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[0:00] He is risen. Now, just to lead in here, we can learn things from little ones, can't we?

[0:10] Little children. And sometimes they don't always get things just right,! He is all present.

[0:53] Omnipotent and omnipresent. And he is everywhere. But from young Mackenzie, that didn't quite sound right. And so she said to the teacher, she put her hand up and said, Teacher, I know one place where Jesus isn't.

[1:07] And the teacher curiously replied, Oh, really? Where is that? And the bright little girl declared, He is not in the grave. What a great reminder.

[1:18] That's true, isn't it? He's no longer in the grave. Now, you might travel around the world and, as it's been said, Buddha is still in the grave. And Mohammed is still in the grave.

[1:29] And all of these ones. And, in fact, someone apparently found the finger of Buddha. And it was, you know, they revered it as it was some holy item.

[1:41] But the fact is, Buddha is dead. Mohammed is dead. Jesus is alive. He is risen. He is risen. And the omnipresent God has chosen to keep his absence present from falling asleep at this job.

[1:54] They had to keep watch 24 hours a day. I know in some job circumstances they have the same requirement. You've got to keep wide awake. Wide awake.

[2:05] For not 24 hours a day, but certainly at night time. And here they were, they were keeping watch 24 hours a day with these guards sealing this tomb.

[2:16] The stone was sealed with a great rock. The grave was sealed with this great huge rock. And on this seal, this seal had a stamp. A seal that stood for all the power and authority of the Roman Empire.

[2:32] So everything, all the power and might of the Roman Empire sealed this tomb. There was no getting this tomb open. No way.

[2:43] Jose. That's something over in South America. But no, no way at all was this tomb going to be opened at all. But then something dramatic happened. Something dramatic happened that the world is still shaking now from in this life-transforming power of God.

[3:01] That was dramatically shown at the tomb. In Luke 24 we read from verse 1. Again, another account. Now upon the first day of the week, this early of the part of the Sunday morning, very early in the morning, they, these women, came unto the sepulcher, unto the tomb.

[3:23] They were bringing spices that they had prepared and certain others were with them. And verse 2. And when they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher, they found the stone rolled away from the sepulcher.

[3:37] What had happened? This was just dramatic. Verse 3. They rushed in and they found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

[3:48] It was empty. The tomb was empty. Verse 4. And it came to pass that as they were much perplexed thereabout.

[4:00] They just couldn't believe their eyes. This was just astonishing. They were much perplexed. Behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.

[4:11] And then we read verse 5. And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

[4:22] He is not here, but is risen. This dramatic event is marked in these gospels to tell of this astonishing, well-transforming event.

[4:40] This death-defying, resurrection power of God. The power of the risen, living Christ. God's power broke the power of death.

[4:51] God's power broke the power of death.

[5:21] God's power broke the power of death. What does it mean? What does it mean? How should it impact us still? It's meant to be at work within the lives of believers.

[5:31] This resurrection power of God is meant to still be present tense, actively changing us, shaping us, leading us, empowering us, even now, in the present day.

[5:47] We see that, for example, in Ephesians 2, verse 4. Paul recounted in numbers of his letters this same power, this great power, the great awesome power of God that he demonstrated at the tomb.

[6:06] And Ephesians 2, verse 4, Paul says, Now this word quickened, you know, there's the expression, the quick and the dead.

[6:29] If you're not dead, you're quick. You're one or the other. You're dead or you're quick. Quick and the dead. The living and the dead. He has made us alive.

[6:41] He's quickened us. He's made us alive. That's the meaning of this word. He has made us alive together with Christ. He's rich in mercy.

[6:52] His great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead. Dead as a dodo. Dead as a carcass. Dead as a rotting pig in a tomb, in a grave.

[7:08] Dead in sins. He has quickened us. He's made us alive again. He's resurrected us. He's brought us to life together with Christ. Can we grasp this truth that salvation is such a transformation from death to life?

[7:27] Dead in sins. Alive together with Christ. Now, there's other verses which I haven't got listed here, which we read from verse 6 through 10.

[7:40] And he's raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. That in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus.

[7:55] And that lovely scripture. For by grace are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.

