This I Believe: The Resurrection - Patrosky Anderson

Welcome to Day 2 of our  sermon series, "The Creed!" Join us as we get back to the basics of our faith and walk through the Apostle's Creed.

"I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again; he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father, and he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen."

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

As believers, this has to be the very thing that you believe or you don't believe. And if you've never had a pastor tell you that, then they have failed you. To tell you that you can allow other things to come into and corrupt the very thing that we believe they failed you. And so I want to be the one to tell you so that there's no more excuse in our belief that this is the thing.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Hey everyone, welcome to the Brick by Brick Podcast Renovation Church, where faith gets built one truth at a time. In this sermon episode, you'll listen to our most recent Sunday morning message. So whether you're new to faith or have been walking with Jesus for years, there's something here for you. Kickback, hit play, and let's build this thing together.

SPEAKER_01 0:48

Before I start, uh I I do want to say, I think I went a little too hard on the evangelicals last week. And so, like um I I said, and I want to say things accurately, I said 80% of evangelicals don't believe in the in the fullness of God um being fully God and fully man. And that was too high of a statistic. And so um, all joking aside, uh, it is not 80%, so it's not eight out of ten, it's 48%, it's five out of ten. Okay? So three of you caught strays last week. 30% of you caught caught an unintended stray. You you're you believe. So it's not, does that make sense? It's not eight out of ten, it's five out of ten. God is on the move. Thank you. I don't know why you laughed at that. God is on the move. This morning we're gonna continue our look at um the creeds, okay? Um, we talked about last week, and we'll we'll do a recap for those of you um who were not here, but we talked about how the creeds are to some instance the creeds have been like this, they're not a line in the sand, but like there are some people who are like, oh, we don't, we're not a creedal church. And I've never really understood that, um, other than the fact that I think some people say we go to a church where we do not regularly say the creeds. I think that's what they mean when they say that, because I don't think that what they're really saying is, oh, we're a church that doesn't believe in these scriptural truths that are found in the creed, right? And so last week we talked about how um that that there are a lot of churches who who believe in and should believe in the creed, and they don't necessarily just kind of keep that top of mind. But I do think we live in a culture where it is good for us to often go back and make sure that we know, that we know that we know that at the center of what we believe is this. And I do think that the creeds they provide us this opportunity to do that, right? And remember, the creeds, uh, they are not magical, they are not special, they are not in importance, they only hold value because they draw a direct line to scripture. If they do not draw a direct like a like a direct line to scripture, then they're just words. Amen. And and I want to make sure that that we know that. Another thing I want to make sure that we know, and I promise we're gonna get into God's word here in a minute, so I hope that you brought your Bibles, but I also want to make sure that that when it comes to drawing a line in the sand, a lot of people don't like that. You know what I mean? And and and I I understand that. And I want to make sure that we understand, and I want to make sure that I say uh up here first and foremost that there is a difference in the way in which you believe uh in the creeds, okay? Or or or the proclamation that the creeds uh profess, and for your pastor to stand up and be like, we are a creedal church. I don't want that to create distance in you. I actually want it to pull you in. And so I want to acknowledge that there is a difference. I believe that there's a difference from a person who would call themselves a believer and yet they actively do not believe. Okay? They would call themselves a believer, but they would say, Yes, I believe I am a Christian and yet I do not, not I struggle with, but I do not believe that he was both, he being Jesus, was both fully God and fully man. There is a difference from that believer than uh to the believer who would say, No, I'm a Christian, okay? I believe what I believe, and yet I am trying. I'm struggling with certain things, and yet I'm humbling myself and I'm I'm asking the same prayers, just like the apostles did in Luke chapter 7 when they asked the Lord to increase their faith. Sometimes we believe that like the apostles were just these iconic people who walked on water and did. No, no, no. They were struggling. Uh they were struggling. The disciples were struggling, men and women, who were trying to believe in something that was much greater than themselves, and there were times where their faith failed them, and yet they were humbled themselves and said, Lord, like increase my faith. And I think there's a big difference between a believer who would say, No, that's me. There are some things that I struggle with, and yet I'm remaining humble and I'm working out my own salvation with much fear and trembling. Emphasis on the fear and trembling part, right? Meaning that though I don't have all of these things figured out, I need the Lord to speak directly to my faith. Lord, I want to be honest in my prayer closet with my faith, and I give this over to you, and I say, Lord, see me, and I will put my hope and my trust in you, though it feels like at times I'm dragging my mind along for the ride. Anybody ever felt like that? My heart says yes and amen, but dude, seriously? Died and rose again? Okay, got it. Got it. Just super Christians. If you're watching online and you've ever felt that way, just