The Power of the Resurrection (Luke 24)

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The Power of the Resurrection

Luke 24

 

I’ve got great news friends–there’s power in the resurrection. Jesus Christ has bodily risen from the dead. He is alive, and it matters. Like touching a wire, and discovering it’s alive with 220 current–the resurrection is powerful current.

Turn in your Bibles to Luke 24, take the outline found in your bulletin, and let’s take the “So what?” out of your mind about Jesus rising from the dead. Maybe you’ve never said it, but you’ve thought it. You’ve imagined, “Okay, let’s say He did die in our place, then come back from the dead–is that really going to change the way my alarm goes off tomorrow morning? Is it going to change my situation at work? Is it going to help my marriage, or get me a date? What affect is the resurrection going to have on my life?”

Let me answer that question two ways–Part One, by showing you what Luke and the other gospel writers witnessed, proving the resurrection, THE PROOFS. Part Two, by explaining the power of believing that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, THE POWER.

PART ONE–The Proof of the Resurrection  Luke 24

In Luke 23, after Jesus willfully chose to die for our sins, Joseph of Arimathea, a righteous member of the Jewish counsel, sought to place Jesus in his own unused family tomb and prepare Christ’s dead body for burial–which caused a conflict. The women who minister to Jesus didn’t know Joseph of Arimathea or Nicodemus, both Judeans, and both associated with the leaders who orchestrated the conspiracy against Jesus. So the women were determined to do the burial preparation themselves.

The women went to their homes to prepare their own spices and perfumes, but because they had to place Jesus’ body in the tomb before sunset on Friday before the beginning of the Sabbath, they ran out of time and were not able to finish preparing the Lord’s body for burial. They merely wrapped the body in the tomb, but had to wait for Sunday to finish. So now it’s Sunday morning, and it’s time to celebrate.

First  The Fact of the Resurrection

Matthew 28:2 tells us an earthquake occurred, and an angel rolled the tombstone away. The Roman guards fainted from fear, then ran away. Now look at Luke 24:1–when the women returned to finish preparing the body of Christ, in verse 2, they didn’t expect to find the tomb unguarded, the stone rolled away, and the body of Jesus missing.

Then while standing in the tomb in verse 4, two angels suddenly appear and declare that Jesus has risen from the dead, just as He said He would. The angel tells the women to find the disciples to tell them Jesus has risen. So as Mary Magdalene runs to tell the apostles, the other women follow her more slowly. Then when she shares with the disciples, verse 11 says, “And these words appeared to them [the disciples] as nonsense, and they would not believe them.”

But after their initial skepticism, verse 12 says, “But Peter [and John] arose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at that which had happened.” John 20 tells us Peter and John have a foot race to the tomb, John won, even though Peter stepped into the tomb first. Mary Magdalene is not far behind both of them as she heads back to the tomb for the second time.

Peter and John see the empty linens used to wrap Jesus’ body, but there is obviously no body. And after some careful investigation, Peter and John leave the tomb to head back home, while Mary travels toward the tomb with the other women not far behind. Her love for Christ pays off, as Mary is honored as the first witness of the resurrection.

Second  The Witnesses of the Resurrection

Don’t misunderstand–this event was not merely a series of events that, when put together cause us to conclude there must have been a resurrection. No, Jesus rising from the dead is an eyewitness event. There’re hundreds who are about to say, “We saw Jesus personally and unmistakably.” The New Testament writers weren’t making this up–they saw, touched and talked to the risen Christ, and they all willingly died for that historical fact.

Friends, would you die for a lie? No way. Well if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, then every one of the disciples did die for a lie. Some were crucified, some were drawn and quartered, some shot with arrows, others crucified upside down, even boiled in oil–yet they all died professing that they had personally witnessed Jesus risen from the dead. How did the events of the resurrection go? Let me try to show them in the order they occurred.

#1  Mary Magdalene is the first to witness the resurrected Christ

Picture this in your mind–as Mary heads back to the tomb, she is weeping over the fact that someone has stolen the body of Jesus. John 20:11 says, “Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb.” When she looks in, she sees two angels where the feet and head of Christ would have been, and they ask her why she’s crying.

She says, “Because someone has taken the Lord’s body.”

But as she says this, she turns around toward the door, and there she sees the graveyard gardener. So she asks Him where the body is, and He says to her, “Mary.” And with a gasping cry Mary says, “Master,” and grabs on to Him as if her life depended on it—it’s Jesus. So once more Mary returns to the disciples, now to tell them the good news that Jesus is risen. In John 20:18 she says, “I have seen the Lord.”

