Let’s acknowledge God, let’s exalt the Almighty God, let us bless His holy name; awesome God, All-glorious, All-knowing, All-sufficient, All-powerful. Let us bless His holy name, let us thank the Lord for the gift of Jesus Christ, let us thank the Lord for the power that is in His death and resurrection, let us acknowledge the Lord Almighty for this special day, the Easter, the resurrection morning.
Father Lord we thank You, Lords we bless Your holy name, we thank You for Your presence that is heavy in our midst already this morning, thank You for the word that You are going to send to us, Father Lord thank You for that which You are going to do in our midst, glory be to Your name forever more, Lord we appreciate You, in Jesus mighty name we have worshiped.
I want us to take one prayer point and then we’ll go through the message, Romans 8:11 says the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead shall also quicken our mortal bodies; so you are going to pray to the Lord Almighty this morning and say Father, everything in my life that is dead, that is not alive, that has lost its essence, by reason of this day, that power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead let it quicken my body, let it bring back to life everything that is dead, everything that has lost its essence in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
The risen Lord we thank You for what you did 2,000 years ago which You will repeat again today and forever; You will speak to us, You will renew us, You will refresh us in the mighty name of Jesus. Thank You Father, in Jesus wonderful name we prayed. Praise the living Jesus!
It’s a special day, it’s Easter Sunday, equivalent of what is called the ‘resurrection morning’, so I want you to just turn to your right or left, at least five to seven people, greet them happy Easter! Happy Easter to everyone, God bless you all.
I want to acknowledge God Almighty for the gift of life, it’s because there is life that I’m here and I believe the same works for you, it’s because there is life that you are here and I pray that if the Lord tarries, next year by His grace we’ll celebrate Easter in the mighty name of Jesus. I’d also like to thank my father in the Lord, our daddy here, the APICR of Region 11, daddy thank you for this privilege, God bless you in the mighty name of Jesus.
We’ll go into our message very quickly, before then we want to announce again to all of us there will be no prayer chain tomorrow because of the continuous ‘Let’s-Go-A- Fishing in the mission and of course the Easter holidays, so please take tomorrow to rest but then warm up your prayer altars, warm up your personal prayer altars but spend time with family, spend time with loved ones, enjoy your Easter, God bless you in the mighty name of Jesus. But on Tuesday we would continue with our midweek services; digging deep on Tuesday and faith clinic on Thursday, and prayer chain resumes next week Monday, that’s 28th of April.
Please turn with me to the Book of 1st Corinthians, we have two Bible passages this morning but because of time, I will leave one, the one that I will leave is Luke 24: 1-12, most of us know that story; on the morning like this on resurrection day, the women went to the grave to look for Jesus because they remembered they said that He will rise after the third day but they didn’t find Him there, so you know the story, I will leave that, then we’ll go to 1st Corinthians 15: 12 – 25, (I’ll be reading from NIV); “12But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is our faith.
15More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied (KJV says most miserable).
20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death, hallelujah! Praise the living Jesus!
The topic this morning is “The Message of Easter”, hallelujah! Brethren, what we are doing today is a simulation of what happened over 2,000 years ago and it will continue until thy kingdom come. There are three key milestone events in Christianity or for Christians, the first is the birth of Jesus Christ which was prophesied in Luke 1: 29-33 and Mary was greatly troubled when she saw the angel and the angel said that she will have a child, a baby, and she was asking how can this be when I know no man, but indeed in Luke 2:8-12, then she had a child, the birth of Jesus Christ, very significant in Christianity.
The second one is the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that which we are celebrating today; our text today lays credence to that already, despite the schemes of the government of the day to erase the evidence or to kill this event from coming, because it was in God’s plan then we have today what is called Easter. And then the third one is the coming back to earth of Jesus Christ to take His people home as John 14 tells us; it says He’s gone to prepare a place for us and then He will come back to take us home, hallelujah!
Why did I have to go through that when today is Easter? I had a question pop in my mind and I think I’ll also pose the question to everyone, so which of these events is the most significant, which of this is the most important? The first two are events that have happened, the last one which is the coming back of Jesus Christ is still to come, so let us pack that because it will be like launching into the dark or speaking about abstract, so let’s narrow down to the first two now, so which one is more important – the birth of Jesus Christ or His death and His resurrection?