know that I truly believe that if you continue to knock, if you continue to seek the Lord, if you continue to be faithful in your earnest asking, the Lord will not hide himself from you. Amen? So if that's you, if you're the latter believer, then I just want to encourage you to don't see the creeds as something that like creates even more distance between you and the church, you and a tradition that's been held for over a thousand years within the church. See it as something that that calls you. See it as something that you are a part of, a long-standing tradition of believers that go all the way back to the earliest believers, and it has not changed. Amen. There's something in the fact that it has not changed. Yes? Just to recap, real quickly, there are three um large main creeds. There's the Apostles' Creed, there's a Nicene Creed, and there's the Athanasian Creed. Real quick, the excuse me, the Apostles' Creed, it is it's the oldest of the three creeds. It's the oldest of the three creeds, and often, well, it's referred to as the Apostles' Creed, not because uh we believe that the Apostles wrote it. It's called the Apostles' Creed because it speaks more to the time frame. They believe that this was this was a a collection of words that was often said around the time period of the early church. You see that in the apostles' writings too, as we'll look at some of that uh again today. And it's more so speaks to the time period of when it kind of rose to high repetition. A lot of people believe um that the apostles would use this even in their discipleship structure to, as they would take on another believer, they would actually share these words with them and make sure that they understood this. They baptized one another in this. It was like their statement of faith. Next, there's a Nicene Creed in uh 225 A.D., the Nicene Creed gathered together because there were a number of people, a number of believers who were just simply struggling to fully uh understand and uh adopt and believe the the Trinitarian understanding of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the Nicene Creed, or I'm sorry, the Nicene Council got together and they definitively said this is what we believe as believers. And to believe anything less than, uh, or to believe that Christ or Jesus is anything less than fully God and fully man is considered from this day forth heresy. And it becomes the statement of faith that they all commit to. It's changed a little bit later, but by and large, the Nicene Creed has stayed the same, and and all parts of it um point themselves to Scripture. Yes? Athanasian Creed, um, we talked about this last week, it is often considered the forgotten creed, mainly because it it essentially answers the same um group of um heresies that was rising in this time period as the Nicene Creed. Uh, in particular, it was uh created to address the people believed that the the person of Jesus was better than the person of you and I. No one's gonna push back on that, right? It's better than the person of you and I, but they believe that it didn't fully elevate to the person of God the Father. So they believe that Jesus was somewhere in the middle. I love how bored you guys look right now. But come on, but but you you have to know this, right? I think. And so, because and here's why I really think you should know the the Athanasian creed, is because you can see some of the remnants of the this belief structure that Jesus was was above man, but yet not fully equal to God. You can see some of that even in our modern uh religions that we see today, where there are some religions that believe that Jesus is like the chief among all prophets, right? We don't have to out that religion, but you know, of there are religions that believe that. And so that that is essentially they would say, no, no, no, he's better than you and I, but he's not, he is just a man. But he is a man who rose to a high prominence as a prophet, right? The most famous religion in Christianity, but beyond that believes that structure, and it really forms from this um this kind of pocket of heresy that that just continued to fester. Okay? Last week we started to look at the apostles' creed, which begins uh with this it says, I believe in God, the Father Almighty, creator of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son, our Lord, uh, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was crucified, died, and buried. And if you didn't get a chance to see how we drew these direct lines between these, these um this confession of faith to scripture, I encourage you to go back and take a look at that. It is pretty straightforward. There's not a lot of pushback on the first part of uh of the uh Apostles' Creed. So again, if you missed that, please go back, look at that. Um if the connections to Scripture don't just jump right out at you, right? This morning we're gonna look at the second part of the creed. Uh, and I think it's the second part that causes people to kind of like scratch their heads a little bit. And so um, let's just scratch our heads together a little bit, right? The second part of the creed says this. It says, He descended, excuse me, he descended to uh the dead, and on the third day he rose again, right? It says that he he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father, right? Again, last week we looked at this one for one, right? It said this, this is what the scripture says. If you believe that, then you believe the creed. We looked at this, this is what the scripture says. If you believe this, then we believe that. But this morning, I not only want to do that, because I we we have to do that. That's important. I also want to acknowledge that there is some belief structure around some of the passages that we're gonna look at. And it's important. It's important that we know this. Uh, it's important that we understand that the church grew under some of these belief structures. The church also fractured under some of these structures. And I'll be honest, even for some of you, that belief structure was very formative to your Christian years. Okay? And so, because of that, here's