You Have Power—use It!

The Word is found in the Book of Acts, Acts, chapter 2, Acts, Chapter 2, verse 22 and onward. Listen with me or read it; I believe it is right there, perfect, on the screen, or else, if you have your Bible, that is the best way. How many believe in reading Scripture directly? But there is no problem; you can also do it through the screen. Acts 2:22. The Apostle Peter is giving a speech, a lecture; he is preaching, he is delivering a sermon—actually, his first sermon recorded in the Bible—to a crowd, and they are Hebrews, and he says to them:

“... Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved by God among you through the miracles, wonders, and signs that God performed among you through him, as you yourselves know—this man, delivered up by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of God, you seized and killed by the hands of lawless men, crucifying him; but God raised him up, releasing him from the pains of death, because it was impossible for him to be held by it. For David says concerning him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me’—this is a quotation from a psalm David is writing; he says—‘I saw the Lord always before me, because he is at my right hand; I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart rejoiced and my tongue was glad; moreover, my flesh will also rest in hope, because you will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will you allow your Holy One to see corruption. You made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence....’”

And the Apostle Peter then returns once again to his sermon and says: “... Men and brethren, I may freely tell you of the patriarch David that he died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. But being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him with an oath that from his descendants according to the flesh he would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he foresaw this and spoke in prophecy of the resurrection of Christ: that his soul was not left in Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out upon you what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ Therefore, let all the house of Israel know most certainly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ....”

May the Lord bless his holy Word. Give the Lord a great round of applause. He deserves it. Glory to God. This day that we celebrate, brothers and sisters, is a day unlike any other in history, in the calendar of Christianity throughout the earth.

The church of Jesus Christ gathers in every country of the world. Right now, perhaps in Rome, over there at the Vatican, the bells are ringing, and in India there are also places where people are worshiping the Lord; in Latin America, in the squares of our great cities and in small towns as well, people are remembering the resurrection of Jesus Christ; in Africa, in Australia, in different countries of Asia, here in North America, in Canada, in Alaska, in Russia—all the nations have gathered today according to the time zone where they are, and throughout the day, for 24 hours, the risen Christ has been celebrated and will continue to be celebrated.

Because for Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus is an absolutely important, significant event. Through the resurrection of Christ we receive hope, deliverance, and blessing. Through Christ and his resurrection, death, the greatest enemy of the human race, was defeated. And Christ opened up a realm of great, great joy for all of us.

Certainly, the other events in Christ’s life are important: his incarnation, very important; his birth; his crucifixion, which purchased redemption and forgiveness of our sins for us. But the resurrection of Jesus has a special meaning. There is joy associated with the resurrection of Christ. There is nothing there to qualify or cast shadows upon that crowning moment of the ministry and life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And that is why we are here this afternoon, and Christianity has always recognized this: the importance of the resurrection. If you look at First Corinthians, Chapter 15, the Apostle Paul points out there that, as Christians, we cannot play around with the matter of the resurrection; we cannot tolerate anyone questioning that aspect. No one can truly and biblically call himself a Christian and deny the resurrection of Jesus.

Incidentally, the Apostle Paul himself says that if we confess Christ with our mouth and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, we are saved. Wow, that is a great statement. Two things there: confessing with our mouth that he is Lord, and also believing in our heart that God raised him from the dead. It is as though he were saying that these two things are extremely closely linked, and that is why it is so important for us believers not to doubt the resurrection of Jesus.

The Apostle Paul asks the Corinthians, in First Corinthians 15:12; he says:

“... If it is preached that Christ rose from the dead, how do some among you say...” —you see, there were Christians who were doubting and denying that Christ had truly risen—“... how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ did not rise either; and if Christ did not rise, then our preaching is in vain, and our faith is also in vain....”

Without a risen Christ, the framework, the entire structure of Christianity, collapses, because that is what legitimizes Jesus; that is what validates Jesus as the Son of God. If Christ did not rise from the dead, then we are simply one more religion among many other religions. Christianity has always distinguished itself by this daring, bold insistence that our founder rose from the dead.

There is no other religion I know of that makes such a claim about a founder who rose from the dead. And that is something tremendously distinctive about us. Buddhism does not claim that its founder, the Buddha, was raised from the dead. Buddhists even specifically date when the Buddha died in his bodily manifestation, as they put it, but there is no talk of his having risen from the dead.

