Happy Easter, He Is Alive! - with Paul Allen

Episode Transcript

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Faith and goal must be God lovewith Here's the host of faith and goal,
the voice of the Minnesota Vikings,Paul Allen. Hey there, and
happy Easter Week from the Christ believingcrew that makes up Faith and Goal.

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What an awesome week and what anawesome day. Easter Sunday is. It's
the greatest day in the history ofthe world, courtesy of the greatest man
in the history of the universe,our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who the Bible teaches was God asman on earth. Now I'm fifty eight

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years old, and until a JuneDay five years ago, I had no
idea the significance of Easter Sunday andthat it truly is the greatest day in
the history of mankind. Always believedin God and prayed the Lord's prayer and
thanked God for even the simplest ofthings, always as in my whole life.
But until five years ago, neverhad read a word in the Bible

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and had no idea of the significanceof the resurrection, God as Man beating
the grave and bringing the Holy Spiritinto the world. That's what the Bible
teaches, and I absolutely believe.Until learning and loving scripture, your announcer
didn't know. God never intended forman to go to Hell. It was

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designed for the devil and his turncode angels never knew. Despite our rebellion
and rejection of God's word, hestill loves and gives grace and mercy and
never stops. After all, He'sour father. He's the shepherd, and
we are the sheep, forever goingour own way, with our own will,

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and creeping perilously close to the edgesof cliffs or into caves followed by
wolves, because we proudly are stupidsheep and nothing without God, our shepherd.
This is the greatest part of mylife, and I mean all fifty
eight years, because now I know, as the Bible teaches, Christ took

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the hell you and I deserve thatGood Friday rose three days later, and
simplistic as it may seem, beliefin that gift God gave people for all
time is the only way to salvationand paradise after we die. I wholeheartedly
believe that, and pine for opportunitiesto share whenever God presents the honor.

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I wrote so much more to commemorateEaster, the greatest day in the history
of mankind, as taught by thegreatest story in the history of mankind.
Then I heard something. It wasthe great evangelist Billy Graham, May God
Rest his soul. Flipping through theYouTube stuff I like to watch and listen

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to up pop Billy Graham doing asermon for tens of thousands in Greenville,
South Carolina. It's called Life afterDeath. It celebrates Easter, and it's
a Billy Graham classic. Enough ofme, it's Billy Graham eloquently laying out
no matter how many Faith and Goldpodcast one does, amount of times we
pray a day, confess to apriest, lead Bible studies, or help

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old ladies across the street, theEaster gift of grace, mercy, redemption,
love and forgiveness God gave us,truly is the only root to heaven.
And that's where the sheep get tomeet the shepherd. Billy Graham,
nineteen sixty six, South Carolina.Let's open the hearts and enjoy. Now

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tonight, I want you to turnwith me to Jube the fourteenth chapter.
I'm the fourteenth verse. Jube thefourteenth the fourteenth verse. Now, Job
is in the Old Testament, andit's the oldest book in the world.
There is no known book in theworld as old as the Book of Job.

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And yet Job ask a question thatI'm sure disturbs many of you tonight.
He asked a question that every greatphilosopher has wrestled with. He asked
a question that every great thinker andintellectual at some time wrestles with. He
asks the same question that one ofthe greatest scientists in this country asked me

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about three weeks ago. He said, science knows nothing about it. But
he said, I'm disturbed about itand worried about it. Here is the
question. If a man die,shall he live again? If a man

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die, shall he live again?The problem of death and life? Are
life and death? Haven't you everthought about that? You've been to a
funeral for a few moments, you'resolemn, you're thoughtful. That night,
you go back, you go tobed, you think about it. One

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of these days they're going to betaking me out to the cemetery. They'll
be saying some words over me.Is that the end? Is it all
over? You know what the Biblesays. The Bible says there's a time
to be born and a time todie. Birth is a happy event.

