Obviously, I do believe that Jesus rose from the dead. As Paul said, 1 Corinthians 15:3 “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.” The word farce can mean “a ridiculous situation or event, or something considered a waste of time.” The reason I say that the ritual of Easter is a farce is that most in the church, although they say they believe Jesus rose from the dead, do not believe in the power that raised Jesus from the dead,. Most participate in the yearly ritual of Easter by gathering a few eggs, going to a special service and then gathering again for a meal with loved ones. Then this ritual is repeated year after year and eyes are never opened to the power they are celebrating, nor do they see the power of Easter. Paul said Ephesians 1:18 “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”
Most eyes remain closed to the glorious inheritance of His holy people; the power that raised Jesus from the dead, the power and authority that was given to the church. Many are completely unaware of this power that is available to all believers and some intentionally teach against this power to their own demise. Others think the power they see is of God, but they have not tested the spirits and have been deceived. Since Jesus is alive, disciples still should be going out and continuing to destroy the work of the devil just as Paul said. Acts 26:17 “I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” The problem is that most do not believe the same power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to the church, thus the ritual of Easter is a farce. Easter has become a story from the past that has no relevance for today. As Paul said 2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people,” and 1 Corinthians 4:20 “the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” Nowhere does scripture say that power is not available. The only place you hear that is from the false teachers and prophets who teach that lie from satan. We were warned, 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” What scripture does say is when God’s people rebel against Him, God turns His face, and His people become powerless. Isaiah 47:6 “I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your (Babylon) hand, and you showed them no mercy.” Ezekiel 39:23 “And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies, and they all fell by the sword. 24 I dealt with them according to their uncleanness and their offenses, and I hid my face from them.” Today most would say God is a God of love and would never do such a thing but scripture states otherwise and yes God would do such a thing as we see here. Isaiah 10:5 “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hand is the club of my wrath! 6 I send him against a godless nation, I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets. 12 When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, “I will punish the king of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”
The church followed Israel and Judah into rebellion and turned away from the word of the Lord and just as Israel and Judah were punished, God allowed the abomination that causes desolation to almost destroy the church. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” Many will say God would never but scripture again states otherwise. God used Babylon and Assyria to carry out His wrath against His people. A Babylonian commander even described this. Jeremiah 40:2 “When the commander of the guard found Jeremiah, he said to him, “The Lord your God decreed this disaster for this place. 3 And now the Lord has brought it about; he has done just as he said he would. All this happened because you people sinned against the Lord and did not obey him.” The same happened with Israel because they refused to obey the word of the Lord. 2 Kings 17:6 “In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes. 7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets. 14 But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God.” Isaiah 47:6 “I was angry with my people and desecrated my inheritance; I gave them into your hand, and you showed them no mercy.” Following other gospels is the same as following other gods and the church has been given over to our enemies.
The good news is that God promised David that there would always be a remnant. Even though God punished His people for their rebellion, there would be a remnant of survivors. He would also punish Assyria and Babylon for the arrogance. Jeremiah 50:18 “I will punish the king of Babylon and his land as I punished the king of Assyria.” Jeremiah 51:24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.” Jeremiah 50:31 “See, I am against you, you arrogant one,” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty, for your day has come, the time for you to be punished. 32 The arrogant one will stumble and fall and no one will help her up.” The truth of God’s word says Easter is not a farce and power is available to the church to defeat our enemies, Ephesians 6:12 “the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Our enemies will once again be defeated and the church will rise up and do as Jesus did and Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” But as Jesus said, only a few would survive. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” Many did not listen. That statement by Jesus should not come as a surprise because Jesus also said to the person that asked Luke 13:24 “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!’” Oddly if you were to ask most people who go to church, most will tell you they will see eternal life even though most do not believe what Jesus said and still think everyone who goes to church and even those who do not are safe and secure because God is a God of love.
