WEBVTT 00:00:00.580 --> 00:00:01.850 I'm glad to see everyone here today. 00:00:02.700 --> 00:00:08.140 What it says to me is that we're not an Easter church, which means you attend on Easter and Christmas, right? 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:09.920 So welcome back. 00:00:09.940 --> 00:00:13.200 The week after Easter, you people who love Jesus, that's wonderful. 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:13.630 I'm not playing. 00:00:13.680 --> 00:00:14.260 No one else does. 00:00:14.380 --> 00:00:15.940 But I'm glad that you do. 00:00:15.940 --> 00:00:16.120 Right. 00:00:18.080 --> 00:00:25.640 I think that the Easter season is the best time to just be committed to Christ as a as his follower and recommit your life, or just 00:00:25.680 --> 00:00:27.620 to become a follower of Jesus. 00:00:28.840 --> 00:00:31.790 I think the Easter message is a beautiful message. 00:00:33.400 --> 00:00:38.100 In fact, the Easter message is the pinnacle of what Christianity is about. 00:00:39.420 --> 00:00:40.780 I think it's worthy of our faith. 00:00:41.780 --> 00:00:48.510 You might find this hard to believe, but out of all the holidays we celebrate, Easter for me, just crushes Christmas. 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:49.960 Yeah. 00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:51.500 Jesus came on Christmas. 00:00:52.020 --> 00:00:53.660 At least we celebrate on December 25th. 00:00:55.680 --> 00:00:56.960 But he died and rose again. 00:00:58.520 --> 00:00:58.940 Amen. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:05.840 Proving himself victorious over death in the grave and different than all other belief systems in the world. 00:01:05.960 --> 00:01:10.440 This says something to us about the living power of who Jesus is in our world. 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:19.400 You want to find, as I've studied the nature of Christ, the person of Jesus, and the claims of Christianity is that there are 00:01:19.400 --> 00:01:26.920 so many things out there to validate and prove and testify to the power of who Jesus is, being 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:29.080 a real figure, overcoming the grave. 00:01:29.080 --> 00:01:31.840 God in the flesh, living for you and for I. 00:01:33.360 --> 00:01:38.500 This morning, I just want to simply share an idea that kind of plays off of Easter. 00:01:38.560 --> 00:01:41.790 We're going to just focus these next couple of weeks on Jesus. 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.140 Last week we talked about the importance of Jesus. 00:01:44.160 --> 00:01:45.900 We had a very emotional peel. 00:01:45.900 --> 00:01:50.450 Looking at a lady who was suffering from an illness in Christ healed her from it. 00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:56.610 And this today, I'm going to appeal more to your intellectual side, which will affect our hearts and our lives as we follow after Jesus. 00:01:57.160 --> 00:02:00.160 But the focus should always be about Jesus here at church. 00:02:00.780 --> 00:02:07.820 But today, specifically, we're going to talk about the nature of Christ and the testifying ability and the proof of Jesus and everything that he 00:02:07.820 --> 00:02:08.020 is. 00:02:09.620 --> 00:02:16.620 In fact, when I've studied Jesus and as I've looked at Jesus in my own life, something I just want to simply share from my heart this morning is this 00:02:16.620 --> 00:02:24.820 I want to share why I only have enough faith to follow after Christ, and therefore why 00:02:24.820 --> 00:02:29.820 I don't have enough faith to believe in anything other than Jesus and His resurrection. 00:02:32.200 --> 00:02:38.300 I think religiously in this world to accept any other belief other than Christ. 00:02:38.400 --> 00:02:44.800 And I know this is very blunt and putting it this way, but I'm going to be frank in the beginning, it requires a faith that equates to blind ignorance. 00:02:46.880 --> 00:02:48.760 A hopeful, more of a wishful thinking. 00:02:50.900 --> 00:02:58.100 But when it comes to the idea of who Jesus is and his nature and the identity of Christ for us as a believer, it's 00:02:58.100 --> 00:02:59.300 not merely wishful thinking. 00:03:01.280 --> 00:03:08.680 It's a faith that can be validated because it's a faith not based on a religious idea, but on the identity of a person who can be historically validated 00:03:08.680 --> 00:03:10.780 and proven through Scripture and throughout history. 00:03:14.300 --> 00:03:16.160 Jesus's life was so important. 00:03:17.120 --> 00:03:19.340 He didn't want anyone to miss it. 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:23.170 We believe in Jesus and His resurrection. 