Jesus Christ Is Alive

Open your Bibles this morning to the Gospel of John chapter 20. We're celebrating the reality that Christ is alive. He's been risen from the dead. The demonic world couldn't hold him. He overcame principalities and powers and made a show of them openly triumphant over them in it. I think about the awesome plan that God had before he even created that which is in existence. The Bible says Christ was crucified before the foundation of the world. I think about the fact that we are so privileged. We are so blessed to think that the gospel came to us and that we embraced it. We received it into our hearts and our lives. What an awesome, what a magnificent, what a powerful, what a what a God we have. Not just the reality, the fact that there is no limit to God. There is no end to God. You know, I'd like to contemplate, you hear me talk about it all the time, that in six days God made everything. One of those days he said let there be light in the heavens and instantly over two trillion galaxies were created at that moment with up to four hundred thousand, four hundred billion solar systems in each galaxy. Two trillion galaxies. Our God is so wonderful. But you know the greatest miracle he ever did was when he was made a man. When Christ was made a man. I'd like to point out that God is a spirit made that worship and must worship in spirit and truth. And, and we know that God is a triunity God. It was the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. But something supernatural happened when the seed of the Word was planted within the soil of the egg of the woman. And God, the second part of the triunity, became a soul. And when he was on the upon the cross, he even told his disciples before he died, he said my soul is nigh unto death. And when he died on the cross, he said into thy hands commend out my spirit and his soul descended to hell. And he did it for you and me. He took our place. The wrath of God, the judgment of God, the punishment of God for sin and iniquity came upon Jesus Christ. He took my place. Not because we deserve it, not because we're worthy of it, but because he's loved. And that salvation is made available to all of humanity. Every human being that has ever lived, that existed, the blood that Jesus shed on that day was enough to cover all the sins from Adam to the end of time as we know it. And yet very few have believed on it. But aren't you so glad? Eyes have not seen, ears have not heard, neither into the heart of man those things which God has prepared for them that love him. We have chosen to love him. And I was just talking to one of the brothers this morning. It's like they're swimming up against the current. You're not like, you know, you know, a rowboat just going along with the river. No, we're swimming against the current of society, of the flesh, of the world, and the devil. And we do it by faith, don't we? It's all by faith. Say by faith. He that cometh to God must believe he is, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. And it's all by faith. We take it by faith. We believe it by faith. We speak it by faith. We do it by faith. We obey by faith. We do everything we do. And faith has nothing to do with your circumstance. Has nothing to do with your feelings, or your emotions, or people's opinions, or what's going on in the government. It's all by faith, and faith in what he has declared in this holy book. It's a holy book. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, and the righteousness that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Holy men of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. I tell you what, going on 49 years, I love the Word of God as much today as I did when I first got born again. I love it even more. I appreciate it more. I appreciate my salvation, my redemption more today. We're not living on this side of the cross. We're living on the other side of the resurrection. I preach Christ and him crucified, but I I preach Jesus and him resurrected. The word resurrection, or dealing with the resurrection, is dealt with over 40 times from Matthew to the end of the book of Revelation. He said, I am that I am. He that was dead is now alive. He's the first risen from the dead. And the reason why he's called the first risen from the dead is because the day will come when we will be also resurrected. His physical body was resurrected on that day. Nobody else's physical body has yet been resurrected. But the day will come when he returns with his mighty angels and he says and those who are in the earth will rise first and we which are alive and remain shall call it together and for so forever and forever will be with the Lord. And the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to compete me compared to the glory that shall be revealed in us. The glory. And we'll look back at this life and we'll say to ourselves. Oh, I thought I had it so bad. I thought I had it so tough. I thought it was so rough. But compared to glory, it's not even worth mentioning. And as the aeons and aeons and aeons go by we'll realize a little bit of suffering we went through for him in this world wasn't even worth talking about. Right now we're surrounded by darkness and by evil, by immorality, by perversion, by corruption. We have to deal with it in our own flesh every day, but the day will come when we will look back. Those who have already gone on to glory, they don't have the resurrected body yet. But they their physical soul is just as tangible as we are in this world right now. And Michael, I'm getting feedback. But anyways, the those who are in heaven right now, it