Confucius, the founder of a great Asian religion, is likewise also known to have died and not risen again. Muhammad, the founder of the Muslim religion—the Muslims also make pilgrimages and go to the place where his tomb is. Christianity alone declares that its founder, Jesus, rose from the dead. And that is a bold claim because, notice this: the first Christians began proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus Christ immediately after Jesus died—or immediately after he rose—just a few days later. Here Peter is preaching to a crowd that knows that only a few days ago... Jesus’ death shook all Israel, all Jerusalem—a tremendous upheaval. The crowds were shaken by the crucifixion of this man; the entire Jewish people were polarized. And this is historical: it is known that Jesus Christ was a historical person and that he was crucified. That is one of the most thoroughly documented events of antiquity in human history. Neither the existence of Caesar, nor of Nero, nor of many others—Plato or Socrates or many of the great philosophers of history—has as much historical documentation supporting it as the existence of Jesus.

And those first Christians dared to say that Jesus had risen while many people who could have disproved their message were still alive. And these Christians were willing to go to their deaths... If they had been lying—if they were liars, people who made things up—unless they were collectively delusional and insane, they would not have gone to their deaths. The Apostle Peter was crucified; the Apostle Paul was also martyred. Many of the other disciples and Apostles were martyred, and they all died confessing that Jesus Christ had risen.

And if there had been any way to prove and show that Christ had not risen, those Jews who hated Jesus as the Messiah could have produced evidence somehow. Scripture says that Jesus’ body was guarded by Roman soldiers, who were later put to death because they could not account for how that body had escaped their custody.

And Christianity has always existed. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And still no one has truly been able to disprove that assertion of the people of God, and countless multitudes throughout history can say, ‘I know the risen Christ.’ Perhaps we have not seen him face-to-face, but we have felt the impact of his life upon our lives, yes or no?

When we call upon the name of Jesus, that unleashes power in our lives. How many of us have at times been filled with fear and anguish, and we have prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus, and the peace of God has come upon our hearts? Amen.

How many here can testify that they have received healing by praying to God in the name of Jesus Christ? Amen. And how many more in this place can say, ‘My life changed when I surrendered it to Christ Jesus’? How many families have been healed and transformed, brothers and sisters?

In the relatively short time that I have been a pastor, I have been able to see lives transformed when people have taken the person of Jesus Christ and the teachings of Jesus seriously. We have seen young people’s lives change. Samuel spoke of 16 young people who, through the ministry of this church, as well as in Lawrence through the HERC ministry there, belonging to another church, the Hispanic Evangelical Church of Lawrence, have been changed and blessed by things that Christ initiated through his Word, things that we have taken seriously, spreading the goodness of Christ through the ministries of this congregation.

Humanity has been transformed, brothers and sisters, by the life of Jesus Christ. No other figure in all of human history has had as much impact as Jesus, that solitary being born 2,000 years ago in an extremely obscure village in a very tiny country on the map of the world. The reverberations of his life and his impact are still felt in every nation of the world; the name of Jesus still intrigues people, and it still divides and causes society to tremble. Even now, when you mention the name of Jesus in certain settings here in the city of Boston, there is a kind of jolt among the people: they either line up with him, reject him, or become tense. But the name of Jesus causes something to happen in people’s hearts, because he is not a neutral man.

You cannot remain neutral before the name of Jesus. You must either say yes to him or say no to him, but you cannot remain neutral before Jesus Christ. There is power in the person of Jesus. There is strength in the name of Jesus Christ. And that risen Christ wants to reveal himself to our lives, and we have to proclaim him.

The first disciples—what we see here in this passage is that the preaching of the first disciples centered on the resurrection of Jesus. In his first sermon, the first thing the Apostle Peter did was tell them, ‘Look, gentlemen, that Christ, that humble Jesus whom you crucified and killed—that Jesus—God has appointed him as his representative here on earth; he has made him Lord of everything that exists. And you need to consider what you are going to do with him. You may reject him or accept him, but you have to do something with Jesus Christ.’

The church has to be aggressive, brothers and sisters, in preaching Jesus. We have something that is explosive, brothers and sisters; it is transformative; it changes hearts, it changes lives. I serve Jesus because I know there is no other profession like preaching the Word and facilitating people’s encounter with Christ, one that can bring about such rapid and total changes in people as when they surrender their lives to Jesus.

