Mr. Les McCullough

Sermon Transcript

September 22, 2001

Our God Reigns

I was channel surfing, and in my progression through the channels on the television I came across the closing of the Billy Graham campaign. Now, I'm sure all of you have seen those. It was in a huge stadium with a podium on one side of the football field, and the audience on three sides out in front of Mr. Graham, and as I tuned in, of course, the invitation had just been made and the people from the audience were pouring, I mean absolutely pouring down the aisles, spilling out into the field, and going across the field to where the lectern was, and then, of course, as you would know, the old standby was softly playing, "Just as I am, I come, I come." As I watched it, I couldn't help but wondering about next week, next month, next year, how many of those people are going to be, just as I am. Because the idea being, you know, when the invitation's given, just as I am, this is me, and just as I am you accept me for what I am, and so on, and I couldn't help but wonder if a year from now, there's going to have been any change made.

You know, the Mormons and the Seventh Day Adventists have a very great recruiting program, very energetic, and they are the fastest growing denominations in the world, and yet, follow up surveys that are made, with both the Seventh Day Adventists and the Mormons as well as other groups, after a year's period of time, the surveys indicate that a majority of those who made the decision to join with them are no longer around. That only a small portion of those who either go down for a Billy Graham campaign, or take part in some activity as a result of the Mormon or Seventh Day Adventist activity, only a small portion of them remain with the group with whom they made their decision, or with any particular religious group, one way or the other. Now, the Worldwide Church experienced that in times gone by, even in the good times. Certainly, they have experienced it a great deal more in the bad times. It isn't something new. We have to realize that isn't new. Jesus Christ had the same experience.

We've all read about the multitudes that followed him, how four thousand men, not counting women and children, ate of the seven loaves and fish and later, five thousand men, not counting women and children, ate of the five loaves and two fish, and numerous baskets of fragments were taken up afterward. And all of those there had to know that it was a miracle because they saw what took place. They saw the fish. They saw the loaves. They saw them being put in baskets, and the baskets beginning to pass around, and by the time it had gone through the whole crew, there were still remnants left over, so they knew a miracle had occurred. You can't break them into that small a piece, and everybody have their meal, so they knew a miracle had to occur. So, then what? What were they going to do? I'd like to start with you in John 6:53.

John 6:53 - Jesus was talking with those who had been following him, and he said: Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat flesh of the Son of Man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you,

Verse 55 - For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.

Verse 56 - He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in Him.

Verse 57 - As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of Me.

Verse 58 - This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.

And on down in verse 66:

Verse 66 - It says: From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.

There were multitudes that were following him, all kinds of people that went along to see what was going on, wanting to be a part of what was transpiring, wanting to see the miracles, wanting to have the free food, and they all followed and listened and watched, and when it came down to it, they all stumbled, and turned aside. And many left. They had simply been along for the ride. It makes me think of what Ezekiel was told back in

Ezekiel 33. If you'll turn back there.

Ezekiel 33:30 - Ezekiel was told: As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, everyone saying to his brother, "Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the Lord." Please hear what is being done.

Verse 31 - So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but with their hearts pursue their own gain.

Verse 32 - Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them.

Verse 33 - And when this comes to pass, surely it will come - then they will know that a prophet has been among them.

And that's what happened with Jesus Christ. People came, lovely words, they liked to see the miracles, they enjoyed the opportunities and the privileges that went along with it, and they listened to what he had to say and thought it was just wonderful, until something was required of them, and then, they all turned aside and left. We know the stories, but let's go to Luke 24. And this is following the time of Christ's crucifixion and his resurrection. And in Luke 24:13 it says:

Luke 24:13 - Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.

Verse 14 - And they talked together of all these things which had happened. All that had taken place, and they'd been there; they were aware of it, and now they were going back home, walking along the road.

Verse 15 - So, it was, when they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.
Verse 16 - But their eyes were restrained so that they did not know Him. They just had someone join them in their walk, headed the same way they were.

Verse 17 - And he said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?" What's wrong? What's going on?

Verse 18 - Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?" Well, Christ didn't answer him. He just simply said, "What things?" He didn't say he didn't know. He just said, "What things?"

Verse 19 - And they said unto Him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

Verse 20 - and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.

Verse 21 - But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel."

