Peter Brandon emphasizes the significance of Christ's resurrection, asserting that it validates the Christian faith and the truth of Jesus as both God and man. He discusses the evidence of the resurrection, noting that the absence of Jesus' body from the tomb is a powerful testament to its truth. Brandon encourages listeners to understand that salvation is available through faith in the risen Christ, who is at the right hand of God, ready to save from sin. He invites individuals to personally accept Jesus as their Savior, highlighting the simplicity of faith in receiving salvation. The message concludes with a call to rejoice in the hope and assurance that comes from the resurrection.

Hello friends, greetings to you all and a warm welcome as yours to our programme today. This is your friend Harry Venton with you for this half hour of Christian Radio Fellowship. The Voices of Melody team has prepared for your listening enjoyment another interesting programme of times of refreshing. And trust today's presentation of fine gospel music and spoken message from the word of God will be an encouragement to you and a real spiritual blessing in your life. We are pleased to have as guest on our programme today Peter Brandon, well known evangelist and bible teacher from England. I'm sure you are warm to Peter's devotion which he will share with you a little later on the programme. The title to Peter's topic is Now is Christ Risen. As an introduction to this let's enjoy together our first musical selection featuring the Gaither Trio singing Majesty. Friends we read in John chapter 16 and verse 28 words that our Lord Jesus spoke in the presence of his disciples. He said to them, I came forth from the Father, I am come into the world, again I leave the world and go to the Father. In this verse we have four definite statements. The first is, I came forth from the Father. This reminds us of God sending forth his beloved son to be our saviour. The second is, I am come into the world. This surely tells us of his miraculous birth and of his sojourn here in this world for 33 and a half years. The third is, again I leave the world. This would remind us that Jesus had completed the work the Father sent him to do. Having accomplished the work of redemption for us by dying on the cross, our Lord Jesus returns to heaven as the fourth statement in the verse says, and I go to the Father. In his glorious resurrection he takes his rightful place exalted at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens. Hebrews chapter 1 and verse 3 says of our Lord Jesus, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. This same thought is brought before us in Acts chapter 2 verses 23 and 24 where we read of Jesus being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, was taken by wicked hands and crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should be held by death. The hymn writer Robert C Chapman penned these words, Jesus in his heavenly temple sits with God upon the throne, now no more to be forsaken, his humiliation gone. Friends our next musical selection is entitled Christ Arose and following this our guest Peter Brandon will share his devotion with you on Now is Christ Risen. Now is Christ Risen Many people in my own country in particular have doubts about Christianity. Is it true? I started my preaching in Hyde Park and over and over again people would say to me, but how do you know it's true mister? Well the apostle says, if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain and your faith is also vain. But then he says, but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. Is it true? When Jesus Christ was here he claimed to be the son of man, that meant a perfect man and he claimed to be the son of God, that meant perfect God. And there were some people when they listened to him thought that he was mad and had a devil, other people thought that he was an imposter and some people thought that he was the truth. Now I believe almost immediately we can eradicate the idea of the Lord being mad because the Sermon on the Mount is one of the great balanced pieces of oratory that we have in literature today and therefore it's impossible for someone with a neurosis to have given such a balanced piece of oration. The Jews they just did not believe in the divinity of the Lord Jesus and they put him on a cross and when they put him on the cross they threw that penetrating challenge right into his teeth. If thou be the son of God come down from the cross and we will believe you. Now the Lord did not come down from that cross, he died. And then there was a small group of people who believed that Jesus Christ was the son of God. And admittedly they were generally uneducated people. Now if we stop there the evidence would fall very heavily on behalf of the Pharisees and the scribes that put him on the cross. But we are not going to stop there. The Bible says that God raised Jesus from the dead. Now my dear friends if the resurrection of Jesus Christ is true then Christianity cannot be boring. What? When God is made flesh, dies upon a cross, raised again from the dead if that is true it's the most exciting thing the world has ever heard. But if it's not true the apostle tells us then our faith is vain, our preaching is vain. That means it's just sheer rubbish. Now my dear friends what I want to do in five minutes is to give you the proof of the resurrection and then I want to show you the power of the resurrection. Now the proof. When the disciples preached that Jesus Christ was risen from the dead if the Pharisees and the Sadducees who were intellectual people wanted to silence that message all they had to do was to go to the sepulchre where they placed the Lord Jesus unseal it, place the body on a cart, parade it through the streets of Jerusalem and then say look ladies and gentlemen there is the dead body of the so-called Christ and