From Defeat to Victory: The Resurrection’s Power

• Resurrection and Victory over Death 00:03:21 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that the resurrection of Jesus signifies a 'bad day for the devil' and a 'good day for me,' emphasizing that Jesus is alive and has taken more blows than believers have.
• Perspective on Suffering and Endurance 00:09:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses the analogy of turning a page in a book to explain that what looks like the end of a story is often just the beginning, encouraging the congregation to trust God's plan even in dark moments.
• Access to God through the Torn Veil 00:11:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor interprets the tearing of the temple veil as a sign that believers now have direct access to the throne of God, contrasting the darkness of the crucifixion with the new life of the resurrection.
• Authority over Hell and Death 00:14:33 ▶️ 📄
  > Citing Revelation 1:18, the pastor explains that Jesus holds the keys to hell and death, visually depicting Jesus taking these keys from the enemy to demonstrate His ultimate authority.
• Salvation and Spiritual Authority 00:18:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses an analogy of a woman reclaiming her purse to illustrate that salvation and the church belong to the Lord and the believer, not the devil.
• The Simplicity of Spiritual Acts 00:23:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor argues that repentance, baptism, and receiving the Holy Ghost are simple acts that are often made difficult by rationalization.
• The Power of Simple Worship 00:22:04 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor emphasizes that simple acts like coming together to worship, shaking hands, and giving God glory can create profound joy and moments of divine presence.

• Sermon Illustration 00:06:16 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes an escape room experience where participants pay money to solve riddles and puzzles to escape, using it as an analogy for how the disciples viewed the crucifixion as a puzzle or dark moment, whereas believers now see the risen Savior and understand the full story.
• Sermon Illustration 00:09:44 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a story about a friend who is returning to church, noting that the friend felt he was at the end of his story, but the pastor reminds him that the real story hasn't even started yet.
• Sermon Illustration 00:11:45 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor quotes LL Cool J's song 'I'm Gonna Knock You Out' to illustrate that Jesus' resurrection was not a 'comeback' but part of the whole plan from the beginning.
• Sermon Illustration 00:16:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor tells a story about a lady at TJ Maxx whose purse was snatched by a thief; she chased him down and tackled him, declaring, 'You're not going to take what I meant to purchase today,' illustrating the believer's refusal to let the enemy take what belongs to them.
• Sermon Illustration 00:16:20 ▶️ 📄
  > A story about a woman at TJ Maxx who tackles a purse snatcher to reclaim her new purse, illustrating that what belongs to the Lord (salvation) cannot be taken by the devil.
• Sermon Illustration 00:20:24 ▶️ 📄
  > A personal anecdote about the pastor's son breaking his arm, used to transition into the idea that profound outcomes can come from simple or unexpected events.
• Sermon Illustration 00:22:40 ▶️ 📄
  > A personal testimony of the pastor's conversion at age 19 in 1994, where a simple decision to attend an Easter service with his grandmother led to a profound experience of God's presence.

• Pastoral Charge 00:10:34 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor urges the congregation to move forward in faith, viewing their current situation as a new beginning rather than an end.
• Pastoral Charge 00:13:25 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor leads the congregation in a declarative statement of allegiance to God.
• Pastoral Charge 00:24:05 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor announces his immediate intention to rejoice and spiritually defeat the enemy, modeling the behavior for the congregation.

