Romans 10:8-11

“But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, ‘Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.'”

This is the most important day in the history of Christianity. No, not the birth of Jesus. Yes, it is important, but if Jesus had lived this great, perfect life, then died and had not resurrected, we would have no hope whatsoever. The great New Testament writer Paul wrote that if there is no resurrection, then we have no hope. In fact, we are pitiful and simply sad.

1 Corinthians 15: 12-19, “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? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 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. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”

In our text, we see that salvation is impossible without the faith to believe that Jesus has been resurrected. If we study the thief on the cross, Luke 23:39-43, we will see that the thief on the cross believed that Jesus, the one on the cross next to him, died just like he would remember him in Paradise. This shows belief in the resurrection, that Jesus would be alive and well and have the memory to recall this man and save him in the future.

Anyone who trusts in Jesus must accept the resurrection as fact and put trust in the RISEN Jesus. This is the most important event in the history of Christianity; the resurrection validates all that Jesus did; every miracle, every person raised from the dead, every promise He made, and all the things He taught us are validated and confirmed in His resurrection. This is the hope that we have that transcends all of the other religions. We can see the graves and burial places of many, if not all, of the religious leaders that have ‘begun’ a religion. But the grave of Jesus is empty.

The acceptance and the faith that we have in the resurrection is the faith that carries us through the pains and sufferings of the world around us. It is the faith that carries us through the loss of loved ones who are believers, and it is the faith that empowers us when we cannot see the end of the pains and suffering that are not just in the world but actually attach themselves to us.

This is the faith that helps us to trust God’s plan when it seems that He is not there and not doing anything. This is the faith that helps us to have peace when there is just turmoil in our minds and in our immediate world. This is the faith that helps us to know that Jesus will remember who we are when we get to the next life. He will know us by name, know us by face, and He extends to us the same promise He made to the thief. You will be with me in Paradise, now Heaven.

One day, either by death, rapture or resurrection, Jesus will take away our pains and our turmoil; evil will get its just reward; we will be reunited with loved ones, meet the thief on the cross, meet Paul, Peter, John, and the apostles, meet the three Marys that first saw the risen Savior, meet the centurion from the crucifixion, Joseph, and a myriad of others of whom we have only read.

For me, I want to meet Samson, a flawed man who needed God’s grace. I can identify. Without the resurrection, we have no hope, nothing to look forward to, and no foundation of rock upon which to build our lives. BUT we do have a risen Savior, Jesus, God in the flesh. And, because He is risen, then the events of that Thursday, the crown of thorns, the nails in the hands and feet, the shed blood, and the final cry of “it is finished,” actually have power. The power to save any and all people who will confess the Lord Jesus and believe that He has been raised from the dead.

HAPPY AND BLESSED RESURRECTION CELEBRATION SUNDAY

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect With Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca

Chapter 11: 1-12

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. ² For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. ³ By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

⁴ By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

⁵ By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken, he had this testimony, that he pleased God. ⁶ But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

⁷ By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.

⁸ By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; ¹⁰ for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God. ¹¹ By faith Sarah herself also received strength to conceive seed, and she bore a child when she was past the age, because she judged Him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born as many as the stars of the sky in multitude—innumerable as the sand which is by the seashore.”

Living by faith has always been a part of the walk of all of God’s people on this side of eternity. Yes, at times and for short encounters, God revealed Himself to some of our spiritual patriarchs, but they lived by faith, just as we do. Faith, we are told in verse 1, is about hope. Hope that is founded in the character and person of God. Faith that is based on God’s goodness, faithfulness, and power. Faith that says that we can trust God no matter what we see, hear, and think we know. When all else fails, God simply cannot fail. Notice that this is the only way to obtain a ‘good testimony.’

As I was reading this morning in the Gospel of John, I could see that the apostles and the disciples that followed Jesus had to exercise faith even when they saw Him. They had to trust in very harrowing times that He was who He said He was. They had to have this faith as He was leaving; His journey here was just a short spot in all eternity. Peter and others believed by faith that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

• Creation Faith, verse 3

Genesis 1:1 is the most important verse in the Bible. If one can accept this by faith, then everything else the Bible tells us is possible. This is why there is such a deliberate effort on the part of many to undermine this Creation account. If they can create doubts that there is a creative God, they can claim there is not a saving God either. One cannot pick and choose; most all will take John 3:16 at face value but turn around and reject Genesis 1:1 at face value. The same faith is necessary to have both.

• Blood Sacrifice Faith, verse 4

God established this principle in Genesis 3:21 when He took skins and clothed Adam and Eve’s sinful shame. Abel took this lesson to heart; his brother did not, and it cost Abel his life. The battle has never stopped; for those who believe by faith, the blood covers our sins versus those who want to come their own way.

• Rapture Faith, verse 5

Enoch was taken before he saw death. He pleased God, and God took him. We, too, are looking to be taken. One day, if Jesus tarries, those of us who are alive will be ‘caught up’ in the air and live with Jesus forever. In a similar way, the dead will be called up from their graves and meet Jesus in the air as well. There was a precursor to this in Matthew 27:51-53.

• Seeking Jesus Faith, verse 6

There is the faith that is needed for salvation, that ‘at a moment faith.’ But we need to have daily faith to trust Jesus in every aspect. This is the hardest thing to do at times – to surrender control, to accept that God is in control and that no matter how it looks, He always, always has our best at the forefront of His mind. The faith to trust what we cannot see and frame all we see in the goodness and faithfulness of God. To have the faith to drown out the doubts.

God rewards faith. God respects our faith. He never takes our faith in Him lightly. Jesus understood firsthand the limits of the human condition. The One who created food was, at times, hungry. The One who invented water thirsted. The Author of truth was often lied about and lied to. We can go on. Jesus, the friend who is closer than a brother, was betrayed by a friend. He knows where you are, and God appreciates your faith.

• Rainfall Faith, verse 7

Noah had to trust that God was going to do something that he had never seen and did not know what it was. Since God had spoken the world into existence, He could speak rain into existence. So, Noah obeyed, and Noah took the ridicule of his society and the rejection of his message of salvation. Nonetheless, he led his family, and when no one else was saved, his family was. You and I are here today because Noah led his family to have faith in God, God’s word, and God’s power.

How are you leading your family? Do you trust God? Do you live by faith for your children to see? Do you tell them about the trials and tests that you go through so they can learn and have faith just as you do?

Live out your faith with all your faults and failures and speak to them in love and with kindness, and they will follow you into the Kingdom. Fathers, 93% of kids born into families that are led spiritually by you will also follow Jesus. What a hope we have for our kids.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch
Online: https://mmbchurch.ca/
Email: seangooding@mmbchurch.ca; support@mmbchurch.ca