will, it will, they don't, you think those in heaven are thinking about you? I'm so sorry. They're not thinking about you. But have you ever had a day that was so enjoyable, so fun, so wonderful that the day was just here and gone before you know it? It's like, man, that was only like a minute long. Well, those in heaven who have been there ever since the resurrection of Christ and Jesus led captivity captive and he took those out of the bosom of Abraham and the Bible says on the day that Christ died there was a mighty earthquake. But there was also a mighty earthquake on the day that he was raised from the dead and it said the saints of old rose up out of their grave. God let him have a physical body for a short period of time. It's wonderful. He's mysterious and he appeared to many of them in Jerusalem. And what were they proclaiming? What were they saying? They're saying he's alive. He's alive. He's alive. You know, Wayne, you didn't know what I was going to preach on this morning. But what you said was very profound when you began to talk about the fact that Jesus walked because it's there in John chapter 20. He began to walk with those two men after he'd been raised from the dead and he began to expound to them the reality that the Messiah must come and he must suffer and he must be betrayed and he must be crucified. He must die, but then he rose again and he began to expound to them, but they did not know it. Because they did not yet know the scripture. Isn't that amazing? They did not know the scripture and yet Jesus had proclaimed it to his disciples from the moment they began to follow him and to the day he was betrayed. He kept telling him this is what's going to happen guys. This is what's going to take place. This is what the prophets of old were talking about in the book of Isaiah and other biblical scriptures. This is what they were talking about and yet they could not comprehend it. And so those three days were probably the most miserable days of their lives. Instead of rejoicing, instead of being excited and being enthused and being happy and they should have been having a party. They all should have been down there that morning with Martha and Mary and with the ladies. Isn't it amazing that the guys were in hiding, but the women were there at the grave? The women were all there and of course we know they went there for another reason. They went there because the body of Christ had not yet been properly prepared because it was too late in the day and the Sabbath was beginning so they couldn't do it. But here they go down there early that morning and they all should have been down there welcoming the king of kings and the lord of lords who had been raised from the dead, who was alive forevermore, but they didn't know it. They were completely ignorant of it and because of that their hearts were full of fear, anxious. They were worried that they were about to be arrested. They were worried that the Romans were coming to get them, that the Pharisees and the scribes had sent the temple guards to arrest them and also to crucify them. And so they were full of fear. They were full of anxiety. They were defeated. I mean I cannot imagine because here these men were and these women for three and a half years. They had walked with Christ. They had seen the miracles. And the Bible says if every miracle that Jesus had ever done had been written in a book there would not have been enough books in that known time. Can you imagine many times like the time when he went to Peter's house and Peter's mother-in-law was sick with a fever and Jesus goes in and just simply speaks the word. The fever leaves her. She gets up and all of a sudden the whole city is at the door of Peter's house. They all were there. And the Bible says and Jesus healed them all. And many that had leprosy and disease and were lunatics and were mentally unstable and demon possessed, Jesus delivered them all just like that. So can you imagine that was just one day with Jesus. Can you imagine every day walking with Jesus for three and a half years? Wow, walking on the sea and multiplying the food and raising the dead. When he raised Lazarus from the dead, he had been dead for four days. And Jesus went to see him. I'm going to talk about that tonight. And Martha and Mary, they're saying, you know, we believe, we believe, we believe. And Jesus says, I am the resurrection. And Mary speaks up and says, Lord, we know the day will come when all that is dead will be resurrected. He said, no, no, you just don't get it. He said, the resurrection is not a day. It's a person. It's a person. Here we are as believers and we're waiting for the resurrection. No, no, it's a person. And he's in the hearts of all of those who believe. But they didn't believe. And because they didn't believe, instead of being there at that morning when Christ was raised from the dead. And they could have been there when the angels came. And the Roman soldiers, they were guarding the tomb of Christ. And all of a sudden, here comes these majestic, awesome angels. And they must have looked like streaks of lightning. And they were so filled with fear, they fell as dead men. Peter and James and John and Bartholomew. And Mary, the mother of Christ. And Mary Magdalene and all of the disciples could have been there. And they could have welcomed Jesus up from the grave with a shout. He arose. But instead, they were in hiding. Because they didn't believe. Because they didn't believe. Now, they were believers. They had faith in Christ. They had confidence in Christ. But they didn't comprehend the resurrection. I think that's what's going