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Death is a tragic event, andwe have tears. You take the fifth
chapter of Genesis and you'll see thelist of all those men that live to
be old men. Adam lived ninehundred and thirty years, but he died.
Mathuslave one hundred and sixty nine years, but he died. I read

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about a man the other day inBrazil that they claim lived one hundred and
thirty four years, but he died. At the end of every life is
dead. Life is very brief.The Bible says, it's a tale that
is told. It's a weaver's shuttle, It's a flower that fades. It's

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like the grass that withers. HenryWadsworth Longfellow expressed it once when he said
art is long, and time isfleeting, and our hearts, though stout
and brave, still like muffled drumsof beating funeral marches to the grave.

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And that's exactly where we're all headed. It is a pointed unto man wants
to die, Thou shalt die andnot live. Now the great question is
are you ready to meet God?Because the Bible says it's appointed and a
man wants to die. But afterthat, the judgment, there is something

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after death according to this book.Now again, I say, I can't
take you a scientific laboratory and proveit to you. But this book teaches,
from Genesis to Revelation that this lifeis only a preparation room for eternity.
There is another life. The OldTestament teaches it, the New Testament
teaches it. Jesus taught it,the Apostles taught it. If a man

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dies, shall he live again?That's the question Jove asked. That's the
question that Millian's asking tonight. Andthe answer from the Bible is a resounding
yes. Yes, there is alife after death. If a man dies,

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shall he live again? Cisroe Romanssaid, upon this subject, I
entertained no more than conjecture. I'vespent a great deal of my life searching
for the answer. Missus Roosevelt EwnorRoosevelt, in one of our columns a
few years ago, said, it'sinstinctive for man to believe in life after
death, and it is. Younever find a tribe anywhere in the world,

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you never find a culture, younever find a civilization anywhere in history
that didn't believe in some form oflife after death. And when the early
forefathers and pilgrims came to this country. They thought they had found some tribes
in New England that didn't believe,tribes of Indians that didn't believe in life
after death. But they soon foundwhen they communicated with them, that they

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believed in the happy hunting ground.Yes, man, instinctively, something down
inside says, there must be afuture life, there must be something beyond
this life. But after all,there's only one authoritative person that can speak
on this subject. Because he camefrom the grave. He rose, and

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his name was Jesus Christ. Abouttwo or three years ago I had the
privilege of having an interview with ChancellorConrad Adenau in his last year in office
as Chancellor of Germany. He hadinvited me. I was preaching in Germany
and he had invited me to comeand see him. And I didn't know
what about. I was quite surprisedand of course flattered to get the invitation,

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and I went. He greeted me, big tall, giant of a
man, the man that had almostsingle handedly brought democracy back to Germany after
the war. And I wondered,what does this great man want of me.
The first question he asked me wasthis he said, do you believe

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in life after death? I said, yes, Sir, I do.
I said, I believe the Bibleteaches it. He said, I do
too. He said, I amstudying the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And
he said, when I leave officeas Chancellor, I intend to spend the

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rest of my life studying the resurrectionof Christ. Because he said, if
Christ is a lie, there ishope in the world. He said,
if Christ is not a lie,there is no hope that I can see
that civilization can be saved. Wasn'tthat something? Yes, Jesus Christ is

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alive. He rose from the dead. And that day, that Easter Sunday
morning, that first Easter, whenMary and Mary Magdalene and Salam went to
the grave expecting to annoy a deadbody, they saw the Angel sitting back
and they said, where is Jesus. The Angel said, he is not

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here. He has risen. Isubmit to you tonight that that's the greatest
news the world has ever heard.He is not here. He has conquered
the grave. He's alive. Andladies and gentlemen, I believe that there's
more proof that Jesus Christ rose fromthe dead than almost any other fact.

