Valley Gospel
A Pentecostal church experience.
Valley Gospel
He's Alive
Celebrate the triumph of Jesus' resurrection with us as we commemorate this pivotal event recorded live at Valley Gospel Church in Springdale, Pennsylvania. What does it mean to transition from the constraints of the Old Testament law to the boundless grace of the New Testament? Tune in as we explore how Jesus' death fulfilled the law and His resurrection marked the dawn of the Church Age. Our discussion will highlight the joyous breaking of the veil, granting believers access to the Holy of Holies, and honoring the eternal hope we now possess in our risen King.
Discover the profound theological implications of Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice. From Genesis to the New Testament, the concept of blood atonement is a thread woven throughout scripture, culminating in Jesus' death on the cross. We explore how His resurrection validates His divine mission and ensures victory over sin and death, as emphasized in Romans 1 and 2 Timothy 1:10. By reflecting on the transformation of the disciples, we illustrate how the resurrection revolutionized their lives and ministries, reinforcing the promise of eternal life for all believers.
Prepare to be moved by a heartfelt celebration of faith filled with spirited worship and powerful choruses. Our episode invites you to experience the unwavering support and strength of God, encouraging you to live boldly in His grace. Celebrate with us as we proclaim that through Jesus' sacrifice, we are washed, sanctified, and eternally right with God. Let this joyous message remind you that Jesus is alive and present in our lives, empowering us to share our faith with confidence and conviction.
Thank you, jesus. God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing. My God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven and He'll pour you out a blessing. My God will open. He'll open up the windows of heaven, he'll pour you out a blessing, and you will not have the room not because of you, but because he's good and you will not have the room to receive it hello welcome to Valley Gospel Church.
Speaker 3:We are a non-denominational Pentecostal church located in Springdale, Pennsylvania. Our sole mission is to present the living truth of a risen Lord Jesus Christ to a remnant church in a lost world. So let's go into the service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church.
Speaker 4:So let's go into the service recorded live at Valley Gospel Church. I am so excited this morning. I am so excited for a different message that God has allowed me to bring today. Are you ready for an uplifting message? Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah. What a thought. Jesus' full salvation bought victory, yes, victory.
Speaker 4:I want to start with a statement and I don't know, it would seem to me from the music, from the opening, from everything that we address, from the platform, that you are all looking at my notes deeply. It doesn't matter what you face today, it doesn't matter how bad it looks day, it doesn't matter how bad it looks. I don't care what your doctor said, what your husband said, what your wife said, I don't care what your boss says. Your king is alive and well. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 4:You know how many of you know we meet on Sundays? Do you know why we meet on Sundays? And a lot of people say, wow, the Sabbath has nothing to do with the Sabbath. We meet on Sunday because it's the day that Jesus rose from the dead, the first day of the week. He's alive. He is indeed risen, and as we celebrate this Sunday his resurrection, we celebrate the time when the veil was split in two, that access was made to the holy of holies. The way to God was opened. Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive. Your sin was forgiven and forgotten. Jesus is alive. We have a savior, a redeemer, a friend. Jesus is alive. We'll spend eternity with him, eternity with him, because he's alive.
Speaker 4:How many of you know that Satan hates Sunday? He hates the first day, hates it with a passion. He hates what it represents because if he could have just kept Jesus in the tomb, he could have just kept him there, hell would be victorious. Fallen angels of death kept vigil, devils and demons danced that darkness jubilee. If there is such a thing, just keep them in the tomb. Just keep them there, and Lucifer would be crowned king. My brother, he indeed couldn't. Hallelujah, the cry would have gone up. Is that all that heaven has? Is that all you got? But religion couldn't silence him, rules couldn't regulate him, nature couldn't neutralize him, soldiers couldn't stop him, armies couldn't restrict him, the grave couldn't hold him, death couldn't keep him and hell couldn't hold him. Death couldn't keep him and hell couldn't have him. That's truth. Satan couldn't stop him.
Speaker 4:Jesus is alive. And he led captivity. Captive, we'll get into that. I remember an old song we used to sing at Easter time. He's alive again. Stone's been rolled away. He's alive again. The stone's been rolled away. He's alive again.
Speaker 4:Oh, hear the people say he's alive again. The stone's been rolled away. He's alive. He's alive, he's alive. I've got some good news.
