The Saints Overcome with Pastor Joshua
Diving deep into God's word. I will take you through the Bible and explain the truth without watering down the gospel! Buy your copy of the American Jesus: America’s quest to redefine the savior. This book will deconstruct the myth of the American Jesus, and help you understand who Jesus is according to the gospel.
The Saints Overcome with Pastor Joshua
Resurrection Sunday (live service)
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Pastor Joshua explains the real reason for the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ! Contrary to society, We believe in the trinity. Jesus is the son of God and God at the same time. Satan wants to destroy the historical Jesus and replace him with a post-modern one.
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There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no more pain, no more mourning over there. And forever I will be with the one who died for me For the day number eight. Glorious day that will be. For the day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, when my Jesus lies in sin and I look upon his face, the one who saved me by his grace, and he takes me by the hand and leads me through that promised land. For today, glorious day that will be. Praise God, what a day, glorious day for me.
Speaker 2:Praise God.
Speaker 3:What do you think of that?
Speaker 2:Josh, it's a beautiful song and it's going to be a beautiful day.
Speaker 3:What a glorious day. Praise God, I made a lot of mistakes.
Speaker 2:You worked your lungs that time.
Speaker 1:I made a lot of mistakes.
Speaker 3:I haven't played this in a while, but isn't that a neat thing.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:It is Praise God.
Speaker 2:That's how we define success. I mean we fail in life. God teaches us and we succeed right. Sometimes I say what I know of success is if I never learned what failure is, so God's. He's the master teacher. He teaches us. I don't know if you want to sing another song or get some scripture. What you want to do, where do?
Speaker 3:you want to go?
Speaker 2:everybody want to hear the word. You want to hear one more song? Where's everybody at? Oh, she wants to hear the word. So have we opened up in a prayer at all? Okay, perfect, so we're going to be celebrating the resurrection of christ, you know, and I always ask myself how relevant that is to the world that we live in today, because we live in a world and a system that they overlook the resurrection of christ. It's just not that big of a deal. Or, if you want to worship the correct Christ, the Christ in the Bible, the way, the truth and the life, the only way to God, people will call you judgmental, they will say that you're being non-tolerant, and I can give you an example of that, because we are going to be talking about why we're celebrating Resurrection Day.
Speaker 2:I just had an incident yesterday where I have somebody that's particularly a different religion than me. It's my father, and I love my father very much. You know, because I'm just personal here, I'm sharing the story. So we went out to breakfast probably about a week ago, and I'm a Christian Flat out. My family knows it. You know I'm the crazy preacher in the family, but I love Christ, right, my father. He's the Jehovah's Witness. So we have two different views on who Jesus Christ is, on who Jesus Christ is. They don't believe in the resurrection, they don't believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, but God in the flesh at the same time. So this gets interesting, and I've learned to accept people where they're at. You know, if anybody talked about wanting to argue somebody into the kingdom of heaven, I was notorious for that. I was about the worst there was. You know, when god, god reached me in prayer and through humility and the spirit, and he taught me to look at things in a different way. So, as we're sitting there for breakfast, you know, my dad says, josh, jesus christ is not god in the flesh, jesus christ is just the son of God and he basically doesn't have that kind of power that he says in the Christian scriptures. Okay, so I says, dad, I said you have to understand something. I said we got to set some boundaries here, because I want everybody to know that God has a personal relationship with each one of us and in order to access that relationship, we truly have to know who our Savior is, who Jesus Christ is. So, as we're sitting there and we set these boundaries and we had a great breakfast, we had an understanding after that and we left. We parted ways.
Speaker 2:My dad's never really been around in my life. So the way that God taught me for forgiveness is through a really broken relationship with my father. I never really knew him, even though he lived five miles down the street. I really don't know who he is. I don't have any memories. I'm barely learning who this man is right. So I lost about 10 years in bitterness and resentment against my own father. I was that angry until God set me free.
Speaker 2:And forgiveness is a miracle and the only way we can experience the fullness of God is by forgiving those who trespass against us. So as I go home, against us. So as I go home, my father sends me some material in the mail to join his religion. Okay, and this is a big deal to me, because I told my dad, I said you do know I'm going to study to be a professor. You know I go, you know I'm. This is my whole life, this is all I do. I mean I love God. So I said I'm probably the last one you want to try to convert, right? But he did it anyways.
