[0:00] How is it with your soul? This is a question that John Wesley would ask when he started a Bible study or a small group with his friends. How is it with your soul? It's a more specific question than to ask, how are you doing or how is your day to ask about your soul?
[0:17] There's many songs that we sing as we gather together first day of the week to celebrate the resurrection that speak about the soul. I was trying to just kind of brainstorm sitting at my desk this week and I was thinking of a few and I'll name a few and then see if you can fill in some that I've forgotten.
[0:33] Nothing between my soul and my Savior. How many of you know this song? All right. We have an anchor that keeps our soul. What's the next line? Steadfast and sure.
[0:45] That was a billows room. Be still, my soul. The Lord is on thy side. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee, just as I am waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot.
[0:59] Anybody else think of another song that has the word soul in it? It is well with my soul. Well, that one's on the screen there, Tyler. That's right. It is well with my soul. That's right.
[1:09] I left it available for you. Yeah, and that's the one we're going to look at the lyrics for tonight. In a good hymn or a good song, you lay down the Bible beside it and the hymn wouldn't feel uncomfortable because it knows that it's just championing the truth of God's word.
[1:21] And this one, it does it. I won't be preaching a song to you, but I will be walking through the song and be looking at how it emphasizes the teaching of God's word. Before I read to you that song here in a second and start going through it, I'm going to watch just a short video about telling you the story.
[1:37] Many of you would know it. How many of you would know the story that this song comes from, of Horatio Spafford, all right? Many of you in here do. And then how many of you know the Bible story that it comes from?
[1:50] I'll write a few less, all right? Well, don't leave, all right? I'll give that to you at the end, all right? We're going to watch this video, and then I'm going to come up here and share with you about this song. It Is Well With My Soul was written after unimaginable tragedy.
[2:12] Horatio Spafford was a successful lawyer who had invested a lot of money in property. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 caused enough damage to ruin him financially.
[2:24] Amidst this dark period of their lives, Horatio and his wife Anna thought it would be good to take their four daughters, the youngest just being two years old, on a holiday to Europe.
[2:36] Last-minute business problems meant that Horatio had to delay his departure, but insisted that his wife and children start their holiday without him. The boat they sailed on, the SS Ville de Havre, collided with another boat.
[2:52] All four children died. The youngest child was ripped from Anna's arms by the water. Horatio received a telegram from Anna, who had made it to Wales, which said, Saved Alone.
[3:14] Horatio boarded the next boat to Europe. The captain invited him into his cabin and told him that they were now sailing over the spot where the boat had sank.
[3:26] Horatio looked out over the spot where his daughters had drowned, three miles above the wreckage, then returned to his cabin and wrote, When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.
[3:50] That first verse is about as powerful and personal as they come. The imagery of the rolling sea billows takes a more profound meaning when you realise that they are the waves above his children's waves.
[4:11] It is natural for us to question after such tragedy why it is well with Horatio's soul. But the answer comes in the second verse. That Christ has regarded my helpless estate and hath shed his own blood for my soul.
[4:31] All is well with his soul because it has been purchased and saved by Jesus' crucifixion. And his response to that, in the midst of heartbreak, was to worship.
[4:43] Horatio Spafford had almost everything snatched from him. But in the midst of it all, he could still praise the ever-loving and unchanging God.
[4:59] What a wonderful testimony.
[5:12] Grant, I appreciate you narrating that video for us. All right. Now, Grant doesn't speak with that stronger British accent, unless he wants to. He's quite able if he wants to. We saw that at camp this summer.
[5:23] It is well with my soul. Story there, Spafford family. And it is good and it's a profitable thing to think about our soul. Psalm 103 verse 2 says, Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
[5:40] It's absurd that many times we spend more time thinking about our next meal than we do thinking about our own souls. Or it's absurd that people would do more to prepare for a cold winter than they would prepare for their soul for all eternity.
[5:55] And what is a soul? I love Sunday nights. We have children in here. And I love that they're in here with us and get to hear in a little bit. We're going to sing this song. At the end of the night, we'll sing it.
[6:06] And I hope from here on after, as you sing this song, you'll think about that story and that testimony if you didn't already know it. And I want to make sure we have some understanding. You know, what is a soul?
[6:17] We're distinct from animals. When you explain the difference between a human body and an animal, we're speaking about what it makes us to be a human. We have a soul.