[8:13] And that it's by his grace we say through faith. Not of ourselves. Not of works. We are his workmanship. He's given us a task, a mission. And this life-giving power, this life-giving power, is at work in you and me.

[8:28] It's in us. His power. And not a power in an impersonal way, as some would call it the Holy Spirit without the capital H and S. As if it is just some impersonal force that we can summon through our own volition.

[8:48] But he is the Holy Spirit. He is the Holy Spirit. If it's the Holy Spirit, we'll see holiness. It's not a flippant, careless, fleshly thing.

[9:04] He is the Holy Spirit. And he wants to fill his vessels, his receptacles for his loved ones, his human vessels.

[9:15] He wants to fill them, here and now, to flow an overflow. To change our thinking, our loves, our affections, our direction, our whole way of living.

[9:26] He wants to turn us inside out and around, in a U-turn, to being his people. And this is the life-giving power of God.

[9:40] It's God in the form of the Holy Spirit. In the person of the Spirit of God. And what a wonder it is. Colossians 3 we see.

[9:51] If ye then, if ye then, be risen with Christ. If you have this experience, if you have this knowledge.

[10:02] If you are risen with Christ. If, seek those things which are above. Seek those things which are above. Where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

[10:14] Set your affection. Your love. Your adoration. Your desires. Your wanting. Your desiring. Your heartfelt longings.

[10:27] Set your affection. On things above. On things above. Not on things on the earth. This is a great truth. And it's the resurrection power.

[10:39] But it's God's Holy Spirit who makes this change of love. Of adoration. Of affection. Possible. How can we explain it? How can we know it?

[10:50] How can we experience it? How can we define it? To what can we compare it? We know there's tremendous power. In electricity.

[11:02] It's a very poor comparison, isn't it? Electricity. Yet, we know electricity is very powerful. You don't play with electricity. You see a little one with a fork in his or her hand.

[11:16] Poking in the power points. You say, no! Don't do that. You don't play with that. This is not something to play with. Same as God's power. You don't play with it. God's not some play thing.

[11:29] God's not some cosmic servant that runs our errands for us. And we command him to do things. He commands us. Amen? He commands us.

[11:40] And he is all-powerful. Think of the power of the atom. And how men has harnessed that into destructive forms. And yet, constructive, productive things as well.

[11:52] Atomic energy. But it's hard to find a real, genuine picture of God's power. It's beyond our human comprehension.

[12:05] Because this power of which we speak is referred to in Hebrews 1 verse 3. That our Lord is upholding all things by the word of his power.

[12:16] He's upholding all things by his word. By the word of his power. That's how powerful he is. The power of God. The power of which we speak.

[12:26] It's no small thing. It's God's own power. The creator of the universe. It's his power. And God. The Holy Spirit. This very same power.

[12:37] Comes to dwell within us. In human vessels. In vessels of clay. As we are. When it boils down to it. And his power. It says he works in us.

[12:49] And for us. This same power. Is the same power. That raised Christ from the dead. That's the power of our God. And he has exerted this same resurrection power within us.

[13:01] And we can know this. At work. Within our lives and hearts. Even in the everyday lives that we live. That's an amazing thought really. Isn't it? That even. And as much as we can.

[13:13] I can. Get so. Diverted. And distracted. And overwhelmed. By the. Burdens of life. And the. Run of the mill.

[13:23] Day by day. At times drudgery. And it's easy to get. So we. Lose sight of God. Don't we? I can. That. Sometimes I don't set my affection on things above.

[13:35] I'm just so. Overtaken by the. Getting on with. Living. On this planet. And it can drag us down.

[13:48] And. How we need to. Reconnect. This same power. The same power that he displayed. This life giving power. That he demonstrated in the resurrection.

[13:59] His mighty power. His creative power. His comprehensive power. His life changing power. And it tells us in the word. Brother. Sister. This quickening. This life giving spirit.

[14:12] This life giving power of the resurrection. Is meant to be evident. And at work. In us. In our lives. It should be manifest.

[14:23] In our affections. In our affections. You know. I've just been astonished with the news lately. Now this. This terrible. Shocking.

[14:35] Disgusting. And. And. Un-Australian thing. Of a man rubbing a ball. What. What. It's rubbish.