00:03:23.640 --> 00:03:26.440 First of all, I should say this morning because of prophecy. 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:33.620 Prophecy is kind of like the equivalent of Babe Ruth calling a shot. 00:03:34.380 --> 00:03:34.840 You know what I mean? 00:03:34.920 --> 00:03:42.180 When you know you're good at something or great at something, and you step up to the plate and you just say, I've done this a million times, I'm going to go ahead and tell you, 00:03:42.720 --> 00:03:44.080 this one's going over the fence. 00:03:44.920 --> 00:03:46.580 You've heard the historical shot as a young boy. 00:03:46.580 --> 00:03:49.840 I know when I'm ten, 11 years old, you believe there's nothing this world can stop you? 00:03:49.840 --> 00:03:51.020 You're just like your heroes, right? 00:03:51.240 --> 00:03:52.240 So you step up to the plate. 00:03:52.320 --> 00:03:58.740 I can remember in minor league, pointing over the fence like you're going to crush this pitcher only to find the whole season. 00:03:58.740 --> 00:03:59.650 I never hit a home run. 00:04:02.240 --> 00:04:03.350 I am not Babe Ruth. 00:04:05.620 --> 00:04:10.160 Babe Ruth and calling his shot is one of the most incredible things that exists in baseball history. 00:04:10.160 --> 00:04:11.560 All kids mimic it even to this day. 00:04:13.060 --> 00:04:14.860 And you think about the prophecies of Christ. 00:04:16.440 --> 00:04:18.339 Everything about the coming of Jesus into this world. 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:20.360 How God called his shot. 00:04:20.980 --> 00:04:21.529 Let me give you another illustration. 00:04:21.980 --> 00:04:26.060 It's like this Mike Tyson coming in front of you and saying, I'm going to knock you out. 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:27.810 I'm not going to do it with the third or fourth punch. 00:04:28.040 --> 00:04:32.370 I'm going to let you know the fifth one's going to do it, and it doesn't matter if you block it, because I'm going to hit you so hard in the hand. 00:04:32.400 --> 00:04:35.140 Your hand is going to hit your face and that's going to knock you out, right? 00:04:37.940 --> 00:04:44.680 There was power in that statement because it comes from a person of power, one who is proven. 00:04:46.500 --> 00:04:52.500 And prophecy does the same thing for us when it talks about the nature of who Jesus is. 00:04:53.820 --> 00:05:00.060 In fact, this morning, if you look in your notes, I simply outlined a chart for you of some of the prophetic statements made about Christ in Scripture. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:07.720 In fact, I wish I could have listed them all, but it would have been a page that would have taken up every side of your bulletin this morning. 00:05:08.580 --> 00:05:11.340 Over 300 prophecies of Jesus have been fulfilled in Scripture. 00:05:12.380 --> 00:05:13.980 I just picked 25 and put them in randomly. 00:05:16.340 --> 00:05:23.440 And the interesting thing about these prophecies is if you looked in the middle column, you see where there's reference in the Old Testament, you see that all these prophecies come 00:05:23.440 --> 00:05:26.000 hundreds of years before Jesus came to this world. 00:05:27.660 --> 00:05:34.760 In fact, one of the prophecies prophecies that's given to us in Psalm 22, it tells us that Jesus would literally be crucified in 00:05:34.760 --> 00:05:36.580 his hands and his feet would be nailed. 00:05:37.960 --> 00:05:44.200 The interesting thing about this prophecy, a thousand years before Jesus, is that the torture of the cross had not even been invented. 00:05:45.780 --> 00:05:51.990 You can imagine dividing up prophetically in Scripture, writing about the death of an individual through a torture device that doesn't even exist. 00:05:52.900 --> 00:05:54.480 How confusing would that be for you? 00:05:57.240 --> 00:06:03.260 And yet, prophetically, it was shared to us about the Messiah Bible says this. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:09.980 I'm going to focus on two passages this morning, relating to the truthfulness of our faith and the resurrection of Jesus. 00:06:10.240 --> 00:06:11.820 The first comes in Second Peter. 00:06:14.200 --> 00:06:21.860 It says in 119 and we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it as 00:06:21.860 --> 00:06:23.840 to a light shining in a dark place. 00:06:25.460 --> 00:06:31.060 And Peter's writing this portion of scripture to us and he's saying, guys, listen, do you want to validate the resurrection of Jesus in your life? 00:06:31.280 --> 00:06:36.000 During the time of Peter, some people challenged the idea of Jesus literally being resurrected from the grave. 