on today in our society. We're like the disciples many are. They're in hiding. They're afraid of this. And they're afraid of that. And they're intimidated by the world and by the flesh, by the devil, by the government. But, you know, when those believers finally had a revelation. Hey, he is alive. And God is so interested in you getting a revelation of this. That finally, when Mary came back from the grave and said, We went down there and it's there in John 20. Somebody's taken away our Lord. And they told Peter and John. And they had enough guts to finally go out and check it themselves. So here Peter and John, they take off running. And, of course, John, he leaves old Peter behind. And John gets there. And he's standing outside because they had tremendous respect for the dead. As a matter of fact, did you know in their culture, if you came into contact with dead flesh, then you had to literally set yourself aside. I think it was for a week or three days or something because you were considered unclean. So when they got down there to the tomb, Peter, you know, John didn't go in. John was like, he had the tradition so built in him. I dare not go in there among the dead. But Peter, he just pushes right past John. You know, here I come, a bowl in the china closet. You know, I'm kind of like that sometimes. Here I come, ready or not. So he just rushes in there. And then John said, well, if Pete went in there, I could go in there too. So he sticks his head in there. And he said, I saw it. He said the grave clothes were all laid up. But the napkin that had covered his face was folded and set aside. There's some significance in that. But they still didn't know he was raised from the dead. But it said, and John believed. Something switched in the heart of John. His whole perspective changed. You know, when you truly begin to believe what the scripture says, there will be a major paradigm shift in your heart. When I believed in Christ all my life, I knew about Christ as a Catholic. I mean, everything we did was about Christ. But it wasn't in my heart. And I didn't know any of the Catholics. It was in their heart. It could have been. I just didn't know it. But, I mean, we had all these rituals. And we are so reverential. And we would come to our cathedral, our temple, our church. And we would go in through the doors. And it was a holy hush. And we'd go in there. And you know what I'm talking about. And we had a bowl of water. It was simple water. But the priest had prayed over it, you know, and turned it holy. And we would stick our finger in there. And we'd make the sign of the cross. I remember even as a little boy, I had a little necklace around my neck. And I had a, you know, I don't know why. But as my saint name, I took the name Thomas. If I'd known it now, I would have never touched the name of Thomas. But at the time, I didn't know. Now, if your name is Thomas, don't be offended. But I had that necklace around. I think it was Saint Benedict or somebody who had done something. How do you know we're all saints in Christ? Amen. So you could wear it around your neck, your name. It would be Saint whoever it is. Saint Pete, Saint Mike, Saint Julie, whoever it is. Because we're saints in Christ, aren't we? Grab that. Aren't you a saint? A saint means you're a set-apart one. That means you're not like the world. You don't talk like the world. You don't live like the world. You don't act like the world. You don't do what the world does because you've been bought by the blood. You've been redeemed. You've been born again. The crucified Lord don't live in you. The resurrected Lord lives in you. See, we don't live on this side of the cross. We live on the side of the resurrection. And how many of you know where Jesus is right now? He's sitting at the right hand of the Heavenly Father, isn't he? He's sitting at the hand of the Father. And he's overcame. When he appeared to his disciples, he said, Behold, all power and authority is given unto me. But Peter looked, but it didn't make no difference. Peter saw the empty tomb. It didn't make no difference. But when John saw it, something happened in John, he says. And he believed. He doesn't say nothing else, but he believed. I think that's why you'll discover as you read the Gospel of John, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, that John just seemed to have this deeper understanding. He's the one who said that Christ is the true vine and his Father's the husband then. He's the one who said, Eat my flesh and drink my blood. He said things that Matthew never said and Luke never said. Of course, Luke was not a witness of it. He just was writing what he saw. Mark never said it, but John said some very profound things. And see, the depth of your believing determines to what extent God can reveal himself to you. Did you ever consider that? To the degree that you believe what Christ said and what the book says and what the prophet said is to the degree that God can reveal himself to you. And we see this in John, because here Jesus has been raised from the dead and they go back and they're still in hiding. They're so fearful. And Mary, she goes back down there to the empty tomb and she's so broke and she's weeping and she's wailing and she's crying. I'm not making fun of her, but she had heard the same words the disciples heard. She's the one who broke open the alabaster box. She's the one who poured it out and fell on her knees and wiped the feet of Jesus. She's the one that Jesus said that what she's done for me will be spoken of throughout eternity. Oh, that's wonderful, you know. I don't think there's anything