While this question was bubbling in my mind, I actually now went to do some research so I went on the internet and I started searching and I saw very significant things; some people say in Christianity, Easter is generally considered the most important holiday than Christmas, you can see how people are looking at it, holiday, they’re just looking at the time, they don’t even know what it is; then another one says the short answer is that Easter is indeed the most important day of the entire liturgical year: then another one say both are equally important and equally necessary, the same is true of Christmas and Easter, then I went to one of our own local assembly, he said His death gave meaning to Christianity, without the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ it would be like other prophets that have been before; and then there are some that said it was His birth, but one thing that cuts across to me is that a number of people do not understand why Easter, do not understand what the period stands for and as well they do not understand the importance and the significance.
If you take a general sampling and ask people randomly, they probably will tell you Christmas is more important and you see it in the celebration, when is Christmas like today now you’d have seen Christmas hat, you’ll see everything, you’ll see red, you see all sorts, but people just coming casually for Easter perhaps because we do not have such understanding as I found on the internet, people said the holiday, some even said in Christmas you have one month full of holiday and Easter is only two days, so Christmas is more important, can you imagine, hallelujah!
Brethren, people don’t really understand Easter and the message today is the message of Easter, what is God saying about Easter? In my opinion, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is as important if not more important than His birth, that’s my opinion, why did I say so? One, the devil did everything to stop Him when His birth was announced, you remember Herod said go around, every child that is up to two years go and kill all of them because he realized the importance, but the devil also did everything to ensure that Jesus did not die, can you imagine! Somebody wants to die and he said don’t die, because the devil knew that His death will cause trouble for him.
What were the things that the devil did? The devil tried to give Him the world in Matthew 4:4-11, it says look, bow down to me and I’ll give you the world; if Jesus Christ had taken the world He would have lost that authority, hallelujah! When the devil failed, then when He was at Gethsemane when it was about time, the devil began to toy with His mind and then He said Father, let this cup pass over me, and then suddenly the Spirit of God awoken in Him and He said it is not my will but thy will be done. When the devil saw that he failed, when they now eventually came to take Him, one of His disciples cut off the ear, the devil turned it to a physical fight, what was he trying to do, distraction, the devil did everything but he lost it, everything the devil is doing and will do over your life to stop you from reaching your goals, he will fail in the mighty name of Jesus, hallelujah!
Now what is the message of Easter, that is the crux of the matter, what is God saying by Easter, by the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, what is God saying? We know that our God is a God of purpose, Ecclesiastes 3, He doesn’t do anything without a purpose, so the first message that comes out of Easter, what we are celebrating today is that we have victory over the devil, hallelujah! We have victory over our enemies; you know typically when a man dies he is buried and his remain will be in the ground and bones and all of that, but when Jesus died and He was buried, something happened on the third day, they went to the grave to look for Him but they did not find Him there.
In Luke 24:1-12, (that passage I would have read), the women first went there and somebody, not the soldiers, told them why are you looking for the living among the dead because He’s no longer in the tomb. Brethren, where is our Lord? He’s risen, He’s not in the grave, where is our Lord? He is in heaven, hallelujah! But something happened in the 3 days that He was in the grave, 1st Peter 3: 18 – 20, (let’s focus on verse 19) after being made alive, He went and made proclamation to imprisoned spirits, while He was in the grave, all those who had died before Him who were held captives by the devil, He preached to them, set them free and they were delivered and conquered the devil, hallelujah! And because He conquered the devil, the same victory He gave to us by reason of His death and resurrection, we are no longer slaves to the devil, we are no longer slaves to sin, we are no longer slaves to our enemy, when the enemy realized that it has lost the battle there was lamentation in the camp of the enemies, 1 Corinthians 2:8, the Bible says if they had known they would not have crucified the King of glory, they say ah, we should have not done it oh but it was too late for them because they lost their hold, the devil has lost his hold over you, the enemy has lost his hold over you in the mighty name of Jesus.