00:06:36.360 --> 00:06:37.310 He's saying, you want some proof. 00:06:37.500 --> 00:06:40.220 You want some hard, tangible evidence that you can look at in your life. 00:06:40.760 --> 00:06:41.810 Go look at the Old Testament. 00:06:42.900 --> 00:06:47.010 I mean, this prophecy is worth paying attention to what it's saying about Jesus. 00:06:47.060 --> 00:06:48.820 Babe Ruth has called his shot. 00:06:48.840 --> 00:06:49.700 God came. 00:06:49.700 --> 00:06:50.440 Look at the picture. 00:06:50.740 --> 00:06:52.040 300 prophecies. 00:06:52.040 --> 00:06:57.820 You can't make this stuff up a thousand years before Jesus came to this world and it's foretold. 00:06:59.580 --> 00:07:06.520 Matter of fact, in Genesis chapter three, the in verse 15, the first prophetic statement of the coming of Jesus was made known to Adam and Eve. 00:07:08.900 --> 00:07:14.140 In verse 20 it says, above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 00:07:16.060 --> 00:07:18.440 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. 00:07:18.680 --> 00:07:21.900 But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:07:24.640 --> 00:07:27.400 I like prophecy in Scripture because what it what it does for me. 00:07:27.400 --> 00:07:35.900 According to verse 20, Paul calls prophecy of Scripture is prophecy helps us to validate what is and isn't Scripture because 00:07:35.900 --> 00:07:37.360 God called his shot. 00:07:37.460 --> 00:07:40.540 We can see how God called his shot and evidence in the world by coming into this world. 00:07:41.380 --> 00:07:45.670 It helps us to understand this is from God and vice versa. 00:07:45.960 --> 00:07:48.520 If we see the prophecy in the scripture, it reminds us that it is Scripture. 00:07:48.580 --> 00:07:52.520 But in verse 21 he goes on and tells us, how did God get this so specific? 00:07:52.660 --> 00:07:55.380 How does this 300 prophecies of Jesus? 00:07:55.380 --> 00:07:57.080 How do we maintain this today? 00:07:57.080 --> 00:08:04.180 And he tells us the reason that we have this, and the reason is so specific, and the reason we can identify Jesus through this, is because it wasn't written just by 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:05.640 some typical guy. 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:08.380 It's written by the Holy Spirit. 00:08:09.400 --> 00:08:11.380 Amen. 00:08:12.300 --> 00:08:19.340 We understand that the reason that we have prophecy to validate the nature of Jesus before he came is because it was God 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:20.260 given to us. 00:08:22.220 --> 00:08:26.620 Prophecy confirms the truth of Jesus above all else. 00:08:28.540 --> 00:08:29.180 I like what he says. 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:31.860 Peter says in first Peter, let me just read this to you. 00:08:32.919 --> 00:08:40.059 He says in verse ten as to this salvation, talking about the coming of Jesus, the salvation we have in Christ, it says, the prophets who 00:08:40.059 --> 00:08:44.620 prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries. 00:08:45.560 --> 00:08:52.580 He's saying, all these guys that talked about Jesus in the past, they were just looking at these verses wondering what in the world how is God 00:08:52.580 --> 00:08:53.480 going to move in the future? 00:08:53.840 --> 00:08:55.950 How is he going to bring all of these things together? 00:08:56.160 --> 00:08:57.930 And they inquired and they searched. 00:08:58.160 --> 00:09:05.200 And it says in verse 11, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was, indicating as he 00:09:05.200 --> 00:09:08.620 predicted, the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:14.800 And could you make sense of that in any time bc before Christ? 00:09:16.200 --> 00:09:18.960 God is coming in the flesh, and he's doing what? 00:09:21.260 --> 00:09:26.650 He's laying down his own life as a king to become a servant for sinners. 00:09:28.640 --> 00:09:29.700 When's he going to do this? 00:09:30.940 --> 00:09:33.090 I mean, what is this going to look like in the prophets? 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:40.600 Begin to search throughout Scripture, and it says in verse 12, it was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but 00:09:40.600 --> 00:09:40.900 you. 00:09:43.540 --> 00:09:50.680 I could think in our lives we may say to ourselves, I wish I lived in any other time in history, maybe even when Jesus 00:09:50.680 --> 00:09:51.500 was walking. 00:09:51.560 --> 00:09:52.240 Wouldn't that be cool? 00:09:53.660 --> 00:09:56.500 And Peter is saying to us, man, forget that guys. 00:09:57.520 --> 00:10:03.620 Everything that the Bible talks about is the coming of Jesus and Jesus working in his people for his glory. 