[6:28] One pastor at a funeral said, the shell is gone, or the nut is gone, and only the shell is here. All right? That's a line that I plan not to use at a funeral.
[6:38] All right? But the shell is gone, but the nut is gone, but the shell... There's another reason I shouldn't even try. I tried to use it.
[6:49] But that separation, the Bible says, don't fear those that can kill the body, but fear those that can destroy both soul and body in hell. The Bible teaches that we are dust, that we will go back to that.
[7:03] That's what we're made up of. And all the way back in Genesis, God breathed into Adam. He became a living soul. Genesis 2.7. First man made of dust. And the Bible tells us in Job that we will return again unto dust.
[7:17] And we knoweth not our frame. He remembers that God knows our frame, and he remembers that we are dust. So that's one thing to know about us. All right? Some of you kids may be dustier than others.
[7:27] All right? But we're all made out of dirt. That's what we are. Our bodies will go back to that. One day we will have a resurrected body. First Corinthians, Paul discusses the great difference between our earthly bodies and our resurrected bodies.
[7:39] Yesterday, a few of us were at the funeral for Miss Mary DeLuce, and John did a wonderful job honoring his mother and knowing that she, the pastor said, she is not just part, she's just not a memory.
[7:52] She still lives, and she's not just part of our past. She is part of our future. There's a great promise in that. She still lives. First Corinthians speaks about the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption.
[8:03] It's raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It's raised in power. It's sown in a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There's a natural body, and there's a spiritual body.
[8:15] There in First Corinthians, we would learn about that, and that was a hope that we will see that was in the Old Testament, this bodily resurrection that is promised. We are dust, but we are not just as animals.
[8:28] We are living beings. God formed us. He breathed in us. We have a living soul, and so we are not just a have a soul, but we are a soul, and we have a body, and so here's some things the Bible would say, and I'll be brief about this because this isn't the primary study for the night, but I want to talk about our soul since we're going to sing about it here in a moment to make sure that we understand we're not on the same page, but we're on God's page about what it is when we speak about a soul.
[8:54] A human soul seems to be distinct from the heart and the spirit and the mind. The human soul is created by God in Jeremiah 38, 16, and as the Lord liveth, that made us this soul.
[9:05] We were created by Him. The soul can be strong or it can be unsteady. 2 Peter 2, 14 speaks about the beguiling of an unstable soul. A soul can be lost or it can be saved.
[9:17] James 1, 21, Wherefore lay apart off filthiness and superfluity and naughtiness and receive meekness and grafted work which is able to save your souls. Pray that you have a soul that has been saved.
[9:29] Our souls need atonement. Learn that in Leviticus 17. The soul can be purified and protected by the truth and the work of the Holy Spirit. 1 Peter 1, 22. And Jesus is the great shepherd of our souls.
[9:42] 1 Peter 2, 25. For we were as sheep going astray, but we're now returned to this shepherd and the bishop of your souls. And then lastly here, our topic for the night.
[9:53] Our souls can be troubled. My soul is sore vexed. Psalm 6, 3. But thou, O Lord, how long? My soul is vexed. Adrian Rogers, wonderful pastor, said, Isn't it terrible for a soul to be polluted?
[10:06] It's cut off from the congregation. There's the loss of fellowship with man. It defiles the sanctuary. There's a loss of freedom with God and he pollutes what he touches and there's a loss of fruitfulness in his service.
[10:18] It's when we, our soul can be vexed. It can be troubled. And so what is it that can trouble our soul? John Wesley said, How is it with your soul? And that would be a good question to ask.
[10:29] It's a question that we should ask of ourselves often when we meet one to another, when we meet with the Lord. There's storms in life. The song will say it when sorrows like sea billows roll.
[10:41] That is the description of the storm that we can be in. So storms in our lives, troubles in our lives, things that will concern us are inevitable. Here's a little description of what life is.
[10:52] In 1 Peter, chapter 5 and verse number 10, it says, But the God of grace and who has called us into his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, and it says, After that, you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
[11:08] There's a description of life. After you have suffered a little while, life is always going to come with challenges. And it's in a blessed way we can encounter storms. In James we're told, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation.
[11:20] Why? For when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him. It's hard to welcome the storms, right? And who was it that said we kiss the waves that press us against the rock, right?
[11:36] The waves that push us in life to look to Jesus. And that's what we are told to do during the storm. Here's a prescription when you're in a storm. Romans 12, 12. Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing instant in prayer.
