Kerwin Baptist Church Daily Sermon Broadcast

Welcome to the Kerwin Baptist Church broadcast today. Our desire is for the Word of God to be spread throughout the world so that all may know Christ.

Join us now for a portion of one of our services here at Kerwin Baptist Church located in Kernersville, North Carolina. I just want to say it here in the Bible. Christ raised not the dead. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen? And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised, and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.

That's where we would be, folks, by the way. We would still be in our sins, those of us that have put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, what we call salvation. Look at verse 19, verse 18. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man, or Adam, came death, by man came also, meaning Christ, the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, and this is the order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming. This is the gospel, that Jesus came, he died on the cross for our sins, and he rose again the third day, and he is preparing a place for us in heaven right now. You know what's exciting to think? Easter Sunday morning, here we are, praising him, talking about the fact that he rose from the dead, and even right now he's preparing a place for us. He is busy under construction today, preparing for when we meet him on the second coming.

Aren't you excited about that? I do want you to know before we pray this morning, if there were no resurrection, verse 14 teaches us that the Bible would be of no eternal use. It would be vain. If there were no resurrection, this church would be a waste of property, and it would be a waste of your time to ever even step foot in this building. If there were no resurrection, any biblical preaching would be false.

Did you hear that? Anything preached out of this Bible from this Bible would be false if there were no resurrection. If there were no resurrection when Jesus died, it would have just been another day. If there were no resurrection, if there were no resurrection when Jesus died, he would have just been another man, and it would have just been another death, and it would have just been another tragedy. If there had been no resurrection, none of our sins, past, present, or future, according to verse 17, would be forgiven, or will be forgiven. Means we have no hope of our sins ever being forgiven in verse 17. In verse 18, if there were no resurrection, we would have no choice but hell for an eternity. We would have no hope, the Bible says. Verse 19 teaches if there were no resurrection, we would have no hope for our future. We would have nothing but hell to look forward to.

Dear friend, look at me. Even if Jesus died on the cross for our sins like he did, if he had not resurrected from the dead, we would still be on our way to hell, and there would be no alternative. Is it really that important? Yes, it is, and we would like to try to explain why this morning. Let's pray. Lord, we love you. I pray, Lord, that you'd help us, and as we try to explain some things, Lord, I know this isn't necessarily some of the most exciting material, but I want our people to leave this building knowing why we celebrate your resurrection on Sundays, and why we have church on Sunday, and why Easter's so important, and what it means to us who have put our faith and trust in you.

Lord, I pray that you'd help us. In Jesus' name, amen. Now, I want you to do me a favor this morning before we even get into quickly the outline this morning that we want to share with you. I want you to turn, if you will, to John chapter 20, and I want to explain why we have Easter Sunday, and why it is that we have church on Sunday, and why this is important to us. We just simply, some people, they just kind of believe what they're told, and they know what we practice, but I want you to know this morning, if there's ever a Sunday that we need to explain this, it is Easter Sunday, and so I want you to understand kind of why we do what we do, and why this is important to us, and people say, well, it's important to be in church. Why is it important to be at church? Why should I be in God's house on Sunday?

Well, I want you to understand this. Look at John chapter 20, if you will, and I want you to notice verse one. Now, what had happened here is that Jesus had died on the cross. He'd been put in the grave.

He had been in the grave, and now this takes place three days later. Notice verse one. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Notice in verse one, the first day of the week.

Okay, now look at verse 18. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord on the first day of the week, and that he had spoken these things unto her. Then the same day, that first day of the week, that evening, being the first day of the week, verse 19, when the doors were shut, where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus, and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side, then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Now, you have no idea what just took place there, but everything changed when they saw Jesus. Because it means a totally new way of life.

It literally meant leaving the law and entering into grace. Why do we have church? Why do we have church on a Sunday? Why do we worship on Sunday and all these things? The first day of the week is when he resurrected, when Mary saw him, when he first met with the disciples. Now, listen to me, Saturday is the Sabbath.

Now, don't get this confused. Saturday is the Sabbath, and under the law, we were supposed to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Why that is important, because under the Sabbath law, we worked six days, and after the end of those six days, we worked, and then our reward was the fact that we rest on the Sabbath, and then we worship on the Sabbath. And we remember that to keep it holy, because it's a way of saying, you know, thank you for all the work that I've been able to do this week. Thank you for giving me the opportunity.

Thank you for providing my needs and different things. But after Jesus rose from the dead, now listen to me, Saturday is the Sabbath. Sunday is not the Sabbath.

Sabbath means seventh. Do you know that the seventh day is Saturday? That is the last day of the week. Our weeks have seven days.

