Michael Koulianos emphasizes that the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, points to Jesus and his crucifixion. He stresses the importance of understanding Jesus as the central figure of the Scriptures, highlighting that true Christianity glorifies the cross and recognizes the necessity of Jesus' sacrifice. Koulianos warns against crafting a comfortable version of Jesus that lacks the transformative power of the Gospel, urging believers to embrace the radical nature of faith and the Holy Spirit's work in their lives. He encourages a deeper engagement with the Scriptures, asserting that they reveal Jesus and lead to a vibrant relationship with God. Ultimately, Koulianos calls for a revival of biblical understanding that centers on the blood of Jesus as the only means of salvation.

I would take your Bibles to Acts chapter three. We are continuing our series on Jesus, the word of God, from Genesis to Revelation. If you were here last week, you'll remember that I basically went through the scriptures that were actually New Testament scriptures explaining to us the point of the entire Bible, specifically the Old Testament. Excuse me. And the point of the Bible is Jesus and him crucified. Say amen louder. I don't know where Jessie got the yes and amen from, but she said, say yes and amen. That's when you know you grew up in church. I'm just gonna say, say amen. Too much work to say yes and amen. Say amen. Amen. Jesus is the point of the entire Bible. All right, now you'll notice that last year, or last week, I asked you to sharpen your perspective, to sharpen it. Not only is it about Jesus, is it about Jesus, but it is about Jesus and him crucified. It's really important because a Jesus who did not go to the cross as the perfect God-man is not the Jesus of the Bible. A Christianity that does not both glory in the cross and then offer us a cross is not true Christianity. It's just not the faith. Since I've seen you last, I preached last night, in Calvary, at Calvary, in Ormond Beach. Was that yesterday? Sorry. Friday night. For Pastor Jim Raley, and it was wonderful. Our friend John Wilds hosted an event up there, and it was great to preach there. But before that, I was in Franklin, Tennessee. Jessie and I went together and preached at Grace Center. It's the church that Stephanie attends in Franklin. That area's interesting to me. It's kind of like a Christian Disney World. Which I guess is good, but in other ways, can be concerning. Every coffee shop you walk into, you hear one of your friend's voices singing. And you walked down the road, and some CCM artist is taping something. It's like, oh, yeah, there's so-and-so taping their next album release. It's quite interesting. It's kind of like, literally, a Christian Disneyland. It's a beautiful area. The leaves were changing, but I'm really sensitive. When I get into a city, I start feeling, what's going on here? And I think if you're not careful, and I'm not saying this is happening there, but it just stirred up these thoughts to me. That if you're not careful, that you kind of get so used to a Jesus that you craft, within your own comfortable thinking, you craft him with the desire to make him, make you feel better and more comfortable. And all of a sudden, the fire lifts, because there's just nothing average, and nothing mundane, and nothing predictable about Jesus, other than what the word says about him. Does that make sense? And so, in a sense, we like to tame him. And Bill used to say that, purposing to only receive a measure of God, just a small bit, is what numbs you to who he really is. And then he compared that to a vaccine. He's like, you go get vaccinated, and this isn't a message on vaccines. I just used the word. All of you got, calm down. All right. You go take a little bit of something, right? And that inoculates you from the actual thing, supposedly, right? I mean, who knows? But the point is, the point is this, is that you take a little to be numbed from, or protected from, the actual. And that happens with our faith. When I was driving in this morning, I was watching our worship, and I was so pleased. I was watching our choir very carefully, because they actually worship while they sing, and that makes me so happy. Hands are lifted, hearts are lifted. Sometimes they're crying. And I said to the Lord, I don't want some tame, comfortable church. Something happens to you when you, let's say, move to a new town, or you get married, and you start a family. You kind of want your church to fit your little house in the Prairie Vision for your life, right? And it all just seems to fit. You walk in, you're holding hands, you check the kids into Children's Church, you're carrying your coffee. If it gets below 85 in Orlando, everyone throws their beanies on. It's the whole look. You know, Jose's