November 2005 | www.ssvoice.com

Death and Life
2005 : November  |  Website Version

Today’s message is from Kevin Mounce. Kevin was saved in 1994 at the age of 19. He has spent all of his life in the Central Illinois area where he met and married his girlfriend. Kevin was a pastor at a small Baptist Church in Towanda for about a year and a half, and he currently attends Calvary Baptist Ministries in Bloomington, Illinois. The church Kevin currently attends is pastored by the man who led him to Jesus Christ. As Kevin recalls his conversion, he reluctantly talked to the pastor about Christianity, but on their second meeting, He accepted Jesus Christ as Savior in the pastor’s living room.

Kevin is in the process of writing a book, and he has started an Online Counseling website known as ComeAliveCounseling.com. We hope Kevin’s message today is a blessing to you.

John 10:10, as revealed by the Holy Spirit to Kevin Mounce...

I may get in trouble for saying this, but I think we spend too much time on the death of Jesus Christ (see, I told you I’d get in trouble!). Now, before you brand me as a heretic, just hear me out. I understand that Christ had to suffer and die. I understand that that was the cup that He chose to drink from. I understand the sacrifice that He made on my behalf. I get all that…and I am neither trying to minimize it nor am I trying to make the case that it shouldn’t be talked about and preached about on a regular basis. What I am saying is this…when you talk about the death of Christ, don’t forget to mention that there was a Resurrection!

After all, isn’t that what the Apostles spoke of when they preached?

         In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus…Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us…For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."

Acts 1:15-16, 21-22 (NIV)

         Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Acts 4:8-12 (NIV)

         …Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.

Acts 17:18 (NIV)

The resurrection is what makes the Gospel, “The Good News”. John Eldredge, in his book, “Waking the Dead,” states that, “The cross was never meant to be the only or even the central symbol of Christianity.” He goes on to say:

         “Paul says so himself: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17)… The early Christian church symbolized the Resurrection, healings and miracles because the church thought those things were central. The reason the first and closest friends of Jesus focused on miracles, healings, and hopeful aspects of the faith such as the Ascension and the Resurrection was simply that those are what God himself wants us to focus on. Those are the point. Those make Christianity such very good news. A dead man is not a great deal of help to us; a dead God is even worse. But life, real life, the power of God to restore you…now that’s a whole different matter.”

'A whole different matter,' indeed. It’s the difference between life and death. Our Lord has been raised from the dead. He’s no longer in the grave. Death has been swallowed up in victory. He came that we might have life and have it to the full…and it’s time that we start taking Him up on His offer.

Christians are sometimes a very depressing group of people to be around: whining and complaining and mumbling about all the ‘crosses they bear’. Listen, the cross has already been borne. The battle has been won. The victory is ours. We should be the most joyful people on the face of the planet. So joyful, in fact, that others are drawn to us because of our zest for life, instead of repelled by us because of our cynical attitude. I understand that life is no picnic, and I’m not encouraging you to behave as if nothing is wrong when there really is. Be transparent and genuine. Be sincere. Be honest about your trials and your struggles, but understand that Jesus did not come merely to die. He came that you might have life…and have it to the full!

*** Words of Jesus Christ appear in red

Works Sited

Eldredge, John. “Waking the Dead.” Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2003. 64-65.

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John 10:10 (NASB)

¹⁰ “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.”

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	In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus…Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us…For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection."
	Acts 1:15-16, 21-22 (NIV)


	Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."
	Acts 4:8-12 (NIV)


	…Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.
	Acts 17:18 (NIV)


	“Paul says so himself: “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith…If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:14, 17)… The early Christian church symbolized the Resurrection, healings and miracles because the church thought those things were central. The reason the first and closest friends of Jesus focused on miracles, healings, and hopeful aspects of the faith such as the Ascension and the Resurrection was simply that those are what God himself wants us to focus on. Those are the point. Those make Christianity such very good news. A dead man is not a great deal of help to us; a dead God is even worse. But life, real life, the power of God to restore you…now that’s a whole different matter.”