[11:50] When you're in a storm in life, wherever it came up, if it comes out east, if it comes out west, if it came suddenly, or if you knew it was coming, if you found yourself involved in somebody else's storm of their own making, whatever the effects of life are, you should know we can rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, but continue in prayer.
[12:09] And so what can some things that can trouble your soul? The first thing on my list I would think about that would trouble your soul is a lack of assurance of salvation. This is Sunday Night Crowd.
[12:21] We in here, I know your testimonies. I can name all of you and I think I could probably share your testimonies now that Darling just told me hers, alright? I think I could probably share your testimonies in here. But you also know, and maybe this is a way in which Satan really loves to discourage younger believers in here, is a lack of assurance about your salvation and not knowing for sure.
[12:42] Did you do everything that you're supposed to? Did you say the prayer right? Did you do whatever it is? You can't remember the day. You can't remember whatever it is. Whatever He can throw at you, if He can rob you of your assurance of your salvation, He's going to rob you of your joy and that's going to rob you of any type of meaningful ministry that you can have in this world.
[13:01] God wants you to know He has a peace and He offers it to us. We can have His peace. Not just any version of peace, but we can have peace that He offers. Apostle John, 1 John tells us, For these things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.
[13:21] I want to ask you to raise your hand in here that there's many believers in here that would tell you that there is a season in life where they had a troubled soul because they did not have assurance of their salvation.
[13:35] And you shouldn't live like that. You shouldn't do it. You should get with somebody. You should open up God's Word. You should go to the Lord in prayer. He does not want to have you live like that.
[13:46] Many religions use that as a form of motivation, right? Islam would let you know that you never know if you've done enough. You never can sit back and relax. Always try, always try, always try. Our God wants us to know.
[13:59] The song that was said, how many gods would do the things that ours would. None of them would. Only He would. He wants you to be saved and He wants you to know that you're saved and find the assurance that is there.
[14:09] Another way that we often have a troubled soul is just an unwillingness to repent of sin. I often say that it's sin that makes us miserable, but to be more precise, it's our unwillingness to repent of sin.
[14:23] That sin would have no power in our lives if we would be willing to repent, and it no longer has that. We now have freedom in Christ, and we're no longer bound to that. We can know, we can yield, we can reckon this to be true in our life, but it continues to just torment us on every turn.
[14:37] We don't find victory in our lives, and that's sin. If you've ever been miserable as a Christian, the reason may be simpler than you realize, and it's disobedience.
[14:48] It's disobedience, not circumstances alone. You can look back in your life and you can say, that was a really difficult time in my life, but I felt incredible joy because you can walk with the Lord in the storms, and you can have incredible joy, but there's not enough good circumstances in life that are going to make you happy when you're living in opposition to your Creator.
[15:09] And so allow that to be a wonderful blessing in your life that He does not allow you to live in rebellion towards Him and enjoy that. The Holy Spirit, God loves us too much to allow us to run in the wrong direction without feeling that misery that is there.
[15:25] According to Jesus, there's a link between obedience and joy. John 15, 9, As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Continue ye in my love. If you keep my commandments, you should abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in His love.
[15:38] These things I have spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and that your joy might be full. One pastor said this, No one is more miserable than the Christian who for a time hedges his obedience.
[15:50] He does not love sin enough to enjoy its pleasures, and he does not love Christ enough to relish holiness. He perceives that his rebellion is iniquitous, grossly, morally wrong, but obedience seems distasteful.
[16:04] He does not feel at home any longer in the world, but the memory of his past associations and the tantalizing lyrics of his old music prevent him from singing with the saints. He is a man that is most to be pitied.
[16:16] That miserable Christian who for a time hedges his obedience. Once again, I won't ask you to raise your hand, but if you've been saved for any length of time, you've probably found yourself at that season of life.
[16:27] And if you were to ask, how is it with your soul? You would say, it's troubled. It's bothered. Another area, it's just trusting the Lord. And that's the sin in and of itself, right? The sin of unbelief. It all comes back to, do we trust to know him?
[16:40] But there's certain sins that seem more fashionable, those that don't seem to hurt other people, those that are not outward, but this sin of just unbelief. Can I really trust him, or do I need to make sure that I'm in charge of everything?
[16:52] And so there's no rest, and that leads to a troubled soul. And the Psalms give us all kinds of descriptions of a person staying up all night and all the things that go on and what it does to us in our lives when we cannot just be at peace and walking with our Lord, fully surrendered.