[14:49] Who cares about cricket. I might be offending some cricket fans here this morning. But honestly. Honestly. Front page headlines.

[15:01] It's. Woeful isn't it? What. What is our affection? Where is our affection? Come on.

[15:14] What is important? His life giving power. The power of his resurrection. It's meant to be evident. In our lives. Romans 8 verse 11.

[15:25] It says. But if the spirit of him. That raised up Jesus from the dead. Dwell in you. He that raised up Christ from the dead. Shall also. Quicken. There's that word again.

[15:36] I want to be quick. Don't you? I want to be quickened. Made alive. Made alive. Quicken. He shall quicken. Make alive. Your mortal bodies.

[15:46] By his spirit. That dwelleth in you. Question is. Why are there so many. Powerless Christians. Why are there so many.

[15:57] Powerless Christians. I've had some people call. Called. People who attend this church. As pathetic.

[16:08] Now that's pretty strong language. I wouldn't say that from the pulpit. About anybody present here this morning. But I look at myself. And think I'm pathetic. I am woeful.

[16:19] I am in great need of his grace and mercy. I'm overcome. By. The flesh. The frailties. Of human living. I'm distracted. I'm not as prayerful.

[16:33] I'm not as spiritual. I'm not as scriptural as I ought to be. Carnal. Weak. Worldly. I don't look at you. I look at me. I look in the mirror. I see the man in the mirror.

[16:45] That's the one I've got the best. I know him. And he's not always a nice person. I know myself.

[16:57] And I hear accusations about people. And I say. No. I look at myself. And I know how unworthy I am. And.

[17:09] And it's getting that perspective right. Isn't it? Not looking at others. But looking at ourselves. And we have. So much need.

[17:23] Why are there so many powerless Christians? Why are there so many Christians? Acting up. Slacking off. Ignorant. What is happening?

[17:34] It's untapped power. It's untapped power. Because we've. It's a bit like. You know. You get your battery. You get your mobile phone out. I can't even find it.

[17:45] That. You get your phone out. And. You see. Oh. It's in the red. 15%. I better plug it in quick. You know. What are we like spiritually?

[17:55] Brother. Sister. Are we 15%. 10%. 5%. Or does it make that sound? Ding. It's shutting down. Brother. Sister. We've got to get that.

[18:06] Power. That power potential. That power potential. It's not. It's not. It's not realized. The power potential. It's not realized. Because we're disconnected. From the power. And I'm not meaning to.

[18:19] Downgrade. Or downplay. Or denigrate. The Holy Spirit. That he is just some kind of. Plug in the wall. But there's that sense where we're disconnected. From his power. And we need to reconnect.

[18:30] And the Bible says that God's spirit. That he gives to us. It's not a spirit of fear. But of power. And of love. And of a sound mind. This is the spirit of God.

[18:43] In Ephesians. Paul prays for the Ephesians. From verse 19. Of chapter 1. His prayer for them. His prayer for the people.

[18:55] That they may know. Know what is the exceeding greatness of his power. To us who believe. His power to us. His greatness.

[19:06] The greatness of his power. To the believers. According to the working of his mighty power. Which he wrought in Christ. When he raised him from the dead. And set him at his own right hand.

[19:16] In the heavenly places. The power of our Lord. The living Christ. His life giving power. Do we know him?

[19:27] And I've been speaking to some people lately. And they've got. A different idea about. Jesus.

[19:38] Than me. And. They do not believe that he is God. And.

[19:50] To get your theology right. About Christ. Is. Absolutely essential. You know. I was doing some.

[20:00] Laying some pavers. Lately. And. It's getting the corner right. It's really important. When you lay pavers.

[20:11] The first paver. It's got to be right. Because everything else. Has got to line up. You know. Right. Left. Down. Around. The first paver.

[20:23] Has got to be right. And. The Lord Jesus. He is the cornerstone. He's the. He's the chief cornerstone. And. The whole building is. Is framed from that cornerstone.

[20:36] And if. If you don't have your theology. About Jesus. Right. It's all. In vain. Isn't it? And. Brother. Sister. You must believe. That he is. You must believe.