We were hoping that the kingdom was going to be restored to Israel. He was supposed to be the King of the Jews. And we expected him to go ahead an restore the kingdom to Israel, and they killed him. And everything is lost. What can we do. He's gone. All of our hopes are crushed. And to top it off, the women are saying the most ridiculous and crazy things you can imagine. They say they went to the tomb, and there's nobody there. They say they went to the tomb, and saw angels. What are we going to do? They claim that his grave is empty, and that they saw angels. And how can you believe that? How in the world can you believe that? Guess, it is back to work. Everything is lost. We just have to go back to doing what we were doing, and all those great hopes of seeing the kingdom restored, and Israel taking it's rightful place, all are passed. Well, of course, later we find different people. There were fewer of them, but they were vastly different. Turn back to Acts 4. In Acts 4:13, it says:

Acts 4:13 - Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, now, that obviously doesn't mean that Peter and John were illiterate, or that they were dumb, or anything like that, but they were men that were not necessarily with high degrees, or men that had been through the religious schools, and so on, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Verse 14 - And seeing the man who had been healed this is after the healing of the man who was crippled, seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

Verse 15 - But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves.

Verse 16 - saying, "What shall we do with these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to anybody, and everybody, who dwells in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. We can't say it didn't happen.
Verse 17 - But so that it spreads no further among the people, you know, we could be in big trouble if word gets out that these men do miracles, and we, the religious leaders aren't able to do the same things, so to be sure it doesn't spread any further, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name."

Verse 18 - And they called them back in, and they commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

Verse 19 - But Peter and John answered and said to them, now, remember, when the maid challenged Peter at the crucifixion, and said, "You're one of them," he said, "Oh, no, I'm not. Not me. I don't know this man. I don't have anything to do with him." He did it three times. But, here they were, challenging him and they, he and John, said - "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. What do you think's right? Should we listen to you, or should we listen to God?.

Verse 20 - For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."

Verse 21 - So, when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people since they all glorified God for what had been done.

They didn't dare do anything, because the people knew about the miracles that had happened, and were very aware of them. And Peter and John were going to stand there and boldly proclaim what they had been taught, and what they had learned. Now, what happened? Peter had lied, and apparently, the rest of the apostles turned around and ran, and Christ was left alone. Now, in a very short period of time, here they are standing up saying, "I don't care what you say, we're going to teach these things, and you can't stop us."

What happened? Well, actually, two things did. The first, being the resurrection of Jesus Christ; the first thing that happened. The second thing that happened was the Holy Spirit. They saw Jesus Christ. They talked with him, after they had seen him die. They talked with him, and they knew that he lived. Well, they shouldn't have been surprised by that, because he told them that's what was going to happen, but they simply didn't remember it. Once he had died, they had forgotten all about it, and they just couldn't grasp that he might rise again. And then he rose, and he talked with them, and he gave them guidance, and he gave them instruction, but he told them surely what was going to happen. Back in John 14:15, Christ told them:

John 14:15 - If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Verse 16 - And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that it may abide with you forever,

Verse 17 - even the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees it nor knows it, but you know it, for it dwells with you and will be in you.

Verse 18 - I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

So, they shouldn't have been surprised at what took place. And yet, well, you look upon the dead body of an individual, that's pretty final. Then, he rose, and spoke to them, and they knew that he had come to life.

Now, I think that each of us should sort of take that to heart, and recognize that it applies equally to us. Jesus Christ said he would not leave us orphans. He wouldn't leave us to the vagaries of life. But he would give his Holy Spirit to all those who would obey him, and through his Holy Spirit, we could be very greatly strengthened.

Now, I know a lot of people are very troubled at the present time. The Trade Center bombing, and all of the resultant horrible things that went on, are very much on the minds of people, and of course, very much on T.V., and everybody is trying to make sure that everybody is well informed about every aspect, and yet, it is bothering people. And you can't say, "well, forget it. Don't let it bother you". It does, and we have to just realize that our God reigns. And in spite of what happens in life, in spite of the problems that come up, the difficulties there may be, our God reigns, and he has given us a helper, a power, his Holy Spirit, that we might be strengthened, that we might go ahead and move forward into life in the way that we should. In

John 20:19; going back for just a moment, following the crucifixion:

John 20:19 - Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, so there they were, they were frightened. They were afraid of what might happen to them because they followed Jesus Christ, and they were all assembled together, behind locked doors, Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, "Peace be with you."

Verse 20 - Now, when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. He demonstrated to them the proofs that here are my hands, there are the marks in my hands, and here is the slash in my side, and they knew it was him.

