The message of Easter is that we will rise again. We may be down now but we will rise again. It’s a promise that we can build on our life on no matter what we are going through.

In the passage I read, God gave Abraham a promise that produced great hope for him and that he believed not wavering. This promise got Abraham through as he exercised faith.

Look at Romans 4:23 – this is not written for Abraham’s sake alone, but for us. That righteousness will imputed to us if we believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.

The story of Abraham leads us to the story of Jesus who was raised from the dead. Jesus had a promise from God that he believed. Jesus said in John 2:19 "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."

At least three times in the ministry of Jesus He predicted "that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again." Mark 8: 31

I don’t know if the disciples every believed that Jesus would rise again, but Jesus did.

The message of the resurrection of Jesus is that we’ll rise again – so get up. It doesn’t matter if anyone else believes it or not, but if you will then you can face anything.

Sorrow will come to every life sooner or late. Trials and disappointments are no respecter of person. Life is not fair and life is tough. But we have a choice of living life in bitterness or blessing. In misery or merry. In sorrow or superlative joy.

Some of us are like David when he asked in Psalm 13:2 "How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? How long will my enemy be exalted over me?"

Remember the words of Jesus:

John 14: 1 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me."

John 16: 20 and 22 "Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy. Therefore you now have sorrow; but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice, and your joy no one will take from you."

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

Psalm 30:5 "Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning." Friday and all day Saturday may be dark, but Sunday is coming. Its morning time – Jesus is alive and the night is over. Rejoice!!

Christians will stumble. If you expect to find a perfect Christian and a perfect church, then you will forever be on the search and it will lead you to disappoint, doubt and confusion.

But the question is not if a believer will fall, but will he get up from his fall.

Proverbs 24: 16 "For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, …"

Micah 7:8 "Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; When I fall, I will arise;when I sit in darkness, The Lord will be a light to me."

We get to feeling sorrow for ourselves thinking we have it so bad and we are so engrossed in our self that we forget others.

Do you believe that is Christ like? You complain to me, "But that is human." Yes, but that is the reason we have to crucify our flesh so Christ can live through us.

One of the most selfish things we can do is stay home from the house of God. Hebrews 10: 24-25 "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another"

We say, "I don’t feel like going to church." Well, its not all about you. Aren’t you more encouraged when you come to church and there are a lot of people here than when there are just a few. Encourage one another by your attendance in the house of God.

And you don’t come just because you’ve got a new pastor. Some of you are doing that and you will drift right back to where you were before I came because with you its more about the man than Jesus.

Slumber is that state of not being totally a sleep but not being fully awake and alert. That can happen to us spiritually. We become dulled for many different reasons: hardships have come into our life, sickness has caused our attention to be turned to recovery, somebody hurt our feelings, we became disappointed in somebody or even God, we didn’t have a pastor, I didn’t like the pastor we had, they wouldn’t let me sing or teach, they are not using the money right.

You have become like the disciples who were tired they couldn’t watch and pray with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. There is a word for you Romans 13:11 "And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed."

Its not time for Christians to be complaining about the menu at the Captain’s table or the color of the sheets in your luxurious cabin when the ship is going down. The end is near, so wake up – rise up – get up. All hands on deck.

You have surrendered to your circumstance, to your feelings, to your plight in life or you have decided to run. You need to get up and face the enemy, face the circumstance because Christ has made you a winner through His resurrection. There is nothing that He can’t conquer or master.

Paul was in prison and expecting to die but he wrote in Philippians 4: 12-13 "I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Don’t run- Corrie Ten Boone was right when she was observing the armor of the soldier of God as listed in Ephesians 6. She said, "There is no armour for your back."

God will fight for you but He won’t fight against you if you are refusing to face the fight.

We have sinned and the devil has sowed in our hearts that we are unworthy to be used, we can’t have the blessings of God, we have blown it.

Be like the prodigal in Luke 15: 18 "I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."

With that type of humble, repentant attitude you will find the Father running out to meet you with a ring for your finger, a robe for your back and a calf for your welcoming home party.

I John 1: 9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

I Corinthians 15:51 "Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed."

I Thessalonians 4: 13 "For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first."

Isaiah 26:19 "Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust;…"

Our response:

I will arise and go to Jesus, He will embrace me in His arms, in the arms of my dear Savior, O, there are ten thousands charms.