Speaker 4:I heard Stephanie say it this morning. He's not on the cross any longer, not on the crucifix, isn't in a box on an altar. He's not an icon on a wall or a shelf, not a velvet picture whose eyes move. Hallelujah, he's alive. He's alive, and by his spirit. See, jesus is at the right hand of the Father in heaven. That's where he's at and it's not wrong to say that. People say, well, jesus is in our service. It's not wrong to say that. But in all reality, jesus is at the right hand of the Father in heaven. He resides in us by his Holy Spirit. That he said he would send Jesus.
Speaker 4:Emmanuel, the Word of God, the root of David, the Ancient of Days, the only begotten of the Father, my, my, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the lily of the valley, the bright and the morning star, the fairest of 10,000. The first, the last, the alpha, the omega, the beginning and the end. Let's celebrate his living today. Hallelujah Christi, let's go to work. Glory, wow, what a long introduction. I'm just so excited. There's no well, a little bit of doom and changing how he would communicate with mankind.
Speaker 4:Coming to a conclusion was the dispensation of the law. That was the fifth age. It ends with the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. You remember Jesus said he didn't come to dishonor the law, he came to fulfill it, didn't come to dishonor it, he came to fulfill it. And with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a new age and a new dispensation is announced the church age, the dispensation of grace. It is the age, the dispensation of grace. It is the age and the dispensation that we will reside in until Jesus comes back again. Through his death we were able to leave the law, we were able to leave the law of the Old Testament and through the resurrection we entered his grace. I know maybe you're thinking that sounds a little religious. I promise I'll bring it home, I'll make it practical before we leave here today. So if you have your Bibles, would you turn please, to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15. Beginning with the 12th verse 15,. 1 Corinthians 15,. 12 through 20.
Speaker 3:Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of 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. For if the dead rise not, verse 2. 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 first fruits of them who slept?
Speaker 4:My, my, I understand a lot there, but the resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ is foundational. It is the foundation, it is the first stone, it is the footer, the first fruit upon which Christianity is built. Amen, let's pray, heavenly Father, thank you Lord, thank you for this.
Speaker 1:Thank you, lord for easing up on me.
Speaker 4:Oh, thank you, lord. We praise you. Lord, ask you to anoint your message today, lord, for its intended use, whatever you have for that, or who, to hear what you would bring on, what you would allow me to bring, let it be so. Let your word today be a lamp and a light. It is in the name of your son. We pray. Amen and amen. Please be seated. You know we said we talked about in previous messages, maybe in the last few months, but we talked about the Apostle Paul.
Speaker 4:The Apostle Paul wrote 13 books of the New Testament, most of the new, the majority of the New Testament, and he spent most of his time, most of his ministry, teaching and preaching about the resurrection, emphasizing time and again that a Christian's faith relies on the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, not on philosophy, not on hope, not even on belief. It relies on the resurrection, on historic fact. If Christ be not raised, then our faith is vain. If Christ be not raised, then our faith is vain. If Christ be not raised, then our faith is vain. Five times in the New Testament, jesus declares he will rise again Matthew 12, matthew 20, luke 18, john 2. One other one can't remember. And even from a practical standpoint. If Jesus isn't risen from the dead, we wouldn't know if he was who he said he was. We wouldn't know. The unfailing, unerring, no-argument proof that he was exactly who he said he was is the resurrection. He is declared to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.
Speaker 4:Flip over back to Romans, please. Romans One, romans 1. One and three. Concerning his son, jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness. My Jesus came to take the sinner's place. That was his role. He was a substitute, a sacrifice. He became the blood atonement that we read so much about and we're seeing on the screen in our movie night, the blood atonement that was offered by the priests in the Holy of Holies. That was for remittance, not taking away sin, but obscuring sin from God's sight. The price for sin then. The price for sin now is blood.
Speaker 4:If you look all the way back to Genesis, right, it was through the clothing of Adam and Eve, killing an animal and taking its skin killing an animal and taking its skin and through animal sacrifice in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle, in the temple, by the priests, and you know, as they killed bulls and goats and oxen and would burn the carcass on the fire as a sacrifice, and that smoke would spiral toward heaven. God had already instituted his master plan. He already had it that he would come to earth as a man, that he would leave the glory of heaven and that he would take on the frailty and the humanity of flesh. He would become the ultimate sacrifice and be the full and complete payment for sin, past, present and future, For all time, for all people. That's a cover-all promise, that's an absolute promise. If he isn't raised from the dead, then we wouldn't know he accomplished what he said he would accomplish. We wouldn't know that. And to be honest with you, it's pretty hard to trust a dead man for our eternal security. Pretty hard to go along with that. He's dead. Pretty hard to go along with that. He's dead.