[00:00:00] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:00:00] It says this and entering into the sepulcher they saw a young man sitting on the right right side clothing long white garment and they were frightened and he said unto them be not affrighted you see Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified he is risen he is not here behold the place where you laid him but go your way tell the disciples of Peter
[00:00:30] goeth before you in Galilee.
[00:00:33] There you shall see him as he said unto you. Praise God.
[00:00:41] I got this message last night.
[00:00:43] It's a bad day for the devil.
[00:00:45] That's the title, by the way.
[00:00:47] It's a bad day for the devil.
[00:00:50] Let's beat up on him a little bit, shall we?
[00:00:52] Gracious God, we thank you right now.
[00:00:54] I love you. I give you glory, praise, and honor, God. Thanking you, lifting you up for your praise, this God.
[00:01:01] I love you, God.
[00:01:02] You're worthy You're powerful You're good today Jesus Meet us in this place It's in Jesus' name Somebody say in Jesus' name Amen You may be seated today Hope that you're comfortable in those plastic chairs
[00:01:15] Praise God There's a better day coming It's a bad day for the devil That means it's a good day for me That means it's a good day for the Lord You know I just feel like
[00:01:28] there's some devil stumping apostolic people in the house of God today.
[00:01:33] And I just feel like beating up on the enemy just a little bit because he's trying to beat up on you.
[00:01:39] So I'm going to beat up on him.
[00:01:43] Maybe I've been watching too much karma.
[00:01:45] There's another song that he did that was called The Champion.
[00:01:48] And if you watch the enemy, the devil's beating up on the Lord.
[00:01:53] It's a boxing match.
[00:01:56] And he's beating up on the Lord and just attacking him.
[00:01:59] All that kind of stuff.
[00:02:01] I won't move too fast.
[00:02:02] I'll hurt myself.
[00:02:03] Praise God.
[00:02:05] And he knocks the Lord down almost to signify the day that he died on the cross.
[00:02:12] And there begins a count.
[00:02:14] And he says, one.
[00:02:18] And the Lord's still laying there on the ground.
[00:02:22] Three, four, five.
[00:02:25] And then something begins to shift and happen around four or five.
[00:02:30] Is that the Lord begins to kind of get up.
[00:02:33] and all the demons and devils in hell begin to shriek, how can he get up?
[00:02:40] How can he be getting up from that?
[00:02:43] That blow that was just delivered to him.
[00:02:48] And so as Jesus is about to get up and about to stand up before the guy can count to ten, Jesus raises his hand and he is actually just by standing up signified the champion.
[00:03:01] Hey folks, did you know today if you get back up, If you just finish the race, I win.

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:03:07] If I just finish the race, I'm going to win today.
[00:03:11] Thank God I got praise on my lips.

[00:03:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:03:21] It's a bad day for the devil.
[00:03:23] That means it's a good day for me.
[00:03:25] Praise God.
[00:03:26] Well, it initially looked like it was a very dark moment.
[00:03:29] The Lord and the disciples, they had taken Jesus.
[00:03:33] They had saw it.
[00:03:35] They saw Jesus hung upon the cross.
[00:03:39] You've probably seen the movies.
[00:03:40] You've probably seen the YouTube clips The depictions You've probably seen a skit or two That depicted that We'll do a skit again in the future ourselves probably Beaten Ridiculed Died Placed in the tomb In the sepulcher
[00:03:57] A gentleman by the name of Joseph of Arimathea You may not have known him that much You may not have heard about him Because he's not mentioned that much Except in this particular account He's the one who takes Jesus down from the cross.
[00:04:13] What a job.
[00:04:15] And puts him into the tomb after he's prepared his body.
[00:04:19] Joseph of Arimathea was responsible for the burial duties of Jesus' body.
[00:04:24] They all saw it take place.
[00:04:28] Joseph of Arimathea was, he testified to the fact that I put him in there.
[00:04:33] And I know he was dead.
[00:04:35] In the flesh.
[00:04:37] Amen.
[00:04:37] If it looks like it was bad It looked bad It was actually just what seemed to be The turning of another page It was just the next step of the plan for Jesus To turn everything around
[00:04:52] Prophecy had to be fulfilled The Lord is not a liar If it was prophesied it had to happen There had to be The perfect Lamb of God And Jesus was that I don't want to lose you
[00:05:04] The Lord is not a liar This was all part of the master plan so that Jesus could raise again on the third day.
[00:05:11] And we celebrate it today as Easter Sunday, Resurrection Sunday.
[00:05:17] He's alive.

[00:05:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:05:19] He's over.

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:05:27] Thank you, God.
[00:05:30] So if you've taken a few on the cheek, just know that Jesus has taken a few more as well.
[00:05:35] And just when they thought that they had counted them out, Jesus arose again as the champion.
[00:05:41] Hey, I can stand with that.
[00:05:43] I can worship with that.
[00:05:44] Yes, sir.
[00:05:45] Amen.
[00:05:47] Has anybody ever been to an escape room?
[00:05:50] Raise your hand.
[00:05:52] How do you say escape room in Spanish?
[00:05:55] You don't know?
[00:05:57] Yeah.
[00:05:58] Yeah, what she said.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:06:01] It thought of us in the body.