Verse 21 - And He said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

Verse 22 - And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Or, it can be translated, "Are you ready to receive the Holy Spirit?"

Verse 23 - If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
But he said, "I promised you that I would give you help. That I'd provide for you. Are you ready to receive it? Are you ready to get the help that I promised that you'd be given? Well, of course, they saw him. He'd appeared to them. Even others came back to life. And they had to realize physical things had been overcome. They had to realize what a fantastic thing had transpired.

Now, on the one hand, you could say, well, what more do you need? What more did they need? Well, of course, they needed for God's Spirit to finally be given to them. They had to realize a lot of things. In Acts 1:2 Christ had appeared to them, and talked to them, and spent time with them, and it says in verse 2:

Acts 1:2 - Until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen,

Verse 3 - to whom He also presented Himself alive after His sufferings by many infallible proofs, by many different demonstrations, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Verse 4 - And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me." But they didn't fully understand things. They didn't understand everything. They didn't have all the answers at that point. And he went on to say in verse 5:

Verse 5 - "for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Verse 6 - Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Are we finally going to get the kingdom now?

Verse 7 - And He said to them, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

Verse 8 - But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in Judea and Samaria, and the end of the earth." So, they didn't understand everything. They only had limited knowledge, but they were about to receive the Holy Spirit. And, of course, it tells us that in Acts 2:1

Acts 2:1 - Now when the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

Verse 2 - And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Verse 3 - Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them.

Verse 4 - And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

So, he was giving them demonstrations. They saw with their eyes what looked like tongues of fire on each of them. Not that that has to occur in order to receive the Holy Spirit, but that was a physical demonstration to help convict, or convince, them. So, you could say, what happened? They received the Holy Spirit of God. And they received it with so much strength. It gave them so much assurance that they could boldly proclaim all of the things that they had seen. Down in verse 29: Peter had begun to speak, and he said:

Acts 2:29 - "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried and his tomb is with us to this day.

Verse 30 - Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne,

Verse 31 - he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption,

Verse 32 - This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

Verse 33 - Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear."

So, it wasn't only the hundred and twenty. All that was left of the thousands and thousands that had followed Jesus Christ - a hundred and twenty individuals. But, they saw these things happening. They saw the Holy Spirit being given. They were given the opportunity to go ahead and speak in languages that were not their languages to speak. And those people who were standing there, standing around, saw it all happening as well, and were convicted, were convinced and convicted just as surely as anything, and they also repented. But these men said, "We witnessed, we are witnesses of the fact that Jesus Christ is alive. We knew him before. We saw him dead. And we've seen and talked with him, and been with him since that time. We know that he's alive. And had also been given the guarantee, or the earnest for eternal life, just as we have".

My point today is those individuals were normal people, going about their normal activities, and they began to receive a call. They heard it, and they followed along, but the majority of them didn't go all the way. Only a tiny portion went all the way, and received God's Spirit. Well, we've seen a lot of the same thing today. We've seen people come in, and people who disappear, but we have been given God's Spirit, and it is changing us.

As I said when I thought about those people, I thought, well, next year, are they going to be the same people as they were today when they started down across that football field to answer Billy Graham's invitation? And the answer, basically, is, yes. There will be very few that have made any changes. Oh, they may have changed their physical circumstances. They may have changed some things in their lives, and some of the things that they did. But it really wasn't the major changes, and it really didn't change who they were, or who they are.

I think that it is just so reassuring to realize that as the Holy Spirit changed the apostles, and the disciples who came along, it also has, and will, change his people today, and give them strength, and give them confidence in times of problems and difficulties, and there will be times of problems and difficulties. I think we have to realize that the occurrences of the past two weeks are something we never dreamed about. You know, we've talked about ten nations rising in Europe. We've talked about atomic bombs. We've talked about invasions. We've talked about how this country could be put down. But I don't think anybody ever dreamed that three or four people, or a dozen, or two dozen could create such havoc in this great nation.

Our financial struggle, or financial structures are struggling….oh, they're going to come out of it. I don't have any question to that. Either, they come out of it, or we really are indeed in the last days, and I can't see how in the world that can be, in terms of the very final days. Too much has to happen yet. But, this handful of people, and now everybody's asking the question - well, maybe they'll hit with biochemical, or maybe they'll hit with biological, or maybe they'll bring in some kind of atomic weapon. Well, yes, I guess they could. We have to wait and see about those things, but I think that we also have to, in our waiting, rely upon the Spirit of God to give us the strength and to give us the courage to go about doing what we need to do, and not be reflecting in any wrong way. In Acts 5, some of the things that happened back then. We read about them, and we think, well, that can never happen in our day and age. Well, in Acts 5:17 it says:

Acts 5:17 - Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation.