[17:07] And so the storms, they will teach us to look to Christ. Whatever my lot that has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. Whatever comes my way, that's the lot that you have taught me.
[17:19] This is something that is learned, that we're learning. Philippians 4, 11. This truth will be found in God's Word. Not that I speak in respect of one, for I've learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Hudson Taylor in his book, The Spiritual Secret to a Christian Life.
[17:32] It's not much of a secret if you write it in a book, Hudson Taylor, right? And it's like the Hidden Lake, those billboards for it, right? But it's a secret because even though it's so obvious, it remains almost a mystery to us.
[17:44] And he speaks about the power of contentment. September 4, 1869, when he was 37 years old, Hudson Taylor found the letter waiting for him from John McCarthy.
[17:55] God used the letter that revolutionized Taylor's life. And what an encouragement, I thought there. Not a prayer letter coming to the states that were being read, but a letter sent to a missionary that encouraged him.
[18:07] When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence of the letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes. And the Spirit of God revealed to me the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never known it before.
[18:21] The truth of our oneness with Jesus. Enjoying that witness that does not even leave in the storm. Jesus is on the ship. He's asleep. And he's in the storm.
[18:32] But there's a oneness. You believe that he is unconcerned because the storm is still raging. This is how Horatio Spafford said it. That Christ has regarded my helpless estate.
[18:43] And he has shed his own blood for my soul. My sin, all the bliss of this glorious thought. This glorious thought that Christ has regarded my helpless estate.
[18:56] That he knows what I am going through. Jesus regards our storm. There is no storm in your life that is going to be anywhere near as great as the storms from Gethsemane, the Golgotha, and the life of Christ.
[19:09] But isn't it amazing that God does not look at us, at our storms, and tell us that they're no big deal and they're of no relevance. They're so small into what I've dealt with. He doesn't say that. The only comparison that we have in Scripture is that compared to the future glory that will be revealed to us, I reckon that these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to them.
[19:32] But he is a sympathetic Savior. And he sees you in your storm. And he doesn't just say toughen up and get over it. But he says, I love you and I care for you and I regard your helpless estate.
[19:42] So this song is a declaration of faith. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buff it, though trials should come, let this blessed assurance control.
[19:55] As you saw in that story, he is saying that in the middle of it still. He is over there. He is still processing this. He is still grieving. But he declares by faith that it is going to be well with his soul.
[20:09] So that's the story of Horatio Spafford. But Horatio Spafford was inspired by this story in the Old Testament. There are time remaining before we sing, I'm going to tell you the story.
[20:20] But the Holy Spirit is the best storyteller. I'm going to read this through here and to slow down enough to make sure that I have everybody with me as I go. So there's a young boy, 2 Kings chapter number 4.
[20:32] A young boy is injured. Small boy. Old enough to finally go to work with his dad to see what's going on. But he's a young boy from 2 Kings 4.18. And when the child was grown, it fell on a day that he went out to his father's to the reapers.
[20:47] And he said to his father, My head, my head. And he said to a lad, Carry him to his mother. And when he had taken him and he brought him to his mother, he set her on, he set her on her knees till noon and then he died.
[21:02] Possibly a heat stroke. We're not told in scriptures. It does not appear that the dad knew that this was fatal. He knew that his son was sick. Sent him back home to his mom. His mom is going to sit the young boy on his knee and the boy is going to pass away.
[21:17] The mother calls for a donkey and take the son to the prophet. 2 Kings 4.21. And she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and shut the door upon him and went up and she called up onto her husband and said, Send me, I pray thee, one of the young men and one of the asses that I may run to the man of God and come again.
[21:33] And he said, Wherefore wilt thou go to him today? It is neither new moon nor Sabbath. And she said, It shall be well. Then she settled and asked and said to her servant, Drive and go forward.
[21:44] Slack not the writing for me except I bid thee. First of all, we hear that they had the first prophet's chamber. They had a place where the prophet, when he came through, could lay down. And so there was a place at their property where Elisha would stay when he came through town, a prophet's chamber.
[22:00] And the family might have been good cooks because it says that when Elisha was in the area, he always stopped by the place. This shows the faith of the woman. She prepared for the resurrection of the boy and not for his burial.
[22:12] She lays him upon the bed there of the prophet. And she tells this boy that's writing, Don't slow down at all. Just go on. And when she gets to town, a messenger's going to meet her with a question.