what I want to do. I want to just walk through this. I want to just kind of tiptoe through this. And I'm saying this for for both sides. Because as believers, if you're the one that's like, oh, I already know what you're gonna say and I'm upset, stop. And you're the other side, you're like, oh, I already know what he's gonna say, or what he better say, and he better say it all, with an attitude. Stop. Just stop. You know who you are. Like, most of us fall on that, and it's like, oh, I know what the church better say. And it's like, stop it. Stop it. Because are we not one body? Are we not working out our own salvation with much fear and trembling? Do we not love one another? Right? And and at the end of the day, and this is why I think it's so important, you have all of these people fighting about all of those things over there, and it's like you're fighting about all of these things over there, and you're one of the five that's struggling about the things in the creed. I think you need to come back home and sit down and open your Bible and figure out what is what are the non-negotiables in Christianity. Sometimes we all this emotion is around all of these non-negotiables, and I just don't want to, I just don't want to cultivate that. So we're gonna walk through this with with tiptoeing and grace and whatever side of the line you fall on, just allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Amen. The first part of this creed says that He He descends into the dead, right? After He being Jesus, after it says He suffered under Pontius Pilate, he crucified and then he died and he was buried, it says that he descended. And this comes from several scriptures. Open your Bibles to Acts chapter 2. Man, I shouldn't have made that comment about gluten-free. My wife's at home just praying against me. Like, I'm joking when I eat that dry bread. Oh man. If you're gluten-free, you got that joke. Are you there yet? Acts chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse 22. Again, we're talking about the first part where he he descended into the dead. And in Acts chapter 2, this is where um this is uh the proclamation that Peter is making, this profession of faith that Peter is making after the Holy Spirit falls, after the day of Pentecost, or on the day of Pentecost, tongues of fire, and it says that the people they were hearing um the gospel preached in their own native tongue, and all of these people came. And so Peter has this opportunity to preach like the main thing to these people. This is the opportunity, and he seizes the opportunity with this. He says, Fellow Israelites, listen to this. Jesus of Nazareth, who was uh a man accredited by God to you by miracles, he says, with wonders and signs which God did among you through him, as you yourself know. It says, This man was handed over to you by what? God's deliberate plan. He wasn't caught, he wasn't duped, by God's deliberate plan, right? And the foreknowledge, and you with the help of wicked men, he says, He put you put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because uh it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Okay, we all understand that. Again, there's no pushback. And then he starts to speak to a group of people in the context that may be confusing to us, but was in no way confusing to them. You have to remember it was the day of Pentecost. They were coming to celebrate, they were Jew, like all of these things. They had the institutional knowledge, if you will, for him to speak like this. And for us, we just have to make sure that we don't get lost in what he's saying. He says this in verse 25. He says, David said about him, I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand. David's not saying that he's God. Okay? He says, Because he is at my right hand. He says, I will not be shaken. David is saying, He is my rock. You have to understand that right hand analogy, but he's saying analogy, but he's saying he's my rock. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices. He says, My body will not rest, um uh, my body will also rest in hope, because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, to the realm of the dead. Make sure you understand, make sure you see that, right? He says, You will not let my your holy one see decay. He says, You have made known to me the path of my life, you will fill me with joy in your presence. And then he says, Fellow Israelites, for the context, fellow Israelites, I can tell you with confidence that the patriarch David he died and he was buried, and his tomb is still here today. But he was a prophet. But he was a prophet, he was speaking truth, but he was a prophet, and he knew that God had promised to him on oath that he would place on his descendants, uh, on he would place his descendants on his throne, seeing what is to come, he spoke to the resurrection of the Messiah. We all know that that he was in the line, Jesus was in the lineage of David, right? That he was not uh he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead. That's important. Again, don't miss it. Nor did his body see decay, the realm of the dead, almost as though that is a place. You see that? He was not abandoned. How do you abandon something? You leave it, right? You leave it. To leave something, it has to be where? There. It's not a mystery. It's not a mystery. As Christians, we always want to find a mystery. Abandoned, the word abandoned means abandoned. Turn your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4. In Ephesians chapter 4. Starting in verse 4, it says this. There's one body, there's one spirit. Amen. Do you know that you were called to one hope when you were called? I don't care what state you were in. I don't care where you're at right now. You've been called to one hope. And that hope is Jesus Christ. And you've been called to that hope. One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ appointed it. Amen. So if that is you, that's why I say with confidence, if that is you, and you would say, No, I am the believer who is trying, and yet I am dragging my mind behind me. Can I just tell you, Christ has appointed you grace? He's