Verse 18 - and laid hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. Because, of course, they were out preaching in the name of Jesus Christ.

Verse 19 - But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said.

Verse 20 - "Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life."

Verse 21 - And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. And, oh, they'd been beaten. They'd been thrown in jail. They had been locked up, and you'd sort of think that once you got out of that, you would run for the high mountains, or for somewhere to hide and stay out of sight, but they went to the very place that would bring the most attention, and they began to teach again. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. They didn't even know that it had happened. But an angel opened the doors. And an angel set them free, and they went out and began to teach and they began to preach, and they were no longer fearful. Oh, I am sure they had moments of doubt, because of being human, you can't very well not have some moments of doubt, but the point is, it wasn't a matter that they just believed words. They knew that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. They had absolute confidence. They knew without any doubt, without any shadow of a doubt that Christ had risen, and that they had received the Holy Spirit, and that they had responsibility.

So, I just think it is good to realize that they gained great strength and great energies and you know, Paul said of Timothy not to be fearful, and to be of a sound mind. So, Timothy apparently had some momentary doubts from time to time. I doubt that there's any minister of the Church of God who hasn't experienced times of doubt and certain fearfulness as a result of the circumstances in which they find themselves. I'm not as aware of anything recently, I mean in recent months or so in that way, but I know, in times gone by, certainly on baptizing tours, and so on, people had shotguns out after them and made the mistake of parking the car headed the wrong way down a dead end street. And had to jump in the car and come wheeling back by with the guy standing there with the shotgun ready to take a shot at them. You know, that would kind of scare me. I'd be a little fearful about that.

I had an occasion, Mr. Apartian and I, went to the West Indies. I had been corresponding with a man down in the West Indies for quite a number of years who wanted to be a minister, who claimed that he was a minister, that he had a group, and so on, and then I got a letter from his wife just prior to our trip down there, and she said that her husband had been beating her with bamboo rods. Well, when we arrived, we sort of wondered what kind of a reception we were going to receive. You know, you are going out to the house, and, of course, he said, well, she'd attacked him with a knife, a butcher knife. You don't know what you're getting into, you know. You don't go there just sort of whistling merrily, and kind of knock on the door and say, "We're here." But, it was our job. It was our responsibility. We were there to check these things out, as far as baptisms and so on. So, we went out, and we…..everything was fine. We talked with them. Of course, the reason that she had threatened him with a knife is he had been beating her with a bamboo rod about four inches thick, and had been knocking her around with that rod, and she was trying to stop him from hitting her. Well, there is a certain amount of logic to that. So, you know, our momentary fearfulness was to no avail. There was no reason for it. But sometimes, things do happen, and you do feel a little bit of concern, and you wonder about whether or not you ought to do something one way or the other. So, those men were given God's Holy Spirit, and Paul tells us in II Corinthians 1:21.

II Corinthians 1:21 - Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God,

Verse 22 - who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a deposit.

A guarantee that we're going to have the opportunity to be raised from the dead. That's a staggering thing to think about. And it should give us confidence. Nobody wants to die; I understand that, but at the same time, we do have the promise that we're going to live far better. Romans 8:18:

Romans 8:18 - Paul was writing to the church of Rome, and he says: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

We can't begin to grasp what it must be like to be a born again son of God, in the family of God, in the kingdom of God. What's it like to come to the point where you share equally with Jesus Christ in all of the things of the universe? We can't imagine that. He says, whatever we suffer today isn't worthy to be compared. Now, too often, I'm afraid we not only don't compare, we may not even think of it. You know, life is so real. And our focus in the time of trials is so very real. But if we can keep in mind that God has given us his Holy Spirit, and he's given us the privilege of rising from the dead, if that should happen to us.

I don't know what may go through your mind, but I think of those people sitting there in the Trade Center, sitting at their desks, busy doing their work, and the next minute, they're gone. No chance to do anything, you know. I'm sure a lot of them had no idea; didn't look up and see the plane; didn't know anything. And the next second, they're dead. But, of course, in the next knowing moment of their life, they will be living again, in an utterly, completely, absolutely miraculously different world. And right along with them will be the terrorists.