got it, he's got the glasses now. The black frame glasses, it's the whole deal. They look good. Yeah, I still love you, all right. If destiny likes them, that's all that matters. My father-in-law used to say, I don't like your beard. And I said, but Jesse does. If she likes it, I'm good. So, it's got this whole vibe to it. And you kind of take your church experience and fit it into that vibe, that vision, right? And you wanna come in and you wanna worship and you want the pastor to teach, but not too long, right? And then you leave the doors of the church and that box is checked. And then that becomes part of your week. You know, like 12% of your week, probably less, like 5% of your week. And it just becomes a piece of the puzzle. Now, the only problem with that is that it's not church according to the Bible. Church according to the Bible is only a church if God is there. And when God is there, he challenges us, he provokes us, he loves us, he heals us, he saves us, he delivers us. I don't know if you've ever seen a deliverance, but many are not so cozy. You know, it's not God's desire that we have just the right worship experience that it neither really excites people nor offends. In fact, the right type of worship experience should empower and offend. When in reality, the entirety of the gospel is an offense. To be honest, teaching first love is offensive even to those who are walking with Jesus. Because it's quite offensive to the natural man to believe that one thing is needed. Let's be honest. Even when we're not in the spirit, it's hard for us to believe that. If you're leading a church, it's really hard. If you're, it's actually impossible outside the spirit to live a life that daily purposes to believe that it is just about Jesus. Because that old man loves to help God. And God is not in need of help. Right? So what we do is we say it's Jesus and this. And usually the this, the other things, we like to clothe that perspective in a disguise that looks spiritual. We call it wisdom, right? Well, let's use wisdom here and let's go after this. Or let's make church about this as well, right? So the Christian life is not a tamed life. It is not. I mean, let's just look at a few descriptions quickly before I get into the scriptures that speak of the Holy Spirit. Wind, I don't know if you've ever been in a wind storm. They're not super predictable. You don't know where they're coming from. You cannot grab the wind, which means you cannot control the Holy Spirit. Yet he can be grieved, right? Wine, the wine of the Spirit will certainly attack your dignity. Yeah. That's what David writes in Psalm 23 when he says my cup runneth over in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible. It says it like this. You've intoxicated me with wine from your cup. In other words, I've been drinking too much of the Spirit and that intoxication that David is speaking of, I'm not telling you to get drunk in the natural. You gotta track with me here. Okay, new wine. It's from the Bible. For those of you who don't know, you're like, this is a wild church. What is he telling us to do? It's not that. It's not that. But the reception of the Spirit numbs us to the world and awakens us to God. Doesn't numb us to the world's need, but it numbs us to the satisfaction and the pull of the world. And so when we're in the Spirit, when we're in the presence of the Lord, we are constantly reminded that the world has nothing to give us. I mean, what are the deceitfulness of riches? Jesus mentions it in Mark 4. Think about it. He says the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches that choke out the ability of the seed to bear fruit. What is the deceitfulness of riches? Riches, Robert Morris says it beautifully. It's the lie that riches can offer you what only God can offer you. It's the lie that money makes you happy. It's the lie that money gives you influence. Sometimes it does, but not in heaven. Unless you know how to use it for heaven's sake. You go, what? Oh yeah, Jesus said if you cannot be trusted with earthly riches, you cannot be trusted with spiritual riches. You can move heaven by moving your resources. You mean God cares about my money? He cares about you stewarding your money so that you're not a slave to it. Yes. The Bible doesn't say, listen, that my money is where my heart is. It says that my heart is where my treasure is. It means I can move my heart with the moving of my treasure. Some of y'all got that. That was the key that you could use for the rest of your life. If your heart grows cold, become generous. Yes. If you don't have a heart for the lost in a moment, give to those who preach the gospel. It'll move your heart. Amen? See the wine there? How about this one? Fire. It's not super tamed. So there's nothing about the Lord's agenda that is tamed. And my