"The Resurrection of Jesus Christ: Having The Last Word - The Apostolic Connection"

everybody you know sometimes having the last word can be dangerous can as a matter i i have got in situations that were greater than the situation i came out of because i just thought i had to have the last the last word well you know jesus was the word made flesh and if anyone ever got the last word jesus got the last word if anybody did a story little boy he wanted this part in the christmas play he wanted so desperately to be joseph he wanted so desperate that part in that play and he tried out he rehearsed but lo and behold when parts were given out he turned out to be the innkeeper the innkeeper he was mad he was going to get even he plotted he planned he stayed up i will get even because his best friend had got the part of joseph somehow someway i'll have the last word he only had he only had one line in the play no room in the end he thought about it that night the church was packed out joseph and mary came to the door wanting a room and instead of saying there's no room in the end he said when joseph said do you have a room for me and my wife he said absolutely i've got a room i've got a sweet waiting upon you come right in i've got a sweet that's just waiting on you his friend was a little bit more wittier than him his friend walked in and looked around and looked at him and said this place is so dirty i believe i'll sleep in your barn i'm so glad jesus is the word made flesh and if you ever got the last word we're living celebrating today that jesus christ had the last word we've got to understand when paul was writing to the romans the resurrection was under attack and paul wrote to the romans in chapter 1 verse 3 and he said let me tell you about jesus christ our lord he was made of the seed of david it's very interesting that that part says because we cannot truly worship jesus christ unless we understand truly who jesus christ is we can't worship him unless we realize who he is nothing fits so paul says that jesus christ was made of the seed of david according to the flesh made john 1 14 records and the word which was god's plan was made flesh and we beheld his glory the glory is of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth so paul says that jesus christ was made of the seed of david of the flesh of the seed of david again in galatians chapter 4 and verse number 4 paul says but when the fullness of time was come god sent forth his son and many times it's very easy to understand this when you read that word son in reference to god it's really saying god sent forth his flesh god sent forth his flesh made there that word is again made under or made of a woman made under the law so that part of jesus christ that was the flesh was made matthew chapter 1 and verse number 1 matthew tells us the lineage of jesus it's interesting here matthew wants to tell us the lineage and please understand this bible that i hold in my hand today this bible every word in it is given for a purpose everything that's in it today is given for a reason so the genealogy of jesus christ matthew begins in matthew 1 1 in matthew says the book of the generation or the lineage of jesus christ the son of david the son of abraham now it's interesting to note that matthew starts by saying he's the son of david and then he jumps to abraham and says the son of abraham he jumps from david to abraham and then he goes down the lineage from there but matthew was wanting to prove that jesus was of the lintage the kingly lineage of david but interesting it is when we study luke's genealogy when luke in luke chapter 3 and verse number 23 when luke begins the genealogy of jesus christ luke begins on the side of mary this is noteworthy when matthew begins the genealogy of jesus christ matthew begins on the lineage of joseph and goes from that lineage of which luke starts from the lineage of mary and works matthew starts with abraham and comes down luke goes all the way back luke 3 39 38 excuse me luke lists all the genealogy of jesus christ and luke goes and says which was the son of enos which was the son of seth which was the son of adam which was the son of god so why does matthew take us in a kingly direction while luke takes us all the way back to the very beginning through the lineage of mary it's very easy to figure this out you see the woman was to bear a seed and in genesis 3 15 god spoke to the woman and said i will put enmity between thee and the woman he's actually speaking to satan and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel so this lineage here and it's very important we understand who jesus is because this lineage tells us that he's of the seed of david he's of the lineage of david that's why many times in the gospel we will hear him referred to as jesus thou son of david it linked him to that king of israel but yet god wanted to link him to the sea that would be born made of a woman that would come and crush the head of the serpent that represents sin everything that holds man in bondage praise god on this morning we come to celebrate that no weapon lasted through the crucifixion and the resurrection of jesus christ no tool that the adversary has no weapon that he possesses can keep you or i away from the lord jesus christ today life eternal life beautiful life i've come to celebrate life how was the man christ jesus made how was the man christ jesus made the man remember i spoke of the man the man the angel says to mary you're going to conceive in your womb and you're going to bear a son and then he tells mary about what's going to go on the virgin mary and in luke 1 34 mary says to the angel how shall this be seeing i know not a man and the angel answered and said unto her the holy ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son flesh of god mary is talking to the angels and the angels telling her about the messiah that's going to come through her womb and mary just stops for a moment and says would you tell me in that i do not know of man i have never known a man and i am currently not knowing a man would you tell me how this will take place and the angel granted her the answer and said the holy ghost is going to come down upon you and the holy ghost is going to cause there to be a divine someone said the miraculous birth of jesus christ i got news his birth was not miraculous it was his conception that was miraculous he was born like anybody else nine months or so in the womb he was in the womb of a woman just like any of us were but yet his conception was divine because his father was god his father is god holy and spirit and his father is god he is truly the flesh of god he was made of a woman but then let's ask why was he made i believe these are very good questions to ask today because we can get so caught up in the celebration of easter that we plum forget the reason that we celebrate easter why was he made first timothy 2 5 for there is one god and one mediator between god and men the man christ jesus the man christ jesus why was he made there was no way since the fall in the garden for the likes of you or myself to be able to come to god god is everything we're not god is holy and we are not god is sinless and we are not there was no way that we could make our way to god in his pure form there had to be the justice of god demanded that what fell in the garden