[22:24] Verse 25, So she went and came into the man of God to Mount Carmel. And it came to pass when the man of God saw her far off. And he said to Gehazi, Gehazi, his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite.
[22:35] Right now I pray thee to meet her. And he said unto her, Is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered, It is well.
[22:48] We are going to learn that this young man had been an answer to her prayers. Verse 27, And when she came to the man of God to the hill and she caught him by the feet, Begehazi came near to thrust her.
[23:00] And the man of God said, Let her alone. So the servant was going to try to push her away and Elisha said, Let her come for her soul is vexed within her.
[23:10] And the Lord hath hid it from me and hath not told me. Then she said, Did I desire a son of my Lord? Did I not say, Do not deceive me? Did I not pray for this child? Was this not an answer to prayer?
[23:21] Elisha was surprised that he did not know in advance about the need. This highlights the unique role that the prophet played in history in the life of this family that was there. The servant will run to the boy as a mother waits.
[23:36] Verse 29, Then he said to Gehazi, Gird up thy loins and take my staff in thine hand and go thy way. If thou meet any man, salute him not. And if any, salute thee, answer him not again.
[23:47] You know, some of you men when your wives are leaving church and they take a long time, you just need to tell them, if you meet anybody, don't salute them. And if they salute you, don't answer. All right?
[23:58] Just get to the car. And that's what they're talking about. It's not about being rude. It's like, don't talk to anybody. All right? It's time to get on with the story here. And so he went and he laid his staff upon the face of a child.
[24:10] And the mother of the child said, And as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. That's what she told Elisha. And he arose and he followed her. And Gehazi passed on before them and laid the staff upon the face of the child.
[24:23] But there was neither voice nor hearing. Wherefore, he went again to meet him and told him, saying, The child is not awakened. The woman did not want to leave Elisha's side. She likely had heard about how God had used his prayers and the resurrection of another young man.
[24:37] And she had confidence in what was going to happen, and she waited. And that's all we have time for tonight. Come back next week and I'll finish the story.
[24:48] I'm just kidding. We're going to finish, alright? That's what I did in Neighborhood Bible Time. You tell a story every night, then you tell the kids and come back tomorrow and you'll hear the end of the story. Well, let's hear the end of the story. Elisha will pray to the Lord.
[25:00] Verse 32. And when Elisha was come into the house, behold, the child was dead and laid upon his bed. And he went therefore and shut the door upon them twain and prayed unto the Lord. And he went up and lay upon the child and put his mouth upon his mouth and his eyes upon his eyes and his hands upon his hands and he stretched himself upon the child and the fleshed the child waxed warm.
[25:19] Then he returned and walked in the house to and fro and went up and stretched himself upon him and the child sneezed seven times and the child opened his eyes. Why does the Bible say that he sneezed seven times?
[25:31] Because he sneezed seven times and that's why the Bible tells us. It records it. What is the significance? I don't know. There's no reason for me to assume unless the Bible reveals to me that there's a significance to it.
[25:41] It's restore, it's recording historical fact that is happening. But what we're learning here is unless God in this passage a woman she's experiencing the death of her son and in her response to the tragedy she seeks the prophet expressing both her grief and her trust in God.
[25:58] In verse 426 it says run now I pray thee to meet her and say unto her is it well with thee? Is it well with thy husband? Is it well with thy child? And she answered it is well.
[26:11] A trusting that is there. In the midst of the storm she declared that it's well. No news, no one, no event, no loss can take Christ and his love from me not even death.
[26:23] When I close these eyes for the last time the moment of the greatest and deepest loss will be my game. That's what Spafford says and Lord haste the day when the faith shall be sight.
[26:34] The clouds shall be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend even so it is well with my soul. As with this mother we have a hope in the resurrection of the body.
[26:46] It's not a matter of if for believers but only a matter of when. When you love this place and this world it's an example of the being still young and immature but the storms of this life will help rid us of our dependency upon this world.
[27:03] From that point on this mother who had lost a son she set her eyes towards a moment and that moment was when her faith would become sight. She laid that son down upon the bed and she waited for the resurrection that she knew that the Bible taught that there would be a bodily resurrection of believers and that's the place that she would have set her eyes and if it wouldn't have been in that moment and that child would have passed there would come a day where that body would be resurrected the resurrection of the body.