You know Mary–she’d been saved out of a life of horrible sin, since Christ had cast seven demons out of her. She wasn’t an apostle, or an up-front leader in the church. But Jesus appeared to Mary first, for the simple purpose of showing His personal, loving faithfulness to an ordinary believer. Let that impact you, friends. Jesus rises from the dead, and the first person He appears to is a very normal, previously sinful, yet now forgiven woman. This is the kind of Savior we have–One who loves us for who we are, and for what He will make us. But Mary isn’t alone–following behind her, the other women were heading back to the tomb. The second witnesses of the resurrection are . . .

#2  The Other Women witness the resurrected Christ

Matthew 28:9 tells us as these women, who desired to prepare the dead body of Christ, were returning to the tomb. It says, “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshipped Him.” I love this scene. They’ve been to the tomb, returned to the disciples, and now are headed back to the tomb–and there He is! After a tender greeting, (was it, “Hi, Ladies—surprise!”?) they do what I have always pictured myself doing, grabbing hold of His feet and worshipping Him. Then after Jesus lovingly pries them loose, the ladies go to tell the disciples the good news.

About this same time, the guards of the tomb were telling the religious leaders an angel had opened the tomb, and when he did, they saw Jesus’ body was gone. But instead of believing, instead of checking out what was really going on or letting the truth be known, Matthew 28:11 says the religious leaders devised a deceitful plan to stop the truth–how? By paying the guards a large sum of money to lie–a lie that states the cowardly disciples, who all deserted Jesus on Thursday night all of a sudden got really brave, attacked and beat up a crack Roman guard who were to be sentenced to die if anyone broke the seal of Rome on that tomb, then stole the body of Jesus, so they could claim that Jesus rose from the dead. Yeah right–you can’t stop the truth, for . . .

#3  Peter meets the resurrected Christ

The third appearance of Christ was to Peter on Sunday afternoon. We don’t know exactly when, but later, when the Emmaus disciples return, the first thing the apostles say to the Emmaus two in Luke 24:34 is, “The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon,” and 1 Corinthians 15:5 says, “He appeared to Cephas [that’s Peter].”

Those of you who’ve ever been guilty, crushed and have sinned so badly you think God doesn’t want anything to do with you, remember this–before the tomb is cold, Jesus Himself intentionally sought out the one who denied Him three times. The Lord appears to the one with the greatest guilt, the one with the broken heart, the one in greatest need of forgiveness. For those of you who keep saying, “I don’t deserve God’s love,” let me help you—you don’t, and neither do I. But friends, God seeks out those who desire to be right with Him, even though they think it’s impossible. And genuine Christian brother and sister, there is nothing you can do that will separate you from the love of God–nothing. Jesus appears to Peter thirdly–but Jesus is not done showing Himself to be alive.

#4  The Emmaus disciples witness the Resurrected Christ

Two disciples, named Cleopas and I like to call him Unknownicus, are headed east into the sunset in verses 13 and 14, “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.” These men are just ordinary followers of Christ–they are not a part of the twelve superstar disciples, but they’re both extremely discouraged. The tragedy of Christ’s brutal crucifixion was not something these men had expected.

If you’ve ever lost all hope, you can identify with these two who had all their dreams nailed to a cross. But something wonderful is about to happen, verse 15, “And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, [an animated and heated discussion] Jesus Himself [emphasis] approached, and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented [passive–God prevents them] from recognizing Him.” God keeps Cleopas and Unknownicus from recognizing the risen God-man, as He comes walking up behind them. Verse 17, “[Jesus] He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad.”

The question stops them dead in their tracks, and they’re forced to re-live the pain of seeing Jesus die. So they ask Jesus, who they don’t recognize yet in verse 18, “Where’ve you been all week, Bub?” And Jesus asks compassionately, in verse 19, “What’s been going on?” And they said to Him, “’The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who [notice] was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.’”

They say Jesus WAS a prophet–they thought He was dead. And with His death they witnessed, their hope has died. So Jesus chides them for not believing His Words. In verse 26, “’Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ 27 And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

Do you know what I would have done if I were Jesus? I would have said, “It’s me! Ta-da! Look at my hands and feet. Let me give you a noogie and remind you of our years together. Experience me! I’m real, I’m alive! Ha–fooled ya!” But Jesus doesn’t do that. What does the all-wise, never wrong God do? He shows them the Bible–the living and active, inspired words of God.

Why would Jesus teach the Bible rather than reveal Himself, or prefer the Bible to a miraculous resurrection? Because it’s God’s Word the Spirit uses to bring about true saving faith in our hearts. As Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” To know God, you need to know the Bible, hear the Bible and believe the truth of the Bible.