I've ever done for God that will be spoken about throughout eternity, but what she did and yet she didn't believe what Jesus said. He didn't condemn them because he understood there's something at work in us. It's called the spirit of unbelief. When man committed sin, that unbelief. What do you mean unbelief? Doubting what God says and believing what the flesh says, believing what the world says, believing what the medical world says, believing what society says, believing what government says, believing what your parents say, believing what your neighbors say, believing what the preacher says, though he's not preaching the truth. We can't help it. We absorb it. We're like sponges. We take it in. Oh, but we would be like sponges that could absorb the reality of the truth of this word. For you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. When Jesus said that to those Jews and those who followed him in John chapter 8, they spoke up and they were indignant. They were hurt. They were angry. They said, we're not a slave to anybody. What do you mean? We'll know the truth and the truth will make you free. Jesus lived in another world. He lived in that world, but he was another world. He was in the world, but not of the world in Jesus' praise. Father, I pray not that thou takest them out of the world, but thou will keep them in the world. And so we're in this world, but we're not of this world. They that follow Christ will walk in light, walk in the truth, walk in the reality. How many of you can truly say when you got born again, you experienced a whole new world that you never knew existed, you know? And, you know, I never was much one for when it came to being out in the ocean. I grew up next to the Great Lakes, not very far from them. And I remember one time as a young boy, we took a ferry ride out in the Great Lakes with our public school system. But after I got born again and I was living in Alaska, I started working on boats, halibut boats and salmon boats. And, you know, so I had some experience of being out there in the Bering Sea and working even in adverse weather. I remember one time we were on a 110-foot tugboat when I was still in the Navy and we hit the perfect storm and I experienced what was going on. But, you know, below that boat, even though I was out there on the ocean, on the sea, the Bering Sea, below me was a world that I had no concept existed. I think there's a lot of believers that are in the boat, they're in the gospel boat, but they've never gone down below it. What is there in God's kingdom? What is there? Well, we know we see it in the life of Jesus. I mean, all flesh was subject to Jesus. He said, if I cast out devils with my finger, you know, the kingdom of God has come to you. He gives everything he did was so magnificent, so wonderful, so awesome, so powerful, that the Bible says the people were beside themselves. I mean, they just couldn't hardly believe what he was doing and what he was saying and what was happening. And what they didn't understand is that he didn't do this to make them spectators, but he actually did it to bring them where he lived. You know, Jesus wants us to live where he lives. The Bible says biblically, scripturally, we're seated together in heavenly places. That all blessings are ours. That every promise in Christ is yay and amen. But how many of you know those promises are only apprehended by faith? Every promise in the book is mine. And the disciples, they believe in. So, you know, Mary, you know, she goes down there, she's crying, and there's angels still there, but she's so crying and so weeping, her eyes are just, like, you know, covered over with tears and sadness. Her heart is breaking, and she cries out, what did you do with my Lord? And she turns around, and there's Jesus standing right there, right there. He's right there. He's right there, and she can't see him. He's right there, and he's with you, and you can't see him. He said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He said, oh, I'm with you up to the end of the world, and you're going through your storm, you're going through your problem, you're going through your difficulty, and you're weeping, and you're broken. And I understand. He didn't mock her. He understood because her eyes were blinded with unbelief. She couldn't see Jesus. Couldn't see it. Couldn't see Jesus. How many people in the body of Christ today, oh, they're born again. They're washed in the blood. They believe some of the Word, but they just, they just can't see Jesus as their healer. Just can't see it. And so here they're trying to get Jesus to heal them when he says, you already are. Here they're trying to get Jesus to hear their prayers, and he says, before you ever prayed, I answered you. They're trying to get God to do something for them, and God said, I've already done it. He said, I've already done it. But people are so focused on the crucifixion, they can't see the resurrection. They can't see. They can't see he's sitting in the place of all power, all authority, all dominion. They're so wrapped up in the flesh. So wrapped up. I guess sometimes it would kind of remind me of Christmas morning, and you don't understand what's under the tree. Now, what I've always, we did this, my kids were growing up, well, I don't know why, we always got them under wearing socks. I mean, you know what I'm talking about. My kids say, Dad, what do you need for Christmas? I said, I just guess more under wearing socks. But you know that gift is under the tree. And here you're lamenting that you don't have what you need, and you've got to rip the wrapping paper off