Psychiatrists—God bless them, how necessary they are—social workers, teachers, doctors: glory to God for devoted people who heal bodies and bless people. But listen to me, brothers and sisters, there is nothing like blessing someone by telling them, ‘Look, Christ loves you and can transform your life. Receive him and accept him.’ There is nothing like the ministry of the church, which places people’s hands in Jesus’ hand and tells them, ‘Walk with him, because he will never fail you, never betray you; all he will ever do is good for you. He will bless you, change your life, bring transformation to your life, unite you with the Father, and give you direct access to the throne of God.’

We have that risen Christ, and we have to be militant and celebrate what he has done in our lives. Peter was not afraid to proclaim Jesus before a skeptical crowd, a crowd that a few days earlier had shouted, ‘Crucify him, crucify him,’ when they were given the opportunity to release Jesus. And we as Christians have to be confident in our faith.

There are no undercover Christians, brothers and sisters. I have always said it: there are no Christians who go around hiding Jesus, doing this, then closing it again and sort of slipping away among the people, unsure whether they are Christians or not. Brothers and sisters, when a person receives Christ, that person must be militant in the faith; we must proclaim Jesus wherever we go. What we have is something exceptional. We have the power to open and close the blessings of heaven.

The Lord told us that, in the name of Jesus, whatever we bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever we loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. In the name of the risen Christ, we can bless lives and transform nations. I believe that if the church of Jesus Christ were more confident about what we have and more generous in sharing the message of the Gospel, many more people would already have entered into a transformed life, a changed life.

We need to proclaim the Gospel in every possible way. We need to proclaim the risen Christ in whatever way we can. There are very creative ways to do it. It is not just about coming here to church and listening to a preacher. I was telling the brothers and sisters this morning that Meche and I went to eat at a Brazilian restaurant—very good food. If there are any Brazilians here, by the way, Brazilian food is very good.

We went to eat at a Brazilian restaurant, and there was a gentleman whom we later thought was Korean, because Koreans are people who are very fervent in the Lord, and God has done great things in South Korea. This gentleman was sitting very close to us—the restaurant is small—at the next table. He was alone, and when his food arrived, he bowed his head and began to pray, and I noticed the people around him glancing at his table from time to time. And without exaggerating, he remained there praying for about four minutes, perhaps even five minutes, in reverence to the Lord. And I do not think it was because there was so much food that he had to pray for a long time to bless all of it. I believe this man was praying because, for him, it was a way of evangelizing, of declaring his faith before those who were there, of intriguing people and making them wonder, “Why is this man doing that?”

And you know what? I have noticed that when we pray in restaurants, for example, people watch respectfully, and their hearts are touched. Some time ago, we were actually in that same restaurant, and we prayed before eating. An African American couple sitting across from us said, “It has blessed us to see you praying.”

These are ways of proclaiming the Gospel. Why should we be ashamed, brothers and sisters, to proclaim a risen Christ? Many of us pray and do it very quickly so that no one notices. We fulfill our duty, but we just get it over with and move on. Hey, take your sweet time. Let people know, “I am a Christian—so what? My food is going to taste better because I prayed over it and thanked the Lord.”

At our workplaces, let us share the risen Christ; let us share him generously. We do not have to be disrespectful toward other religions, but we can certainly tell them, “You know, I have believed in Jesus, and that Christ accompanies me every day. That Christ is with me when I get on the bus; he is with me when I get up in the morning, when I go to bed, and when I am cooking, he inspires me, and the food I make tastes better. That Christ heals me, that Christ saves me, that Christ will receive me in eternity, and I want you to know him too, so that you do not miss this great opportunity.”

Let us be active. Carrying a Bible is a way of proclaiming the risen Christ. I know that, in this environment, we often do not want people to know our private business, but how beautiful it is when people out on the street see a Christian with a Bible—one of those six- or eight-pound Pentecostal Bibles tucked under the arm, you know, being carried like a briefcase with its little handles, which the brothers and sisters sometimes make for it, with its cover and everything. That is beautiful. It reminds people that we have not become so modern that we have forgotten the Christ who saved us.

