Sunday, April 8, 2023

Pastor Troy Brewer, OpenDoor Church, Burleson, TX

Three is God’s number for things perfectly complete 

(Father, Son & Holy Spirit) as well as resurrection life. 

Third Day of creation is DOUBLE BLESSED! It’s the only day God said, “It is good” twice. 

Jewish weddings are on Tuesdays because it is the third day of their week. 

GOD PUTS THE EARTH IN ORDER & SPEAKS LIFE INTO IT ON THE THIRD DAY (Genesis 1:9-13)

SO WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL ABOUT THE THIRD DAY? 

THE THIRD DAY: God like to mark his most important events with the third day. 

ABRAHAM SEES A BETTER SACRIFICE 

Genesis 22:4Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off.

LABAN DISCOVERS JACOB IS GONE 

Genesis 31:22And Laban was told on the third day that Jacob had fled.

JOSEPH GIVES HIS BROTHERS A CHANCE TO REDEEM THEMSELVES 

Genesis 42:18Then Joseph said to them the third day, “Do this and live, for I fear God:”

THE JEWISH NATION SAYS “YES” TO GOD IN THE WILDERNESS WEDDING AT THE FOOT OF SINAI ON THE THIRD DAY – THE WILDERNESS WEDDING!

Exodus 19:11And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 

Exodus 19:16Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

HEZEKIAH HEALED OF IMPENDING DEATH 

2 Kings 20:8And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “What is the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up to the house of the Lord the third day?”

REBUILDING OF TEMPLE AFTER BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY 

Ezra 6:15Now the temple was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of King Darius.

ESTHER LAYS DOWN HER LIFE TO SAVE HER PEOPLE 

Esther 5:1Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house.

JONAH WAS SPIT OUT OF THE BELLY OF THE FISH (Jonah 1:17)

Now the Lord had prepared a great fish to swallow Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

JESUS TURNS WATER TO WINE 

John 2:1 On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.

So when God marks a very important event that changes everything, He likes to do this on the third day.

“Most important events in Human History”

The Ten Commandments 

The sealing of the Magna Carta

The Reformation and Martin Luther 

The Gutenberg press

The circumnavigation of the globe and mapping out the world 

The constitution of the United States 

The defeat of the Nazis and the Japanese empire 

All have to do with freedom and the ability to live free.

The Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. 

This nearly stumped my whole study this week because I couldn’t get off of the subject of the importance of knowing what the most important events in History are and why. 

I see a book in the future. 

More than the discovery of fire or the invention of the wheel. More important than the building of the first plow or the development of the first alphabet: 

Point No. 1THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT  IN ALL HUMAN HISTORY

If you didn’t know anything about Jesus, the Bible or our Christian worldview–if all I knew was the discovery that out of all the humans who have ever lived, are live and will ever live, there was one human being who rose Himself up from the dead and offered that power to the rest of humanity. That would be the absolute biggest deal. 

He rose from the dead by His own power and slapped death in the face for the rest of us. 

The resurrection of Jesus, after his death on Passover, is the greatest game-changer for every person for all time. 

The 2nd thing that matters most is that you simply believe the Resurrection is true. 

Point No. 2Be 100% convinced of His Resurrection

* I’m all in.

* If I didn’t believe it, I wouldn’t do what I do and be who I am. 

* Preachers feel the pressure to preach it.  

Don’t take my word for it. Take theirs.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, attested to by hundreds of eyewitnesses (1 Corinthians 15:3–8), provides irrefutable proof that He is the Savior of the world.

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NKJVFor I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

PAUL IS SAYING, “YEAH, MY TIMING WAS A LITTLE OFF AND I WAS A LITTLE BIT LATE TO THE PARTY, BUT I HAVE SEEN HIM.” 

Paul was beheaded in Rome over 30 years after he saw the resurrected Jesus 

The circumstances and what was believed about his death are well documented, but we have no idea what his last words were. 

We don’t know if his friends were there for the execution or they just took him out back and killed him without a formal ceremony. We don’t have any idea what was done with Paul’s body. 