[27:30] This morning I told you that one of the contentions in 2 Timothy where the people were teaching that wasn't true and that was a great contention because it takes the hope away from us. It takes the comfort that we have. The bodily resurrection of Jesus matters tremendously and it's the first fruits.
[27:46] Because of his resurrection we will have one. It's what we remind one another of at these times. Let me finish this story. I think you'll want to hear it. At the end of that video of the Spaffords this is how their story continues.
[27:59] Following the loss of their four daughters the Spaffords returned to Chicago where they tried to rebuild their lives. Five years after their tragedy at sea Anna gave birth to a daughter and two years later a son.
[28:09] However at the age of four their son died of scarlet fever. Sadly some members of their Chicago church did not respond to their catastrophes with compassion and support. Instead like the so called friends of Job they openly asked what have the Spaffords done for God to heap so much misfortunes upon them.
[28:26] The Spaffords left the church. However several of their friends also left the church and rallied around them. Within a year and shortly after the birth of a daughter they named Grace. The Spaffords and 16 of their friends moved to Jerusalem.
[28:38] They called themselves the Overcomers and they settled together in a small house in the old city of Jerusalem. They lived as the early Christians did a simple life with everything held in common. Their door was always open to the Arab and Jewish neighbors as well as the Paduians.
[28:53] Their reputation for hospitality spread and they became well known for their charitable acts towards Jews Christians and Muslims. Knowing tragedy first hand they reached out and loved to mend the lives of others who experienced hardship.
[29:06] A dozen years later 70 Swedes living in America joined them. They needed much larger housing and bought a palace that had been built for Turkish Pasha. They became known as an American colony.
[29:18] Many years later their large building would become the American Colony Hotel. Dozens from Westminster had enjoyed their time and pilgrimage to this land including Mark Twain, Winston Churchill, Bob Dylan and a host of others.
[29:31] The original founders retained the first home in the Old City and used it for charitable purposes providing care for needy children. Today their building houses the Spafford Children's Center which runs medical infant well care and social work departments for local Palestinian and Israeli children.
[29:48] Over the years thousands of children have received the help they needed all because a couple who experienced horrible tragedies defiantly clung to their faith that God can bring light out of terrible darkness. Their belief that God is a God of resurrection is the only way that they could sing It is well It is well with my soul.
[30:05] The belief that God is a God of the resurrection is the only reason in which we can sing today. But now Christ has risen from the dead 1 Corinthians 15 20 and become the first fruits of them that slept.
[30:17] It's the first of importance. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you also you received wherein you stand which also you are saved if you keep in memory that I preached unto you unless you have believed in vain for I have delivered you first of all which I have also received that Christ has died for our sins according to the scriptures.
[30:35] Christians are justified before God because of the resurrection. We are able to walk in newness of life. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead will raise believers as well.
[30:46] Without the resurrection we are still in our sins have been lied to about God have a worthless faith and we should be pitied. But because of that because of the hope of a bodily resurrection a lady can take her son and lay it down and say I am waiting for that moment of this bodily resurrection.
[31:04] If it's now or if it's later it's a wonderful miracle that he has done. And because of the resurrection we can sing. The resurrection is that news that surpasses all bad news and it's the reason that we can sing it as well.
[31:19] First day of the week we celebrate the resurrection not just on Easter every Sunday and it gives us hope. And so whatever it is in your life that troubles you. If you don't have assurance of your salvation tonight should be the night that you find it.
[31:32] The resurrection of Jesus Christ made it possible for your sins to be forgiven. You can have hope. If you're living contrary to him he is a gracious he is the father of the story of the prodigal.
[31:43] Return to him and allow him to embrace you and to trust him and let us rejoice in this promise of a bodily resurrection that will bring us together once again.
[31:53] I'm going to pray and then we're going to stand and sing that song as we leave the night. Heavenly Father I want to thank you for the testimony of the Spafford family of them being willing Lord to be used in this fashion to be a blessing Lord not only to the Palestinian and Israeli children but to the children of this church tonight Lord as we heard their story.
[32:15] Lord when our storms in life are billows like the sea and they just seem to be around us and we seem to be sunk and our soul is just vexed Lord we turn to you and Lord we have hope in the resurrection we have hope Lord that even in death our faith will become sight and we will know you and Lord I want to just thank you for that tonight that regardless of anything that's going on in any of our lives the news of the resurrection surpasses all of us and every one of us tonight can leave here not just singing it but leaving and living it out that it is well with our soul in Jesus name I pray Amen