Speaker 4:The resurrection of Jesus Christ from a borrowed tomb is proof positive of what he accomplished that sin was defeated, that death was conquered. Picture in your mind, if you can. Satan sends out his order keep Christ in the tomb, just keep him there. Just keep him there, the Bible says, until corruption is seized upon him, means until he starts to rot. Keep him there Until death has fully swallowed him. Death has fully swallowed him. And if we keep him there, satan said, our kingdom is safe. The kingdom of darkness is safe. Our prisoners are bound eternally. They can't get out. Just keep them there. You see, satan knew who Jesus was and what he would need to accomplish to complete his purpose, much like he knows now that Jesus has to come back through Israel. Just like that he knows. The resurrection was the final piece of the plan, satan's plan Seal the tomb, post guards, cause doubt, betrayal, apply political pressure, use religion. Just keep him dead. Keep him dead. Do whatever's necessary, keep him dead.
Speaker 4:But according to the word of God, jesus' self-imposed sentence was that his body would lay in the tomb, lifeless, for three days, 72 hours, three days. And when that time was up, when God's clock clicked to zero, there was no power in heaven, no power in hell, no power on earth that could hold him back one minute longer. Hallelujah, acts 2 and 23, says that Jesus conquered the power of death because it was not possible for that power to hold him. Some teach well, death overtook jesus, that he succumbed to the uh natural way of life. He was beaten so badly he was, he was uh damaged so badly in body that it just overtook him. It was the natural, it's the natural thing that would happen having been so beaten. That's not accurate. That's not accurate.
Speaker 4:Jesus pursued death. If you hear his statement and we saw it last week where he tried to tell his disciples look, here's what's going to happen, here's what's going to happen, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to be murdered. And they didn't get it. They didn't understand. Jesus pursued death. He chased it back to the dominion of hell, hunted it down and he beat it silly. That's truth. He came forth from the dominion of hell leading captivity, captive, and crying I am the resurrection and the life. Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 4:2 Timothy, just quickly. 2 Tim. 2 Tim. 1. 10, one verse. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Speaker 4:It's important because we think of death in a lot of odd ways, and this may be the little dark part of the message but we think of death in a lot of non-spiritual ways. But you see, death doesn't annihilate, it separates. Death isn't the end, it's the beginning of eternity, for both the saved and the lost. It's the beginning of eternity. It's not worms or rot or back to Mother Earth, and sorry for being so graphic, but that's wrong on so many levels. But don't we all die? Yeah, but for the believer the sting is gone.
Speaker 4:Jesus paid the price. He made the provision that frees us from the bonds of death. It's the same provision and the same power that freed him, that allowed him to walk out of that tomb. That allowed him to walk out of that tomb resurrected is the same power that frees us. The tomb couldn't hold him back. The tomb can't hold you back, glory. I know starting to spook me, pastor, you're scaring me here. If the spirit of him that raised Jesus up dwells in you, then he will quicken your mortal bodies, glory.
Speaker 4:Physical death separates the body from the soul. Right Upon our death, the body remains on earth. The soul goes to be with Jesus in some form. Spiritual death separates us from fellowship with God. When we die spiritually, we're separated from fellowship with God. Adam and Eve died spiritually, Separated from fellowship with God, but eternal death separates us from the love of God. The soul that sins will surely die.
Speaker 4:Spiritual death is unbelief in any form, any unbelief, any carried away with religion on one side, adam and Eve, separated from fellowship. Unbelievers are separated from fellowship. Probably shouldn't say this, but if there are unbelievers here today or in your family, maybe you're just not sure what's right. You're just not sure if Jesus is the only way or there's some other way. We could come in a side door. You're separated from fellowship with God, but he still loves you. He still loves you and today, whether it's someone here or whether it's someone in your family, today can be Resurrection Day.
Speaker 4:Resurrected to fellowship, resurrected to a personal relationship with Jesus, now and eternally. Now and forever. And, as we always say, eternity is a long, long time. No question at all as to Jesus' physical death. All four Gospels say he died. To be more accurate, it says he yielded up his spirit Of his own accord. Yielded, that's what it means Of his own volition, he said as God, he had the power to lay down his life and he had the power to pick it back up again, which is pretty cool, matthew 27. 62, 27 and 62.
Speaker 4:Now, the next day that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees came together unto Pilate saying Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive after three days, I will rise again. Command, therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, steal him away and say unto the people he is risen from the dead, so that the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them you have a watch, go your way, make it as sure as you. So they went and made the sepulcher sure, sealing the stone and setting a watch. There were others watching those three days.