So what did Jesus do to the Emmaus men? He quoted passages like Isaiah 53:5 (speaking of Christ 700 years before He was born, Isaiah writes), “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” The two disciples are fascinated by His Bible teaching. You can almost see their hearts respond in faith, as joy begins to grow in their hearts.

Then they arrive in Emmaus, and insist this biblical stranger stay with them at their place, and He does. After their long journey, the three travelers sit down to eat in verse 30, “But as the Lord broke bread,” miraculously, look what happened in verse 31, “And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him.” They realized the man handing them the bread is the risen Christ.

And no sooner do they recognize Him, verse 31 adds, “and He vanished from their sight.” Jesus opened the Scriptures to them, then He opened their eyes to recognize Him. Now they know He is alive. They finally saw Jesus for Who He really is. Unlike most people today who know about Jesus, but don’t know Him intimately–these men met the risen Christ. When anyone truly meets Jesus, it’s intimate, not religious, not merely intellectual. Jesus radically changes your life. As 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

You can hear the Emmaus men talking breathlessly to each other, can’t you? “It was Jesus!” Verse 32 they said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?” We now see that the Messiah had to suffer and die for people’s sins, and now He’s alive–this is awesome!

So what do Cleopas and Unknownicus do? They return to Jerusalem–verse 35, “They began to relate their experiences on the road, and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.” They have gone from broken hearts to total joy. Now all the disciples begin to realize how blind they’ve been. Jesus did not come to overthrow Rome, or clean up the Jewish religion, but He came to earth to take our place on the cross for our sins. God the Father accepted His sacrifice, so if we surrender, turn from our sin and follow Christ alone, trusting in His work on the cross for our salvation, we can be saved, forgiven, and transformed. But friends, Jesus doesn’t stop appearing for . . .

#5  Ten of the disciples meet the resurrected Christ

Luke 24:36, “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst.” Jesus appears, but you’d think by now they’d all be thrilled. But verses 37 to 38, “they thought they were seeing a spirit,” they doubted. These were not people who wanted Jesus to be alive so bad they dreamed it up. No, they’re still wavering and wondering.

So what does Jesus say? He says, “You doubting dummies.” No, Jesus patiently proves to them and us He is bodily risen from the dead by doing three things in verses 37 to 42 . . .

1 by appearing to them in the midst of a locked room

2 by showing them the nail marks on His hands and feet

3 and by eating some fish while they watch Him take every bite

Next Jesus proves to us that His death and resurrection was His plan all along, by again teaching them from the Word of God, verses 44 to 45, “Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms [the entire Old Testament] must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

His death, burial and resurrection was all God’s plan from the beginning, all proven again in the Bible. Over 300 prophecies predicted Christ’s coming hundreds and thousands of years in advance–amazing, certain, un-debatable, statistical proof. And friends, Jesus continues to prove His resurrection over and over again for the next forty days.

#6  Jesus is witnessed by the eleven disciples with Thomas

#7  Seven disciples talk to the Lord by the Sea of Galilee

When Peter wants to go back to his former career and goes fishing, Jesus appears on the shore and reminds Peter he is called by Jesus to feed God’s sheep.

#8  Jesus appears to James, His half-brother

First Corinthians 15:7 says, “Then He appeared to James.”

#9  Jesus appears to more than 500 followers at one time

Which is described to us in 1 Corinthians 15:6

#10  Jesus appears to eleven disciples in Galilee

. . . to give the great commission to preach the Gospel and make disciples, and Acts 1:3 affirms, “To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” After this time . .  .

#11  Jesus appears to the disciples in Jerusalem

Luke 24:44 to 49 is Jesus’ final recorded physical appearance before His ascension. Again, He is teaching them the Bible. Jesus spent most of His time in His resurrected body, not exalting in the miraculous, but explaining the Bible. Then after this, Jesus proves He’s God by ascending to Heaven.

Third  The Certainty of the Ascension

Luke 24:50, “And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them.”

51 “And it came about that while He was blessing them, He parted from them.”

52 “And they returned to Jerusalem with great joy,”

53 “and were continually in the temple, praising God.”

Like a rocket slowly lifting off the launch pad, Jesus lifts off into the clouds, leaving His awestruck disciples craning their necks to get one last look as He disappears into the sky. Be encouraged by the ascension friends–the ascension was a public, gradual and literal lift off, affirming the credibility of Christ who said He’d leave, guaranteeing the coming of the Spirit, and assuring us that just as Jesus left, He will one day bodily return.