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In Roman history. I don't believethere's a fact in ancient history today so
well proven as the resurrection of JesusChrist. But even if there was no
proof, no historical proof, noscientific proof, and there is, I
would still believe it because I believethis book is God's inspired word. And

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the whole early Church went up anddown the country preaching the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. That was the thing thatshook the Roman Empire, that a man
had risen from the dead, thathe was alive, that death could not
hold him. Christ is alive,He's a living savior, and yet many

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of his followers and Christians live andact as though he's dead. He's not
dead. He's alive, and theBible says that at a given moment,
a given signal, he's coming backto this earth to set up his kingdom.
And what a kingdom it's going tobe. It'll be a world in

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which there will be no tears andno sorrow and no death. There'll be
no suffering, there'll be no war, there'll be no police forces, there'll
be no armies. It's going tobe a glorious world ruled by one person,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's alive. I've given my life not to

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a dead Christ, but to aliving Christ. And I'm following a living
Savior. And he's given me asong to sing, He's given me a
flag to follow, He's given mesomething to believe. I have reason for
existence. I know where I've comefrom. I know why I'm here,
I know where I'm going. Doyou, God said heze Kh, get

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your house in order. You're goingto die now, you and I are
going to die, because you see, the Bible teaches that you and I
have a body, but living insideof our body is the real you.
You're real person, and that's thepart of you that lives forever. Your

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body is going to go to thegrave, but you, the real you,
your intelligence, your memory, yourpersonality is going to live forever and
ever. According to the Bible,you will never die, and you're going
to spend a million years a billionyears in one of two places. According

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to Jesus, not according to BillyGraham, but according to Jesus. Jesus
talked a great deal about heaven,but he talked three times more about Hell
than he did Heaven. The otherwriters of the Bible don't have too much
to say about Hell, But Jesustalked about it all the time in the

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Sermon on the mounta. I've hadfellows say I don't believe in Hell.
I live with the Sermon on theMountain. Well, you've never read the
Sermon on the Mount. Jesus talkedabout it. Now, what did he
mean by it? He said,the Son of Man shall send for these
angels, and they shall gather outof his kingdom all things that are offend,

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which do iniquity, and shall castthem into the furnace of fire,
and that shall be weeping and wailingand gnashing of teeth. What did he
mean, Matthew twenty five forty one? Then shall he say, unto them
on the left hand, depart fromme. You curse it into everlasting fire
prepared for the devil and his angels. What did he mean? He is

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saying that Hell was never made forman. He is saying that God will
never send anybody to Hell. Ifman goes to Hell, he goes by
his own free choice. Hell wascreated for the devil and his angels,

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not for man. God never meantthat a man should go there. And
God has done everything within his powerto keep you out. He even gave
his son to die on that crossto keep you out. Because you see,
when God made you, he madeyou a free moral agent. You

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can live any kind of life youwant to. You can live a good
life, you can live a badlife. You can break God's laws,
you can obey them, you canshake your fist in God's face. And
there's nothing God can do because whenHe created you, he gave you a
gift of free choice. You're nota robot that you push a button and
you jump in a bay. You'vegot a right to resist God, to

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reject God. But the Bible says, in spite of our rebellion and rejection,
God loves you. He loves youso much that he gave his son
to die for your sins. Andwhen Christ died on that cross. We
don't understand all that happened on thatcross, but we know one thing that

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he took the hell and the judgmentthat you deserved and I deserved because of
our sins. He took it onthat cross. And that's why that terrible
expression comes from his lips. MyGod, My God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Because you see,the very meaning of hell is separation from
God. And in that terrible moment, a shadder passed between God the Father

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and God the Son. For thefirst time since eternity began. Christ dying
for you, and he suffered thepangs of hell. He became guilty of
lying. He became guilty of slander, He became guilty of jealousy. He
became guilty of the most filthy,dirty sins. And when those sins came

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into his soul, Your sins andmy sins came into his soul, God
could not look because God cannot lookupon iniquity. God is so holy.
Christ took the hell that you andI deserved on that cross. Now,
God said, receive him, believein him, put your trust and your

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confidence in him, and I willforgive your sins, and I will guarantee
you eternity in a place called heaven. It's all yours, and it's all
free. All you have to dois receive it. What an offer he

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offers you tonight, eternal life.Now, eternal life doesn't begin the moment
you die. Now, when youdie as a Christian, eternal life doesn't
begin. Then. Eternal life beginsthe moment you receive Christ. Now,
many of you here in South Carolinaand in North Carolina and all over the

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country have been reared in Christian homes, or you go to a church.
You live a fairly decent life,and you're sort of living on the reflected
afterglow of your parents religion. Butyou've never really received Christ for yourself.