Therefore because of the distorted view of God that most have, the celebration of the ritual of Easter is a farce, but it does not have to be. Because Jesus lives, the power that raised Jesus from the dead is available to all who would believe, but our eyes must be open to this power as Paul prayed. Yes, the church should be celebrating but not just once a year. Every day the church should be Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost all in one, not just a few days on the calendar. Jesus said, Mark 1:15 “The time has come, the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” This is what happens when the kingdom comes near. Jesus told His disciples, Mark 16:15 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” That power would come at Pentecost, which was the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus had told them Luke 24:46 “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
The church was then empowered to go to the ends of the earth with the same power and authority that Jesus had and the same power that raised Him from the dead. Pentecost was not a one-time event, but was the power behind the church, but just as Israel and Judah turned away, the church also turned away which started during the life of the apostle Paul. Actually, people turned away even when Jesus walked this earth, and they still turn away from Him till this day. John 6:66 “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all.” Like with Israel and Judah, God turned His face from the church and today there are only a few survivors scattered throughout this world. The remnant of survivors is not a group of people, with distinct doctrines and theology, who call themselves the remnant like some groups do today and who say they are the only church. Oddly, most churches say that, just not out loud.
To be part of the remnant, you must turn from wicked ways. 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” When Peter preached at Pentecost, the people were cut to the heart. Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Jesus died for the sins of the world, which includes you and I, but because the church has turned away, we are in the same position as the few who listened to Peter. That gift is available for us to today but the gift is not just talk but power. So many say they are filled with the Holy Spirit but there is no power. As we can see from the Jews, most did not listen and now the church has done the same. Hebrews 10:29 “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Today the church is filled with corruption, other gospels are taught and other Jesus’ are followed. Jeremiah was told Jeremiah 9:6 “You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,” declares the Lord.”
To repent, we must acknowledge the church has turned away from God’s word. Turning away from wicked ways includes areas of sin in our lives but more importantly it is to turn away from the wicked ways of the church. There is no such thing as Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Reformed, Pentecostal… Christian, though we have been led to believe this is the church Jesus started, but it is not as it looks nothing like the church Jesus is the head of. There is no power and authority over our enemies. We are told Zechariah 1:3 “‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” You can’t return and still follow other gospels and a different Jesus, but if you do repent and return, God will turn His face back and empower His church once again. Just as Assyria and Babylon were defeated, the abomination that causes desolation will be defeated also. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. 6 “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.’” Daniel 9:27 “And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
When the court does sit, there will be great rejoicing in the land as the church is finally restored. Isaiah 12:1 “In that day you will say: I will praise you, Lord. Although you were angry with me, your anger has turned away and you have comforted me. 2 Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord, the Lord himself, is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.” 3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.” Jeremiah 51:6 “Flee from Babylon! Run for your lives! Do not be destroyed because of her sins. It is time for the Lord’s vengeance; he will repay her what she deserves.” 36 Therefore this is what the Lord says: “See, I will defend your cause and avenge you; I will dry up her sea and make her springs dry. 37 Babylon will be a heap of ruins. 56 A destroyer will come against Babylon; her warriors will be captured, and their bows will be broken. For the Lord is a God of retribution; he will repay in full.” Isaiah 47:4 “Our Redeemer—the Lord Almighty is his name— is the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 54:7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.” Job 19:25 “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” Psalm 27:13 “I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Isaiah 35:3 “Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; 4 say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you. 8 And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it. 9 No lion will be there, nor any ravenous beast; they will not be found there. But only the redeemed will walk there, 10 and those the Lord has rescued will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” Isaiah 66:6 “Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the Lord repaying his enemies all they deserve.” Jeremiah 51:10 “‘The Lord has vindicated us; come, let us tell in Zion what the Lord our God has done.’” Isaiah 25:9 “In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”
Jesus said, John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The church does not believe this because so many go their own way and in rebellion have turned away from truth. Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” Because of God’s compassion we have this hope; the church will once again go out in truth, and have power and authority to defeat our enemies. Once again the Good news will be preached, the sick healed and demons cast out. No longer will the church bow to the work and power of their own hands. Hosea 14:3 “We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” The power that raised Jesus from the dead is still available and once again the kingdom will come near. Easter is not a farce and the power that raised Jesus from the dead will once again be given to the church. Acts 15:16 “‘After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, 17 that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who bear my name, says the Lord, who does these things’— 18 things known from long ago.” This is what Jesus did, Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Jesus said go and do the same. John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
After Pentecost, the church did as Jesus did. Acts 4:29 “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 32 All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. 33 With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all 34 that there were no needy persons among them.” Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” This was to continue.
We have hope because as Daniel said, Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” So we too can praise as David praised. 1 Chronicles 29:10 “David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly, saying, “Praise be to you, Lord, the God of our father Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. 11 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. 12 Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. 13 Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.”