Sunday always has, always will be the first day of the week. Saturday is the seventh. And that Sunday, which is the eighth day, so if we have Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday is the seventh. Sunday is the eighth day. In the Bible, the number seven is the number of rest.

Jesus, obviously, that he created heavens and earth, he did all that, and the Bible said he rested on the seventh day. That is the number of completion in the Bible. The number eight in the Bible is the number of new beginnings. What does that mean? If you look at a piano and you have an octave, what we call an octave in the piano, an octave has eight notes, but the eighth note is the same note as the first note.

Some of you are like, huh? If I do an octave, I'll start with a C. Let's just say we do that. I'll start with a C, and I'll go all the way up those seven notes, but the eighth note is the next C on the piano, that's 8-8, so that means this, that the eighth note of an octave is actually the new beginning, or the start for the next octave. So Sunday is obviously the first day of the week, Sabbath is the last day. Now, on the Sabbath law, you are not to travel more than 9 tenths of a mile under Sabbath law on the Sabbath. You aren't supposed to cook food, you're not supposed to do any work, your family's not supposed to do any work. Under the law, you worked six days, and you rested on the seventh day. And there are a lot of people that keep that to this day, we're not criticizing that in one bit or iota.

Please don't misunderstand, but that was under the law, and I admire them that they are trying, obviously, to do, obviously, what they believe in. By the way, I think you and I, as independent Baptists, and as Christians, need to understand, we ought to be as dedicated to what we believe as some people are to what they believe. If you're gonna believe it, you might as well be consistent.

You understand that? So, why is it that we do things the way we do it? Well, Jesus made the heavens and the earth, obviously, he made creation, he rested on the seventh day. And under law, the seventh day was a reward for the days we have worked. But, when Jesus rose from the grave on the first day of the week, from that day forth, our worship takes place on the first day of the week, celebrating the resurrection which is on the first day. And so we now, under grace, under law, they celebrated and worshiped on the seventh day because of the six days they worked, and then they got their rest. But under grace, now, God gets the priority. We worship on the first day, not the last day.

We don't work all week, and then we give him the last day because we're thanking him for all the work. No, when he resurrected, we didn't do anything to earn that. We didn't earn salvation. We couldn't work for it, we couldn't earn it, and because he rose from the grave, and he resurrected on the first day now, we start off our week on the first day, thanking God in advance for what he's already done. We didn't work to earn the rest.

We got it even though we didn't earn it. Amen. Yes. Amen. Amen. Isn't that wonderful?

Yeah. Grace turned the whole thing around. Grace is unmerited favor. And when those disciples saw Jesus, they realized now, I don't have to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy under law. Now I get to enjoy the Sabbath and worship and give him the priority. What does Matthew say?

Seek ye first the kingdom of God. When we give our tithes, we're supposed to give tithes of the first fruits. The Bible says when Jesus resurrected, he was the first fruits of those that would come. So Sunday, the first day of the week, the day he resurrected is why we worship and we celebrate the resurrection. That means every time you come to church on a Sunday morning, you are celebrating the fact that he rose from the dead. Everybody understand that? See, a lot of times people say, well, we do such and such, but you don't know why. And so I want you to understand that. So why is resurrection so important? Why is Sunday so important? Why are we, why is this all so important to us?

Well, I want you to understand, and for sake of not making you turn everywhere, I've gotta give you, I could probably, and I'm not exaggerating, I could probably give you 60 principles of what the resurrection proves to us. Well, I could go on and on and on, but if I went on and on and on, I'd be the only one going on and on. About two hours from now, it would be me and Nick. Yes, sir. Because I signed his check, so he's gonna stay here. My own wife would leave, but Nick would stay.

I'm pickin'. Number one this morning, I want you to understand this, just so you understand things, I want this to be an informative time of why the resurrection is so important to us. Number one, the resurrection proves that Jesus is who he claimed to be. I want you to look at John chapter 11, verse 25. Now, I'm gonna put some of these verses up on every point so that you can understand and see that.

You can turn to them, you can not turn to them, whatever you wanna do, but I want you to be able to see these things. John chapter 11, verse 25. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection.

It's on the screen if you need it. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. He said, I am the resurrection before he was ever resurrected. The fact that he rose from the grave means that that proves he was who he claimed to be. Let me read you another verse. Romans chapter one, verse three. Concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David, which means that God came down to earth, and we became man and God at the same time, verse four, and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead.

Did you hear that? So he claimed to be the son of God, and the fact that there was the resurrection from the dead proves that he was the son of God. You know the resurrection proves that Jesus is who he claimed to be. There are a lot of religious leaders that claim to be things. We've had a lot in the past that claim to be things. Muhammad claims to be things.