Speaker 4:Now many saw him die, many of the disciples. Certainly his mother watched him die, but not a witness to his resurrection. Nobody saw him walk out of the tomb. So the elders started the story that someone stole the body, which is, by what we have just read, is pretty improbable, by what we've just read, is pretty improbable. They put it in the guard's mouth, which was kind of interesting, because the guards testified that they were asleep. And if his body was stolen, who stole it? So how could the guards say well, yeah, they took his body. Doesn't make any sense. And again, you know, the guards faced, at the very least, life in prison for sleeping on watch. More probably they would face death for sleeping on their watch. If it was stolen, wouldn't the religious crowd, the priests, produce the body and put an end to Christianity? Could have stopped it right there, shut it down.
Speaker 4:The most remarkable testimony to Jesus' resurrection is recorded by John the Beloved, and just let's go to John 20. This is this is this is quite a testimony 20 and 6. Then come a Simon Peter following him and went into the sepulcher and see its linen clothes lie and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes but wrapped together in a place by itself. When you study those couple of verses out and look at them in the original language, the grave clothes not only weren't taken away, they were not discarded, they weren't even laying to the side. But here's what the Greek implies that they were laying in the exact position as they were on his body, on that slab. See, his body received supernatural power, it received resurrection power. It received Holy Ghost power, just as ours will, just as yours will.
Speaker 4:No one saw him raised, but many saw him the very same day. No one saw him walk out of the tomb, but many saw him that very day, not weeks after, but that Sunday. Some say he didn't die. He he was just badly injured and he recovered. I don't know if everybody could see him the same day then, the day that he was killed.
Speaker 4:The Bible goes into explicit detail about his bruised and battered body that they couldn't even recognize him. He was so beaten, so injured. Wouldn't he have been on that first day? A pitiful physical sight? But he wasn't. It says that he appeared to them in robust health. He appeared to them both physically and spiritually, alive, hallelujah. On that first resurrection.
Speaker 4:Jesus appeared to his disciples no less than five times the very first day To Mary Magdalene, to the women in the way to Peter, to the disciples on the road, the two that walked. Jesus walked with these folks and they were lamenting how their rabbi was killed. That day Jesus is walking with them, hallelujah. And to the group in the upper room on Sunday night he appeared to nearly 500 of his followers in the next 40 days. Then, in full view of his followers, he ascended to the right hand of the Father from the Mount of Olivet.
Speaker 4:His resurrection from the dead changed the attitude of his disciples Completely. Do you remember? They didn't understand what he was saying. From the dead changed the attitude of his disciples completely. Do you remember? They didn't understand what he was saying and he had to rebuke them several times and was getting really disgusted with them because they didn't give him. His resurrection revolutionized their lives and it became central in their preaching. It was the proof of their ministry. Thomas no longer doubted, peter no longer quaked with fear.
Speaker 4:Matthew, mark, luke, john penned the Gospels that bears their name. The resurrection changed them and the resurrection changed them. And the resurrection changes us, hallelujah. His resurrection allows us to realize what it is to be born again. His resurrection restored us to fellowship. His resurrection guarantees. It's the title, it's the deed to our eternity. The standard of God's power in the Old Testament is the exodus. The standard in the New Testament is the resurrection During Jesus' ministry, and we're going to see this in a couple of weeks.
Speaker 4:He stands at the tomb of a dear friend. We're going to see this in acting. No pastor said there. No, we're going to see it on the chosen. He stands in front of the tomb of his dear friend, lazarus. Lazarus has been dead for four days. His sister even goes to the point of saying he stinks. They've lost some faith because their brother died. Jesus was just there a few days ago. If he'd have been here, maybe this wouldn't have happened. And Jesus assures them, when he does get back after four days, he'll rise again. Now Mary and Martha show their religion by saying yeah, we know at the resurrection, we know he's going to get raptured up, but if you'd have been here he wouldn't have died. Hallelujah.
Speaker 4:And Jesus stands in front of the tomb and he says ladies, I am the resurrection, the resurrection is in front of the tomb. And he says, ladies, I am the resurrection. The resurrection Is in front of you, regardless, regardless Of where you find yourself today, the difficulties you may face, the pain you may bear, the hurt you feel. Maybe you have, through no real fault of your own, been separated from fellowship with God, separated from his power, and I speak from experience. I've been there. Maybe you've never experienced his power, maybe you don't really know who Jesus is. Because of his resurrection, all of that can change. All of that can change. In other words, that's the power source. Yeah, you have to access a few different wires, but that's the source. They're going back to the same power source and you know what it can change. Today, because of his resurrection.