[20:47] The saviour. You must believe. The Lord. Jesus Christ. He is Lord. Master. The King of Kings. The Lord of Lords. The God of Gods.

[20:57] He is God. And. Brother. Sister. It's so important. And I pray for people. That the theology. Will be right. Especially on that. But not just to believe it. Not just to. To.

[21:10] To have knowledge of it. But to know him. Not just to know about him. But to know him. To know him. And. To know the exceeding greatness. Of his power. Towards us.

[21:21] To believe. And. Friends. The Bible says. That this word. That this power. This death defying. Bondage breaking. Life sustaining power.

[21:31] We can know it. We can know it. It says. That you can know. The exceeding greatness. That. The exceeding greatness. Of his power. The working.

[21:42] Of his mighty power. Truly. As Paul. Paul. Had earnestly sought. This same power. We read. We can know it. If Paul prayed.

[21:53] For the Ephesians. That. They may know. Likewise. He would pray for us. That we would know it. That we would know. The same power. And this same spirit. That wrought.

[22:05] He wrought in Christ. When he raised him. From the dead. This same. Power. This same spirit. We can know that. And he can indwell us.

[22:16] And he promises. That we can know. That spiritual awakening. In our lives. In our churches. We're not. Commanded now.

[22:27] As they were then. To tarry in Jerusalem. Till they be endued. With powerful light. We have the power. He is present. He is with us. He is indwelling.

[22:38] His own people. Yet. Sometimes. We lose that. We lose that freshness. And we need to unlock. That power potential.

[22:49] Appropriate this power. Apply this power. What is stopping us? You know. When we see. As I've experienced it of late.

[23:01] With some lights. Solar lights. That. The power. Seems to be faulty. There's a. There's something. Blocking the. Power flowing from the battery.

[23:13] Into the light. And. It's like this. There's a connection problem. It's dull. It's. It's corroded. It's blocked. And. I put to you today.

[23:24] I put to you today. That. As I can. Perceive. And. Understand it. My impression is. That. As believers. We can. Have a problem. With the power connection. There's a problem there.

[23:36] And so. We need to. Refresh. And renew. And restore that. Connection. To experience this power. We can. Paul says. We. That he wants to know.

[23:46] The power of his resurrection. I know this is a. A verse that's dear to my mother-in-law here. Philippians 3. Verse 10. Paul prays. That I may know him. And the power of his resurrection.

[23:59] And the fellowship of his sufferings. Being made conformable unto his death. Friends. There's a wonderful. Joy that comes. To know him. To know him.

[24:10] Not just know about him. Not just know. The theology. But to know him. Him to know his life eternal. To know him. As our personal Lord and Saviour. And Paul goes. Saying.

[24:20] Yea. And doubtless. I count all things but loss. For the knowledge. Of the knowledge of Christ. Jesus my Lord. To be found in him.

[24:32] Not having my own righteousness. I'm touching on. On the key parts here. But the righteousness. Which is of God by faith. And he says.

[24:43] Verse 10. That I may know him. And the power of his resurrection. And the fellowship of his sufferings. Being made conformable unto his death. The same spirit.

[24:55] The same heart. It's not just some historical record here. In this Bible. It's present tense. It's present day. He has not lessened his power.

[25:08] He's not. His power is not lessened. It's just we're not. Always receptive. I put to you. The same spirit.

[25:20] The same power. That raised Jesus from the dead. What is that power? It's unlimited divine power. It's resurrection power. It's supernatural power. Not so we can have some sign.

[25:31] It says signs and wonders are here. So we can show off. And say. We can. Have some big show. It's not for that reason. It's that we can be a powerful church.

[25:43] A powerful. Bible. Led. Spirit driven church. That we are. A spirit filled church. Truly. That we can know the power of his resurrection.

[25:57] That we're an alive people. That we know his sin forgiving power. That we know his fear destroying power. That we know his death defying power. That we can be his witnesses.

[26:09] There's people here who are spirit filled. They're going out on the streets. And they're witnessing. That's the evidence. Of the Holy Spirit isn't it?

[26:21] The exceeding greatness of his power. Power to break the bondage of sin. Power to break the yoke of Satan. That we can know moment by moment. Just as a cordless drill.