the perfect man failed it would take a perfect man to pay the price and i got news for you there never has been and there never will be outside of the lord jesus christ a perfect man you hear me he's the only one that's perfect and so there was the need of a mediator because a man had to stand between god and fallen man john 6 44 jesus says in john 6 44 jesus himself said no man can come to me except the father which hath sent me draw him and i will raise him up at the last day jesus said there's no way anybody can come to me unless the father the spirit of god would draw him you see we can't even take any credit for being christians because you nor i initiated this he did he was the reason you could not get him off your mind i hope you saw the presentation before church starts out with that's my king and we played that year after year and i i they sent me a bunch of videos to look over for this easter and i saw flowers coming out of the ground and all that stuff and beautiful music but i said fallon there's nothing that turns my crank like that's my king that's my king i love that 80 year old gentleman that sat down and penned those words i love that part he said i'll wonder if you know him and i love that part he said i wish i could describe him i know you're doing jim dandy to me sir go on but i am so glad you can't even take any credit for being a child of god because you wouldn't even be here today had he not begin to draw you in the direction of jesus christ no man can come unto the father except he be drawing john 14 and 6. say pastor you're reading a lot of verses this morning you better believe it and my sermon will be just about scripture because scripture is the only thing that can change our lives i prayed for god's spirit to be in this room with us today and i just believe if i preach god's word something's going to happen here in a few moments and god's going to touch some hearts because jesus is in this room i'm not getting i'm not getting mystical with you i'm not i'm not getting some kind of spooky or goofy with you today but i've asked jesus to be here in this room with us this morning i've asked jesus to walk the aisles of the church i believe with all my heart that he's here in john 14 and 6 jesus said these words in john 14 and 6. he says in john 14 6 jesus saith unto him i am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the father but by me if you had known me ye should have known my father also and from henceforth you know him and have seen him philip saith unto him lord show us the father and survive us jesus saith unto him have i been so long time with you and yet hast thou not known me philip he that has seen me hath see has seen the father how sayest thou then show us the father believeth thou not that i am in the father and the father in me the words that i speak unto you i speak not of myself but the father that dwelleth in me he doeth the words you see today the reason he was made of flesh was so that you and i could touch him so that you and i could relate to him the resurrection proved beyond any and every shadow of doubt that jesus christ was the son of god all doubt is removed when he came out of the tomb all doubt is removed when he walked among them 40 days and taught all doubt was removed no wonder the apostolic church of the first century was so powerful there was no doubt that jesus was alive you see the problem today in the 21st century we seem to embrace a historic jesus and not a living jesus we seem to want to reflect back upon a jesus that had lived and and did do certain things but if we believe our bibles as we should the bible says jesus christ is the same yesterday today and forevermore so what i'm working on today i'm not serving a historical jesus i'm not looking at some museum piece i am serving a risen lord who is alive and who is present here today i bless his no wonder no wonder the apostolic church of the first century was so powerful brother erickson they had all doubts removed you see in romans 1 and 4. the bible says in romans 1 and 3 he was made but in romans 1 and 4 it said he was declared to be the son of god with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead he was made miraculously he was proven miraculously he was made of a woman born of a virgin a miracle in itself but don't stop with christmas because easter tells us that the miracle of the resurrection brother croucher is as equally as important as the miracle of his birth don't separate the two because he was made of a woman that was a miracle but he was declared to be the son of god listen removed all doubts they whispered about his identity they said that they said that no he was an illegitimate child and all of this stuff but i'm here to tell you the resurrection took the stinger out of death not all believed not all believed sometimes you might want to take it easy on yourself pastors need to get a little inspiration from this even there there were those that did not believe evidently thomas did not believe he watched him be crucified he watched nails go into his hands and a spear make a gaping hole into his side big enough you could cram your fist into thomas said that's in thomas said that's it he's gone he is dead that's it he according to this scripture i'm about to read he didn't even keep fellowship up with the other disciples he went another direction but word began to come thomas he's alive thomas we have seen him and in john 20 and 24 the bible says but thomas one of the twelve called didymus was not with them when jesus came see it's over the it's over nails spears it's over the other disciples therefore said unto him we have seen the lord but he said unto them except i see in his hands the print of the nails and put my finger into the print of the nails and thrust my hand into his side i will not believe what a conversation what a slam door don't get discouraged but door knocking thomas we've seen the lord he said i'm going to tell you something there's no way i would believe it unless i could physically put my finger in the holes that were made by the nails unless i could take this fist here boys and put it up in the side i was close enough to see that that when that roman hit him with that sword that spear that it put a gaping hole up under his ribs if i i'd have to be able to thrust my hand up into his side i need physical proofing i need physical proof that there is or there was a resurrection i need proof sound familiar verse 26 and after eight days again his disciples were within and thomas with them then came jesus and it's noteworthy here then came jesus the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said peace be unto you now some of the translations there go ahead and tell you what that means by the door being shut it meant he appeared in the room the closed locked door did not stop the resurrected christ thomas represents doubt thomas represents the hard heart that says i've got to have proof you have got to give me proof oh if we could find the ark of the covenant oh if we could find the shroud of jesus oh if we can find some you know why you're not going to find something tangible that way because god doesn't want your faith to be in some kind of cloth or some kind of cup or some kind of piece of furniture he wants your faith to be in the word because he's always been a god that has the last word