Let us be aggressive, brothers and sisters, in the positive sense of the word. Let us celebrate a risen Christ. The Apostle Peter also spoke about how Christ had performed signs, miracles, and wonders. Why was he preaching? Because the Holy Spirit had fallen upon the disciples, and those disciples were speaking in different languages, different tongues. At that moment, they spoke in all the languages of the world. On that day of Pentecost, there were pilgrims from every part of the earth—Jews who had come to Jerusalem to worship the Lord in his temple during that sacred season of the Hebrew calendar.

And the Lord chose that particular day. There were people from every nation there, and the Lord poured out his Spirit. By having those Christians speak in different tongues, he was saying something: Christ is for every nation. Christ is universal. Christ is for the poor. Christ is for the rich. Christ is for the European and for the Caribbean. Christ is for the Afro-Caribbean and for the white person. Christ is for the rich and for the poor, for the person with blue eyes and the person with black or brown eyes. Christ is for everyone—for whoever desires him, for those who are far away and those who are near. The Lord is for every nation, every language, every culture. The Lord is universal; he is the Lord of the whole earth.

And we must proclaim the Gospel. I believe that God is preparing a great harvest at this time in history. And God wants everyone, Scripture says, to come to salvation and no one to perish. How are they going to learn about the Gospel if we do not proclaim it? How are they going to learn about the Gospel if we do not proclaim what Christ has done in our lives? And how are they going to believe in Christ if we do not support our preaching with a life lived victoriously?

And how does one live a victorious life? Well, by being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. These disciples spoke in tongues and prophesied because the Holy Spirit fell upon them, and their tongues were loosed, and they miraculously and supernaturally spoke in other languages. And that intrigued the people, and they wondered, “How is it possible for these uneducated people suddenly to speak in other languages?” And that was the opening God created so that the Apostle Peter could then proclaim the message and bring three thousand souls to the knowledge of Jesus.

Brothers and sisters, the resurrection of Christ opened up a realm of power for every Christian. When Christ rose again, he dealt death a mortal blow. In a sense, he killed death, and death is a symbol of everything terrible in humanity, everything negative, everything that disfigures, everything that impoverishes, everything that weakens humankind; all of it came as a consequence of death entering human creation. And when Christ died on the cross and was raised from the dead by the Father, he canceled the venom of death.

That is why Paul says in another passage, “...O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory? Death is swallowed up in victory.....”

Death was defeated, brothers and sisters. And when we enter into the economy of that risen Christ, you know what? We also enter into a life of victory, a realm of victory where God gives us power over all the negativity in the world. God gives us the potential power to live victorious lives.

If you are living a life of difficulty, tribulation, and defeat, my brother, my sister, I want to tell you: there is hope for you; Christ Jesus has the answer. Seek him, draw closer to him, fill yourself with him. Pray more, fast more, seek the fullness of the Holy Spirit, because the Lord has promised to give you victory in every situation in your life. The one who rose from the dead tells you, “You too can overcome.”

Christ said, “....In the world you will have affliction, but take heart; I have overcome the world....”

The Christ who overcame death tells you, “You can overcome too through me.” We must ask the Lord to enable us to live victorious lives. To our young people I say, “Young people, the most powerful way you will tell the world about a risen Christ is by showing the world that a Christian young person has resources that no other young person can have: getting good grades, working hard at your studies, succeeding in your studies, respecting your teachers, being ambitious in the positive sense of the word, living a successful life, living a life of hard work and respect for authorities, and prospering. In that way, you will tell the world, ‘I have something—a power that the rest of the young people who do not know Christ do not have.’”

To married couples I say, brothers and sisters, do not settle for limping along in marriages that are only more or less functional and barely surviving. The Lord has called you to have happy marriages, to be good friends, and not to settle for merely living together, paying bills, raising children, and regretting what you did ten, fifteen, five years ago, or whatever it may be. God calls us to have happy marriages.

The risen Christ says, “Look, I have the power to sweeten your bitter marriage. I have the power to transform your marriage and turn it into something flourishing, into a garden that people will look at and say, ‘Wow, who planted so many flowers in that garden?’” Do not settle for a troubled marriage. If both of you are walking in the Lord’s ways and seeking God, there is no reason why you cannot have the best marriage in the whole region, brothers and sisters—the best on the entire block. Work hard to have a happy marriage. Do not settle for mere coexistence, brothers and sisters.