dream for this house is that the more mature you become, the more childlike you will be in his presence. Stiffness is not a fruit of the spirit. Now I've seen this happen and I don't know why. I just don't want it to ever happen here. I've watched men and women of God that I knew 20 years ago who worshiped radically. And then God gave them their ministry and they're in the worship environment. They're like this. I'm just being wise. Very balanced, yes, I'm very balanced. I'm mature now. I'm a father. I'm a spiritual papa. Oh my God. Spiritual daddy. That's not maturity, that's death. That's an icy heart. That's the loss of first love. The more mature you become, the more free you should be. It doesn't mean crazy and fleshly. It just means as God moves in a room, you move with him. And the longer you walk with Jesus, the less time it should take you to think about moving with him. Does that make sense? The internal argument takes less time. And then you become like a leaf in the wind. Remember, it's only dead leaves that fall off trees that the wind can carry. It's the living ones who hold on to their life that are still attached to the branch of their own life and the wind can't carry them. That's maturity. Radical worship is mature worship. That's who we are. Amen? Okay. Go to Psalm, actually, we're gonna go back to Acts in a minute. Go back to Psalm, I want you to go to Psalm 40. And I'm gonna read, well, I'm not gonna read that one. Maybe in a week. Go to Hebrews 10, then we'll go back to Acts. Hebrews 10, five through seven. Actually, yeah, I'll probably read this first and then go back to Psalm 40. Okay, listen carefully. Now, this subtitle in many of your Bibles, I actually like this subtitle. Sometime I scratch my head, I'm like, where did you get that? Christ's death fulfills God's will. All right, verse five. Therefore, when he came into the world, he said, sacrifice an offering you did not desire. In other words, God was not willing to give you done with that sacrificial system in his heart and had a once and for all eternal sacrifice that he wanted to offer in his son. Listen carefully now. But a body you have prepared for me. This is Jesus speaking. To the Father, verse six. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin, you had no pleasure. In other words, the animals, the goats, the sheep, the bulls, the oxen, they were not doing it in God's heart. Then I said, Jesus speaking, behold, I have come. Listen carefully now. In the volume of the book, it is written of me to do your will, oh God. Jesus himself was aware of what was written of him when he came. I just want this to land. So I want you to imagine God the son living with an awareness of what was written of him. Okay, let me say it again. God himself lived his life here on the earth with an awareness of what was written of him. If Jesus was aware of what was written, we should be aware of what is written. Now notice he's aware of the point of the writing. It is of him. So again, I want you to stop going to your Bible for mere, it's okay to have this, but for mere life application with the ambition to learn about the stories of the Bible. That's okay to do it, but you're gonna bottom out early. You're gonna shortchange yourself of the wonder and the point of the scriptures. If you apprehend what I'm talking about today and last week, you will actually discover that while you read the scripture, you're gonna find yourself seeking the Lord. It is a way to seek the Lord, and in my opinion, in my life, it has been the most fruitful and powerful way. To find him on the pages of the scriptures. If Jesus was aware, behold, it is written of me. If he was that aware of the scriptures, that is a mass endorsement of the scripture. How many times did Jesus say, let this happen so that the scriptures might be fulfilled? So it is not, listen, it is not dead Christianity to fall in love with Jesus in your Bible. In fact, it is fiery, love-filled, passionate Christianity to find Jesus in the scriptures. And by the way, Jesus is pointing to Psalm 40, I should say the writer of Hebrews is pointing us back to Psalm 40. He's actually repeating that Psalm in the book of Hebrews in chapter 10. Let's turn back, now we'll go back. Look at this, verse six of Psalm 40. Sacrifice and offerings you did not desire. Does that sound familiar? My ears you have opened. You won't open your ears if you open Instagram in the morning, by the way. It's not gonna compete, that was for free. Burnt offering and sin offering you did not require. Then I said, tell me how familiar this sounds. Behold, I come in the scroll of the book. It is written of me. And I delight to do your will, O God, and your law, your law is within my heart. Now we often claim that scripture for our own and that's okay if you're in Christ. But what I'd