[26:34] Is dependent on an external power source. It must be charged regularly. You know. I've had that problem. I'm really terrible with my cordless drills.

[26:46] They just sit in the shed. And gather dust. And then. When I go to use them. I've got to go and phone up my dad. Because his cordless drills are always on charge. But mine just. Bzzz.

[26:56] Bzzz. Bzzz. The cordless drill. Has got to be charged regularly. It's dependent. Upon the external power source.

[27:07] And so too we. We're dependent upon him. We're dependent on him. He is the source. Of power. Will we tap into the power. Glorious power.

[27:19] Joyful power. Indwelling power. God. And when. The connection gets a bit loose. Or. Or corroded. Or. Not even plugged in.

[27:30] It's time. To pray. Isn't it? It's time to seek after God. It's time to wait upon him. And we can know. The power of his resurrection. In our own lives.

[27:41] In our present experience. This is not just some historic theme. This is not just the. Church history. That is long gone. Present sense. We can know. In the present day.

[27:53] His. Present power. In our present experience. And he's given us life. New life. He's made us alive. Together with Christ. That's life. Life with a capital L.

[28:05] Life more abundant. Life to the max. It's life. For Christ. What a contrast. From death. Death in sins. To alive. Living. A transformation.

[28:16] A transformation. Happens. And he's given us God's kind of life. That I may know him. He's given us a life saving heart transplant operation. Once dead in sins.

[28:28] Dead. A world without God is a world dead and lifeless. What a sad end to a life. A famous life.

[28:41] A life of a great scientist. Yet a life without God is a vain and worthless and empty and meaningless life.

[28:52] Outside of Christ we have no life. Just a barren existence. And when you go about your life. You're sitting in the bus or the train.

[29:04] Or walking down the shopping mall. There's dead people in the world all around us. Dead. The walking dead. As our Lord says, there's men. Religious people.

[29:15] Full of dead men's bones. There's religious people who've got no real relationship with God. Just going through the motions. Now it's been said.

[29:27] If you attempt to talk with a dying man about sports or business, he's no longer interested. You probably couldn't care less about the ball with a few scratches on it. Talk to a dying man.

[29:38] I've talked to dying men. Have their hospital bed. They're no longer interested in things like that. In idle chit chatter. In the talk of sports or business or such.

[29:50] They're no longer interested in that. He now sees other things as more important. Much, much more important. People who are dying recognize what we often forget.

[30:01] That we are standing on the brink of another world. And young men, young women, older men, older women. We don't know how long we've got.

[30:11] We are standing on the brink of another world. And isn't it time? Set your affection on things above. What really matters?

[30:23] The world doesn't know. What the world knows is rubbish. Death.

[30:34] Death is the absence of life. Can we be a dead Christian? Without Christ we are dead.

[30:45] We're lifeless. Without his saving grace we are lifeless. And yet the word tells us, 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.

[31:00] There should be a newness of life. When we're converted, there's a newness of life. There's a new way of living. A brand new life explodes in our hearts.

[31:13] Life with fulfillment, with meaning, with purpose. Newness of life. Old things have passed away. These things have become new. When you get saved, everything changes.

[31:25] Everything changes. We may not see all the changes in that first moment of the new life, but step by step, as we walk by faith, as we put one foot after the other, we'll drop some things.

[31:39] Things will start to drop off. Things that we don't need anymore. Things that might hinder. Things that will entangle and encumber and burden us. They'll drop away.

[31:51] And we'll find, we'll walk stronger. Remember, Paul says, for me to live is Christ. What does this look like?

[32:05] The resurrection power, the power of God, what is that? It's life changing. It's setting our affection. Here. Not here.

[32:16] Not here. You hear some churches, they brag, we're going to another level. We're taking it to another level. Now, it's almost like they're going, yeah, they're taking it to another level, another level, another level.

[32:29] They're just getting more and more fleshly, more and more worldly, more and more carnal, more and more entertainment, more and more flashy things to draw the crowd. Taking it to another level.

[32:40] We should be taking it to another level. It's God's level. Setting our affection on things above. Things above. Things that matter. Those two Scottish missionaries sent to the New Hebrides when this mission effort first began.