Buddha claimed to be things. I could go on and on and list and list, but Jesus is who he claimed to be, and he proved it. Anybody that's ever claimed to be the Messiah of any kind that did not raise from the dead, they're not a Messiah.

That is a prerequisite to be able to save. If you can't save yourself, how are you going to save anybody? The fact that Jesus rose from the dead means that he now has the power to raise you and me from the dead, which leads to my next point. Number one, the resurrection proves Jesus is who he claimed to be.

Number two, the resurrection proves Jesus had the power that he claimed to have. Let me give you this verse. John chapter 10 verse 17.

It'll be on the screens if you need it. Listen to what he says. Therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. Did you hear what Jesus said?

They did not take Jesus' life. Jesus gave willingly, and the fact that he had the power to give it, he said I did that so that I would have the power to take it again, or to raise again from the, verse 18. No man taketh it from me, Jesus says, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. Now that's what he said before he ever did it. This commandment have I received of my father. Jesus says I give my life because I have the power to raise myself up.

That's the power he claimed to have, and when he died on the cross, and he stayed in that grave, when he raised on the third day, that proved that he had the power that he said he would have. My senior year of high school, I don't think I've ever even shared this illustration with anybody. This is a first. I know some of you would probably try to check.

Poor brother Joe over the years. I'm sure after 50 years, good Lord, you've got to repeat one illustration or something, you know. People they, you write it, they'll date it. I'm sure they have, haven't they? So they come up to you, you gave that illustration 15 years ago, blah, blah, blah. You know what I say? Well, it's been 15 years since you've been at church.

I hope you enjoyed it. Somebody get up here, sing the same song every time they sing. Everybody says, what a blessing.

Preacher gets up, tells the same illustration every 20 years they criticize them for. I don't understand that, but it's Easter, so I'm in a good mood, so nevermind. I'm picking with you, obviously. When I was a senior in high school, we played the state championship game for basketball, and we were playing for the state championship. I know I don't look like a basketball player.

I look more like a basketball, but anyway. I used to say that in evangelism, I like basketball so much, now I am one. But anyway, and I was the point guard on our team, and we played a team, and they thought they were big stuff. We were the smallest school in our entire league, and we won the state championship three years in a row. And I was a senior, and I was the point guard on the team, and I was even bigger than I am now at that point, and this one guy came over, and we were getting ready to have the jump ball as they did obviously then, and we were standing there kind of getting in line, and he whispered something to me.

This kid came up, and he basically said this, because this phrase was big I guess years ago. He said, we're gonna eat your lunch. And I like lunch.

I mean obviously, I mean I'm. I'm like, well dude, I don't care, just don't eat my lunch. And it made me mad. And I just, you know, I use the illustration, and so I got mad, and I started asking for the ball, and I scored 24 points our state championship game.

We won the state championship, and I went over to him after, and I said apparently we were too hard to digest. Now you say, why would you even share something like that? Because he was a jerk.

That's why I share something like that. I can't believe a preacher said jerk from the pulpit. You've thought it.

Don't even talk about it. Why did I say that? Because this kid claimed to have the power to do something that he did not have the power to do.

And you know what? There's a lot of people that claim a lot of things that they can do, and you even have preachers on TV that claim that they're doing a lot of things, but I'm here to tell you, Jesus is the only one that claimed to have the power, and he had it. He said, I have the power to take up my life again.

You know, because he had the power to lay his life down, he had the power to raise it back up. Once you notice, thirdly, the resurrection proves the Bible is true. You know, the Bible's obviously, it's a wonderful, it's more than a book.

It's literally Jesus himself, but I think you understand what I'm saying. There's so many good things in it and good principles that would help an individual if you weren't even saved. If you followed the Bible, you would live a better life. Even if you weren't saved, but what would be the point if you weren't saved?

But even if you follow, it's all those things. But I want you to understand, even all these things, as good as it is, if he did not raise from the dead, this would not be true. Now, historically, there are some things that would not change.

David would have still lived, and Moses would have still lived, and all these things. But there's a number of portions, the Old Testament points to the coming Messiah, and in the New Testament, in the life of Christ, it points that this is the Messiah, and then after that, obviously after the Gospels, it points back that Jesus was the Messiah. So all through the Bible is Jesus as a resurrected Savior. And if he did not raise from the dead, the Bible would not be true whatsoever. But by the fact that he did raise from the dead, it proves that every jot and tittle in this book is true.

Amen. You can get a lot of books, and they'll be 90% true, and 95% true, and whatever the case might be, but I'm here to tell you God's word is 100% true. See, how do you know that? Look at this verse, Acts chapter two, verse 31. He, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

You say, preacher, what is that saying? Well, this is Acts chapter two, and I wanna read you these verses. It says, men and brethren, let me speak freely unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.