and open up the box. You've got to let God open up the reality of who Christ is, and he's not just in the heavenly places, he lives in you. How about that cupcake? He's in us. God Almighty, the resurrected Lord, the King of kings, he whose name is above every name, there's a mention of that name, every knee must bow. It must bow. At the name of Jesus. Cancer's got to bow its knees. Anxiety, fear, every sin, every work of the flesh, and the devil, if you are walking by faith in who Christ is, it's got to bow its knees. But you know, unless you are moving in the gift of faith or the gift of miracles or the gift of healing, and how many of you know there are gifts like that in the body? I mean, at times when those gifts operated in me and I laid my hands on people who had no faith, and they would even maybe spit in the face of God. I told you about Ron Davis for years, who lived in my house up on the hill, and Ron was the big guy. He said he was a thumper who worked for the mafia. And I would try to talk to Ron. He was the most obnoxious, ignorant, nasty man I had ever met. I'm not exaggerating. I've run into some real pieces of work. You know what I'm talking about? Y'all know what I'm talking about? I mean, nasty, nasty. He just would look for an argument. One day I'm talking to Ron, and he came out of Philadelphia, and he had been married, and he was not only working for the mafia, but he had his own drug business, and he had $100,000 in his savings account. One day he came home, and his wife was gone. He looked into his checking account, and every penny was gone. Here, his wife stole all of his money he had made from drugs. And so now he had to find somewhere to live, and he heard about me where it was only like $65 a week to live in the house, and that included everything. And so he jumped and took the chance. He was a big guy. How many remember Ron Davis? Probably over six feet, big, husky guy, and he lived in my house, and I would try to share Jesus with him, and he just, I mean, the guy was just nasty. I didn't have no fear of him, and he told me one day, I said, I was a thumper. I said, well, what's a thumper? He said, if you got in the wrong side, they paid me to come and thump you. He said, and I'd thump you good. I believe he did. Well, he lived in my house for quite a number of years, and then in 2012, I think it was, or 2011, I'd go up to the house one day, and he's in the front room, and he's all upset. He's all upset. I said, Ron, what's upset? He said, I just got back from the eye doctor, and they said I'm going blind. I said, what? I'm going blind? He gave a long technical name. That stuff don't impress me because at the mention of Jesus, every knee must bow. Well, I know the resurrected Lord. I know the one who overcame principalities and powers. I know the one who said, in my name, you'll lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. You'll cast out devils and cleanse the lepers and raise the dead. The gift of faith just hit me. You say, how do these gifts operate? All you do is you just go after Jesus, and they begin to happen. What you feel your heart full of is what comes out of you. And if it doesn't come out of you, it's because it's not in you. I'm not talking about being born again. I'm saying after you're born again, you'll fill your heart with truth. And so the Spirit of God rose up in me, and I think it's the first time I ever yelled at Ron because when he yelled at me, I wouldn't yell at him. I just don't get in people's face. I yelled at him. I said, close your eyes. He said, what? He must have been shocked because I'm looking up at this big guy. I said, close your eyes. He said, why? I said, close your eyes. I must have told him three times. And then I took my thumbs, and I wasn't gentle, and I shoved my thumbs into his eyes. And I said, in the name of Jesus, I command that disease to come out of these eyes. And then I knew it was done. See, when you're in faith, you know that you know that you know. And I took the thumbs away from his eyes. I said, there you go, Ron. He said, what? I said, there you go. What do you mean, there I go? I said, it's gone. He said, it's gone. I said, go back to the doctor. It was the spirit of God, not Mike Yeager. It was the resurrected Lord speaking through me to him because God cared about Ron Davis. So he was a thumper and a drug dealer, and who knows what else he did. I said, you're healed. Go back to your doctors. And so it was about a week later. I wasn't there. We had, right down the road here, right there at the corner of High Street, we had rented out that big building. It was a thrift store. And he went down there one day looking for me. I wasn't there. And I heard this story. He came in, big old Ron, and he's weeping. He's crying. He said, where's Pastor Mike? Where's Pastor Mike? Where's Pastor Mike? And he said, well, he ain't here. And he started grabbing everybody. He began to hug them and hug them. They said, what's this about? They said, I had an eye disease. I was going blind. He said, but it's gone. It's gone. It's gone. And I led him to Jesus. And that man, who was one of the ugliest, nastiest, meanest people I had ever met, became a giant, gentle, compassionate man when he had to move here last March. Transformed, why? By the resurrected Christ. How many know what I'm talking about this morning? So that Jesus, who had died and rose again, was now alive in Ron. And now all of a sudden, Ron, love was alive in him. Gentleness was alive in him. Joy was alive in him. Jesus was alive in Ron. And Ron Davis, is he alive in you today? Is that Jesus alive in you today? His