[32:59] The New Hebrides Islands, the nation of Vanuatu now. And these two Scottish missionaries, they were killed and eaten by cannibals on the day they arrived.

[33:10] The day they arrived. They were, I don't know if it's breakfast, lunch or tea, but it's, they were eaten. They were dead. And they were eaten, sadly. And after this, it proved difficult to find some missionary volunteers.

[33:26] Wow. Who wants to go to Vanuatu now? Wow. And, but even when, even then, um, there was a man called John G. Patton.

[33:37] And John, he was a Scottish fellow as well. And he agreed to go. And well-meaning people in the church came up to him and they, they tried to dissuade him. They tried to put him off.

[33:49] You know, John, what are you doing? You're going to get eaten by cannibals. And, uh, Patton replied, I confess to you that if I can but live and die, serving and honouring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I'm eaten by cannibals or by worms.

[34:06] And in the great day, my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer. And after 15 years of fruitful ministry, almost everyone on the island of Aniwa in the Vanuatu Islands, where Patton ministered, were converted.

[34:27] Glory! Serving God is not a guarantee of an easy life. Now, I can't say you're going to get your best life now.

[34:43] Spiritually, yes, but not in tangible, material terms necessarily. It's got nothing to do with it. But can you be like John Patton?

[34:56] Whether I'm eaten by cannibals or worms, it doesn't matter. I'm going to get resurrected anyway. And so, brothers, sisters, once we were dead in sins, now we're alive in the Saviour.

[35:09] And He's raised us, He's resurrected us, He's breathed His life into us. He's taken us out of death and darkness. He's given us a whole new way of living. And Romans 6.11, it says, Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

[35:27] Sure enough, we have those moments when I can say for myself the ugly Andrew Craig shows his ugly face and his ugly ways and I've got to kill him again.

[35:42] You know, I've got to get the and crucify him. I die daily.

[35:55] Wrecking yourselves dead unto sin. Answer your own precious little ways where you get offended, upset, where it's too hard, where you want to quit.

[36:12] Where you feel laid down and the trials and tests of life start to sap your and your strength and humanly speaking you feel like throwing in the towel.

[36:25] Then reckon yourself dead. Dead to that. You know, a dead person can't get offended. You know, you can go to that coffin and you can curse that man, that woman, you can call them all the names under the sun, you can tell stories about them, you can spit on their grave.

[36:50] He's dead. It doesn't matter. He doesn't feel it anymore. And as a Christian we should be like that, shouldn't we? When we're persecuted, when we suffer for Christ's sake, I'm dead.

[37:02] Just brush it off. I'm dead. You can't hurt me. I'm already dead. Dead indeed to sin and alive to God.

[37:12] It goes on, neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Don't yield your body that way. Yield it unto God. Yield your tongue.

[37:24] Yield your mind. Yield your heart. Yield your affection unto God. Letting God use you as his instrument, as his instrument, as his vessel, unto God, not unto sin, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.

[37:41] That's why he's put this vessel that you live in on this planet. That's why you're here. For his glory as instruments of righteousness.

[37:53] He's rolled the stone away. He's broken the chains of death. And we can know resurrection life today. Drawing to a close, 1 Peter 1, likewise it talks about that we're begotten again.

[38:08] We're born again to a lively hope. This hope that we have is alive. He's resurrected us. He's made us alive again. We've got this living, lively hope.

[38:20] This ever living, everlasting, confident, certain hope and trust that is because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. It's not so we can have Easter eggs and have Easter bunnies.

[38:36] It's about this living Saviour that we love and honour and worship and adore. This resurrection, this is no myth or fancy, fanciful story.

[38:49] This is the truth. And this resurrection, this reality, this truth of the resurrection, for us it means victory. It means power. It means he's made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus and seek those things which are above.

[39:06] How easily we get caught up with earthly things. And of course we've got to make a living. We've got a debt to pay mostly. I'm sure most of us have some debt or other.

[39:18] There's some burden that makes us, you know, I owe to I owe, I owe, so off to work I go. There's this daily drag of human living. of the reality of living in this world that we live in.