Now, those terrorists did what they did because they'd been told that by dying for Allah, they were guaranteed paradise, and everything that paradise represented. And they're going to wake up in paradise; not the one that they thought of; not the one that those people sitting at their desks thought of, because they all thought, you know, you use the term broadly, they all thought they were going to heaven. And the next minute that they are conscious, they're not going to be in heaven. They're going to be here on earth. Totally different world, without a lot of the trials and problems and difficulties that there are here today. Totally different world. So, it is certainly not to be compared with the things that happened to us today. Now, I know their families suffered greatly. And I know their families hurt very much, and there is nothing that can be done about that. They're getting whatever counseling is available to them, and life goes on, and given enough time, they will get about their normal activities again. Terrible things that have happened. A lot more terrible things are yet ahead. I just think that we need to, in realizing that, also know that we have this incredible promise that God is with us; that God is going to bless and take of; that he will provide whatever we need according to his will, and that we'll be taken care of.

My wife and I received a telephone call the other night from people who, well, you don't know how to say these things; you are tempted to say, "who were our friends, in times gone by." That doesn't mean that they are our enemies today. They are not a part of any religious group today. They filled a fairly active position in times gone by with the Worldwide Church of God, but they're not doing anything today. They're sitting back and sort of watching in a spectator view of what's going on with all the different little groups, and so on, but they called, and the question was: "What does the church think of what's going on? You know, what does the church feel about this?" And you think, five years ago, you'd have given me an answer without the drop of a hat. You wouldn't have had any question in your mind. Now, they don't consider themselves a part of any organized Church of God today. But at the same time, when strange things happen, and when terrible tragedies take place, they're calling and wanting to know - what does the church think? Because they're unsure. They're insecure. They want to feel confident. My wife has a brother who periodically - has nothing to do with - never had anything to do with the church, but who periodically, when some of these things transpire will call his mother and say, "Well, how much longer do we have?" They want some assurance. They are looking to God's church for some kind of assurance. And I've had several individuals of our ministers and so on, who are going to be traveling internationally call - "What do you think about catching a flight?"

I say, "Hey, you're going to have to make that decision. You're the one getting on the plane." You know, you have to be comfortable with what you're doing, and you have to be comfortable with the decisions you make. I can't tell you - "No, don't get on a plane. Yes, do get on a plane." We have people that are going to all kinds of areas. And some of them I certainly wouldn't want to be stuck in, like I was in Oregon. You know, Fred Kellers is going to Ghana. The Walkers are going to South Africa. Dave Baker is going to Kenya. Now, I wouldn't want to be stuck in those places with no ability to get back home. Now, it wouldn't be nearly as bad if you were stuck in Europe somewhere, or some of the other areas of the world that are tied to and attached to the western system. But some of these areas that are not that well developed and have their own problems, I wouldn't want to necessarily be stuck in them, but as far as I know, these guys are all going, but I've had various others ask me, and I've just had to say - "Well, you have to make up your mind. Whatever you think is the best thing, you go ahead and do. And no one is going to think anything about it, one way or the other. If you think it's not appropriate, then you'd better not go."

And then, if they ask me, "What would you do?" Then, I just try to not answer. I think I would know what I would do, but I'm not going anywhere but Breckenridge. If I had to, I could walk home from Breckenridge. But, you know, when you end up with oceans between you, that's a serious problem. So, we just have to trust the fact that our Father, our great God, knows his people and he's going to provide for them. He's going to take care of them. He's going to bless them. He's going to protect them. And we should take confidence in that. I Corinthians 15, amazing things that went on back in the new testament days. I Corinthians 15:12, Paul is writing, and he said:

I Corrinthians 15:12 - Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?

Now, this was the Church of God. These were members of the Church of God, at least, nominally so. And they were saying there is no resurrection. And he was taking them to task. He was correcting it. But, you know, sometimes we think, well, boy, the church has a lot of problems today. The church had a lot of problems then. The church has always had a lot of problems, because the church is made up of human beings, and human beings have problems. But he went on to say:

Verse 13 - But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.

Verse 14 - And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is also in vain.

Verse 15 - Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ whom He did not raise up - if in fact the dead do not rise.

Verse 16 - And if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.