[00:06:04] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:06:04] I'm sorry, sister.
[00:06:06] I'm in a different mood today.
[00:06:08] I told my wife, I said, I got too many cups of coffee today.
[00:06:14] An escape room, let me explain it to you.
[00:06:16] It is a business. You pay money to do this.
[00:06:20] That you go into. It's popped up over the last 10 years.
[00:06:24] I don't remember seeing one over 10 years ago.
[00:06:27] And you pay, and they lock you up to some degree.
[00:06:33] And you have to figure out how to get out.
[00:06:37] You have to go through a series of clues, riddles, steps to figure out how to get out with your teammates and your partners.
[00:06:47] and sometimes you got some good ones sometimes you don't and once again i just want to reiterate the fact you paid money to do this i'm not sure who this person was that thought about this
[00:06:59] but to god be the glory amen mirrors and riddles sounds sequences objects and riddles and then when you all get it all done the ones that i've been to i paid money to do As soon as you're done, they explained it all to you.
[00:07:20] I think the one that we did, we didn't actually figure it out.
[00:07:24] I think they just said, well, we just give up.
[00:07:27] We're going to have to tap out because we're hungry.
[00:07:29] We're about ready to go get something to eat.
[00:07:30] We'd rather be eating than doing this stupid thing.
[00:07:33] So they said, okay.
[00:07:35] And then they explained all the riddles to us.
[00:07:37] And this means this.
[00:07:41] And that means that.
[00:07:42] And we're like, oh, man.
[00:07:45] I should have known that, too.
[00:07:48] I told you, Amy, you should have known that.
[00:07:51] My goodness.
[00:07:53] You should have known that.
[00:07:57] But here's the parallel, folks.
[00:07:59] Just like we get to see the story from this side of the page, they were still trying to get it all figured out with riddles.
[00:08:05] It was puzzles.
[00:08:06] It was mirrors.
[00:08:08] What in the world is all this going on?
[00:08:09] But we get to enjoy the benefit of seeing a risen Savior, and it all makes so much sense today.
[00:08:16] It makes sense today.
[00:08:18] that I get to enjoy His goodness

[00:08:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:08:21] on Easter Sunday.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:08:25] Thank you, God. Amen.
[00:08:27] Now, on this side of resurrection, it makes a lot more sense.
[00:08:30] I don't serve a dead God today.
[00:08:32] I don't serve a dead church today.
[00:08:35] I serve a God that's alive and well.
[00:08:38] Praise God, Brother Cruz.
[00:08:40] I serve a church that's alive and well.
[00:08:55] Let's do that.
[00:08:56] You should hate that.
[00:08:58] You should irritate that.
[00:08:59] Amen.
[00:09:22] He's alive.
[00:09:24] The church is alive.
[00:09:27] We good.
[00:09:29] It looked like death, but it was actually new life.
[00:09:34] What looked like the end was actually just the beginning.
[00:09:42] I have a friend.
[00:09:44] He's about a year younger than me.
[00:09:46] It's interesting.
[00:09:48] He's got this gray, burly beard now.
[00:09:53] And he looks older than I am, but he's younger.
[00:09:57] And every time I see him, I still think about when he used to be in church.
[00:10:00] He's not anymore.
[00:10:01] Kind of working his way back a little bit.
[00:10:04] He and his wife have some difficulties.
[00:10:07] And he said this.
[00:10:09] He said, I was reading it like it was the first chapter, like it was the end.
[00:10:16] But it turns out, the story hadn't even started yet.
[00:10:20] You're looking at the end of the story or the beginning of the story, feeling like it's the end.
[00:10:28] Truth be told, the real story hasn't even started yet.
[00:10:34] Turn the page.
[00:10:36] Let's see what the next chapter has in store for you.
[00:10:41] Turn the page.
[00:10:42] What you thought was the end of the book was actually just the beginning.
[00:10:46] And you were decoyed into believing that.
[00:10:49] What you thought was the end was really just a story that hadn't fully started just yet.
[00:10:56] Maybe it's a sequel.
[00:10:58] Maybe it's a part two.
[00:11:00] Whatever the case may be, the next chapter is going to be better than the first chapter.
[00:11:06] What they saw was darkness.
[00:11:08] And if you look at the account of some of the gospels, there was earthquakes.
[00:11:12] There was storms coming up.
[00:11:15] In fact, in one account, at least one account, the temple, the cover that separated the holiest of holies from the holy place, it tore from top to bottom.
[00:11:27] That signifies to me I get to have access.
[00:11:30] To the holy of holies now.
[00:11:33] That's what that signifies now.
[00:11:35] And so what looked like a dark day was actually just a door opening for me to have access to the throne of God.
[00:11:42] Somebody say amen.
[00:11:43] Amen.
[00:11:45] Allow me to quote LL Cool J.
[00:11:47] Is he still alive?

[00:11:49] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:11:49] Yes.