The risen Christ says, “I can bless you. I want you to have an exemplary marriage, to love one another, to be lovers, to be good communicators, to be transparent with each other, to support each other, to be role models for your children, and to sustain one another in times of trial and difficulty.” Ask the risen Christ to give you a victorious marriage so that the world will say, “Wow, how do these people manage it? In a world where 50% of marriages end in disaster, how do these people have a happy, blessed marriage?” God can do it: bring your marriage to the Lord, submit to the word of Christ, and obey the Lord’s commandments. And if your spouse is not a Christian, look, sic Christ on them. Pray for them. Send the Holy Spirit after them. Ask the risen Christ to bring your wife or your husband to the knowledge of God, and he will do it.

How many people have we seen who did not even want to hear about Pastor Miranda, and now we see them here serving the Lord and becoming people who serve the Lord because they humbled themselves and sought God? God touched them. Sisters prayed, brothers prayed, and their wives came to the knowledge of Jesus. God can do it.

Parents, the same applies to your children. The risen Christ wants to reconcile parents with their children. I do not believe that our Latino community, or the African American community here in Boston, must resign itself to having disobedient, violent children. Violence is killing the city of Boston, brothers and sisters, as never before. There is a crisis in this city right now, let me tell you. Young people are killing one another left and right in the city of Boston. The mayor does not know what to do, the police do not know what to do, and the teachers do not know what to do. People walk the streets with fear in their hearts. I maintain that Christ has the answer and that if the church of Jesus submits to the word of God, if we live the kind of life God asks us to live, if we are humble and sanctify our homes, if we mend our marriages, if we are parents who embrace our children, sit down with them, and give them the attention they need, if we entrust our children to God night and morning and ask for the blessing of the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit upon them, brothers and sisters, our children will be blessed, our children will be protected, our children’s paths will be made straight, and their minds will be enlightened. Our children will succeed.

The Word says that our children will inherit the nations, our children will rebuild the ancient ruins, and our children will take fallen walls and restore them to the way they should be. The risen Christ will do the work in our children.

Let us not settle. Let us not settle for the current state of things. We, the children of God, have the right to aspire to the loveliest and most beautiful things, to a blessed community. I want to see the glory of God burst forth at least in this Latino community and, as time goes by, in the communities affiliated with our church. We want to see more and more young people finishing their studies, more and more young people buying their homes, as many have already done, and more and more young people receiving leadership positions in their corporations and in healthcare institutions—in the city’s educational, corporate, and legal institutions—because God is a mighty God, and the risen Christ has released blessing for everyone who draws near to him.

God wants to bless our church and our communities. Every one of us here is a warrior in disguise. Every one of us is a potential revolutionary. We can bless our homes, bless our neighborhoods, and bless our schools.

Young person, when you go to school, understand that it is not merely a neutral young person who is going. No, the power of the Holy Spirit goes with you, the Kingdom of God goes within you, the power that God wants to unleash in your school, in the streets, wherever you go. Remember the risen Christ who lives within you, the Christ who unleashed power. That Christ who was raised from the dead dwells among us today.

I leave you with a portion of Scripture that I love very much and that is always an inspiration to me when I feel that I do not have what I need to deal with life’s struggles and crises, and it speaks to us precisely about the risen Christ. It is found in Ephesians, Chapter 1. The Apostle Paul speaks—I believe you already know this Scripture well because I have referred to it on other occasions. The Apostle says to the Ephesians:

“.... I do not cease to give thanks—verse 16, Ephesians 1:16—..... I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.... —he prays for the Ephesians, and he also prays for us gathered here this afternoon—.... that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, enlightening the eyes of your understanding.....”

In other words, God wants you to receive wisdom and understanding for one thing. Look at what it is for. It says:

“.... that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you...”

Do you know that when Christ died on the cross, when he rose again, he opened the doors of hope? You no longer live a monotonous and defeated life here. You must now live with the hope of a heavenly homeland to which God has called you: resurrection, eternal life. You are already living in eternity; there are no longer any borders for you. A child of God is a child of hope. We live... tomorrow will always be better than today. God has unleashed hope over your life.

It says: “..... and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints....”

Brothers and sisters, God has bestowed riches upon his children; he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. I believe that if we knew how many beautiful things God has placed in our hands and in our lives, how much potential he has given us, and how many resources we have, we would be celebrating as though we had won the lottery, because there are so many good things. How rich is the blessing God has bestowed upon his children!