00:10:04.680 --> 00:10:06.140 And you live in that moment. 00:10:06.800 --> 00:10:11.340 And people used to inquire and search into these moments as to when Christ would fulfill all of this. 00:10:11.700 --> 00:10:13.800 And he's done it now, and he's living in you. 00:10:15.200 --> 00:10:18.340 Prophetically, God has declared his shot. 00:10:20.520 --> 00:10:22.580 I like how people have dealt with this throughout history. 00:10:24.380 --> 00:10:30.610 They've looked at the prophecies of Christ, and they've considered how if we don't want to believe in Jesus, must we accept these things? 00:10:32.220 --> 00:10:36.040 Until 1947, there was a particular belief that skeptics held according to Jesus. 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:41.450 They said to themselves, that's nice that the Bible has prophecies that contain the coming of Jesus. 00:10:43.540 --> 00:10:49.940 but obviously to be as detailed as they are, if you've ever read Isaiah 53, you can see the extreme detail of the torture of Christ on the cross. 00:10:51.220 --> 00:10:58.420 But obviously, to be as detailed as it is, it was written much later than Jesus after Jesus's death. 00:10:59.160 --> 00:11:06.240 These prophecies came after Christ and skeptically that worked for people, for those who didn't want to accept Jesus for 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:07.120 quite a while. 00:11:08.480 --> 00:11:09.800 But then, in 1947. 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:14.600 A little shepherd boy north of the Dead Sea. 00:11:15.400 --> 00:11:16.580 It's taking care of some goats. 00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:22.080 One of the goats strayed from the pack, and the boy, young boy, had to go find it. 00:11:22.160 --> 00:11:24.360 And it was on the top of a cliff where goats usually are. 00:11:24.540 --> 00:11:24.640 Right. 00:11:25.160 --> 00:11:26.840 You ever try to go get a goat on the top of a cliff? 00:11:27.680 --> 00:11:28.160 I've done that. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:28.800 They knock you down. 00:11:29.520 --> 00:11:34.240 This brave shepherd boy went on top of this cliff, and he and he and he grabbed the goat. 00:11:34.440 --> 00:11:37.700 And upon leaving the cliff, he saw a cave. 00:11:37.700 --> 00:11:38.400 And he took a rock. 00:11:38.400 --> 00:11:39.960 And he happened to chuck it into this cave. 00:11:40.240 --> 00:11:45.860 But rather than hear this rock bounce around in the cave, he heard the shatter of what sounded like pottery. 00:11:47.860 --> 00:11:51.000 The boy goes into the cave and what he finds is manuscripts. 00:11:54.220 --> 00:11:58.300 Thousands upon thousands of fragmented manuscripts located in this cave. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:05.940 Over the next ten years, archaeologists discovered over 11 caves that contained manuscripts within them. 00:12:07.140 --> 00:12:08.960 We call these manuscripts the Dead Sea Scrolls. 00:12:11.020 --> 00:12:16.600 These Dead Sea Scrolls date well over 200 years before Christ came to this earth. 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:25.400 These Dead Sea Scrolls took the skeptical response of people saying, these prophetic statements about Jesus had to have come after Jesus. 00:12:26.080 --> 00:12:31.180 And just in one Babe Ruth shot, just swiped all of their skepticism out of this world. 00:12:34.470 --> 00:12:38.730 Now we have scriptures that Jesus literally would have read from. 00:12:39.900 --> 00:12:43.360 We talk about the Old Testament and validating the truthfulness of the Old Testament. 00:12:43.460 --> 00:12:50.720 Whether or not the book that you have today contains literally the words of God, we have manuscript evidence older than 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:55.420 Jesus, the Bible, that Jesus would have read, the prophecies of Jesus, older than Jesus himself. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:13:02.500 And Jesus even told the Pharisees they were criticizing him about who he was, and they wanted a sign from him. 00:13:02.540 --> 00:13:04.280 He said this you want one sign? 00:13:04.280 --> 00:13:06.260 I'm going to give you the pinnacle of all signs. 00:13:07.220 --> 00:13:09.980 It says in Mark 12 and verse 38. 00:13:09.980 --> 00:13:14.380 Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:22.880 And Jesus answered, A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign, but none will be given it except 00:13:22.880 --> 00:13:24.290 the sign of the prophet Jonah. 