The implication of this for you and I is that we have victory over our enemies through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 1st Corinthians 15: 55- 58, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is your victory? 56sThe sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ, and that victory came out of His death and His resurrection. Brethren, you have victory, you may be going through tough times, you may be going through challenges but know something of surety, for as long as you are a child of God that situation is a stepping stone to your promotion in the mighty name of Jesus.
In John 16:33, the Bible says these things I have spoken unto you, that in me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; (because) I have overcome the world. That problem is a stepping stone to your victory because Jesus Christ, the victory He won, He didn’t need it here on earth, He won it for you and I and He’s handed it over to us so we have victory over our enemies, we have victory over the devil, we have victory over challenges, we have victory over situations, we have victory over oppositions, somebody shout hallelujah!
The second message of His resurrection and death of Easter is the affirmation of Christianity and our faith; that passage I read from in 1 Corinthians 15:12-25, you will see a lot of questions from that passage; the first one says there is no resurrection of the dead, they are saying Jesus did not die and resurrect, I actually read some people said it was not Jesus that died, it was someone that looked like Him; another one said they came in the night, they fought the soldiers and dug the grave and took Him out, those were all trying to cover up what happened. He died, He was in the grave, on the third day He resurrected, hallelujah!
If there is no resurrection of the dead then it means Jesus Christ is also not resurrect, they’re saying there’s nothing so-called resurrection, verse 13 of that passage; then secondly they are saying that if Jesus Christ did not resurrect it means our preaching is useless and also our faith, it means there’s no need for you and I to call ourselves Christians, there’s nothing to look forward to, stop wasting your time, that’s what they are saying.
Number three, it means we are false witnesses; that is every time we rise up and tell people and say Jesus is Lord, every time we come and tell people that there is eternity, they’re saying we are liars
Number four, they say that there is nothing like remission of sins, so those who said they died in Christ they died for nothing, they should have enjoyed their lives, use it to the fullest and die and forget everything; by implication, those who died in Christ are lost but all these were all attempts to cast aspersion onto our faith and Christianity, but then in verse 20, Apostle Paul said thank God that Jesus died and resurrected, that is the evidence that defeated all the four arguments of the enemies and because Jesus died and resurrected it then means our faith is not in vain, our belief is not in vain, the people who died in Jesus Christ did not die in vain, they are not lost forever, there is a hope of a better tomorrow, praise the living Jesus!
What this means to you and I brethren, is that when we go out and say we are Christians and we are believers in Jesus Christ, ordinarily people out there should be laughing at us and saying you people are wasting your time, but because of what happened this day, we are the ones that are pitying them and then go out and say come and be part of this great kingdom, hallelujah! Your belief is not in vain, your service is not in vain, your expectation of His coming is not in vain, He is alive, praise the living Jesus!
The third message of Easter is the revelation of the Holy Spirit; one of the pillars of Christianity is the trinity, from the very beginning in Genesis 1, you will see God the Father, God the Son and Holy Spirit in operations; God the Father said let there be light, He spoke the word; the Bible tells us that the Father, the Word and the Spirit are the same, the Word is Jesus Christ, John 1:1-5, from the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God, without Him was not anything made that was made, that Word was Jesus Christ, so the Father spoke the Word and then the Bible says and the Spirit moved over the face of the deep, so you could see God the Father, God the Son and Spirit in operation right from the green, hallelujah!
That is one of the pillars of Christianity, trinity; at the beginning of creation like I said they spoke the Word, while Jesus Christ was on earth He had His ministry but a time came that He had to leave, then He said I will not leave you comfortless, John 14:17-19, I will give you a comforter; then in John 7:39, Jesus Christ said the Comforter, the Holy Spirit will not come until I leave. John 7:39, but this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified; if Jesus had remained here on earth there would have been nothing like the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ moved and then the Holy Spirit came, the General Overseer of the church today is the Holy Spirit, what is the importance of this?