[00:11:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:11:51] Turns out it's not a comeback.
[00:11:54] Just part of the whole plan.
[00:11:56] Don't call it a comeback.
[00:11:57] He says in a song.
[00:11:59] We used to sing it to our kids all the time.
[00:12:01] mama gonna knock you out mama said knock you out because we'd be like look at our kids be like i'm gonna knock you out and then i'd say i'm gonna knock you out sorry about that but he says at
[00:12:17] one point don't call it a comeback it's been part of the whole plan the whole time they say to come back this is the part of the plan the whole time amen let me proclaim once again today if you
[00:12:28] haven't heard me, that today's a bad day for the devil. It's a bad day to serve the enemy, but it's a good day to serve the Lord. It's a good day to be on the Lord's side.
[00:12:51] Take it back to the old Sunday school song, Amelia. He says, whose side are you leaning on?
[00:13:09] And they say, leaning on the Lord's side. Amelia probably don't know this song, but we've done it a couple of times. And then they say, I lean on the Lord's side.
[00:13:21] That's the only psalms I can get away with singing is kid songs.
[00:13:25] I lean, I lean, I lean, I lean, leaning on the Lord's side.
[00:13:32] Amen.
[00:13:33] Praise God.
[00:13:34] Amen.
[00:13:35] And so I want to lean on the Lord's side.
[00:13:37] When I lean on the Lord's side, I'm just throwing another punch in the devil's face.
[00:13:42] It's a bad day for the devil.
[00:13:44] Let me count the waves.
[00:13:45] I still got praise.
[00:13:47] I still got a song.
[00:13:48] I still got breath.
[00:13:50] I still got a song.

[00:13:51] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:13:51] Praise God

[00:14:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:14:09] I told myself I'm not going to get up here and just yell and yell Because all these guys have been getting up here and preaching Just yell it And I had to turn them down
[00:14:18] They've been loud They don't realize you don't really even need a microphone in here I guess But I've still got The glory of the Lord Listen to this one Revelation 1.18 This is Jesus talking
[00:14:33] I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. He gives himself an amen. And then it says, and have the keys of hell and of death.
[00:14:55] You know how I picture that?
[00:14:57] And you have to excuse me, I'm in a rare mood today. I visualize the enemy is out.
[00:15:03] You're not the enemy, but we'll take our example today.
[00:15:06] let's say the enemy is out he's got keys in his pocket I visualize the Lord just coming down and saying just smacking him smacking him and just saying I'm going to take those with me praise God
[00:15:24] I've got the keys

[00:15:26] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:15:26] to death, hell and the grave those are mine

[00:15:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:15:43] y'all are clapping too much you're going to have to take a sip of water I didn't expect you to be that with me.
[00:16:06] But listen to this story.
[00:16:08] I don't know if it was a true story, but I heard a priest one time.
[00:16:11] Maybe it was true somewhere.
[00:16:13] Ladies, hold your purses up.
[00:16:15] Can anybody ask for good looking purses?
[00:16:16] Don't worry, I'm not going to do anything.
[00:16:19] Yeah.
[00:16:19] There was a lady.
[00:16:20] Oh, beautiful.
[00:16:21] Oh, leather.
[00:16:23] I said it's a leather store.
[00:16:24] We had to buy that too because we weren't in a store.
[00:16:30] There was a lady checking out at TJ Maxx.
[00:16:32] We'll call it TJ Maxx.
[00:16:33] You might want to call it Ross.
[00:16:34] They're both the same.
[00:16:36] Right?
[00:16:38] One's just a little dirtier than the other.
[00:16:41] They moved one stuff from that store and took it to the other store.
[00:16:45] So anyway, she was checking out.
[00:16:50] And she held her purse up like this, proud of the purse that she had purchased.
[00:16:58] But she didn't realize that there was a guy around the corner with nefarious thoughts.
[00:17:02] He had something bad on his mind.
[00:17:04] And he comes around, and he snatches her purse that she was holding up, thinking it was the purse that had all the money in it.
[00:17:16] You know, the purse that has the money in it.
[00:17:18] This was her new purse.
[00:17:19] He comes around, and he snatches it.
[00:17:22] He takes off running.
[00:17:24] He's running.
[00:17:25] He's almost about to get out the door.
[00:17:26] He throws it in one of those rooms right there.
[00:17:28] And she says this.
[00:17:30] She says, you're not going to take what I meant to purchase today.
[00:17:36] She keeps her heels off.
[00:17:38] Oh, come on.
[00:17:40] She begins to run, and her bum is flapping in the air.
[00:17:44] And she runs, and she tackles this dude with a Superman jump.
[00:17:49] Takes him out, and he's laying there like, I didn't know this lady was crazy.
[00:17:56] And she gets up on top of that guy.
[00:17:58] I know you can visualize it with me.
[00:18:00] And she gets up on top of that guy, and she said, that's mine.
[00:18:07] Here's the moral of the story.
[00:18:09] Just like the Lord went back and he went to hell and he took the keys to death, hell, and the grave.
[00:18:16] That belongs to the Lord.
[00:18:19] My salvation.
[00:18:21] Hey, devil, you can't have that.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[00:18:23] That belongs to me.
[00:18:25] My church.
[00:18:26] That belongs to me.
[00:18:33] That belongs to God.