Speaker 2:And the reason I'm bringing this story up is because the world will try to take the true Jesus away from us. Life will, society will, tv will, everything is against the Christian in a post-modern world. So where's this at in the Bible? Well, jesus said it himself. So I don't like pontificating on what I think I know. I like talking about Jesus himself. And this is what Jesus says in Luke 12, 41. He says these are pretty fiery words from our Savior. Right, because Jesus knew who he was the God man, the one that descended out of the heavens to bear the sins of the world so that we can inherit eternal life. And he says I came to cast fire on the earth and would that it would already be kindled. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished?
Speaker 2:Jesus was stressed to a high degree, thinking about taking the weight of the world, the sin, and being crucified for our sins, because he knew he was the Savior. Do you think that I have come to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division, rather division. For from now on, in your own house there will be five divided three against two and two against three. They will be divided father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law that's prettyin-law against her mother-in-law. That's pretty strong words, right? You know what? Because Jesus was saying there's going to be people out there that are not going to accept the truth that I'm going to lay down my own life because I am God, I'm the son of God, I have the power to do so and I'm going to take it up. And the only way to be saved, the only way for salvation, is to accept that free gift of me laying down my life. For sinners, what a beautiful God we serve, that we serve, a God that's willing to give his life for us.
Speaker 2:I remember somebody compared it one time. It would be like you have a criminal and they committed the most egregious crimes and they were sentenced to life in prison, but on top of that, capital punishment, and it would be in the sense, at a weaker sense, but like the president, united states, walking in and talking to the ward and say, hey, I want to substitute my life for his, and then go into that man's cell and saying I've pardoned you of all your heinous crimes in your sin, and I'm going to take your place. Why? Because I want to, because I love you, because I'm taking the sin of the world upon me. So when we think about tomorrow and we celebrate Easter, it's a beautiful thing that I can be saved from myself.
Speaker 2:I woke up today and I said, told my wife, thank God, he's such a glorious God and she goes. Why? I said because he saved me from myself. Paul says I'm a wretched human being. The things that I do I don't want to do, things I don't do I want to do. Sin is alive in all my members. Christ gave us that gift, cleansed us, baptized us when we received the Holy Spirit. So we'll get into another song and then we'll talk about what truth is and how Christ demonstrated the resurrection from his own words Praise God.
Speaker 2:You know, I went hiking this morning for about a good hour plus, woke up really early and, uh, the thing about hiking is I have to have a gps on my phone or you get lost. I remember one time I went to white tanks and I thought I was going to carry a little bottle of water with me and the sun came up. It was summertime and I was praying because I knew the way out. But I had about a good hour and I would have been done. I probably would have had a heat stroke and collapse and potentially died or be airlifted out. So as I'm hiking, you know I have a compass, it's a GPS. So as I'm hiking, you know I have a compass, it's a GPS.
Speaker 2:And Pilate, in John 18, asked Christ what is truth? That truth guides us through life, that truth rescues us. And I would like to read the recording of Pontius Pilate asking Jesus this question because it pertains to his resurrection. So, when life gets difficult, when life gets tough, when we feel lost, this is our GPS, this is our compass, this is what we read when we pray to our God to rescue us out of the wilderness. So Pilate entered his headquarters again and called Jesus and said to him and this is after Jesus was set up he was sold out.
Speaker 2:They captured him and he says are you the king of the Jews? Him, and he says are you the king of the jews? Jesus answered do you say this of your own accord or did others say it to you about me? Pilot answered am I a jew? Your own nation and chief priest have delivered you over to me. What have you done?
Speaker 2:These Jews were waiting eons, millenniums, for Christ to come, but they wanted a political revolutionary. They didn't want a person cloaked in humility and his plan was to free the slaves of spiritual slavery. Plan was to free the slaves of spiritual slavery. Before I came to Christ, before I was saved, I know and I experienced spiritual slavery, and captivity is real. Jesus answered my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I may not be delivered over to the Jews, but my kingdom is not from this world. Then Pilate said to him so you are a king? Jesus answered you say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world to bear witness to the truth.