The Holy Spirit is a Comforter, John 14:26, He comforts us, He’s not just a Comforter He’s also a teacher, He teaches us all things; when you get to the dead end of life and you do not know what to do, something in you tells you do it this way, and you find that that is the way, hallelujah! That is the Holy Spirit, He’s not just the teacher He’s also One that brings everything to your remembrance. There are situations where you get there and you forgot everything that you’ve studied and then the Holy Spirit tells you this is it, He reminded you, hallelujah! He’s not just that, He’s also the One who convicts, there will be none of us today who will say I accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior if the Holy Spirit does not convict the soul and the soul then gives and surrenders life to Jesus Christ, so you can see that the beauty of resurrection is the Holy Spirit.
Also when Jesus was alive, you see His disciples went all over with Him, anywhere He was they will be there, they could be only at that place once as a person because He was Jesus Christ, the Man, but when the Holy Spirit came He could be everywhere at the same time, hallelujah! The meaning of that is that you are not limited, if you are not in church, if you are in your home you can pray, God is there with you; if you’re on a journey and something happens and you say God help me, God is there to answer you, praise the living Jesus! The revelation of the Holy Spirit
Then the next one is the advent of power, praise the living Jesus! Acts 1: 8, but ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Spirit has come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth, what does that mean? Because the Holy Spirit has come, then power also came, praise the living Jesus!
1 Corinthians 4:20, brethren, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power, what does this mean? Let me show you a demonstration of this power, Luke 10:19, behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you; what that means is that because Jesus died and resurrected, all that Jesus Christ did you can do, you only need to speak the word, ‘I bind you in the mighty name of Jesus’, ‘I conquer you in the mighty name of Jesus’.
If you were here at the last prayer chain on Monday, He was commanding the mountains and we were commanding the mountains to move and because mountains moved, that could only happen because He has given us, power, what is the import of that? Brethren, don’t run away from cockroaches in your cupboards anymore, some of us when you open the cupboard and see cockroaches, we say ‘hey Jesus’, don’t run away from cockroaches anymore, speak the word; some of you cannot go to your villages because your shadows, the witches and wizards say they are pursuing you but if you know that you have power, go in, who wants to die, witches also do not want to die because power pass power, when they see the power in you they will go back, when you speak the power and they see the aura of God in you, and Galatians 6:17 says from henceforth let no man trouble me: for I bear upon me the marks of the Lord Jesus. Go to where you could not go before now because of the power that is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ that He has given unto you, you have power to dictate things, you have power to anoint, you have power to heal, you have the power to raise the dead, God has given to you, you have the power to command your day.
Brethren, if we understood this concept of resurrection we will be more effective as Christians, praise the living Jesus!
Finally brethren, the message of Easter is that we have a glorious hope. Now there is hope and there is hope, there is the hope of the beautiful things of this world, there is the hope of I want to buy a new car, there’s the hope of before the end of this year I pray for promotion, but there is a hope that transcends this life, that’s what I call a ‘glorious hope’. 1 Corinthians 15:19, we referred to that passage earlier, if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable, is saying that there is hope in this life but our hope is beyond this life, what is our hope that is beyond this life, it is that because our Lord Jesus Christ when He died He resurrected, a day is coming that anyone who dies in Christ their bodies also will be raised up, hallelujah!
1 Thessalonians 4:13-15, a day is coming that when Jesus Christ comes back for those saints who are still alive they will not die, they will be raised up, hallelujah! There is a glorious hope, a day is coming brethren that we will see God, our Lord and Savior, 1 John 3: 1 & 2, behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like Him; because we will see Him as He is, that is the glorious hope, is there someone here who has this hope? 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Brethren there’s a glorious hope that a day is coming that we’ll take on the nature of Jesus Christ, a day is coming that we’ll see Him as He is, not in picture now, not in imagination of man, we will see Him as He is, a day is coming that we will worship the Father together with Him, hallelujah! A day is coming that with Jesus Christ and the Father, we will see what is happening to the enemies and how they are dealt with, praise the living Jesus!
In summary brethren, God is a God of purpose, He doesn’t do anything without a reason; the message of Easter is that we have power; the message of Easter is that we have victory over our enemies; the message of Easter is that our faith, our Christianity is not in vain; the message of Easter brethren is that there’s a glorious hope for us that it does not end here on earth.