joy, his peace, his power, his authority, his dominion, his love, his goodness, his kindness, his meekness, his long-suffering, his patience, is he alive in you today? He's alive in us, isn't he? People ought to see Jesus alive in us. In all of our dealings, in all of our conflicts, in all of our situations, he ought to be alive in us. Now, you take Jesus out of Mike Yeager, I'll be what I used to be, a stinker. Just a filthy, rotten, no-good, lying, stealing, feeding, cussing, alcoholic, drug user. You take Jesus... So I can't brag about, wow, haven't I done something for God? No, it's Christ alive in me. So all that I have and all that I've accomplished is of God when I stand before the Lord. I'm just simply going to give it back to him and say, Lord, look what you did. You fed the hungry, you clothed the naked, you visited those in hospitals and you helped those in prisons. You did it, Jesus. And all I did was invite you into my physical, clay flesh. Get out from behind the driver's seat and let Jesus... How many of you know Jesus can drive that vehicle of yours way better? You know Jesus can even take a piece of junk and win every NASCAR race? Jesus can do it. Amen. That's why sometimes I think the ones who win the race the greatest are the junkers. You know what I'm talking about? He said, not many mighty, not many noble, not many powerful, but those who are weak and considered foolish and the rejects of this world. He said, those are the ones who let me into their lives. And they get out from behind the steering wheel and they say, Jesus, won't you please drive for me? Man, preached myself happy this morning. So, Mary, she says, what have you done? Can't see Jesus. She sees a gardener. She says, what have you done? And then just one word that penetrated deep. One word, one word. He said, Mary. And her eyes were open. And she said, Rabona, which means master. And she fell on her face and began to weep. And she went to grab his feet. And he said, don't touch me, Mary. And he said something very profound. He said, for I have not yet ascended to heaven. He said, I have not yet gone before my God and your God and my Father and your Father. Here was the divine transference, the whole human race. When Adam sinned, we're under the dominion of the God of this world. The devil was the God of this world. Those who are not born again, Satan is their father. That's what Jesus said to the Jews in John 8, 44. Your father's the devil. And the works of your father he'll do. He was a murderer from the beginning. What did he do? He murdered the truth. He was a liar. He's the father of it. But now, all of a sudden, Christ has paid the price. I know all of those in the old covenant by faith, they saw God as their father. Understand that. But until Christ overcame the world, the flesh, and the devil, man couldn't be born again. And Jesus proclaims, that must have just echoed throughout the heavens. The angels were an absolute, they were besides themselves. Because they seen the wickedness, and the perversion, and the rebellion, and the disobedience of man. They were doing exactly like their father the devil was doing. And now Jesus rises from the dead, and everything changes. And he says to Mary, go tell the disciples, it's done. It's finished. The devil is forever defeated. I said the devil is forever defeated. But until you see Christ as a resurrected Lord, you'll still be convinced that the enemy is bigger than God. I don't know, I don't understand, I really don't. I could almost weep. I don't understand what God did in my heart. When I got born again, and I read in the scriptures, that he took my stripes upon his back for my healing. I saw it, Wayne, I saw it. I saw I was healed, I saw it. I saw it, it's like the light turned on. I saw not only Jesus as alive, sitting at the side of the Father, I saw Jesus took my sickness, he took my disease. He took it, he took it. And so anytime, and it's not because I had walked in health my whole life, I had walked in sickness my whole life. Being preemie and ending up in oxygen tents. So my mom, all of us family of the Yeagers, we all had some kind of physical infirmities. My brother Dennis and sister Debbie and myself, we were born with our feet turned outward, and they had to put our feet in braces. I remember being in oxygen tents, and having such, my ears were immobile, my bones. And I had such excruciating headaches, I would beat, as a little boy, I'd beat my head on our dining room floor. I could take you there where I'd beat my head to try to get the pain. I'd rather experience the pain of my head hitting the hardwood floor than what was going on. How many of you have ever had a real bad earache? Severe, I had that my whole life. First time I flew a high altitude jet, my left eardrum broke, because I didn't have bones that would let the fluid out. Just impacted in my head so bad. I remember as a little boy, my mom smoked, and we all smoked, and she would take cigarette smoke, and she would blow in my ears, and get that heat into my ears to relieve the pain. I remember many nights in the hospital by myself, in an oxygen tent, barely be able to breathe. So when I got born again, and I read, By his stripes you were healed. It's just like when Jesus said to Mary, Mary, Mary! She said, Lord, Master, we're bow-dying. When Jesus said to my heart, By my stripes you were healed. It turned on inside of me. And so from that time to this time, any time the devil has attacked me physically, faith just rises up in my heart. And I said, no, devil, you can't do it. No, the price has been paid. No, I'm not put up with this pain, with this