Speaker 2:What is the truth? Think about how much money we spend in society, movies, makeup. I mean trying to people try to change their own appearance because they're trying to figure out what the truth is. And I'm not saying that we can't look good and do our hair and all this other stuff right, but people are searching for such an identity because they don't know the truth in Christ, including this governor, this rich governor, pontius Pilate says what is truth? And this is so fascinating. It's simple. Truth is very simple, right. It doesn't come in a big book. We don't have to hear 20 lectures, it's not going to come from a motivational speaker.
Speaker 2:Christ says this, and this alone. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. That's it. When we're saved, god gives us the holy spirit, and in hebrews it says that it's a deposit. God gives us a deposit, like when you go buy a house or you go put something down and they say, okay, you own it now and come later and pay the rest, and it's fully yours. God says I've proved that you belong to me. I proved that you're saved. I proved that you've been resurrected before death, spiritually, by giving you the Holy Spirit and sealed you with a guarantee and a promise to spend all eternity with me. And if you can hear my voice, you know what the truth is.
Speaker 2:After he had said this, he went back out and told the Jews I find no guilt in him, but you have a custom that I should release one man at Passover. So who do you choose? And, long story short, they wanted a murderer, a barbarian. Barabbas. That's who they chose, because they couldn't accept that Christ is the truth. It except that christ is the truth.
Speaker 2:You know, I was reading a book by supposedly the world's greatest philosopher, stephen carwell. It's called the beginning of everything and he's a declarative atheist and a physicist and astronomer and everything else. He got all these titles and it was fascinating because this is like supposedly the most brilliant man in the world, right? And he said it pains me that when I die, that I know I'm going back to non-existence, that my families, my friends, my memories are going to flee back into utter darkness. And as a declared atheist and a person that rejects a cosmic bully, rejecting God, this is the fate that I've chosen to live with. And that's supposed to be the most brilliant philosopher in our country today.
Speaker 2:And Christ says all you have to do is hear my truth. People always say, pastor, what is true? This is stronger than a conscience. I mean when God speaks to you in your heart and moves your spirit. It's like he screams into you and he talks to us and he speaks to us. I could defy my conscience all day long. People can even sever their conscience. They can get rid of it, they can ignore it, but when you're saved, you have a relationship with Christ. You're redeemed by his blood and you know truth. With Christ, you're redeemed by his blood and you know truth. It's immovable. It's a beautiful blessing and you just feel loved.
Speaker 2:Even though I have my family members, my dog that I love, my friends that I love, there is no satisfaction in this world knowing that my Savior loves me, satisfaction in this world knowing that my savior loves me, and that is the most special relationship I will ever have in my entire life. People will fail me, people have failed me, I have failed myself, but god is so faithful he never fails us. There's no turning of shadow, the Bible says in God there's no darkness, there's only light. There's no mistakes. There's no going back and having a do-over. For him, everything he does is perfect. And guess what? He laid his life down, chose to pick it up. He laid his life down, chose to pick it up. Raise Lazarus and we get to spend eternity raised and meet Lazarus, be with Christ and see God with our own eyes. That's what Resurrection Sunday is about. That's what tomorrow is about. That's what today is about.
Speaker 2:We, as Christians, will not let nobody distort the truth, take the truth away from us, call us non-tolerant, non-acceptable. The most loving thing we can do is tell somebody what Christ did in our own personal life. Now, if that's not tolerant, then I don't want to be tolerant and I don't want the world to tolerate me. Ain't that right? Call me what you want, because of Jesus' own words. You know we're going to sing another song.
Speaker 3:And we, as Christians, should listen. Yes, god is talking to us, and sometimes we don't do it, we don't listen, and we need to listen.
Speaker 2:Amen. That's so true, because you know how many times have we said in our life you know what, god, I got this. You know what? Just take the back seat, I'm going to take the wheel, everything's going to be okay. And usually it does not end very well, right, it ends in disaster, but the Holy Spirit, it guides us through everything. Hey, you know what? Be patient this time, don't say a word. This time, it's time to speak up. It's time to show love. It's time to be strong. Right, that's our guide, it's our compass in the dark.