00:13:25.620 --> 00:13:32.620 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in 00:13:32.620 --> 00:13:33.140 the heart of the earth. 00:13:35.220 --> 00:13:39.690 Jesus is saying, you want one evidence to understand that I am everything that I say I am. 00:13:40.600 --> 00:13:41.860 It's my death, burial, and resurrection. 00:13:44.000 --> 00:13:44.440 That's your evidence. 00:13:46.740 --> 00:13:54.210 There is no belief in the world that can even compare to the prophetic ability of the Bible and validating itself. 00:13:55.780 --> 00:13:59.280 Jesus is everything that he said he would be. 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:01.760 And he didn't want us to miss it. 00:14:02.720 --> 00:14:04.240 And Peter told us that it's worth. 00:14:04.260 --> 00:14:05.540 And in first Peter, excuse me. 00:14:05.540 --> 00:14:12.580 Second Peter 119, it's worth us just investigating and seeing how glorious our God is, that from the beginning of creation, all the way from 00:14:12.580 --> 00:14:17.260 Genesis chapter three, he has continued to work his will out in this world. 00:14:17.260 --> 00:14:22.500 He's called his shot after shot, and nothing that we could do could stop or hinder his plan for us in this world. 00:14:22.760 --> 00:14:24.460 And he came and he did it. 00:14:25.260 --> 00:14:27.080 Amen. 00:14:28.180 --> 00:14:34.900 Jesus's life and resurrection was also so important that others began to share it. 00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:43.730 You know, we don't just have to believe in Christ's coming to this world and his death and resurrection, because the Bible says so. 00:14:44.840 --> 00:14:46.250 It's a good place to start. 00:14:48.480 --> 00:14:55.520 But there's also other evidence outside of the Bible that includes historically and understanding that, 00:14:55.540 --> 00:14:56.620 yes, Jesus did come. 00:14:56.660 --> 00:15:00.080 Yes, Jesus did die, and yes, Jesus did rise. 00:15:01.360 --> 00:15:04.300 It wasn't an illusion or wishful thinking. 00:15:05.920 --> 00:15:09.840 Jesus came and rose from the dead, and history records it to us. 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.960 Listen to this, Lucia, of some semi soda that rolls off the tongue. 00:15:13.960 --> 00:15:16.040 I know Lucian of Samosata, right? 00:15:16.840 --> 00:15:17.860 Yeah. 00:15:18.700 --> 00:15:21.660 He was the second century Greek philosopher and historian. 00:15:22.260 --> 00:15:23.310 This is what he wrote about Jesus. 00:15:24.580 --> 00:15:26.320 Jesus was worshipped by Christians. 00:15:26.340 --> 00:15:30.240 He was never a Christian and was crucified for them. 00:15:30.540 --> 00:15:35.460 Christians lived according to Jesus and believed themselves to be immortal. 00:15:37.260 --> 00:15:44.040 What I find striking about his statement in these Christians is, how did Lucien know that Christians believe that they were immortal? 00:15:46.300 --> 00:15:52.600 That's because in the second century, Christians were just laying down their lives in belief of the resurrection for Jesus. 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:58.580 Nero began persecuting the Christians around 60 A.D. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:01.190 and the slaughtering of Christians continued. 00:16:01.300 --> 00:16:06.240 Nero's persecution was so violent that he would take Christians into his garden next to his castle. 00:16:06.600 --> 00:16:13.720 He would tack them up, crucify them, and they would light them on fire to provide lighting for his garden at night and for the parties that 00:16:13.720 --> 00:16:14.480 he wanted to hold there. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.280 And the persecution of the church started around that period. 00:16:18.800 --> 00:16:23.640 It's the persecution that killed Peter and Paul, but it continued until about 325 A.D. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:31.580 for 300 years, believers laid down their life not over a philosophy, not over 00:16:31.580 --> 00:16:36.320 a teaching, but over having seen a resurrected Jesus. 00:16:38.220 --> 00:16:42.200 The statement of the earlier early followers was that they saw Jesus overcome the grave. 00:16:43.440 --> 00:16:50.480 When you read about their lives in the gospel account, you see, when Jesus was crucified, the disciples immediately dispersed and 00:16:50.480 --> 00:16:56.280 Lucien is remarking here in the second century, beginning of the second century, that these Christians believe they're immortal. 00:16:57.200 --> 00:17:00.460 And where did they get that belief from, and why are they continuing to lay down their lives? 00:17:00.460 --> 00:17:04.319 It's because they've seen the resurrected Christ, and they believe in the resurrection of Jesus. 