Verse 17 - And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

Verse 18 - Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

Verse 19 - If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

So, our hope isn't just in this life. Our hope is in what the future holds; in what we're going to have in the future. Of course, we hope for a good life now. But he's simply saying if there were no resurrection, then Peter and Paul and Christ all lied, and we've all been left in our sins, and we can all just go do whatever we want. But that isn't what they believed. That isn't what they believed, because they were so convinced in it that they died for what they believed. Whatever their problems may have been, you know, we have the example of Peter, who had denied Jesus Christ and yet, if you go to Acts 3, a little earlier from where I was reading before. Acts 3:12: The lame man had been healed:

Acts 3:12 - So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: And he said, "Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?

Verse 13 - The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.

Verse 14 - But you denied the Holy One and the Just and asked for a murderer to be released.

Verse 15 - and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised up from the dead, of which we are witnesses.

Verse 16 - And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

He said, Jesus Christ healed this individual. He gave the strength - here Peter, standing there boldly saying these things, and telling everything he knows, proclaiming all the knowledge he had about a way of life. He didn't have all the answers. He couldn't have told you what was going to be happening in the nineteenth century, the twentieth century, the twenty-first century. He couldn't have imagined the things that took place two weeks ago, nearly two weeks ago - beyond his capability. He didn't need to know that. He had the main answer. He had the assurance of the Holy Spirit. And, all of us have the assurance of the Holy Spirit. So, whenever we, individually, or as a nation have problems, we have to trust God. We have to look to him. We have to be assured that he is going to provide the things that he wants to provide - the things that he intends. You know, there is a scripture back in Deuteronomy 31, that we all want to hang on to from time to time. Deuteronomy 31:6: This is when Joshua had been appointed the new leader, and Moses was about to die. He was talking to the nation of Israel, and he said:

Deuteronomy 31:6 - Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; whatever, you know, the nations that they were going to go up against, but it applies with us, as far as whatever problems our nation faces in the future for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. He told Joshua the same thing. And certainly, we are told the same thing. That regardless of whatever problems arise, our God, our Father, is not going to forsake us. He's always going to be there. Now, in Romans 1, people believed these things so strongly. It says in Romans 1:1:

Romans 1:1 - Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God

Verse 2 - which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures.

Verse 3 - concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh,

Verse 4 - and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.

That came to be a well known message. And that message has spread, and spread, and spread, you know, from that original hundred and twenty. Oh, I don't mean necessarily all being members of the body of Christ, but the knowledge that Jesus Christ lived and died, and the knowledge that he was resurrected is known as a result of the efforts of these individuals right on down to our time by multiple millions of people. It became a very well known message. That's Peter talking. I'm sorry, that's Paul talking. Peter was writing other things to other people. They were working in different areas, but they were on the same team. And they were there all the way.

Humanly, we can get excited about teams. You know, whether it's the Reds, the Bengals, or some winning team. We can get excited about the teams we like, and we support them. We buy tickets, and we buy pennants, and we buy caps, and shirts. We watch it on T.V. We're fans. Well, Peter, and then the one hundred twenty, became God fans. Paul, later, and thousands more; they became God fans. The team was the Church of God. The star was Jesus Christ, the winner's cup, the kingdom of God. They supported that. They taught that. They energetically went about proclaiming it wherever they went. They believed so thoroughly that James was beheaded; Stephen was stoned; Peter was crucified; Paul died, but that's how clearly they saw the promise. So, all I'm saying is we don't want to let ourselves get down because of the problems of our nation, and because of the problems that go on. Yes, they're serious, and yes, they are matters that we should be concerned about. But at the same time, we have to realize that we have the most incredible promise that can ever be given. We have the promise that we can be resurrected; that we can live again. It happened with these men. They went from ordinary fishermen, carpenters, tax collectors, going about their business to individuals who boldly stood up and took their lumps, if they had to take their lumps, but they boldly stood up and taught the things that they knew. You know, when Paul said what he did in Philippians 3:11:

Philippians 3:11 - if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

That's what he meant. That was what was in his mind, and certainly, it just, you know, we just need to continue to live our lives, and we need to continue to move forward, and grow more strongly, to know our faith and our truth, and to be proclaiming the message as best we can, because there is a great deal of work yet to be done.

In I Peter 3:15, to close, it says:

I Peter 3:15 -But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, realize the promise we've been given; realize the gift we've been given - sanctify God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense, or an answer, to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. So, you know, you say - well, what hope do we hold?

We hope for a better job. We hope for better health, protection, a better government, those are all coming, but our hope, our real hope, is the hope of the resurrection, that we have the chance, not only the chance, we have the assurance that we're going to rise from the grave, if the grave takes us, and we're going to stand in the kingdom of God along with Jesus Christ.