Speaker 2:Always compare, before we sing a song, always compare a person that does not have the light of Christ as a person stumbling around in the dark. You're just stumbling, have you ever woken up? And it's completely dark and you're just searching and groping for the light switch and right when it turns on, you go oh, finally. I didn't like the dark that much. It didn't feel good being trapped in here, but the light came and the dark fled and you know when I was saved. The only way I can describe it is that light switch being turned on and I can see, not in darkness anymore. That is a beautiful gift, something money cannot buy, something. The world cannot give us this most precious gift to be made alive when I was once dead, for I was blind. Now I can see. Would that the truth?
Speaker 3:Kind of fit right into what you were talking about there, brother.
Speaker 2:It was a beautiful song.
Speaker 3:A lot of times we do that. We run around in our lives. You know we're blinded. You know we've got scales over our eyes. We don't see our lives. We know we're blinded. You know we've got scales over our eyes. We don't see the truth. We don't see what's going on. We listen to what's around us instead of seeing what the Lord has for us. Yes, jesus is the light of the world.
Speaker 2:Light of the world. Isn't that amazing, isn't that great that Jesus is the light of the world. So so we know what truth is. Truth is simply hearing the voice of God being saved. It's not too complicated. Pontius Pilate had a discussion with Jesus. Jesus said he's the truth and the truth is I am the way to God, I am the truth. Meaning truth is defined by me and I am life, I am the resurrection. That is what Christ is. So, as we worship in word and song, he demonstrates that in the book of John, chapter 11, in raising Lazarus from the dead. And it's fascinating.
Speaker 2:I have some situations where I get some calls in my family. My aunt right now is not doing too well and she's ill and we don't think she has a whole lot longer. She's saved, and I was talking to a friend recently about it and I go. It's fascinating that we're buried right. You go to a funeral I've done funerals and we're put in the ground. It's because that's a symbolic of death, which is we're meant to come back out of the ground. The opposite side of that is resurrection. It's not normal to perish. It's not normal to grow old. It's not normal to die.
Speaker 2:Look, I'm 43 this year, when I was 23,. Things were a lot different. You know, I'll testify to that. It's like, man, this knee hurts, my shoulder hurts, my neck gots a kink in it. Now, right, and we'll be dancing on streets of gold with our creator brought back to our youth, worshiping him for all eternity. People say, josh, you're still relatively young. I said there's a lot I still miss. Sometimes, when I think about things in the past, I miss it drastically. Sometimes it makes my heart churn when I think about my kids and how little they were. You know, it just makes me want to cry some days. I said, man, I miss them days. Man, if I could just go back and just live them one more time. See my kids when they were little, stumbling around, falling Daddy, I need you, I love you. Right? She says, guess what? I got something better than that. I got something better than that. I will raise you from the dead. Chapter 11.
Speaker 2:Now there was a certain man that was ill, lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister, martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, lazarus, was ill. So the sister sent to him saying Lord, he whom you love is ill. Christ is always demonstrating his love. That's his mark. You loved him, christ, you could have came here beforehand. He's ill. This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified in it. As we're going to see, jesus has the king, the keys of life and death, in his hand. Now. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill look at this he stayed two days longer in the place he was. He meant for Lazarus to pass. Why? Look what we have. It's recorded for us.
Speaker 2:You can go to secular history, even Josephus. He's a Ebonite Christian which he didn't believe in the full deity of Christ, but he even records in secular history. There was a man named Christ, a secularist, raising people from the dead. He's considered the greatest Jewish historian. And he said it Did he cause a ruckus? Christ did yeah, he did. So we don't only have it acknowledged through the Bible, we can acknowledge it through secular history. So he stayed two days longer than after this.
Speaker 2:He said to the disciples let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone. You. Are you going there again? Jesus answered are there not 12 hours in a day? If anybody walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world, but if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. You know what Jesus is saying. I got work to do. It doesn't matter what you, what you say. Yeah, I know they want to kill me. There's a bunch of unsaved souls all over the place. Everybody's stumbling, groped around in the dark. Nobody can see. The light switch ain't turning on. I'm here to save humanity.
Speaker 2:After saying these things, he said to them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking a restful sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly Lazarus has died and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin said to his fellow disciples let us go, that we may die with him. And that's what we are celebrating today the way, the truth and the life. Nothing else.