[00:18:55] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:18:55] Somebody say amen.
[00:18:56] You may be seated.
[00:18:57] It's a bad day for the devil.
[00:19:00] Which means it's a good day for me.
[00:19:02] It's a bad day for the devil, which means it's a good day for the Lord.
[00:19:10] Some of the greatest things in life, some of the things we have greatest access to, are the simplest things.
[00:19:18] The simple things.
[00:19:21] Amen.
[00:19:22] We have a painting in our house.
[00:19:29] We sit at the table, our kitchen table, and we see this painting every time we sit down and eat.
[00:19:35] and we have folks over and they'll sit at the table and they'll see the painting and more than once on many occasions somebody said man, I really like that painting that's really nice man love the painting
[00:19:57] and then every once in a while they'll say where'd you get that at?
[00:20:01] as if to say what's the story behind that and then we have to tell them We bought her the Dollar General for $5.
[00:20:12] That's awesome.
[00:20:16] It's wonderful.
[00:20:24] My son broke his arm.
[00:20:26] Sorry, Jackson.
[00:20:27] He was playing outside with his friends.
[00:20:31] And he was playing with a little tight state when he fell off.
[00:20:34] He fell that high.
[00:20:36] And he shattered his arm.
[00:20:39] It looked like an S.
[00:20:41] I know that's gross.
[00:20:44] And they came and told us.
[00:20:46] They said, Jackson can't move his arm.
[00:20:48] We said, he's fine.
[00:20:50] He's crazy.
[00:20:51] They came to us again, five minutes later.
[00:20:53] No, Jackson, he can't get up.
[00:20:55] He's broke his arm.
[00:20:58] He's okay.
[00:21:00] Is he breathing?
[00:21:01] He's all right.
[00:21:03] He fell off the little tights table.
[00:21:07] Brother Hedrick, then he's definitely okay.
[00:21:11] You got to come check him out.
[00:21:13] He's just laying there.
[00:21:15] We go out.
[00:21:17] I got a moral to the story here in a second.
[00:21:21] And he's laying there.
[00:21:22] And I was like, Jackson, let me see your arm.
[00:21:24] So we pull up his sleeve and I said, ooh.
[00:21:28] Pretty bad.
[00:21:33] His arm was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, like that.
[00:21:37] Now, granted, I worked in the emergency department for several years by that time.
[00:21:40] And I thought, whoa, can't fix that one.
[00:21:43] We're going to have to go to the ER.
[00:21:45] Two surgeries later, sometimes it doesn't take something that profound to create something that's profound.
[00:21:53] Sometimes it doesn't have to take this big, huge thing.
[00:21:56] Now, the Lord went to the grave and he rose again on the third day.
[00:21:58] That's a big deal.
[00:21:59] But some of the simplest things we get to do in life is this.
[00:22:04] This.
[00:22:06] We get to come together to worship God, sweat a little bit, shake a couple people's hands, and give God full glory.
[00:22:14] Do you realize how simple that is and how much it can create joy in your life?
[00:22:20] Some of the simplest things in your life that you can do can create some of the most profound moments in your life.
[00:22:27] In just a few moments, we're going to come to the front.
[00:22:29] we're going to pray, we're going to thank God and do you realize do you realize that that same moment was when a young man probably 1994 that walked to the front of a church and was
[00:22:40] never the same again and that was me on an Easter resurrection day celebration because we were the family that said if we don't go to church any other time we're going to go to church on Easter and we
[00:22:59] might go to church on christmas and that one decision to go with my grandmother on that easter service changed my entire life on the cruise you know why because in my opinion it was the first
[00:23:16] time that i'd actually walked into the presence of god and it was different i had been to church but i hadn't been in his presence and there's a difference but it doesn't take this cataclysmic
[00:23:33] thing to get you there.
[00:23:34] It just takes something as a willing heart and a willing mind. Simple things. Repentance is actually pretty simple. Baptism in Jesus' name is actually pretty simple.
[00:23:48] You just do it. Receiving the Holy Ghost, it's actually pretty simple.
[00:23:53] But we make it so much harder because we rationalize so many things in our heads. Giving the enemy a bad day, it's actually pretty sinful. I'm going to rejoice in the Lord here in just a moment
[00:24:05] and give the enemy a bad day.