Sunday, March 12, 2023
Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX
Resurrection Power
The word POWER occurs fifty-seven times in the New Testament.
The English word “eternity,” which appears only once in the King James Bible translation, is found in the fifteenth verse of Isaiah 57.
The 57th word in the Hebrew lexicon is the word “mourning.”
Resurrection power certainly overcomes anything to do with mourning and grief.
The word POWER is used to describe the most powerful event that ever happened, an event that separated AD from BC — the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that resurrection power is available to change your life!
The most important thing in life is knowing JESUS CHRIST and experiencing the power of His RESURRECTION.
Paul writes,
Philippians 3:10
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection.
You can know about Jesus or Resurrection but still not personally know and experience either of these.
In another letter, Paul tells his readers,
Ephesians 1:19-20
I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him. It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in heaven.
Paul uses the Greek word for power, “dunamis,” which is the root of our word dynamite. So Paul is saying, “God wants to give you dynamite power that can change your life.” Yes, the same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead two thousand years ago is available to us right now to transform the weaknesses in our lives into strengths.
The title of todays message is called “Eight (8) is Enough” not because of the American television comedy-drama series that ran on ABC from March 15, 1977, until May 23, 1981.
8 is a number that represents new beginnings, infinity and, consequently, resurrection power.
EIGHT IS ENOUGH!
Sunday is the first day of the week. It was the eighth day after Jesus’ celebrated entry into Jerusalem. The Bible states God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. The number seven in the Bible is the number for completion. God rested on the seventh day of creation. The number eight is the number above completion. Seven plus one is the start of a new creation, a new order of things; eight is the number of the resurrection. Jesus said,
Revelation 21:5
“Look, I am making all things new”
You may or may not know this, but the Gematria or numerical value of the name Jesus in the Greek is 888.
Jesus is 888!
That first Easter morning brought an empty tomb, a risen Savior, and victory over sin and death. On this day, a new order of existence was born. Jesus was resurrected from the dead!
After Jesus was resurrected from the dead, there are 8 biblical appearances of Him and there are 8 specific resurrections in the word of God.
The number 8 and the power of resurrection means nothing is impossible because of Jesus. Just because the world says so, it ain’t so because resurrection means
IT AIN’T OVER.
In your Bible, you can look at the 8 biblical appearances of Jesus after His resurrection
First, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb.
(Mark 16:9)
Jesus appeared and brought victory over despair.
Mary was weeping at the tomb, thinking she had lost Jesus forever. The sorrow of Death.
Second, Jesus appeared to other women as they were leaving the tomb. (Matthew 28:9-10)
Jesus brought victory over the grave.
They thought he was dead, but he appeared to them, and they worshipped Him there.
Third, Jesus met up with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13-32)
Jesus brought victory over
the confusion and conclusions of death.
These men were talking about all the week’s events surrounding Jesus. They didn’t understand what had happened. Jesus talked with them and stayed with them until they understood.
Fourth, Jesus appeared to 10 disciples who were hiding together. (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-25)
Jesus brought victory over fear of death.
These disciples were afraid of what might happen to them since Jesus had been killed.
Fifth, Jesus appeared to all 11 remaining disciples.
(Mark 16:14; John 20:26-31)
Jesus brought victory over all doubt caused by death.
Thomas, who had doubted Jesus’ resurrection, was with them this time. Jesus brought victory over doubt.
Sixth, Jesus appeared to seven disciples, including Peter, who had denied Jesus three times.
(John 21)
Jesus brought victory over the failures of death.
At this appearance, Jesus puts Peter back into ministry. Jesus brought victory over failure.
Seventh, Jesus appeared to the 11 disciples at a pre-arranged location on a mountain in Galilee. (Matthew 28:16-20)
Jesus brought victory over every region of death.
There Jesus told them He had been given all power and authority. He gave His followers the great commission to make disciples. Jesus brought victory over any other power.
Eighth, Jesus finally appeared to as many as 500 of His followers at one time.
(Luke 22:44-49; Acts 1:3-8)
He confirmed the completion of His mission and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Jesus had victory over all things.
The 8 biblical appearances of King Jesus after His death and His resurrection prove to us that the grace that comes with His resurrection is more than enough!
There are specific stories of 8 different people in the Bible who Jesus resurrected from the dead.
I am not talking about the resurrection of unknown saints during the crucifixion (Matt 27:52–53)
Resurrection of the Church (i.e., Rapture, 1 Thess 4:13-18; 1 Cor 15:23)
Resurrection of the Two Witnesses (Rev 11:7–11)
Resurrection of Old Testament Saints and Martyrs (Revelation 20:4)
Resurrection of the Wicked (Revelation 20:5)
I am also not talking about
Jonah and the fish (Jonah 1–2)
Paul in the city of Lystra (Acts 14:19–20)
The beast/head of the beast (Rev 13:3)
In this series, I want to see what we learn from the 8 biblical narratives of specific resurrections. Everybody open up yourBbible to
- The Resurrection of the widow’s son in Zarephath. (1 Kings 17:17–22)
1 Kings 17:17-22
Now it happened after these things that the son of the woman who owned the house became sick. And his sickness was so serious that there was no breath left in him.
18 So she said to Elijah, “What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?”
One of the ways death will have dominion over you is to bring you to hopelessly condemning conclusions in the midst of your grief .
When people make decisions and come to come certain conclusions in a high emotional state, death continues to wreck their life and hell has its hideous way
Your EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE and your SELF AWARENESS is something the HOLY SPIRIT can make a superpower in this day.
The conclusion this lady comes to is this is her fault. She concludes the presence of God has brought terrible judgment and pain into her house because of something she did a long time ago.