like to point out this morning is that Jesus is saying here, your law is written within my heart and it causes me to delight to do your will. Whoa, hold on. If Jesus connects the scriptures speaking of him in the Old Testament to having a delight to obey, we may wanna get on board. How many of you would like to step into obeying with joy? It'll start there and then at some point God'll say, now I got something for you, this one's gonna hurt and wants to say yes, you'll feel joy. You ever been there? Like break up with that person or do this or that. It hurts, it hurts, it hurts. Finally you obey, whew, grace fills you. That's what scripture teaches. Those who lose their life gain it. With every step I take of life lost, in other words of my own will being lost, God replaces it with a million times the measure of grace. That's the gospel. And it's this kind of preaching that actually moves the masses. What's happening now in the church is that the masses are moving the pulpit. The opinions of the people are shifting the preaching of the gospel. And rather than calling them to Christ crucified, we're calling them to hell through our bending. So the most joyful life is the life that holds on the least. The most life-filled existence is the one that dies consistently. Have you ever wondered how people, like they get to maybe, as they age out, they get to a place where they're like, I'm ready to go. Have you ever wondered, you ever heard that? I'm ready to go be with Jesus. When you're like 20, you're like, I ain't ready to go. It's something about us that we spend our whole life making sure we're gonna go to heaven and oftentimes we fight it when the opportunity comes. It's true, right? Now I'm not saying the Lord doesn't wanna heal sickness at times, but sometimes it's the Lord's will that we just go and oh, sometimes we fight tooth and nail. What is it, what is it about life, what causes somebody to just let go with ease and go in to the heartbeat and the presence of Jesus? It's that they consistently die and through God's grace, he weathers us. He removes what we're holding on to and the grace of the Holy Spirit comes to teach us to say no to our own will over decade after decade after decade and then finally you get to the place where you're like, Lord, I have nothing to hold on to. Take me home. That's how my grandmother died. She died in peace. She died pointing to, in the room, she must have been seeing angels. Rex Humbart saw Jesus the night before he died. And Jesus said to Rex, we're ready for you. Come home, Rex. The next morning, he shut his teeth when the doctors came to give him his medication and they said, why are you shutting your, why don't, why are you shutting your mouth? He was clenching his teeth, I should say, and he said, because the Lord came to me last night and told me I'm going home and that day, he passed away with his family watching. How can you be so ready? It's because you're not gripping the world. And so Jesus was aware of this. Listen, he was aware that it was written of him. And your life will change if every time you open numbers, you will be aware that it speaks of him. Amen? All right, now, let's get to Acts three. I just want this to land. I do believe that there's gonna be a Bible revival in the church. And in love, in love, if you don't know, if you're a preacher or a pastor or a priest or a reverend or a theology professor, and you're not sure that Jesus is the only way to the Father, you need to go on an extended, extended vacation and read the Bible. If you're unclear about that, you need to not be preaching. There is absolutely no way to look at the scripture and think elsewise. It attacks the very heartbeat of the Father. It assaults his goodness and his character to assume that it would please the Father, as the scripture says, to crush his son. It would please the Father to see his son crushed under the weight of our penalty and to think that he would do that in light of there being another way. It is an inaccurate view of the Father, hear me, and a heretical view of the value of the son of his love. Very good, amen. To think that the pure and holy Father, who is love, would allow his son to die the worst death in the history of the world, coupling that with the fact that Jesus is not only the son of God, but the beloved son of God. The scripture calls him the son of his love. The scripture calls him the Lord. The king. The word of God. He who is seated at the right hand of the Father. As Jesus replies in the Gospel of Mark, you will see me, the son of man, returning in the clouds. To think that there is another way is an absolute blindness to who the Father is regarding his love and mercy and to the value and worth of Jesus. It is to say that his blood is not enough. And Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, if there be another way, take this cup. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Did the Father halt the passion in that moment? No. What does that say to us? There is no other way. It is Jesus and Jesus alone. Thank you. I probably should have said that at the pastor's conference. It was hard, we were, could barely talk at all there, so. All right, sorry, that was just a side note. Acts 3, 24 to 26. Yes, and all the prophets. From Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken. Listen to that. Yes, all the prophets. So the entirety of the prophetic utterance in the Old Testament from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken. In other words, whoever spoke prophetically have also foretold these days. Guys, you're reading the book of Acts here. And Luke is writing, who's the author of the book of Acts, is saying everything ever prophesied spoke of this moment. Let's keep reading. You are the sons of the prophets, he's speaking of the Jews, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers. This is Peter preaching. Saying to Abraham, in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. To you first, God, having raised up his servant Jesus, sent him to bless you in turning away every one of you from your iniquity. So what Peter's basically saying here is to the religious Jews, everything ever prophesied spoke of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Acts 737, let's go there. Is this all right? Yes. Or is it feeding you? Yes. Okay, okay. Acts 737, this is that Moses. This is Peter's sermon that cost him his life. I'm sorry, Stephen's sermon that cost him his life. Acts 737, this is that Moses who said to the children of Israel, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brethren, him you shall hear. That means Moses preached that Jesus was coming and that we should listen to him. Now when Moses says that, who is the prophet of God to a nation, that means the one who's coming is miles and miles and galaxies greater than even Moses. Acts 13, actually go to Acts 10, 43. Are you hungry? All right. Acts 10, 43, to him, who's to him? Come on, talk back to me. Say it again, I have one ear, remember. All right. To him, all, say all. How do you say all in Spanish? Say it again. Say it again. Now say it in Greek. Hola. To him, all. All the prophets witness. What am I trying to get at here? Isaiah is speaking about Jesus. Jeremiah is speaking about Jesus. Daniel speaking about Jesus. Ezekiel speaking about Jesus. Moses spoke about Jesus. Samuel spoke about Jesus. David spoke about Jesus. Solomon spoke about Jesus. Are you tracking? To him, all the prophets witness that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. Hold on, he's not just talking about Jesus. He's speaking about the Jesus who bleeds. For without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. This is important. The Jews were well aware, unless blood is shed, there is no remission, there is no removal. The blood of Jesus is heaven's sin remover. Though our sins be as? Blood. How many of you know blood stains? The blood of our sin is a staining sin. It stains the soul. It is irremovable. You can't work the stain. You can't get the stain away. You can't attend enough meetings to get the stain away. You can't attend enough conferences to remove the stain of sin. In fact, unless you meet Jesus, you can't study enough theology to remove the sin. And actually, some of the most confused people I've ever met are theologians that I've spoken to. Less faith than when they went to seminary. So there's no removing this stain, this scarlet stain, except for one substance. The blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus that not only removes the stain, but replaces the stain with an eternal stain that flows from Emmanuel's veins. See, it wasn't just enough to remove it. Notice the blood stayed on the articles in the tabernacle. The blood stayed on the mercy seat. Why is that important? It's because when God looks at you, he looks through the stain of the blood of Jesus. And what does the blood do? It speaks. Doesn't the scripture teach us that? That Abel's blood cried out? And then the New Testament teaches us that there's a greater crying that cries forth from the blood of Jesus. What does it cry? Righteous, purchased, cleansed, protected. Oh, I feel the power of God flowing. Protected, hedged in. When I say purchased, you should slap your neighbor. Wait, don't, unless you know them. But when I say purchased, do you know what I'm saying? You're not your own. That's good news. Who wants to be their own? Anyone ever had trouble with you? Have you ever had trouble with yourself? You ever gotten real stressed about you and your future? Really, and your current circumstance? Your current addiction? Your current cycles? Your current lack? You feel like you don't have enough resources to fulfill the will of God for your life. You've been purchased. You're not your own. This is awesome. And the one who purchased you has no beginning and no end. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. All the silver, all the gold is mine. He doesn't deliver people, he is deliverance. That's who you've been purchased by. That's what the Bible teaches. The blood speaks, it cries out. Try delivering you for a moment, see how that goes. Try being your own shepherd. Try leading you. That's what you did before you came to Jesus. But when he purchased you, you became his responsibility. Is this helping anyone? So it says here that our sins were removed, which speaks of Jesus bleeding, Acts 10, 43. Anytime you see the word remission, you must think blood. Why am I saying this? To him all the prophets witnessed that through his name, whoever believes in him will receive remission of sins. Not only did the prophets speak of Jesus, listen, they spoke of the bloody one. The one who would die. That's how specific their prophetic ministry is and was. Acts 13, 27. Just give me five more minutes and then I'm gonna pray with y'all. We're gonna receive communion. You enjoying this? Yes. For those who dwell in Jerusalem and their rulers because they did not know him. Hold on, I want you to see the connection here. Know him, nor even the voices of the prophets. I'm giving you so much Bible this morning, you will never open Genesis again and think it's gonna be boring. You will never be spooked by a genealogy or jump over Leviticus. Now you're gonna look for him. Nor even the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath. Listen, having fulfilled them, having fulfilled those prophetic utterances read in the synagogue every Sunday at the time, having fulfilled them in, this is how they were fulfilled, by condemning him. What is being said here? In the death, burial, torture, wrongful trial of Jesus, that the prophetic scriptures were fulfilled. Well, if they were fulfilled, that means that that's what they were talking about. And though they found no cause for death in him, they asked Pilate that he should be put to death. Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning him, are you listening? They took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. But God raised him from the dead. Someone got it. Hallelujah is right. But God raised him from the dead. Jesus is the only one in the scripture who just got up. He didn't need the prophet's bones. Didn't need Elijah to lay on top of him and put his staff on him. He's different than last time. He's different than Lazarus, you see? He's different than the widow of Nain's son. Because his father raised him. Because he's perfect. Oh, to have a vision of that moment. Where Jesus and his body are eternal Sabbath, who modeled Sabbath by resting in the tomb, trusting the Father. That's faith. That's faith. That's true faith. That's faith in the Psalms. You will not allow your Holy One to see corruption. That was probably burning in his heart. Imagine singing, you will not allow your Holy One to see corruption, knowing you are about to put your body in the tomb. And trust your Father to not allow it to corrode. Oh, gosh. Some man alive. I wish we had boxing gloves. Is anyone just getting stirred up right now? Imagine Jesus, our Sabbath. Why do you think he could heal on the Sabbath? Because he's the Lord of the Sabbath. And how did he fulfill the Sabbath? By being the Sabbath and resting in the tomb. But God raised him from the dead. And he was seen for many days by those who came up with him. That's how real it was. From Galilee to Jerusalem, who are witnesses to the people. Let me just mark this. Sorry. I'm probably the only preacher who highlights this. Oh, no, it's too good. It's too good. Listen, listen. Wait, wait, wait, listen, listen. You gotta get this. You gotta get this, listen. Jesus, I mean, if you roll now, we're gonna create a ministry for you. Listen. Jesus entrusts his being to his Father in perfect faith. When he dies on the cross, 1 Peter 3 tells us that he descends into the depths of the earth. Ephesians 4, it's that whole language. He who ascended, descended. He goes into the underworld. This is Psalm 24. It speaks of the everlasting gates and the ancient doors being lifted up. That's not about a cool worship moment. We put in our Psalms, be lifted up. And we even name the ancient gates. And we don't even know what it means. It just means let the service go from low to high. That's not what it's talking about. It's talking about the ancient doors of the grave that held humanity. And Jesus went down there, according to 1 Peter 3, listen, and preached, not for their salvation. That preaching was a declaration. That's what the Greek word means. He