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:12.920 Pliny the Younger said this early Christian worship practices includes the fact that Christians worship Jesus as 00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:14.560 God and were very ethical. 00:17:16.520 --> 00:17:21.680 Flavius Josephus, another individual, never became a Christian in his antiquities, wrote this. 00:17:22.140 --> 00:17:26.160 He was a Jewish historian, the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ. 00:17:26.280 --> 00:17:33.380 Excuse me, he's referring to James here it says there is a controversial verse that's in Josephus's writings that say, now there 00:17:33.380 --> 00:17:40.400 was a time about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he 00:17:40.400 --> 00:17:42.860 was one who wrought surprising feats. 00:17:43.880 --> 00:17:44.520 He was the Christ. 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:53.040 He appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and 10,000 other wonderful 00:17:53.260 --> 00:17:55.660 things concerning him. 00:17:57.340 --> 00:18:01.270 The Bible isn't the only thing that testifies to the resurrection of Jesus. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:09.030 Historically, there is a list that goes on and on of individuals who talk about the nature of Christ living in this world, his death, and his resurrection. 00:18:10.920 --> 00:18:17.840 But maybe possibly the most positive testimonies that we get about Jesus do come from his followers. 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:25.580 You recognize some of these names because they're individuals who formulated the New Testament that we read from today. 00:18:27.180 --> 00:18:29.400 Matthew was referred to as the tax collector. 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:32.440 The way that he would have been received in his time. 00:18:32.560 --> 00:18:33.340 You can imagine this. 00:18:33.400 --> 00:18:35.920 Most of you probably have filled out your taxes already, right? 00:18:36.260 --> 00:18:38.080 If you haven't, you better jump on that. 00:18:38.080 --> 00:18:41.480 Yeah, or you're going to have somebody come visit your house and you know who that is, right? 00:18:42.120 --> 00:18:43.000 The IRS. 00:18:43.960 --> 00:18:45.080 Matthew would have been like that. 00:18:45.780 --> 00:18:49.080 The day that you hand in your taxes, you also give a kiss to the individual who takes your money. 00:18:50.140 --> 00:18:52.880 Matthew was the tax collector when he came to town. 00:18:53.000 --> 00:18:56.140 No one would want to meet him or greet him or welcome him openly. 00:18:56.300 --> 00:18:57.240 Though you should love the IRS. 00:18:57.700 --> 00:18:59.060 Okay, Jesus wants you to love everybody. 00:19:00.340 --> 00:19:01.340 Sorry if you work for the IRS today. 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:09.170 But Matthew went on to write the very first gospel, the very first book in the New Testament. 00:19:10.380 --> 00:19:16.800 History tells us that Matthew believed so much so in what he wrote about Jesus, that he was literally stoned to death for Christ. 00:19:17.940 --> 00:19:20.720 The next gospel we have comes from an individual named Mark. 00:19:21.660 --> 00:19:23.340 Mark went on Paul's first missionary journey. 00:19:24.380 --> 00:19:25.500 On his first journey. 00:19:25.500 --> 00:19:30.210 He got scared of the bandits and robbers who lied in the Highlands, and he vacated and left. 00:19:30.520 --> 00:19:31.720 Paul and Paul became very angry. 00:19:32.620 --> 00:19:35.340 Mark went on to write the gospel of Mark. 00:19:37.360 --> 00:19:43.020 History tells us right after Peter and Paul's death, Mark went back to the town that he was from in Egypt. 00:19:44.160 --> 00:19:46.580 When he arrived to Egypt, he helped start a church in Egypt. 00:19:47.520 --> 00:19:53.460 The people there became so angry at the conversion of the individuals from pagan religions to Christ that they grabbed hold of Mark. 00:19:53.480 --> 00:19:55.850 They tied them and they drag them through the streets for three days. 00:19:56.920 --> 00:19:57.840 The first day he died. 00:19:59.140 --> 00:20:01.120 The next couple of days, they were just bragging. 00:20:03.340 --> 00:20:10.550 Luke was a historian with the third book of the Gospels, traveled with the Apostle Paul, 00:20:10.800 --> 00:20:15.700 investigated into the life of Jesus, and compiled the book, the gospel that we refer to as Luke. 00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:18.050 Luke was hung for his faith. 00:20:20.080 --> 00:20:26.820 John was the only follower of the first century that formulated, helped formulate the New Testament that didn't die for his faith. 