[39:33] But yet there's the heavenly. And sometimes we don't really catch sight of that, do we? He's lifted us up, it says, to heavenly places. So not only are we dead, dead is a dodo, people can hurt us, it's not going to be, okay, I'm dead, I'm not going to carry that hurt.

[39:52] Sure, I might be bruised for a little bit, but I'm not going to take it, as it's not going to put me off walking this walk. I'm dead to that.

[40:02] But not only are we dead, but we're alive and we're seated in heavenly places. So we get a whole new dimension, a whole new way of looking at everything. We've got a heavenly vision, we've got a heavenly kingdom, we've got a heavenly calling, we've got a heavenly gift, we've got a heavenly country, we've got a heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.

[40:20] And that is our aspiration, our affection, for things above. So friends, Paul cries out that I may know him, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection.

[40:37] The resurrection of Christ was a powerful event, and this is not just some past event of history, it means something for us now, today. It means our justification, Romans 4.25.

[40:49] It means our forgiveness, it means the redeeming purposes of God. John Newton said that the resurrection set a divine stamp upon his sacrifice, blood shedding and death, and showed God's acceptance of his offering, and that sin was thus forever put away.

[41:09] We don't serve a dead prophet, we serve a living saviour. And his resurrection power is available, it's a present day reality. Power, there's so many powerless Christians today.

[41:25] I wonder, and I count myself amongst them a lot of the time, that I'm not as powerful as I ought to be for God's kingdom. I'm not as powerful a man of God as I need to be.

[41:39] I want to be more used of him. Pray for me. Let's pray for one another that will know that power, that power beyond human reckoning, beyond human skill or learning, that power that transcends, that transforms, that inspires, that empowers, that endures us, that infills us.

[42:06] Power. Power over sin and temptation. When the daily and trials and stresses come, we'll have power over sin. We'll have power over ignorance and folly.

[42:19] We'll have power not to take it personally when someone does something hurtful to us. We won't react. We won't fight fire with fire.

[42:33] We'll be like Christ. Power. Power to witness. Power such that we'll open our mouth and tell someone. Power to be used of God.

[42:47] Power to use our gifts. Power in prayer. Power of the living Christ. And just to wrap up Romans 6, 4, in part it says 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.

[43:05] It's new life. New life. Not just a prayer prayed in a parrot form and then nothing happens. Or even a baptism and then nothing happens.

[43:19] Or some profession and then it's just mediocre. Powerless. That newness of life would be just bright and shining and transforming and ever transforming.

[43:39] not by virtue of what we do or think or our effort or strength but because we're letting God have his way. You know, some have prayed, I want more of God.

[43:57] More of God. But there's the corresponding truth that he wants more of me. More of me. More of me. And, you know, I love that scripture where John the Baptist says that he must increase but I must decrease.

[44:16] And that nailing has to happen. That we die to the flesh, that we die to self, that increase to self daily. And that empowering of God.

[44:29] As we cry out, I want more of God. And he says to you, I want more of you. I want more of you. And let we be, may we be as living sacrifices.

[44:44] And we'll see his power. As Acts 1 8, they receive power to go into all the world as his witnesses. It was transforming. What of your response?

[44:58] Now I could leave it at that, oh he's talking about other people today. When he says powerless Christians. Oh that's somebody else. What of your response?

[45:12] What will your response be to Jesus Christ? To the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? Will it be that you'll know nearness of life?

[45:24] You'll set your affection not here but on things above. That you'll have a new love, a new adoration, a new affection, a new zeal, a new energy, a new life.

[45:37] And sure enough you'll have those moments where did I receive it? It's how I'm going today. I don't feel like a Christian today.

[45:47] It's not how I'm going to do it. It's whether he's done his work in you. That's what matters. It's knowing the power of his resurrection, knowing him. And I urge you this morning that at this resurrection Sunday will think, wow, how can I know this?

[46:04] Not just as a historic event of the happening of his resurrection, but how can it transform my life? How can I be raised up and walk in newness of life? It's God's will for you that you do.

[46:16] And simply as you trust his working at the cross where everything was paid for, receive his payment. Receive his work on your part. Trust him as Lord, as master, and walk in newness of life.

[46:32]  He will help you every step of the way. And his power is still available. It's not changed. His power is available now. Let's pray.