didn't go into the underworld to get people born again. He went down there to mock the devil with his majesty. He went down there to mock the devil with his majesty. That's what the Bible says. It says that he made an open show or a spectacle of the devil by the cross. Now does that mean he carried a piece of wood down there? No, it just means you can't get down to the place of victory unless you rip through in obedience through the invitation of the tree. In other words, you can't get down there to break the grave open unless you pass through this door. Does that make sense? There's no way to victory but by the tree. And so he goes in the lowest fashion, the lowest route, because the devil is so lofty. He's the one who lifts himself up. Jesus is the one who humbly goes down. And because the devil is so lofty, he couldn't see the one who went down. It's called humility. He goes into the underworld and plunders it with his majesty. That's one of the early fathers of the church wrote, with the dazzling of thy divinity, you have destroyed the grave. I don't know why he stayed three days and anyone who tells you they do? Let me keep going. So, they don't. Three days later, the firstborn comes out of the tomb. And the Holy Ghost and his father are all present at the resurrection. When he's raised, according to Matthew's gospel, the graves open. Anyone feel the presence of God? The graves open when he's raised. You don't believe me. I'm gonna show you, I'm gonna show you. I'm gonna show you. I'm getting really prophetic. You don't believe me, but feel it. You ready? Matthew 27. How do you say that in Spanish? See? All right, now. Now, 2750, it's right here. And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And by the way, what I'm reading to you isn't just factual according to scripture, which by the way, the gospels are incredibly accurate, perfectly accurate regarding historical authenticity. They're even accurate at that level. But historians of the age speak of the resurrection of Jesus and what I'm reading to you. This is factual, more factual than we are. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This is at the death of Jesus. That means that God came out of the brick and mortar. Yes, he invited us in. Yes, he's the rending of the veil or Jesus is the veil that's rend inviting us into the presence of God daily to the throne of grace with boldness. Yes, yes, it's an invitation in, but it's also God's declaration. I'm coming out. Now I'm gonna fill living stones, okay? Now, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom and the earth quaked. Hold on, hold on. And the rocks were split. What did Jesus say on the way in to Jerusalem when the Pharisees rebuked him because people were saying, Hosanna to the son of David. What did he say? If they don't do it, the rocks will. And the graves were opened. What graves? Hold on. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised and coming out of the graves after his resurrection. This is where people get jacked up is they say that at the cross is when the graves open. No, no, no. After his resurrection, they went into the holy city. Hold on. And appeared to many. This is not a fairytale. It's not some weird Lord of the Rings thing. This actually happened. So settle in. Don't be religious right now. Settle in and see it with your heart. See what I'm saying. Jesus goes into the ground, breaks it open as the firstborn from the dead. And when he's raised, the saints are raised with him. In reality, this is not allegory. This happened. So your great-grandfather, who was a saint of God, or your great-grandmother, you're there living in first century Jerusalem and Jesus the Nazarene comes out of the grave. And the earth shakes and rocks split open. Have you ever seen that happen? A rock split open? And when he gets up, when he gets up, the saints get up with him. And appeared to many in the holy city. That means you're eating hummus and a falafel and you're there and there's beautiful barbecued lamb. You're chilling out. You're having a wonderful time. You're just sitting there. And all of a sudden there's a knock on the door. You say, hey, go get it, it's our neighbor. And you open it and it's your aunt who's been dead for 90 years. Now this didn't actually happen. Maybe it did. But imagine it. Appeared to many. Hey, what are you doing here? Oh, you'll never believe what happened down there. You'll never believe it. Oh, man. You'll never believe it. The scriptures we grew up reading are true. The one that was written of took the lowly window, the trap door of the cross, down into the grave and broke the prison doors wide open. And he's so wonderful. We saw him go up and because he's so wonderful, he said, you can come too. He said, you can come too. That he might be the firstborn among many brethren.