With the Lord’s ascension, Jesus is now the believers’ High Priest and mediator, our sovereign Lord and Master, and our constant companion and friend. The ascension is the reason we can be born again, and all of it is guaranteed by the resurrection, whose proofs are astronomical. “But,” you say, “so what–what difference does the resurrection of Jesus Christ make in anyone’s life?” You are surrounded by horribly sinful people this morning. Don’t be afraid–they’ve been radically transformed by Christ, and I want you to listen to one testimony . . .

TESTIMONY–SO HOW POWERFUL IS THE RESURRECTION?

PART TWO–The Power of the Resurrection

Three final evidences of the difference Christ rising from the dead makes.

First  The Power of the Resurrection requires that only Christianity is true and every other religion is False

Jesus Christ lived 33 years on earth. He taught thousands of people who marveled at what He had to say, they wondered at His miracle-working power, and they were awed by His personal integrity. But they choked every time He told them He was God in the flesh. Only lunatics or liars make those kind of claims.

People had a hard time believing Jesus’ claims, until one day the Lord threw down the gauntlet. Matthew 12:40, Jesus said to those who wanted proof, “’For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.’” And He said of Himself in Mark 10:34, “’And they will mock Him and spit on Him and scourge Him and kill Him and three days later He will rise again.’”

When Jesus said this, people were jolted. But Jesus stuck to His word, and that prediction led to a first century showdown, because everyone was going to know in about three days time if Jesus was who He said He was. Was Jesus God and the only way we can get to Heaven? Or was He just another fake? If Jesus comes back from the dead, then what proof would anybody in history ever need? A resurrection after redeeming the sins of mankind was a big “W” in the scores column of proof. But if He dies and stays dead, then He is utterly exposed as just another religious phony.

People started counting the days. Day 1–He’s still dead. Day 2–He’s dead and gone. Day 3–BOOM, Easter Sunday morning hits, and the resurrection occurs. He bursts forth from the tomb–He did it, which proves He is the Son of God. The Christian faith He taught is absolutely true, and every other religious leader in the world is a fraud, and every other religion in the world a fake.

Do you know what Confucius, Mohammed, Mary and Buddha all have in common? They are all dead. That is why no religion is to be stacked up against the truth of Christianity, because Jesus is alive–He proved everything He said about life, eternity, and how we can be right with God was true. The resurrection proves Jesus is the only way to Heaven. And that makes the resurrection powerful.

Second  The Power of the Resurrection affirms mankind did not evolve from apes, nor does life end at the grave

Evolution leaves us with no answers–it fails to deal with the questions we ask, like when we stand over the casket of a loved one, no one says, “I guess that’s it–when you’re dead, you’re dead!” No, our hearts expect a reunion. Humans are not merely advanced animals on the evolutionary chain, we give thought to eternal issues. We humans are concerned about life, truth, justice, love, relationships and life after death.

No one fully believes all we are is graduate gorillas–no, we humans are concerned about soul-ish issues. The Bible teaches us the reason why we feel more than pond scum is because we are more than that. Paul explains who God is, and how we should relate to Him in Acts 17, when talking to the philosophers of Athens in verses 24 and 25, “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands, 25 neither is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all things.”

And what is the result of God’s creation? Verses 30 and 31, “God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, [why?] 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man who He has appointed having furnished proof to all men [what proof?] by raising Him from the dead.”

The Bible teaches the living God created the world, and His crowning achievement came when He created men and women after His own likeness. He gave them souls and personalities, and the capacity to love and to enter into relationships, and a sense of justice and a sense of humor. God breathed life into human beings in Genesis 2:7 so that life would not end at the grave, because it came from the lungs of an eternal God. And the Bible confirms even though God gave us existence, we rebelled against His rule–so God calls us to repent, to turn from “our” way to “God’s” way.

But how do we know it is all true? The end of Acts 17:31, Jesus proved it was all true through His resurrection, When Jesus burst forth from the tomb on Sunday morning, His resurrection was the unmistakable demonstration of what the nature of life is all about. Namely, life comes from God, not from a big bang. And life continues on into eternity. Like God, it doesn’t go out like a candle when you die. And life is important–it has value, to God, to you and others.

Listen, when you believe we are all just cosmic accidents, when you deny reality and think of people as merely matter plus time plus chance, when you think we all just went from the goo to the zoo to you, it begins to devalue life. Just pick up a newspaper and look at how the belief that life is merely an accident has changed us–mindless violence, the worship of pleasure, the exaltation of self, the killing of the unborn, the murdering of the elderly, leaders who lack character, the pre-occupation with personal rights.