appointed you grace. This is why it says, when he what? Ascended on high. He took captives and gave gifts to the people. And then he breaks it down in verse 9. What does it mean he ascended? Means except that he also descended to the lower earthly realms. He descended, right? Is that everyone uh who ascends higher than all of uh all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe? And so it tells us that first there that Christ went down before he went up. Do you see that in scripture? That Christ went down before he first went up. Now, turn your Bibles to 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 3. Because in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 18, it gives us this deeper look into this acknowledgement that Christ first went down before he went up. In 1 Peter chapter 3, starting in verse 18, it says, For Christ also suffered once for sin. We know exactly what that's talking about. The righteous for the unrighteous, we know exactly who it is talking about. That is me, that is you, right? To bring you to God. He was put to death in the body, but made alive in the what? He was put to death in the body, but made alive in the spirit. After being made alive, it says that he went and he made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits. Now I do believe that this scripture, and this is where we we're gonna just we're just gonna walk lightly here, I do believe that this is one of the primary scriptures that is used to legitimize this understanding of purgatory. If you don't know what purgatory, Is, that's fine. If you do, then you know that this scripture and oftentimes is used to help people understand uh the the concept of purgatory. And if that's you, I would say, okay, well then let's just keep reading because it says, right, that that there was a purpose for Jesus to go down before he came up. And that purpose is revealed to us in chapter 20 or in verse 20. Verse 20 also gives us the context, right? It says, to those who were disobedient when long ago, when God awaited patiently in the days of who? Of Noah. The days of Noah, while the ark was being built, he says, in it only a few, eight and all, were saved through water. And then it goes on to talk about how water is a is a symbolizing, or water now symbolizes, right, in our baptism, and it symbolizes not the removal of dirt from our body, but yet it is a pledge. It is a player with a with a clear conscience to God. That's what our baptism is, right? Like, can we just pause there? That you do know that you will get dirty again in your life. And I'm not talking about dirt, I'm talking about sin after your baptism. Amen? So, what baptism really means, and if you've never been baptized, hear me. What baptism really means is it is a pledge to say, yeah, yeah, yeah, God, I'm with you. I'm with you. It's this public declaration, God, I'm with you, right? That we make with our understanding. Do you see that? Because that's what it says. That we make this with our understanding towards God. And it saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, right? Who's gone into heaven and is at the right hand with the angels, the authorities and powers in submission to who? To him. So do you see how the scripture says that he first went down? And it also says that he went down for a purpose. And again, I'm not here to say, and so because of that, if you believe No, no, no, no. I'm just saying, like, let the Holy Spirit speak to you. That's what it says. These are not my words. We did a lot of reading of scripture, and I heard a lot of pages. You turn there yourself. That's what it says. And so we understand what it means, and we also understand what it means when we say those words. Next, the creed says, and on the third day he rose again. I do believe that we're back to no pushback, right? This is pulled this is pulled like straight from the words of Jesus Himself. Luke chapter 24. Go there. I know we put these words on the screen. Never rely on the words on the screen. My spelling is horrible. But you should work your own Bible. Right? Never believe what somebody's gonna stand up here and tell you. Not period, comma. Unless it's Pastor Steve. That guy's a saint. Never just trust it, hook, line, and sinker. Seriously. Don't even like, don't even allow our relational capital lull you to sleep into not reading your Bible for yourself. Don't do that. Turn to Luke chapter 24, verse 45. It says that then he opened their eyes, he being Jesus. This is after Jesus uh reveals himself as the risen Lord to his disciples. It says, then he opens their minds so that they could understand the scriptures. Again, if that is you, and you're struggling to understand these things, so were his disciples. And he had to open their minds. Pray that God would do the same for you, that he would open your mind. He had to open their mind so that they could better understand the scriptures. And he told them, this is what was written, that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the what? The third day. Right? Repentance for the forgiveness of sins, it says. And he preached, uh, and there will be repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and that will be preached in his name throughout all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. We read through Acts, we know this is true. And he says, You are witness to all of these things. Jesus from his own mouth said that yes, I went down, I and now I'm here. And he says, but and that was a process of three days. And so we know that he rose on the three on the third day. Next, the creed says, right? And he ascended into heaven and he's seated at the right hand of the Father. In John chapter 20, verse 17, Jesus also says this after being risen from the dead. Jesus said, He says, Do not hold on to me. He says, Don't hold on to me, for I have not what? Ascended, right? He's talking to those who came to the tomb and they were excited and they were like, oh my gosh, right, because you can imagine they wanted to. And he said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, don't hold on to me yet. I have not ascended yet to the