Speaker 4:You can be resurrected, you can be restored, you have been redeemed and you can have a new relationship with the one that defeated death, hell, sin and the grave, and be assured of a victorious life in eternity with him. Heavenly Father, your purpose in coming to this earth was and is to restore, to reveal, to rehabilitate, to reclaim, to revive. And, lord, as we attempt to walk in that purpose, help us, lord. Help us to know that you are our objective, that you're our hope, that you're our future, that you're our way in, you're our way out, you're our way through, you're our goal, you're our reason, you're our strength, you're our sustenance. You are everything. You are our security, our ability, our all in all, our tutto in tutti. You are everything and we're so thankful that you're alive. And I'll close with this you know you're not a Christian because grandma was, or grandpa was, or mom or dad were. You're a Christian because you made a level-headed, clear-minded decision to follow Christ.
Speaker 4:Don't let this just be another lunch Sunday. Let it be a resurrection. Let it be a resurrection. Let it be a resurrection in your life. You know we opened talking about Jesus being identified as the first fruit, the first fruit, so important. He's the model, he was the template, he was the map of us who are asleep in Christ, that we will one day rise, that mortality will put on immortality and death will be made life and death will be made life. And this might be a strange question and, again, maybe I shouldn't ask it, but I feel led to ask this question how are you going to die? How are you going to die? How are you going to die and I'm not talking about bus heart attack, that's not what I'm talking about how are you going to die? Are we going to die in doubt and stress and fear and anger, bickering, fighting, murmuring, or will we die? And I understand? I'm hoping that doesn't even happen. I'm hoping we all get raptured up together, waving at each other on the way, alive, raptured alive.
Speaker 4:That's my prayer, that's my prayer that we're passing hey, colette, how are you? And pointing out other people. You know that's what I hope. But if that's not the case, and that's really not important what's important is where we end up right, whether we're raptured alive, which would be really cool, or the grave opening up the urn popping its top, that would be really cool too. So either way, it's good. But will we die not talking to people and upset and hurt and offended, or will we die forgiven? Will we die in peace? Will we be ushered into the presence of God, awaiting our own, fully at peace? I know not a good ending, but I'm sorry that the anointing's gone and I'm just going to shut up because everything else would be me, so I'm going to leave it alone.
Speaker 3:Thank you for listening to this week's podcast. We pray it was an encouragement and a blessing to you. You can contact us at Valley Gospel Church, 1069 Butler Logan Road, Springdale, Pennsylvania, 15144. We invite you to listen to this week's worship service that follows and tune in for next week's podcast.
Speaker 1:Let's sing that chorus again. I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified, I am Holy, ghost-filled and water-baptized. I am right with my God for all time. All time, cause Jesus, my Savior.
Speaker 2:He is alive, here, at the altar, where I run to rest, where I wait resurrection and the touch of your breath of your breath.
Speaker 1:I die now daily because I've learned to live in the grace that belongs to all who are born again. I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified, I am Holy ghost filled and water baptized. I am right with my God for all time. Cause Jesus, my Savior. He is alive, hallelujah.
Speaker 5:Thank you, jesus. There is none like you. Lord, fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Speaker 1:I am cleansed. I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified. I am right With my God For all time. Cause Jesus, my Savior. He is alive.
Speaker 5:Hallelujah to the King. He is alive. Hallelujah to the King, he's alive. He's alive this morning. Do you believe that church? He's not a picture, he's not a statue. He's not inside of a little box. He's alive. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. He lives in your heart this morning.
Speaker 1:I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified, I am holy, good still and water baptized. I am right with my God for all time. Cause Jesus, my Savior. He is alive.
Speaker 5:Praise you, jesus, hallelujah. Thank you, lord. Let's sing that chorus again. This time sing it with everything you've got. Proclaim it. Sing it directly to the enemy. I know that sounds a little unusual. Shout it out if you have to Stand to your feet, if you must Dance, if you need to, I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified.
Speaker 1:I am Holy Ghost, my God for all time, because Jesus, my Savior, he is alive. Oh, let's sing it again. He is alive. Oh, let's sing it again. I am cleansed, I am washed, I am sanctified. Hallelujah, I am Holy Ghost, filled and water baptized, and I am right with my God for all time time. Cause Jesus, my Savior, he is alive. Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. This Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. This is what is called glory. I am cleansed, I am washed, I am saved.