And lastly it says: “.... and what is the surpassing greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power...”

God has unleashed power over your life—the power of the risen Christ, power to overcome any crisis. I know that many of you are going through difficult situations. Perhaps there are financial difficulties in your life right now; perhaps there are difficulties involving illness. I know that some of my brothers and sisters are sick. Perhaps there are documentation problems, and there is uncertainty in your life. Perhaps there is uncertainty regarding your living situation or some family matter, but I want to tell you: ‘Do not abandon the battle, do not throw in the towel, do not despair. God is with you. God has declared power over your life, power to overcome.’

The Apostle Paul says earlier that in all these things we are more than conquerors. God is at work in your process. Perhaps the answer is not coming as quickly as you would like, but the Lord has declared power over your life, and the risen Christ has taken notice of your need. He will not leave you; he will be there with you. Do not get off the bus too early, you know? Stay right there with your Christ until he gives the answer. In your struggle, you will be a conqueror.

Then the Apostle Paul says, “... the power toward us who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come....”

So, my brother, my sister, the same power that raised Christ from the dead is within you.

Say with me, ‘I have the power. The same power that raised Christ from the dead dwells within me. God has made me rich, and God has poured hope over my life, and I will walk in that hope, I will walk in those riches, I will walk in that power, and I will live in the authority and power of the risen Christ. Amen and amen.’

Give the Lord a round of applause. Glory to God.

Musicians, come on over here. Amen. Amen. That, brothers and sisters, is what the resurrection is about. It is about the implications the resurrection has for our lives, for our daily living. The resurrection is not something merely historical or theological, something of merely intellectual or academic interest. No, it is something that has implications every day, when we leave our homes for work and when we return at night. The resurrection of Jesus reminds us that we are blessed people; we are the most blessed people on the entire earth.

Brothers and sisters, one last thing: I want you to bow your head for a moment, and we are going to have a moment of meditation on the Lord before we leave here. I want to invite my brothers and sisters to renew their commitment to the risen Christ this afternoon. I want all of us to say to the Lord right now, ‘Lord, I commit myself to you again. I confess you as my Savior, and I believe that your Father raised you from the dead; you did not remain in the tomb. The tomb is empty. You are the living Christ whom I serve and in whom I place my hope.’

Renew your covenant and your commitment to the Lord Jesus at this moment. The risen Christ is saying to you right now, ‘I am with you. Do not worry. I will walk with you every day of your life. Even though you face difficulties, do not worry; I went through difficulties. I know what it is to suffer. I know what it is to be alone. I know what it is to be rejected by my own people when I did not expect it. I know what it is to be persecuted. I know what it is to have the devil’s wrath directed against me, but I overcame it all, and I will help you overcome as well. I will accompany you every day of your life until the end of your days, and I will not leave you. I will fight all your battles with you, and I will never allow you to be put to shame if you remain close to me. I will protect you and fight on your behalf like a lion, and no one will snatch you from my hands; no one will harm you while you shelter under my shadow.’

And I want to invite anyone who has received a challenge in their life this afternoon and who has not yet taken a step of faith in their walk with the Lord. If you have still not given the Lord your soul and your life—given them to that risen Christ—I would like to invite you, before you leave here today, to take a step of faith, surrender your life to the Lord Jesus, place your hand in his hand, and say to him, ‘Lord, I want to walk with you from this day forward, and I will live a life of victory in you. I have not done it before, but today I commit myself to you; today I surrender myself to you, and I want to be your follower.’

I am not asking you to commit yourself to Lion of Judah, or to me, or to this community. That is not what this is about. It is about placing your hand in the hand of the Lord Jesus and doing what billions of human beings have done throughout history. For two thousand years, ever since Christ rose again, Christians have been saying, ‘I cast my lot with the risen Christ. I place my bet on him and stake my life on his being who he says he is.’

The Word says that when we confess him publicly, receive him into our hearts, and believe that he is the Lord, the Son of God, we are saved. When we repent of our sins and know that he is the mediator, that gives us access to the Father and brings us into that realm of hope, power, and riches of which the Apostle Paul spoke a moment ago in the passage we read.

