BY: Dr. John R. Bisagno

FORDOCHE

09-11-94

12/08/96

C:\SERMONS\MATT\MATT28.WPD

BY: Dr. John R. Bisagno

 SERMON TITLE

1. Power to let go

when you want to hang on

2. Power to hang on

when you want to turn loose

MATTHEW 28:1-6

1. In the end of the sabbath,

as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.

2. And behold, there was a great earthquake: for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it.

3. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow:

4. And for fear of him the keepers did shake,

and became as dead men.

5. And the angel answered and said unto the women,

Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.

6. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

The story of

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST

is the most powerful event ever known.

Men have always been intrigued

with the concept that a man

could be raised from the dead.

It was the most visual demonstration

of the power of God working,

that has ever been recorded in history.

It is a story that we can believe:

because the Bible records it,

because of our own experience with Christ,

because our heart tells us:

Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

We're here today because

we believe it.

But more than that,

we're here today

because we have experienced it.

There's a power that's at work in our lives

and the Bible tells us

IT IS THE POWER

THAT BROUGHT CHRIST FROM THE GRAVE.

No nation,

no society

in the history of the world

has ever needed answers,

has ever longed for power

more than this one.

Now,

that's a theological truth,

that's an experiential reality,

and that's a historical fact.

But the question, today,

2,000 years later

that must be answered is: "So what?

So Jesus Christ arose from the grave 2,000 years ago.

What does that say to me today

in my crazy, mixed-up society?"

The world is looking for answers.

What does Jesus Christ

have to say to this kind of a world?

What does the resurrection

have to say to us today?

In the book of Hebrews,

the apostle Paul

in the very closing verses of chapter 13

gives us an answer:

Hebrews 13:20-21

20. Now the God of peace,

that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus,

that great shepherd of the sheep,

through the blood of the everlasting covenant,

21. Make you perfect (that means strong, finished),

completed in every good work to do his will,

working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight,

through Jesus Christ;

to whom be glory for ever and ever.

"That same power

that's brought our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead

worketh in you [A-L-L],

to bring you to completion,

to bring you to fulfillment."

There's the answer.

The power to bring a man to life from the grave:

is the precise same power

that lives in the heart of

the believer in Jesus Christ.

We don't have to be suicidal,

we don't have to be fatalistic.

There is power,

resurrection power,

and it's the power to do the will of God.

It's the power to make you complete.

It is power to live day in and day out.

To understand

how the power is going to meet our needs

we have to understand what our needs are.

We have two basic needs in our lives ...

Number 1,

in a seductive,

temptation-filled society,

young men and women

that would dare to be strong,

that would stand by what is right,

must have:

THE POWER TO LET GO

WHEN THEY WANT TO HANG ON.

Now, there's a lot of sin in the world.

There's a lot of temptation.

But you don't have to be weak.

You don't have to stumble

every time the Devil sticks out his foot.

There is POWER,

resurrection power,

TO TURN LOOSE,

WHEN YOU WANT TO HANG ON.

ILLUSTRATION:

It was that power

that helped the beautiful Queen Vashti (VASH tie)

to be true, in the book of Esther.

She was the queen and her husband the king ...

ruled over a province that included Persia,

that included all the wealth of the known world,

that extended from India all the way down to Ethiopia.

Now, she was the queen sitting on top of all that oil ...

the most powerful woman in the world.

One night at the end of a 6 month celebration feast,

there was a week-long party,

and when the wine had made the king heady,

he demanded that the queen come in and dance naked

and display her beauty before all the lords of the kings and the queens

of the provinces over which they ruled.

But Vashti (VASH tie) refused to do so.

She knew that it would cost her position.

She knew that it would cost her wealth.

She knew that it might even cost her life,

which ultimately it did.

And there was a strong power,

a strong pull at her life to hang on,

to do what was wrong,

to hang on to the things

that were really not important

when all of the virtue

and her modesty

and her decency said: "DON'T DO IT."

And Vashti (VASH tie)

had the power to say no

and walked out of that room

with nothing left

but her modesty and self-respect.

THE PULL OF THE WORLD,

the power of sin,

the temptation,

inducement to evil.

And everything in your base nature,

everything in your flesh is saying,

Hang on to sin.

Hang on to lust.

Hang on to the world.

All the psycho-analysts,

all the psycho-analysis

and all the psycho-therapy

and all the education in the world

won't do you any good

when your blood races with the wind,

when temptation is strong,

when everything inside you says, "Hang on,"

and the power of God is saying, "Let go."

IT'S ONLY THE HOLY SPIRIT that can see you through.

THAT'S THE RESURRECTION POWER

AND IT'S AVAILABLE.

STORY:

It was that same power when the three Hebrew children,

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were tempted.

They were told to bow down

and worship the heathen idols

but they were true to Jehovah God.

They knew that they would lose their life.

They would lose their position.

They would lose everything that normally was dear.

When they were thrust into the fire:

they found that there was a fourth man in the fire

likened unto the Son of God.

God never promises

to save you out of the furnace

but He gives you the power

to turn loose and stand for Him

and promises to deliver you

in the midst of the fire.

STORY:

It was that same resurrection power when:

Daniel made his stand.

STORY:

You remember the story of Moses.

When he realized he had an allegiance to God

but he had a strong force that was pulling him.

He was chairman of the board.

He was going to be president of the company.

He was going to rule over all of Egypt.

How can a man find the strength

to let go

when he wants to hang on?

That strength is the power of God

and it is the SAME resurrection power

that brought Christ from the grave

that's the SAME power available to you, today.

 SECOND POWER

II. But there's another kind of power that men need:

and that's:

THE POWER TO HANG ON

WHEN YOU WANT TO TURN LOOSE.

I realize that many of our people

go through deep waters

and struggle with problems

when the windows of Heaven seem to be closed

and the voice of God doesn't come

and answers to prayers don't happen.

And we're going through single parenthood

and we're going through divorce

and we go through the valley of the shadow of death

and we go through things

that make us wonder if God's still alive.

Many people come to the very edge,

when like Job, of old, who's wife finally said,

"Why don't you just curse God and die?"

And Job said,

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

The Bible never said that:

you won't walk through the shadow of death

but it did say:

"You will be able to WALK THROUGH

the valley of the shadow of death."

You don't have to RUN THROUGH it. Or stay in it.

You can walk soberly through the problems of life ...

death,

bankruptcy,

temptation,

divorce,

discouragement,

unanswered prayer,

whatever it is.

When everything inside of you is saying,

"There's an easier way to do this,

don't trust God,"

turn loose of your Christian faith and let it go.

God gives you the strength to hang on

and to say with Job,

"Though He slay me, I'll still trust Him,"

Whatever your need is today,

the POWER TO LET GO

when you want to hang on,

the POWER TO HANG ON

when you want to Let go.

I promise you, the power of Jesus Christ,

the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit,

is available and accessible to you

and you can be the kind of PERSON you want to be.

The power is not your power.

The power comes in answer to surrender.

Is God's power

and it comes to the man

who is willing to give himself to the Lord.

You can be the kind of person you want to be.

Resurrection power for today ...

it's power to let go when you want to hang on

It’s power to hang on when you want to let go

and it's available to you.