disease, with this infirmity. You have got to go in the name of Jesus. Was there always instant manifestations? Well, when I first got born again, as a baby Christian there was. I mean, you know what I'm talking about, as a baby Christian. I would speak to him, and I first spoke to my ears, and my lungs, and my sense of smell, because I had lost it, having my nose broken about four times. And instantly my nostrils opened up, and my feet stunk so bad I had to wash them. The singing nun was so loud, because when I got born again, I don't know why, something drew me into holiness. No one ever preached holiness to me. Separation, come out of the darkness. And I did, I came out of the darkness. I got rid of my drugs, and my alcohol, and my pornography, and even my rock music, and my tobacco products. I got rid of it all, and all I did was go after Jesus. Didn't watch any kind of secular entertainment, music, nothing. It wasn't slow for me, it was instantaneous. And I saw by his stripes I was healed, and I spoke, and I was healed. But you know, there was a time when the devil would attack me physically, and I'd tell him to go, and it seemed like he didn't go. And I said, Lord, what's going on? He said, Do you believe me or your symptoms? And he began to teach me. I didn't learn it from the word of faith, people. I didn't learn it from any preachers. I learned it from the Bible. That faith doesn't consider circumstances. Faith says, Let God be true and everything else a lie. And you know what it did for me? It's kept me alive all these years. Here's one more story. I was going to Ramah, and I just put this story up online. And I had a four-wheel drive pickup truck, F250, with a 490 Merck engine in it. I put in it, and it was worth quite a bit of money. And so I sold it to another Ramah grad, and I took that money, and I bought an old van that we used for like a plant nursery. And so I thought, Well, I'm going to fix this up, and we're going to use it. We're going to live out of it until God tells me what to do. And so I took it to Earl Shrive. Is that Earl? $50 paint job, right? So Shrive? So I took it to that paint shop, and they painted it metallic green. And then I built a bed in the back. I got scrap lumber, and I knew somebody who took their old carpet out of their house, and they got new carpet. It wasn't bad. And so here I put the carpet up on the wall. I fixed it all up. And I should have majored on the engine. The engine had some problems. And it was such an old vehicle. Remember the old body cavities inside, and you had to cover over your engine? Your engine was sitting between you and the passenger. And so I left Ramah, and we're going down the road, and the valve cover began to leak oil. And that smoke began to pour into our cabin. It was so bad. It was summertime. We rolled down our windows. I thought, Well, I'll fix this when I get back to Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. And Kathy, she slept all the way in her back. So for over 1,400 miles altogether, I'm breathing in this smoke. I'm breathing it in, breathing it in, making me sick. And here I burned out my vocal cords. I mean, I literally destroyed my vocal cords. So I'm a preacher. So I would get to preach. I'd preach for 10 minutes. Can you imagine this? And my voice would be gone. Now, some people might appreciate that, but I didn't appreciate it. So this went on for months. And then I'd preach Sunday morning. And, you know, in those days, I actually was much louder, you know, and preached like the old Pentecostal preachers. And I'd suck the air in. It about hurt my voice right now. We're not designed to preach like that. But we think it's the Holy Ghost. And I did. I thought it was the Holy Ghost. Until one day I sent home a cassette tape to my mom. And when I got on the phone with her, she was crying. I thought the Spirit of God came through that preaching. And she said to me, she said, Mike, do you really have to preach like that? And that kind of rocked my world because my wife tried to tell me, honey, you don't have to preach like that. That's not the anointing. It's you. Just speak the word. Just speak the word. Jesus didn't preach like that. It's between you and God. So I had to rein my flesh in. And I began to say, no, how can I communicate the word to where people can receive what I have to say? And I'm still working on it. Not compromising the word, but how can I put the word out there to help people receive it, you know? And so anyways, I'd lose my voice. I'd lose my voice. It'd take me a whole week long to recover. And finally one day I said, Lord, what is going on? He said, you're not trusting me, son. He said, you know how to trust me when it comes, but you're not believing me for your voice. He said, listen, he said, I created those vocal cords. I'll heal them if you love me. I said, okay, okay, I'm going to do that. So I began to speak to my vocal cords. I could hardly talk like this after I preached the Sunday morning message. I could hardly whisper. It hurt to talk. So I began, I said, I'd lay my hands on my throat and I'd say, in the name of Jesus, I'll command these vocal cords to be healed now. Now, I could hardly whisper. I could cloak it out. In Jesus' name, I command my vocal cords to be healed. And then I'd just begin to praise God all week long, all week long, all week long. I'd preach the next Sunday and the same thing would happen. I'd say, I'm not backing off. It's mine. Praise God. It's mine. I don't know how this might have went on for about a month. And I would just say, Lord, I thank you I'm healed. I know I'm healed. God, you can't lie. You're