If you want to receive Jesus, that is between you and the Lord. Would you like us to pray for you? Raise your hand wherever you are, and we want to pray for you this afternoon. Is there anyone who will invite Jesus to enter their heart and who wants to confess him as Lord and Savior? Perhaps up there in the balcony or here in one of the seats? Today is a fitting day for us to bring our lives and surrender them to the Lord.

Is there anyone? Raise your hand, and we will pray for you this afternoon. God bless you. This sister here is raising her hand, and this young man. There is no shame in that, brother; do not worry. It is a blessing. Another hand is raised over there; this young woman here as well. Anyone else over here? This young girl too. Back there, I see a sister with her hand raised. Amen. Amen. Anyone else? Do not be afraid. This is not a human commitment you are making; this is not with men, this is not with me—it is with God. I bless those raised hands. Glory to the Lord. Glory to the Lord.

Men are surrendering their lives to the Lord; young people are surrendering their lives to the Lord—how wonderful. Men and women are surrendering their lives to the Lord. Glory to God for that. God is doing a work in those hearts. Amen and amen. Glory to the Lord. Amen.

It is a precious moment. Peter preached to that multitude, and three thousand people came to the Lord’s feet through that first sermon Peter preached.

Would you like to come up here to the front for a moment? I want to pray for you. Do not be ashamed; come up here quickly. Do not worry. Your brothers and sisters here are accompanying you and supporting you in prayer, and they are saying, ‘We are with you.’

Thousands upon thousands of people have done this throughout history, and there has been great blessing. Come over here for a moment and do not be afraid, and God will touch your life. God will confirm what he has done in your heart this afternoon.

Today, Resurrection Day, how beautiful it is to invite Christ to come into our hearts; today is a precious day. Remember this day. I was telling the brothers and sisters this morning: write this day in a personal journal, if you have one, or in a Bible that we can give you if you wish. Write it in some important document you keep in a safe place and say, ‘On this day, Resurrection Sunday 2007, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ.’ And I promise you that the Lord will change your life.

I am told that downstairs there are people raising their hands, and how wonderful that is. I bless you in the name of Jesus. I declare that the grace of the Lord reaches your life there where you are as well. Glory to God, and we bless you. I know that things will never be the same for you, you know? You will never be the same again. The Lord will change your heart today. God will do a work; God will do a special work in your life.

Do not be afraid to cry. Those tears are tears of blessing. Those tears are tears of deliverance; they are tears through which all bitterness and pain depart. How good it is to surrender our lives to the Lord and rest in his arms. All pain departs in the name of Jesus right now. All tension dissipates in the name of Jesus. All bitterness, all guilt, every accusation of the devil—we rebuke and bind them in the name of Christ, and we declare God’s blessing over your life right now. Receive it in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, receive peace, joy, blessing, freedom, forgiveness of sins, and reconciliation with God, in the mighty name of Jesus.

The risen Christ is entering your life right now. The risen Christ is entering your heart right now. Say with me there, quietly, to yourself and to the Lord, ‘Lord Jesus, I receive you into my heart and confess you as my Lord and my Savior. I repent of my sins and place my hand in your hand, and I make you my master and my ruler, my counselor and my friend, my support and my protector. I surrender myself to you forever; I will walk with you step by step into eternity. Thank you, Lord, for receiving me. You are the Lord; you are the Son of God. You rose from the dead and died for me, and I receive your sacrifice in your name, Jesus. Amen. Amen.’

Right now, you are one of God’s chosen ones, whether a woman or a man. Right now the Holy Spirit enters your life and does a transforming work. And to conclude, I want to ask the musicians to come over here, and while we sing one last chorus, I will touch your forehead with oil as a symbol that today you too receive the anointing of the Holy Spirit. When Christ enters our hearts, the Holy Spirit also enters, and the Holy Spirit becomes your counselor. The Holy Spirit will be within you every day of your life to guide, protect, and keep you. And I will take a little oil, symbolically anointing you and declaring God’s blessing and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within you.

Remember that when you walk, the Holy Spirit walks with you; wherever you go, the Holy Spirit goes with you, and he will be your helper in every difficult situation. The Lord will be with you.

So, brothers and sisters, let us continue there in prayer, or if you wish to stand and sing with the others, you may do so. But in this solemn moment, we are also going to remember what Christ did for us, the price he paid, and how he saved us through his resurrection.