Her version of the story is tragic, terrible and she is a victim; but it ain’t over.
People get caught up in the drama and the momentum of tragic circumstances and terrible circumstances and you just can’t help it until Resurrection power shows up.
19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed.
20 Then he cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow with whom I lodge, by killing her son?”
Now, even Elijah is caught up in this atmosphere of tragedy. His version of the story is doubting the goodness of God. It’s full of confusion and heartbreak, but it ain’t over.
Resurrection power shows up 1 Kings 17:21-22:
1 Kings 17:21-22
And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.” 22 Then the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came back to him, and he revived.
Do you remember I told you that one of the 8 appearances of Jesus was to bring supernatural sanity and prophetic clarity in the face of the confusion of death?
Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus .
(Luke 24:13-32)
Jesus brought victory over
the confusion and conclusions of death.
Luke 24:13-32
1Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
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?”
19 And He said to them, “What things?”
Your version of the story matters to Jesus.
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him.
21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us.
23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.
Jesus in the power of resurrection begins to change the theme and narrative from everything was lost to no sir, everything was fulfilled and accomplished.
The Disciples’ Eyes Opened
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?”
It ain’t over!
Resurrection power (8) is enough!
Don Piper: At Heaven’s Gate
CBN.Com Lori Victa
Don Piper was relieved when the pastor’s conference he had been attending finished a little early that Wednesday in January 1989. Being associate pastor and having just been appointed minister of education at a Houston-area church, Don was a busy man. The early start home would provide him much needed time to mentally organize his hectic schedule.
“I was thinking about that night and also that I was going to be preaching that next Sunday morning in three services,” Don remembers.
Little did Don know he would be late for the service that night–not just by minutes or hours, but by months. Before he got home, he would take a detour he would never forget.
Within minutes of leaving the retreat center, Don drove onto a bridge spanning a lake. It was a fairly long bridge and there was water on both sides of the elevated highway.
Recalling the scene, Don says, “I approached the end of the bridge, and before I reached the end, a tractor-trailer truck owned by the Texas Dept. of Corrections crossed the center stripe and hit my car head on.”
Not only did the truck hit Don’s car, it ran over the passenger side of the small Ford Escort, completely crushing the vehicle and killing Don Piper. Instantly, Don began an amazing journey.
“When I was killed, I was instantly transported to heaven’s gate,” he says. “It was an instantaneous thing.”
Don found himself standing in front of a divine portal, surrounded by familiar faces.
“I did not see a single person that I did not know,” he says. “They were relatives. They were friends that died in high school. They were teachers–they were people I had seen and known all my life who had gone to glory. They were smiling; they were embracing me; they were welcoming me; they were in the process of taking me through the gate of heaven.”
Looking over the heads of his friends, Don saw a looming pearl gate.
“The gate of heaven was a magnificent edifice, the one that I saw. It looked no less like a giant gate that had been sculpted from mother-of-pearl,” Don explains.
Peering through the gate, Don saw an incredible light.
“Behind that portal was such a light that I don’t conceive of how you could see it in an earthly body. It could only be envisioned in a heavenly body because it was too bright.”
And, says Don, there was music, that of a literal, angelic choir.
“In all honesty, as awesome as the sight was, the sound was more amazing,” he says. “I heard literally thousands of praise songs. They were all praise songs. I really couldn’t see anything. I was so preoccupied with the people around me, I couldn’t see anything. But you could sense this hum of wings hovering all about you, like you were being ministered to by angels, and they were observing this whole episode.”
While Don stood at the gates of heaven, Pastor Dick Onerecker of Kline, Texas, stood on a Texas highway by Don’s lifeless body. He had also attended the pastor’s conference. He came upon the accident moments after it happened. The EMS personnel had told him that Don was dead.
“It was as though I was compelled to stop and to pray for him. The Lord had just impressed on me very emphatically, very urgently that I was to pray for him,” says Dick. “I walked over by the door. There was great physical damage on the outside. I laid my hands on him and began to pray for him.”
As soon as Don’s journey began, it ended. Don found himself back in his crushed vehicle, staring up at a tarp that had been thrown over him by medical attendants.
Says Don, “The first conscious memory was ‘What a Friend we have in Jesus.’ I was singing. I was thinking to myself, ‘Why am I singing this song? I’m in the dark,’ and I knew it was about noon time when the accident happened. I’m in the dark, I’m singing, and I’m holding a hand. I’m thinking to myself, ‘What on earth is happening?'”
Dick had begun singing hymns to Don.
“The Lord impressed on me not only to pray for him but that there would be no internal injuries and that there would be no head injuries. Then, I began to sing, and I heard him singing with me,” says Dick.
Don was transported to Herman Hospital in Houston. Miraculously, he suffered no head or internal injuries. However, virtually every bone in Don’s body was either broken or shattered.
His left arm and left leg were completely severed, and had to be rebuilt and replaced. Looking at his battered and pain-seared body, this man who had touched heaven’s gates wanted to go back.
“My mindset was having now been able to see what the matter with me was, and to know how beautiful heaven was, to want to be there again. As much as I loved these people that I was with, I was so confident of their salvation experiences that I knew they would join me sometime in the future,” Don says.
But the prayers and love of family and friends pulled Don through four months of intensive therapy, numerous operations, and infections that on two occasions almost claimed his life.
“I like to say that I came back by popular demand,” he says. “People prayed me back from the gates of heaven. People prayed me back from death’s door. I’m here because people asked God for me to be here.”
The TRINITY River feeds into Lake LIVINGSTON
The man’s name is “Piper.”
Piper: a flute player who influences others to follow him.