Here’s what we do know: over 30 years after seeing Jesus alive on the road to Damascus–after 30 years of trying to tell everybody what the resurrection was all about and going through horrible things– 

He is kidnapped (Acts 21:27), beaten (Acts 21:30-31; 23:3), threatened (Acts 22:22; 27:42), arrested many times (Acts 21:33; 22:24, 31; 23:35; 28:16), accused in lawsuits (Acts 21:34; 22:30; 24:1-2; 25:2, 7; 28:4), interrogated (Acts 25:24-27), ridiculed (Acts 26:24), ignored (Acts 27:11), shipwrecked (Acts 27:41) and bitten by a viper (Acts 28:3).

After 30 years of this from human beings who think he is nuts, Paul goes to have his head cut off saying, 

“He’s alive. I’ve seen Him!”

Think about how committed Paul was to the reality that Jesus had died and actually did resurrect from the dead. At no point did he drop the ball or change the story.

Simon Peter: (crucified upside down)—died 33-34 years after the death of Christ

James the Great: (beheaded)—died in the year 44, or about 11 years after the death of Christ

He was the son of Zebedee, the brother of the Apostle John. He was captured and condemned to die by Herod Agrippa the First. James was put to death shortly before the day of the Passover (Acts 12:1-2).

John: (thrown into boiling oil, but survived)—He died a very old man, the only Apostle to do so

For most of his labors, John was with Peter in Jerusalem up until the persecution of Herod Agrippa I. During this period, scholars agree that John escaped and preached for some time in the area around Turkey. Years later, scholars traced that he went to Rome, where it is believed he was persecuted with other Christians and was thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil—he miraculously survived. The Roman emperor at the time, Domitian, decided after the incident to banish John to the island of Patmos in Greece. When Domitian died, John went back to Ephesus (in Turkey) where he spent the rest of his days.

Andrew: (crucified upside down on an X-shaped cross) about 32 years after the resurrection 

Philip: (crucified then quartered by horses) 44 years after the resurrection  

—Preached in Greece, Syria and in Turkey in the cities of Galatia, Phrygia and Hierapolis. Philip partnered with Bartholomew in his missions. According to sources, “Through his miraculous healing and preaching, Philip converted the wife of the Pre-consul of the city” of Hierapolis. This event angered the Pre-consul, who ordered that both Philip and Bartholomew be tortured and crucified upside down. While on the cross, Philip continued to preach and he was able to convince the crowd and the Pre-consul to release Bartholomew, while insisting that he (Philip) remained crucified. Bartholomew was released but Philip was taken off the cross tied to horses and dragged through the streets in pieces. Philip means “lover of horses.”

Thomas: (impaled by a spear)—died in India 37 years after the resurrection 

Called by most Christians as the “Doubting Thomas,”  became a fearless preacher of the Gospel and builder of churches. He was one of the first Apostles who preached outside the boundaries of the vast Roman Empire (Europe). He preached in Babylon (present day Iraq) and established its first Christian church. Then he went to Persia (Iran) and travelled as far as China and India. He was martyred in Chanai, India by a local king who thought Christianity disrespected India’s Caste System. Thomas was brought to a nearby mountain and was stabbed-to-death with a spear.

James Alpheus “the Lesser”: (stoned and clubbed-to-death) in Jerusalem  31 years after the resurrection 

—We know he lived at least five years after the death of Christ because of mentions in the Bible. Believed to have preached in Damascus (Syria) and acknowledged as the first bishop of the Christians in Jerusalem (Israel). Historians say he was sentenced to be stoned-to-death by the Jews for challenging Jewish Laws and for convincing some of members of the Jewish community to convert to Christianity. James died when during the stoning, one person from the crowd approached him and bashed his head with a fuller’s club (a piece of wood used for washing clothes). He was buried on the spot where he died, somewhere in Jerusalem.

Simon the Zealot and Thaddeus: (clubbed to death together and their bodies sawed in half) 30 years after the resurrection 

I’ll give you more and of course there are others but

Bartholomew: (skinned alive) 33 years after the resurrection of Jesus 

The Armenian King Tiridates III had him arrested for preaching heresy and sentenced him to death. The king wanted to keep Christianity from spreading through his kingdom, so he ordered that Bartholomew be flayed alive.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPACTFUL BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ WAS A BOOK CALLED “ THE BODY” BY CHUCK COLSEN. This book was a catalyst that helped me have the courage start this church.  