Listen to that. He says, David, the good man that he was, has a grave, and he is still in that grave. Verse 30, therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his loins according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on the throne. Then verse 31, he, seeing this before, spake of the resurrection of Christ. That means this, before it ever happened, the Bible declared and promised and prophesied that the Messiah Jesus Christ would raise from the dead. The Bible said it was gonna happen. God's word predicted it. And if he did not raise from the dead, the Bible would not be true.

But this says, even a good man like David, even a good prophet like David, he is still in the grave. But it predicted that Jesus would not be in the grave, that he would raise from the dead, and that's exactly what happened. The resurrection proves that the Bible is true. When you talk to people at work, and they say, well, I don't believe that. Say, well, you know, isn't that strange, because this Bible predicted that Jesus would be the Messiah thousands of years before he ever was. And this Bible predicted that he would die and raise from the dead, and it's exactly the way it said it was gonna happen, is exactly how it happened. How could you not believe that?

How could you not think that's true? I want you to notice, fourthly, the resurrection proves that there will be a judgment of unsaved sinners. So wait a minute. That doesn't seem to coincide with the resurrection. Resurrection means he's alive, and we have, what do you mean that the resurrection proves that there's gonna be judgment? I want you to notice Acts chapter 17 in these verses, and you gotta pay close attention, because I want you to see this, verse 30 and 31. And the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now God commandeth all men everywhere to repent.

Notice that. God commands that, you know what, I know man has lived sinful, and God's watched it, and God has commanded now all men to repent. I want you to know something this morning. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, it doesn't matter. I'm telling you, if you've never been saved, God right now, his will for your life, God has asked that you repent of your sins, and you put your faith in Christ. That's what God has asked you to do.

But listen to verse 31. Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, which is Jesus Christ, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, how? In that he hath raised him from the dead.

There is a judgment coming by the one appointed to do the judging, which is Jesus Christ. And he said, I have given you that assurance by the fact that he raised from the dead. The resurrection proves, dear friend, that there will come a day that God, through the judgment of his son, because the Bible says all judgment's been given to the son, that all sinners who have not been saved will be judged and sent to hell. And it is proven that that's gonna happen by the fact that he rose from the dead.

Wow. I want you to notice next that the resurrection proves onto happier things. The resurrection proves that there will be an inheritance to us who are God's children.

See, preacher, how does that prove that? First Peter chapter one, verse three. If you wanna write these references down so you can talk to your friends at work and show them why the resurrection's so important, these verses are on the screen, listen to this.

First Peter chapter one, verse three. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, how? By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, comma, not the end of the story, verse four, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away. The resurrection proves that you and I that are saved receive an inheritance. Not just that, it proves that the inheritance that we receive is incorruptible, it's undefiled, and it will never fade away. You know why the resurrection's so special to us? Because it proves that we have an inheritance from God the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.

It proves it! I want you to notice next that the resurrection proves that my problems can be managed. Say, preacher, what are you talking about? Where you just were in First Peter chapter one, verse three, it says that through the resurrection that we have been obviously given an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, verse five says this. Who are kept, who, that's us.

Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. The resurrection that just promised that there is an inheritance also promised that we are kept by God as we go through this life. Look at me, folks, the fact that Jesus rose from the dead means that he can handle my problems.

You know why it's so special? Because if he could raise Jesus from the dead, surely he can help me pay my bill this month. If he could raise Jesus from the dead, surely he can help me as I go through this cancer.

Dear friend, the fact that the resurrection happened proves that our problems can be managed. I want you to notice next, and we're almost done, but this is so important. Listen, it is about that time. So our time, so you've gotta just hold on just for a second. Are you willing and ready to learn?

Are you interested at all? Because I'm not gonna cover all this if you're not interested, I'll just, okay. Because you gotta listen, the next point is this, the resurrection proves that my sins can be forgiven. Let me show you, Romans chapter six, verse six, listen to this, knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin, for he that is dead is freed from sin.

So how can the Bible prove and tell all that? In the two verses before, Romans chapter six, listen to this, therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death, that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. That's why when we baptize we say buried in his life and buried in his likeness raised to newness of life.

Right here from this verse in Romans chapter six, listen to this, for if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection. That means this, that the resurrection proves that my sins can be forgiven. Now listen to me, I want you to understand this is about salvation.

It is essential that you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ for you to be saved. Thank you for listening today. We hope you received a blessing from our broadcast. The Kerwin Baptist Church is located at 4520 Old Hollow Road in Kernersville, North Carolina. You may also contact us by phone at 336-993-5192 or via the web at kerwinbaptistchurch.com. Enjoy our services live and all our media on our website and church app. Thank you for listening to the Kerwin broadcast today. God bless you. God bless you, God bless you, God bless you.