00:20:28.460 --> 00:20:30.360 John was exiled to the island of Patmos. 00:20:30.940 --> 00:20:33.920 At one point, he was even boiled alive in a large vat and survived. 00:20:35.520 --> 00:20:41.740 John wrote the Gospel of John in his old age, according to the nature of who Christ was, and the need for our faith in him because of his resurrection. 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:49.800 Peter wrote just a couple of books in your New Testament, but he was a he was an early follower of Christ and considered the leader of the early church. 00:20:51.020 --> 00:20:53.580 Peter was sentenced to death in Rome, and he was to be crucified. 00:20:53.980 --> 00:21:01.020 But he said to the people who was crucifying, he was so unworthy to be to die the same way that Jesus died, that his request was to be crucified upside 00:21:01.020 --> 00:21:01.520 down. 00:21:02.760 --> 00:21:04.430 Peter was crucified upside down. 00:21:06.800 --> 00:21:08.580 James was Jesus's brother. 00:21:09.800 --> 00:21:16.860 Perhaps out of all these guys, the testimony of James speaks louder than any of them, because the Bible tells us this specifically, specifically in the 00:21:16.860 --> 00:21:20.700 Gospels that were recorded that James didn't believe in Jesus. 00:21:22.080 --> 00:21:23.100 You think about that for a minute. 00:21:24.600 --> 00:21:27.950 What would it take for you to be able to worship your sibling and call them God? 00:21:29.660 --> 00:21:30.980 Right. 00:21:31.420 --> 00:21:33.780 I know mine ain't happening. 00:21:36.760 --> 00:21:37.860 Matter of fact, they should do that. 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:38.100 No. 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:38.410 Just kidding. 00:21:38.600 --> 00:21:38.810 Don't do that. 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:44.280 Don't repeat that to my family if they ever visit. 00:21:45.980 --> 00:21:53.360 But Mark says this in Mark chapter three and verse 20, the response of his family when Jesus was going out to this world and proclaiming his name, they literally said he 00:21:53.360 --> 00:21:54.460 has lost his mind. 00:21:55.500 --> 00:22:02.600 And the text tells us that they go in to grab a hold of Jesus and John seven and verse five, it simply says, his brothers did not 00:22:02.600 --> 00:22:03.100 believe. 00:22:03.100 --> 00:22:08.170 Yes, Jesus had brothers and James after his resurrection. 00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:15.980 Then we see in history according to the scriptures that James then professes Jesus as Lord and Savior and begins to follow him, and he starts to 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:17.380 lead the church in Jerusalem. 00:22:17.560 --> 00:22:22.260 And James later wrote the book of James, and he was stoned to death for his faith in Christ. 00:22:24.140 --> 00:22:25.700 And Paul, perhaps the most famous. 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:30.300 He's not up here, but Paul suffered a martyr's death as well in Rome. 00:22:30.640 --> 00:22:34.820 Being persecuted for his faith in Christ countless times was eventually beheaded. 00:22:37.200 --> 00:22:43.020 These guys wholeheartedly believed that they had seen a dead man walking. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:50.140 In fact, their belief in seeing Jesus resurrected was so strong that they could never recant. 00:22:50.280 --> 00:22:56.820 They had seen the resurrected Lord with their own eyes, and they couldn't deny what Christ had done. 00:22:58.020 --> 00:23:05.060 And while these men stood as cowards while Jesus was being crucified, something magnificent happened in their lives that they could no longer deny him, and that 00:23:05.060 --> 00:23:07.920 was seen through the experience of his resurrection. 00:23:10.360 --> 00:23:14.860 And some people make the attempt to divorce the resurrection of Jesus from the teachings of Jesus. 00:23:15.120 --> 00:23:17.980 They look at Jesus as if he's a nice philosophical teacher. 00:23:18.720 --> 00:23:21.060 He's worthy of just inspiring us in our world. 00:23:22.060 --> 00:23:27.950 But if we divorce the resurrection of Jesus from the teachings of Scripture. 00:23:28.860 --> 00:23:32.800 We undermine the very reason these disciples wrote the books of the Bible. 00:23:34.260 --> 00:23:39.140 They looked at the resurrection of Christ, and they said to themselves, this is a story that can't die. 00:23:39.140 --> 00:23:42.720 This is a story that must continue because Jesus overcame the grave. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:44.760 This is worthy of us to declare to this world. 