Speaker 2:I know society this is my personal beef that I have with society we take the day of Jesus and we like to dumb it down. I mean, you watch TV. It's all about a rabbit now, I get it. The kids got to find Easter eggs, I get all that, but there's nothing. There's not even nothing about God anymore, nothing about resurrection anymore. And I told my wife, I said this world has just dumbed everything down. And Jesus says I have to go because people are in darkness. Jesus says I have to go because people are in darkness, they're walking in the dark. And this is the day where we get to proclaim the lights are turned on, the darkness is no more, the captives are set free. He took captivity and liberated it because he chose to lay down his life and pick his life up once again for all of our benefit.
Speaker 2:So as we celebrate the resurrection of christ, christ says I am the resurrection and the life. And the reason why he says that is because he knows death is the enemy. It just is. You know, I'll give you an example, my personal life. You know. I was laying next to my wife one day and I said man, I'm sad today. I said just, you know, I'm in love with you. Things are so good. Things are going great right now. You know we're aging and I know eventually one of us aren't going to be here. You know it really breaks my heart, but thank God for the hope that, no matter what, I will be reunited with my wife one day again in heaven.
Speaker 2:Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus Lord, if you had been here, my brother would have not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, god will give you. Jesus said to her your brother will rise again. Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in resurrection on the last day.
Speaker 2:So what is the whole point of Sunday? What is the whole point of Jesus coming? What is the whole point of why we worship him? Jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though, he die in the last day. He said I am. Whoever believes in me, though he die, he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him yes, lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming in to the world. Isn't that amazing? I mean, I believe this. I mean, this is not. This is not a book of fiction. I believe this and I know it's true. I live my life by this. What would the world look like without a savior, without resurrection? It'd be cruelty, right. We would just look up in the sky and say what's the point of all this? This doesn't mean anything. I feel lost like a speck of sand on the seashore. Mean anything? I feel lost like a speck of sand on the seashore. But God says I am the way, the truth and the life. I'm the resurrection.
Speaker 2:When she said this, she went and called her sister, mary, saying in private the teacher is here and he is calling you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now, jesus had not come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him when the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet saying Lord, if you have been here, my brother would have not died.
Speaker 2:You see, in a lot of other religions they don't have a personal God. You know, even Muhammad said in his Muslim Koran that he doesn't even know if he's going to go to heaven, and he was supposed to be the leader of Islam. He said God cannot be known, it's impossible. When I die, I don't know if Allah is even going to accept me, because God is impersonal. In other religions God is impersonal, and I'm going somewhere with this, even though I disagree a thousand percent with that Religion. Look what the Bible records here in history.
Speaker 2:When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled and he said to them where have you laid him? They said to him Lord, come and see. And Jesus wept. The creator of the world broke down crying and wept profusely Because he can identify with our pain, with our suffering, with our loss with our hopes, with our dreams, and he is the resurrection. So the Jews said see how he loved him. But some of them said could not he who opened the eyes of a blind man and also kept this man from dying?
Speaker 2:Then Jesus deeply moved again, again came to the tomb. It was a cave, a stone laid in front of it. Jesus said take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes, said father, I think that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me.
Speaker 2:When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen straps and his face wrapped in cloth. And then Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go. When we're resurrected, god's going to say come out, even though we die and we're present with God in the spirit and we get to be with him in the spirit. We never experienced death, but there is a time when he will open every grave up in this world, in this city, in every small town, and say come out and reunite our spirit with our body that is perfected, the same one that he could walk through walls with, he could transfigure, he could leave. He says you get that gift.
Speaker 2:Lazarus, we know, died again. He got sick again because the end has not came. But guess what? We're already saved, we've already been resurrected. What a glorious God we serve. So if we would bow our heads and we can pray, say our final prayer Lord, we thank you for giving us the ultimate gift, which is you laying down your life, you deciding to pick it back up and giving us the gift of resurrection, also on the last day, so we can spend eternity with you. I pray that you bless everyone here in their moments of joy, sadness, happiness and comfort every single person, because only you know where they're at on any given day. Lord, we glorify you, we love you and use us in your kingdom in mighty and powerful ways. In Jesus' name, amen.