that would have silenced Christianity once and for all. But they didn't. Why? They couldn't find a body. Why? They knew it was missing and all they could see was the miraculous sign of healing demonstrated through the apostles to show that Jesus Christ was at the right hand of God. Secondly I want to give you a piece of experimental proof. Russia and China have tried to silence Christianity by intellectual argument and if you want to see pure Christianity in all its glory go to China, go to Russia. In China in the last 10 years over 50 million people have been converted. Think of that. In Russia Christianity is even breaking into the armed forces. Now what does this prove? You cannot silence truth. You cannot crucify truth even by argument. Truth will always come alive. Therefore my dear friends you cannot silence the resurrection because it's a fact. And when you become a real New Testament Christian the same spirit that raised the Lord Jesus from the dead dwells in your life and you know that you've got a resurrection in your own personal experience. And dear friends I want to say this to you with all my heart Jesus Christ is there. He is there. In fact in the very room where you're sitting He is there. Now why should there be this risen Christ? What is Christ doing at this moment? Well my dear friends He's at the right hand of God because He is God's ordained Saviour. And the Lord Jesus has the power to save people. Well you will say what does it mean to be saved? It means to be saved from that ugly thing that's troubling the whole world sin. And we've all got that problem. It means to be saved from the power of sin and every single one of us has a besetting sin that troubles us. And then it means to be saved from the penalty of sin. Now we need those preachers back that will tell us the facts that if we die in our sins we are lost. Jesus Christ taught emphatically that there was a lost eternity. And the reason why God has raised Him from the dead and is seated at God's right hand is because He is there to be the great Saviour from sin and from its power. The scripture says He is able to save fully and completely all that come unto God by Him. But then you will say yes, but how do we get saved? The word of the Lord says Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Isn't that clear and simple? And there comes a moment in your experience when you go to the Lord and you confess your sin and you place your faith in that Saviour who died for your sins on the cross. And you ask the Lord Jesus by faith to be your Saviour and Lord and this is what the word of God says If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in thine heart that God has raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved. Now my dear friends could I ask a question? I'm not going to ask you do you go to a place of worship or do you live a good life. I believe many of you do. But are you saved? Wouldn't it be lovely if after this short talk you knelt down and quietly asked the Lord Jesus to come into your life and save you. And this is what the word says As many as received Him to them gave He the power to become the sons of God. Shall we have just a little prayer? Lord, we praise Thee for the risen Christ. We thank Thee for His death on the cross when He died for our sins. We pray right now that Thou wilt visit someone who is seeking the Lord Jesus so that they might know the joy of Thy salvation. In the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen. Christ the Lord is risen today Alleluia Sons of men and angels say Alleluia Raise your joys and triumphs high Alleluia Sing ye heavens and earth rejoice Alleluia Since again our glorious King Alleluia Where o'er death is now thy sling Alleluia Once He died our souls to save Alleluia We praise God for the empty tomb and for the message of the angels to the women who came early to the sepulchre on that resurrection morn. The angels said Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Luke 24 verses 5 and 6 The resurrection of our Lord Jesus is testimony that God is satisfied in the work His beloved Son accomplished at Calvary and now can open His arms in love to every poor sinner in the world and proclaim a full, free and eternal salvation to all who believe that Jesus died for them. My dear friends, today you can know in a personal way and enjoy God's wonderful gift of salvation just through a simple exercise of faith. Romans 10 verses 9 and 10 has already been quoted by Peter Brandon and it bears repeating again. This is what it says That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. This is the only sure foundation upon which our salvation rests. Lay hold of God's promise, receive Christ as your Saviour now and rest upon His word and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Alleluia, Alleluia! Thou shalt be saved. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again. I will praise Him, Alleluia! I will praise Him, Alleluia! I am ready, Alleluia! O be ready, Alleluia! Friends, today's program number 890 has been recorded on cassette and is available to you free and postage paid. This offer is to all our listeners and you may obtain your free copy just by addressing your request to Times of Refreshing, Post Office Box 66, Lillydale, 3140. We would ask, when writing, that you mention in your letter this number, 890, cassette number 890, and the address again is Times of Refreshing, Post Office Box 66, Lillydale, 3140. This program has been a radio missionary outreach of the Christian Brethren Assemblies of Victoria and is made possible by God's provision through His people. It has been a real joy being with you today and we thank you for your company. Till next we meet, this is Harry Benton for the Voice of Melody Victoria wishing you God's richest blessing. Goodbye for now and remember, keep looking up. Copyright © 2020, New Thinking Allowed Foundation