not a liar. The devil is the liar. And by his stripes we were. If we were, we am. And if we am, we is. I is healed. And I did that for about a month. And one Sunday I got up and I went to preach. And I opened up my mouth. It was like a bullhorn came out. Like the roar of the lion of the tribe of Judah. And from that day to this day, I've never lost my voice preaching. You know why? Because I saw the truth. By his stripes, I am healed. He's alive in us today, people. He's alive. Will you believe that? Will you believe there's no weapon formed against you that can prosper? Will you believe if God is for you, who can be against you? Will you believe you can do all things? I'm talking about whatever God has called you to do, you can do. Now, you know, tomorrow we start back our free services every day. Ten years we shut it down. Ten o'clock, two o'clock, six o'clock. And I heard the Lord say to me this time. He said, son, it's going to be a little bit different. Last time it was all outside preachers coming in first. He said, this time, he said, I've sent you people that I have called and ordained. I'm going to say anointed to preach the truth. He said, I want you to give them an opportunity first to declare the word. Whether it be once a month or once every week. Some of you could do once every day if you wanted to. And I said, okay, Lord. So I've got a bunch of preachers lined up, but that's what we're doing right now. We're filling in the spaces. He said, but pastor, what good is it going to do? How many people are going to watch it? Well, first of all, we're getting a tremendous. I told you that for two weeks, we live streamed our sanctuary with nobody here. And I had over 34,000 unique visitors. 34,000, not including our network when we had over 17,000. So it's amazing. We can stand in the pulpit today and reach the world for almost nothing. And since 1983, when God told me to go on TV audibly, and Donnie was there during that days, and Howard was there, I was paying $250 for a half an hour pop on channel 25 out of Hagerstown. And that was a one-time deal. That means once it was like flushing the commode. Once you did that half hour program, it was all gone. It was over with. Nobody would ever see it again. But now we put it up on YouTube. And, by the way, I lost my three YouTube channels. And I say this in love. I lost my channel because of preachers. What do you mean because of preachers? I would find someone who was talking about something amazing. And because I had 35,000, 45,000 people who visited my website, I put it on my YouTube channel. And other people got my YouTubes, and they would complain to YouTube, and they'd give me a strike. And with three strikes, you're gone. And last two weeks ago, my YouTube channels all disappeared. Not the churches, thank God. You know what I said? It's okay. I'm all right with that. But we're supposed to be getting the gospel out. We're supposed to be getting the word out. You know why? Because it's not inclusive. It's not my message. It's our message. It's Jesus in us, isn't it? Will you give the Lord a hand, clap, and a shout? Woo! Sounds strange, but I heard in my heart this. It's time to party. I thought I would have had a bunch of party hats and a bunch of whistles here. A bunch of those. Why? Because he's alive. He's alive. Woo! He's alive. He's alive. And he's alive in us. And we're going to be together forever. Now, don't worry. You'll enjoy being with me when we leave this earth. Maybe some of you don't enjoy me that much right now, but don't worry. I'll be the most likable guy you've ever met when we get to heaven, and so will you be. Woo, isn't that wonderful? No schism in heaven. No disagreements in heaven. No sadness in heaven. No fear in heaven. No sickness in heaven. No sin in heaven. No darkness. The sun never sets because he's the light. But he said an amazing thing. Pray this prayer. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Right now. Right now. Well, Lord, I pray over this congregation and all those who are watching my technology you that the reality of Christ sitting on the throne would become real to us Lord that even as Jesus said to Mary when he said Mary and her eyes were open Lord that you would speak that one word to us today whatever word it might be might be just our name he might just say Howard, Dan, Sandy, Ray, Bill, Rick he might just say it Debbie and all of a sudden your eyes are opened and you go wow you're alive forevermore amen wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive alive forever let's stand on our feet this morning and sing that bring it up baby he's alive if you get so excited you start running around this place and shouting and jumping it's okay you go for it my Jesus is alive forevermore sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive alive forevermore my whole world alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive forevermore sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive he's alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive he's alive forevermore he's alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive forevermore sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive he's alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive he's alive forevermore he's alive alive alive forevermore my Jesus is alive sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive forevermore sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive sing hallelujah sing hallelujah my Jesus is alive forevermore sing hallelujah sing hallelujah My Jesus is alive, my Jesus is alive, my Jesus is alive. Hallelujah!