father. Go instead tell uh my brothers and tell them, I am ascending to my father and your father, right? To God and your God. And we later see in Acts chapter 1 uh that he does this. He ascends to heaven right before the apostles' eyes, it says. Turn to Mark chapter 14. In Mark chapter 14, verse 61 through 64, Jesus speaks about himself being seated at the right hand. All of these things are there, and that's why oftentimes Jesus tells his disciples, like, Were you not listening? Church, are we not listening? This is right before he was crucified. They were questioning him. And the reason I chose this one and why I believe it's so important, because this is the catalyst to Christ being put on the cross. This is the catalyst to Christ being put on the cross. And so when we say things, when when we recall the creed and when we see the, we say this as a statement of faith, understand that Jesus is laying everything on the line. When he says this, Mark chapter 14, 61, 61, they're questioning him, and it says, but Jesus remained silent and he gave no answer. Again, the high priest asked him, Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One? And in verse 62, Jesus says, I am. I am, said Jesus. He says, and you will see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the Almighty One and coming in the clouds of heaven. He's even telling the high priest, I am, and I don't want to still anybody's thunder for next week, but he's like, You're good, their day is coming where you're gonna see this. Right? Is he proclaiming to them that they're gonna go to heaven with him? No, no, no. He's just saying, look, there's a day that's coming that you're gonna see me at the right hand of the Almighty One coming in the cloud. And the high priest at that point, because they knew what he was saying, at that point, it says that the high priest they tore their clothes. I know that sounds really weird, but like they did it like out of anger. And they they they they tore their clothes, right? And they said to him, Uh, why do we need any more witness? He asked. They said, Uh, you've heard the blasphemy for yourselves. What do you think? They all condemned him as worthy of death. And so it's at that point they all shifted in their minds and said, Yeah, we're gonna kill him. Do you see the connection there? Do you see the connection in the fact that we are a church who believes in all these scriptures? We are a church that would say, Look, I believe in God Almighty, the Father Almighty, the creator of heaven and of earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord. Do you believe that? Do you believe that he was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate? Do you believe that he was crucified, that he died, that he was buried? Do you believe that he descended to the dead with the purpose? Do you believe that on the third day he rose again? And do you believe that he also ascended into heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father? If you do, that is what Christianity is. These are the core tenets of our faith. I'm not saying they're not other important things, but these are the core tenets of our faith. In 2025, Pew Research got together and they created a theological survey to question believers, in particular evangelical believers, on their belief of the core tenets of our faith. So you're grabbing all these people from all these places and all these belief structures with all these backgrounds, right? And they come together. About 90% of them affirm that there is a God, there is a Son, and there is a Holy Spirit. Come on. What? You know who they are. No, I don't know. That was very ominous, but I don't I know, I know. Hey, hey. No, you're good. Keep your comments uh down to a minimum, though. There are other people here we're trying to read. We're all trying to get to this cake, man, and you're holding us back. Come on. No, uh, but you're right, who is that 10%? No joke, but here's another one the deity of Jesus. We talked about this. 48%, 48%, not to be outdone by the 53% who struggle with their belief in the Holy Spirit. 70% of believers struggle with the virgin birth. Can I just say that this is what we believe? This is what we believe. This is what it means to be a Christian, right? Can we just for a few more weeks come all the way back to just this? We live in a culture where it is becoming so easy to rewrite so many things. Can we as believers gain the resolve to say that this is not on the table? That these are not the things that are allowed to grow and shift and morph as our culture grows and shifts. This is not on the table. As believers, this has to be the very thing that you believe or you don't believe. And if you've never had a pastor tell you that, then they have failed you. To tell you that you can allow other things to come into and and and corrupt the very thing that we believe, they failed you. And so I want to be the one to tell you so that there is no more excuse in our belief that this is the thing. This is it. If you do not believe this, then you do not believe. And if you call yourself a Christian and you don't believe in this, then all of those other things that you are using to put a badge on your chest to say that I'm a Christian, take those things off. Come back to your prayer closet, open your Bible and understand the things that matter most. Before you step out of your door and call yourself a Christian, before you get on your computer or your phone and in the name of Christianity, say anything. If you don't believe in these things, keep your mouth shut. Because you don't speak for Christianity. Amen. Woo, and I know. We don't like it when people talk like that, but somebody's got to. Right? Because we got too many people claiming to be Christians, and they don't believe this. 52% of people don't believe this. They don't speak for me. Do they speak for you? Come on. Let's pray.

SPEAKER_00 36:00

Thanks for tuning in to the Brick by Brick Podcast. We're so glad you've joined us on our journey to build faith one truth at a time. Be sure to follow us so you never miss another episode. We've got plenty more coming your way.