One day I was listening to a message on on YouTube, somebody interviewed another person and the person was a Christian and talked about after this life we’ll go … and the person said there’s nothing called after this life, everything ends here, I almost froze, praise the living Jesus! There are so many people who do not know that there’s a glorious hope, if that’s the only thing you are taking out of today and you will prepare for that God bless you in the mighty name of Jesus.
The Jesus Christ of Christmas, (you know we did a comparison before), He was celebrated by many yet was hated by few, but the Jesus Christ of Easter was hated by many and celebrated by few; the Jesus Christ of Christmas was born to die, the Jesus Christ of Easter dies and lives, never to die again; the Jesus Christ of Christmas was the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Jesus Christ of Easter is King of kings and Lord of lords, (mind the word ‘was’); Jesus Christ is forever, He lives, He is not dead, He is alive, in other words, our God is alive, we serve a living God, our Christianity is not in vain, our belief is not in vain, our faith is not in vain, our glorious hope is coming, let somebody shout hallelujah!
Please let us rise up; if you are here this morning, this message of Easter has opened up to you a new realm of life, a better understanding, you didn’t know Him; perhaps you were one of those who thought that everything will end here on earth, now you know better, brethren it’s never late, you can start and the way to start is just surrender. John 3:16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life; some people will say who is God’s wife, some people will say when did God marry, some people will say ‘for everlasting’, there’s nothing so-called, it’s all to confuse people. Brethren, don’t be locked up in that confusion, if you’ve never accepted Him as Lord and Savior …
[Altar call]
Our first prayer point; let us thank God for Easter, let us thank God for the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let’s thank God for the power that is in His death and resurrection, let us thank God for the hope – the glorious hope that we have, let us thank the Lord Almighty.
Let’s begin to pray; let’s give Him thanks, let us thank God for the power that is in His resurrection, let us thank the Lord Almighty, thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus mighty name we have prayed.
He has given us victory over every enemy of our lives, so I want us in that realm of knowledge, what is that challenge, what is that situation, what is that problem that you brought here, what is that burden, believing that you have victory, also believing that our faith is not in vain, we are going to appropriate it this morning and say Father in the mighty name of Jesus, according to Your word, the revelation in Your word, I take victory, I exercise my victory over the devil, over the enemies of my life, over challenges, over situations, over principalities, over powers, I exercise my victory, (you know them, you can personalize it), exercise your victory in the mighty name of Jesus; thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus wonderful name we prayed.
There is the advent of power that comes with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, if you have never experienced that power there is ability from today to experience that power; I want you to do something, let’s raise our hands by faith, the Bible says the just shall live by faith, I will be praying but just connect with the heaven and begin to ask the Lord, I receive power in the mighty name of Jesus; I receive power, that power of resurrection, the power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, that same power I receive it now, it comes into me now, I receive the power, receive it now brethren, receive that power now, I receive the power now, I receive it now in the mighty name of Jesus. I receive it, I receive that power now in the mighty name of Jesus; thank You heavenly Father, in Jesus wonderful name we prayed.
Brethren, when you have power, if you don’t do nothing with the power it does nothing also; we are going to use that power right now, Luke 10:19 says He has given us authority, He has given us power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemies and nothing shall by enemies hurt me. Is anything hurting you, are there scorpions and serpents in your lives, are there things that are troubling you, tormenting you? Now you have the power, begin to apply that power, tread upon the serpents and scorpions of your lives, you have authority over it, use the power that you have right now, the kingdom of God is not in word alone but is in power, use the power that you have right now, tread upon the serpents and scorpions, over all the power of the enemy, tread upon it; I receive power and I tread with that power on scorpions, on serpents, on my problems, on my troubles in the mighty name of Jesus; thank You Father, in Jesus mighty name we prayed.
Finally, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us a glorious hope, the Bible says what does it profit a man if he gains this whole world and loses his soul? That passage in 1 John 1:3 says everyone that has this hope in Him awaits His appearing; what are you expecting? Brethren, your hope will not be cut off, mine will not be cut off in the mighty name of Jesus.
You are going to pray and say Father, please give me the staying power, give me the ability to hold on to You, to hope onto You, to hope on You until the end in the mighty name of Jesus; whenever You come back oh Lord God of heaven, let me not be cut off, give me the staying power, give me the ability to hope on You.