But God says, “Wake up and understand what life is.” Life is a gift from God to be enjoyed in relation to God now and forever. But unless we’re rightly related to God through Jesus, who proved by His resurrection that life is forever, our eternal existence will not be with God in Heaven, but separated from Him forever in the torments of Hell. Happy Easter! That’s why the resurrection is so powerful. The resurrection is the crossroads of eternity–eternal life, or eternal torment?

Third  The Power of the Resurrection shows us to be so sinful, we require radical transformation from God

Is man basically good, or does he basically have a depraved, gravitational pull toward evil? The avalanche of evidence supporting our deep-seated sinfulness is one-sided–just watch the news. We are deeply sinful–which is exactly what the Bible said all along. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Ecclesiastes 7:20, “There is not a righteous man on earth who continually does good and who never sins.”

Let me see your hands–how many of you have taken something that didn’t belong to you? How many have yelled at someone you loved? How many have wanted something that belonged to someone else? How many of you have lusted after a person or item? Then you’re thieving, hateful, perverts who are filled with envy–you’re a sinner. You’re not good–you’re bad. The holy God who made us must judge your sinful rebellion to do your own thing and go your own way.

The Bible says we are so sinful at the core of our being, that unless we get help from the outside, not only does our future in this life look bleak, but our eternity looks awful. As 1 John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.”

“But,” you ask, “what does this have to do with the resurrection?” When someone goes to the electric chair, the assumption by the rest of us is, “he must have done something dreadful.” When you see a bloodstained cross, then an empty tomb, you ought to be rocked to the core of your being, that something that horrendous had to happen to God’s Son to pay for the rebellion in our hearts toward God. Ever think about that? Or are you still holding to, “I’m basically good.”

That is why the resurrection is powerful–as Romans 4:25 declares about Jesus, “He who was delivered up because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification.” If we embrace the resurrection–if we really say we believe Jesus died for sin and rose again from the dead, then with that package comes a full-on, no holding back, admission of our complete and total sinfulness, and our need for God to rescue us from our sin, and to change us from the inside out. God must do it!

Romans 5:6 says to believers, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Have you admitted to God, to others, and the man or woman in the mirror, that you are a total moral failure before a holy God? And the next logical step is to give your life to Christ.

WHAT MUST I DO?

1 Believe in your mind the truth about Christ

Verse 46 says, “And He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.’” Jesus died and rose again to provide the only way anyone anywhere can be right with God and go to Heaven.

Acts 4:12 says, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Rely completely on Christ alone! Only Jesus is alive, only Jesus has died in your place, only Jesus can forgive you, only Jesus can make you right with God and only Jesus can give you a new life.

2 Turn with your will from sin to follow Christ

In verse 47 Jesus says, “And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name.” Jesus says here that repentance is required for the forgiveness of sins. If Christ is drawing you to Himself, He will give you the ability to repent, meaning by an act of your will . . .

to turn over control of your life to Christ

to turn from going your way to follow His way in the Bible

to agree with God that anything in your life that is a violation of His Word is sin and God is right

3 Confess with your mouth Christ is your Master

Verse 47 says, “And that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” And verse 48, “You are witnesses of these things.” The disciples were to share this message all over the world, and a real believer will openly share that Christ is their Master.

You don’t have to be a street corner evangelist, but when given the opportunity, you will share about Christ, as Jesus says in Matthew 10:32, “Everyone  . . . who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever shall deny Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.” Christianity is not a private faith–when given the opportunity, you’ll share with your mouth that Christ is your Master. Will you do that now? Let’s pray.

Are you ready to turn to the risen Christ today. Cry out. If not, or you think you have, allow me to lovingly warn you, just in case you have a wrong idea of what a true Christian is. Don’t be fooled by pseudo-Christianity, which is so prevalent today. A real Christian seeks to confess Christ openly, follow Christ obediently, demonstrate Christ progressively, depend upon Christ daily, not because they have to, but because God has given them a new heart that wants to please their risen Lord. Are you obeying Christ? True believers do.

Christian, don’t forget–you can’t live the Christian life. That is why Jesus sent the Spirit, to live in and through you. The disciples had to wait for the Holy Spirit to come and indwell them, but we don’t. Once we come to Christ for salvation, the person of the Holy Spirit will come to indwell us and live through us. And the Holy Spirit in us is the proof we’re God’s true children. In fact, Romans 8:9 says, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”

If you are His, confess your sins which grieve and quench the Spirit, and seek to be controlled by Him, yielding to Him and God’s Word, moment-by-moment. Only through the Spirit can you enjoy the love, joy and peace your heart longs for. Christ is risen–He is alive, and dependent genuine believers will see Him work in them and through them in great ways. Let’s pray.

About Chris Mueller

Chris is the teaching pastor at Faith Bible Church - Murrieta.

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