death. And let's read in verse number 20, chapter 28, verse number one. It says, Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb, and behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him and became as dead men. But the angel answered and said to the woman, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen. Can we say that together? For he is risen. One, two, three, for he is risen. Isn't that wonderful? Just uh he as he said, Come see the place where the Lord lay. You know what the resurrection shows us? Is that the payment for our sins that Jesus died for on the cross was sufficient. When Jesus was on the cross, what did he cried out? He said, Totelesti, right? Which means what? Paid in full. Jesus was on the cross paying for the sins of this sinful, broken world, and he paid for it in full. And you know what the resurrection is? It's proof that the payment was sufficient. Somebody once said it like this, I like it. On the cross, Jesus wrote the check. And on the resurrection, it cleared the bank. Amen. He didn't come back in sufficient funds like some of ours does. He didn't have his check bounce. Amen. He had enough credit to die for sin, pay the penalty, and then rise up again. You see, when we die for sin, we're gonna stay dead if we die in our own strength. But Jesus died, suffered the wrath of God all of eternity worth of the judgment and wrath that we deserved on the cross. And the Father said, It is good. He gave credibility that the payment had been made. It was the the resurrection was the Father's Amen to Jesus' it is finished. He said it is finished. I like saying it like this the cross was the payment, the resurrection was the proof. The cross was the payment, the resurrection was the proof. The other day, me and Britney was going to return something at uh the UPS. She likes to buy Amazon stuff and then just return it for some reason. You know, try it on, don't like it, turn it, turn it, return it. Does anybody else do that? All right, that's that's a big struggle when you're trying to keep up with bills. But she she she bought something and she's returning it, and we go to the store and she turns it in, and usually once she returns it, we get a like a little notification on the phone saying it's been returned, and and and she left there, she didn't get a receipt. And she left there and she checked her phone and it said it wasn't returned. So I'm thinking we just lost out on some money. Because why? She didn't get a receipt. There's no proof that she returned this item. If you have a receipt, you have proof that the credit has gone through. But if you don't have a receipt, you don't have proof. I'm thankful that God gave us a receipt for the for the payment that Jesus made on the cross. And we still celebrate today that the payment was sufficient, that death has been defeated, your sins has been atoned for, forgiveness has been given to you. His blood has cleansed us from every sin. And when you place your faith in Christ, you identify with him in having victory over death. The cross was the payment, the resurrection was the proof. He conquered death, he conquered the grave, he has victory. He says in John 11, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He says in 1 Corinthians 15, go down to the end of the chapter, he says, death, it's been swallowed up in victory. He says, Death, you ain't got no sting anymore. Because we have victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm telling y'all this morning, there's only one way to get out of this world alive, and that's through Jesus. You can't do it any other way. He is the only way, He is the truth, He is the life, He is the answer for this world. He's the answer for the greatest problem we face, which is death. And every single one of us, you're gonna have an appointment with physical death. But the Bible says that God commended his love toward us, and while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, and that the wages of sin is death. Because of sin, we deserve death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You know what's great about this simple message is it just requires a simple response. Be careful if you go to a church and they say you got to do this, this, this, this, this, this, this to get to heaven or to have a relationship with God. You don't have to do all that. All you have to do is place your faith in this message that we share to you today. Paul said, This is the message by which you are saved. Paul said, this is the message, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. And I want to share with you this morning that this message will change your life. This message has life-giving power because it's not of it's not about the words, it's about who it's about and what he did. And I stand here today, not just not just knowing the gospel, but having received the gospel and experiencing the power of the gospel. See, I wasn't always a preacher, I was a person that was lost on my way to hell, empty, inside, broken, marriage falling apart, life in shambles, had no clue about anything. Thought I had it all figured out. Anybody ever been there? I was just setting up my own tragedy story day by day. One day I heard the same message that I'm telling you. That Jesus died for our sins. He was buried and he rose again. And when you place your faith in that message, he changed my life. When I received this message, he gave me new life, he transformed my heart from the inside out. He didn't just he didn't just come to make bad people uh good, he came to make dead people live, right? And he gave me new life, and he can do the same for you. Listen, there is nothing that Jesus can't fix in your life. There's nothing too broken he can't fix. And that's the power of the gospel, is when you think all hope is lost, and you think that person is too far gone, or you think that you failed too many times, or you think that God surely couldn't love me. The gospel message is that Jesus loved you enough to die for you, be buried, and rise again so that you can identify with him and have eternal life. And this gospel message can change anyone. It can change you if you receive it. It's not just about knowing it. I like how Paul said, unless you believed in vain. I believe there are some people that they know the gospel, they know about Jesus, but you haven't truly received Jesus. If you know the gospel in your head, that doesn't change your life. It's when you receive Jesus in your heart. Let's stand this morning. We have our worship team come forward. Everything that we see today comes down to one thing. Listen, listen. It all comes down to this. What will your response be to the gospel? What will you res how will you respond? It's not about if the gospel is good news for me, and it's not about the gospel is good news for some people in here that I know that God has changed their life. It's not about the gospel is good news for the world. It's have you received what will your response be to the gospel of Jesus Christ? The gospel message, the good news. Listen, it demands a response. You're not getting out of here without responding to it. You say, Well, I'm not gonna do nothing. That's a response. That's saying, eh, I'm good. I'll just keep doing it my own way. That's not gonna shake out very good for you on the day of judgment. When God looks at you and you close your eyes in death and you stand before Him, the only thing that will matter is what you did with Jesus. Did you receive Him or did you reject Him? Did you give your life to Him or did you just go your own way, do your own thing? Have you received the gospel and been set free, or are you still dead in your sins, walking in defeat? Knowing about Jesus doesn't save you, receiving Him does. I want us all in this moment, as we're about to close and pray, let's all bow our heads in prayer. And I want to ask you a question this morning. I'm not going to make you do anything uncomfortable. I just want to pray for you today. That if you're not truly sure that you're a believer in Christ, if you're not, maybe you're you're like Paul said, you've believed, but you believed in vain. It didn't change your life. You're not sure that if you close your eyes and depth right now, if you die today, you're not sure that you would have eternal life. You're not sure that you would go to heaven. If you're here this morning and you're not sure about your salvation, would you slip your hand up so I can pray for you this morning? Anyone here? Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else?

unknown 36:02

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 36:08

The gospel is simple. Look, I want to give you an opportunity to respond. I want to pray for you that those that you raised your hand. And I want you to know that you can leave out of here today, not with uncertainty, but with peace. And there's nothing greater than that. Father, I pray you'd be with the ones in here that are unsure about their eternity. They're unsure that if they've truly given their heart to you, Jesus. You gotta pray, Father, that your Holy Spirit will convict their heart, will draw them, will will just not let them go. Not give them peace until they make things right with you. Pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.