After that book, I began to read other books by Chuck Colson and I studied up on the Nixon Watergate scandal because you might remember he was one of the 12 guys arrested and thrown into prison over that mess.  

He suffered such great public humiliation after such great public success and in prison, He read the book by CS Lewis “Mere Christianity” and he became one of the greatest Christian leaders of our day. 

“I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead, then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true… 

Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” – Chuck Colson 

He’s is so right!!!!

These 12 guys were not trained to hold a lie together, to change nations or endure what they went through. 

We have had 2000 years of testimonies since the apostles. 

Miracles, signs and wonders; encounters with Jesus, fulfillments of scriptural prophesies, most notably to be is Israel becoming a nation again after 1900 years–now there’s resurrection power!!!

Point No. 1THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN ALL HUMAN HISTORY

Point No. 2Be 100% convinced of His Resurrection

The followers of Jesus were back then and still are today 100% convinced that Jesus Christ is resurrected from the dead.

Not only is this the “Hinge of History,” this is the hinge of your eternity.  

What else can Jesus do for you to be saved? What else can do for you to believe? 

 Acts 16:31“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” 

Peter put it this way in Acts 10 

Acts 10:39-43 “And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43 To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Just some notes for your own personal study ….

Another reason the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important is that it proves His sinless character and divine nature. The Scriptures said God’s “Holy One” would never see corruption (Psalm 16:10), and Jesus never saw corruption, even after He died (see Acts 13:32–37). It was on the basis of the resurrection of Christ that Paul preached, “Through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin” (Acts 13:38–39).

The resurrection of Jesus Christ not only validates His deity, it also validates the Old Testament prophecies that foretold of Jesus’ suffering and resurrection (see Acts 17:2–3). Christ’s resurrection also authenticated His own claims that He would be raised on the third day (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:34). If Jesus Christ is not resurrected, then we have no hope that we will be, either. In fact, apart from Christ’s resurrection, we have no Savior, no salvation, and no hope of eternal life. As Paul said, our faith would be “useless,” the gospel would be altogether powerless, and our sins would remain unforgiven (1 Corinthians 15:14–19).

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25), and in that statement claimed to be the source of both. There is no resurrection apart from Christ, no eternal life. Jesus does more than give life; He is life, and that’s why death has no power over Him. Jesus confers His life on those who trust in Him, so that we can share His triumph over death (1 John 5:11–12). We who believe in Jesus Christ will personally experience resurrection because, having the life Jesus gives, we have overcome death. It is impossible for death to win (1 Corinthians 15:53–57).

Jesus is “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20). In other words, Jesus led the way in life after death. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is important as a testimony to the resurrection of human beings, which is a basic tenet of the Christian faith. Unlike other religions, Christianity has a Founder who transcends death and promises His followers will do the same. Every other religion was founded by men or prophets whose end was the grave. As Christians, we know God became man, died for our sins, and was resurrected the third day. The grave could not hold Him. He lives, and He sits today at the right hand of the Father in heaven (Hebrews 10:12).

The Word of God guarantees the believer’s resurrection at the coming of Jesus Christ for His church at the rapture. Such assurance results in a great song of triumph as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:55, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (Hosea 13:14).

The importance of the resurrection of Christ has an impact on our service to the Lord now. Paul ends his discourse on resurrection with these words: “Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). Because we know we will be resurrected to new life, we can endure persecution and danger for Christ’s sake (verses 30–32), just as our Lord did. Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, thousands of Christian martyrs through history have willingly traded their earthly lives for everlasting life and the promise of resurrection.

The resurrection is the triumphant and glorious victory for every believer. Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose the third day according to the Scriptures (1 Corinthians 15:3–4). And He is coming again! The dead in Christ will be raised up, and those who are alive at His coming will be changed and receive new, glorified bodies (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). Why is the resurrection of Jesus Christ important? It proves who Jesus is. It demonstrates that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. It shows that God has the power to raise us from the dead. It guarantees the bodies of those who believe in Christ will not remain dead but will be resurrected unto eternal life.