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You've never really trusted Him for yourself. You don't know him really, You're
not really sure that you're ready tomeet God. And the Bible says,
prepare to meet Thy God. Areyou prepared? Are you sure you are
prepared? You know the Bible saysthese things. I write under you that

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believe on the name of the Sonof God, that you may know that
you have eternal life. I canstand here tonight without being egotistical, without
being conceited. I can stand heretonight and say to you, on the
authority of this book, I knowmy sins of forgiving. I know I'm
going to heaven. I know thatI'm going to live as long as God

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lives. Because the moment I receivedChrist, I became a partaker of God's
own life. Now I'm going tolive a billion years, and I lonely
have begun. I know that notbecause of any goodness of my own.
I'm not going to heaven because I'velived a good life. I'm not going
to heaven because I've preached the greatcrowds of people. I'm going to heaven

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because of what Christ did on thatcross. For by grace are ye saved
through faith that not of yourselves,not of works, lest any man should
boost. We're not going to heavenbecause we're good. We're not going to
heaven because we work. We're notgoing to heaven because we pay. We're
going to heaven because of what Hedid on the cross. And all I
have to do is receiving. Andit's so simple to receive Christ that millions

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stumble over its very simplicity. Yousee, God made it so simple that
children can believe. He made itso simple and so easy that a blind
man, a deaf man, adumb man can believe, a man of
any race can believe, a manof any nationality, of any language can
believe. And that's all God saysyou have to do to get to heaven.

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Just believe. Now, that wordbelieve is a little more than maybe
you think it is. It meanscommitment, it means surrender. It means
that I give everything I have toJesus Christ and trust him alone for my
forgiveness and my salvation. It meansthat the moment you receive him, your
name is written in the Book ofLife. Is your name in the Book
of Life? Are you sure youare going to heaven? Are you prepared

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to meet God? If there's theslightest doubt in your heart tonight that you
are prepared to meet God? Don'tyou dare leave here without settling it?
Why? Because you may never haveanother hour or another moment like this.
You can't come to Christ any timeyou want to. The Bible says he
that hardened this heart being often reproved, shall suddenly be cut off that without

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remedy. Thousands of people have prayedfor this crusade. The Spirit of God
has brought you here. Hundreds ofpeople have come to Christ already in this
crusade. The way is prepared,your heart is prepared. The Spirit of
God is speaking tonight. This isthe al this is the moment, and
you may never have this moment quitelike this again. I love that man

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so much. I love Billy Grahamso much. In the five years I
have been studying the Bible. Godmade Billy Graham one of my teachers.
It was twenty twenty and the falsegods had trapped us at home, so
some were so scared that they woremasks in the shower. That's when I
started watching stuff on YouTube and rememberedBilly's distinct voice from the seventies when I

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lived in private Hills apartment outside Washington, d C. And my late mom
would blare his weekend sermons in thetiny apartment like every single Saturday and or
Sunday of my life. Of course, as a stupid sheep and preoccupied teenager,
I never paid attention and intently listened. Corrected that l four years ago

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and have watched or listen to everyBillie Graham crusade I can find. I
thank God frequently he made Billy Grahamone of my teachers. Through him and
a handful of others, I havelearned in a very short amount of time
how to read the four Gospels ofJesus Christ, how to mess them with
prophecies written hundreds of years before thefirst Easter Sunday, and to have the

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courage and vulnerability to share what theBible teaches about. All of that whenever
God presents the honor, this righthere was one of those times, and
I thank you very much for listening. Happy Easter everybody, and maybe between
the egg hunts and the chocolate bunnieswe all find time for prayer and the
giving of thanks to God for shepherdingus and assuring his flock there is heaven

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after death, thanks to the greatestday in the history of the world.