00:23:44.980 --> 00:23:48.520 And they begin to write the New Testament for us as believers to begin to accept. 00:23:49.980 --> 00:23:55.080 In fact, Paul wrote first Corinthians 15 and he and he starts his story in verse three. 00:23:55.080 --> 00:23:59.480 He says, for what I have received, I've passed on to you as of first importance. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:04.660 Paul saying, guys, this isn't something that I've just made up. 00:24:05.140 --> 00:24:07.540 This is something I've also received in my own world. 00:24:07.540 --> 00:24:10.760 This is something that's been passed generationally down. 00:24:11.580 --> 00:24:18.780 First Corinthians was written 20 years after Jesus's crucifixion and the early church according to First Corinthians 15 3 to 4. 00:24:18.820 --> 00:24:21.380 This is a creedal statement that Paul is making. 00:24:21.380 --> 00:24:22.940 This is what the church is standing on. 00:24:23.540 --> 00:24:27.120 You can find this written in history within the first couple of years after Jesus's death. 00:24:27.900 --> 00:24:30.320 And he's saying this thing that I'm passing to you. 00:24:30.780 --> 00:24:31.480 I didn't make it up. 00:24:31.500 --> 00:24:33.540 I've received it from other followers of Jesus. 00:24:35.320 --> 00:24:37.720 In verse one he tells us what this is he's about to share. 00:24:37.880 --> 00:24:40.160 First Corinthians 15 one he says, this is the gospel. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:49.080 He says that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day 00:24:49.080 --> 00:24:50.580 according to the scriptures. 00:24:53.040 --> 00:24:54.920 It's the gospel isn't because of Jesus. 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:56.440 The gospel is Jesus. 00:25:00.280 --> 00:25:07.280 The gospel that Christ shares through Paul in this passage of Scripture has nothing to do with anything of who we are as people or 00:25:07.280 --> 00:25:09.240 anything that we've done or will do. 00:25:10.360 --> 00:25:11.720 It's everything that Jesus has done. 00:25:14.220 --> 00:25:20.040 And so Paul is telling us, listen, he's writing to a group of believers that don't even believe in the resurrection. 00:25:20.100 --> 00:25:22.080 That's why we have First Corinthians 15 in our Bible. 00:25:23.000 --> 00:25:24.030 They were doubting the resurrection. 00:25:25.900 --> 00:25:30.280 And Paul is saying to them, guys, listen, this is the message that the church stands for. 00:25:31.800 --> 00:25:34.020 If we don't have a resurrection, we don't have a message. 00:25:36.120 --> 00:25:43.040 Everything that we hope and the reason that Lucien said that the church lived as if they were immortal was because of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:25:44.380 --> 00:25:46.120 And the gospel has nothing to do with us. 00:25:46.140 --> 00:25:48.300 It has nothing to do with believing in this philosophy. 00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:52.080 It has everything to do with believing in Jesus as he's overcome the grave. 00:25:52.600 --> 00:25:53.480 Amen. 00:25:54.290 --> 00:25:54.880 Thank you Mark. 00:25:57.580 --> 00:26:00.400 Some people have looked at portions like this in Scripture and have objected. 00:26:00.700 --> 00:26:05.620 They've said, well, Paul wrote this 20 years after Jesus's resurrection. 00:26:05.620 --> 00:26:06.560 I mean, your New Testament. 00:26:06.800 --> 00:26:10.300 No one started to write it until 15 years after Jesus's resurrection. 00:26:10.760 --> 00:26:12.640 How are we to accept this as truth? 00:26:13.940 --> 00:26:14.520 Let me ask you a question. 00:26:16.900 --> 00:26:19.330 Who wrote thriller or who sang thriller? 00:26:21.220 --> 00:26:23.080 Okay, good. 00:26:23.740 --> 00:26:24.360 Here's a more challenging one. 00:26:25.020 --> 00:26:25.900 This comes from where I'm from. 00:26:26.340 --> 00:26:27.060 This is going to embarrass me. 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:29.320 Who wrote Achy Breaky Heart? 00:26:30.140 --> 00:26:31.600 Cyrus. 00:26:33.640 --> 00:26:34.840 Who directed Star Wars? 00:26:36.860 --> 00:26:37.700 Man, you guys are. 00:26:38.120 --> 00:26:40.920 Who was in the main actor in Saturday Night Fever? 00:26:42.460 --> 00:26:43.840 My goodness. 00:26:44.600 --> 00:26:48.020 Do you know all those things I've just mentioned are more than 20 years old showing your age today? 00:26:48.320 --> 00:26:54.540 But do you realize that no kids, if you didn't know the answer to that, know that you're not old, right? 00:26:56.430 --> 00:26:58.180 But how did you know that? 00:26:59.580 --> 00:27:00.280 You've lived it. 00:27:00.660 --> 00:27:01.460 You've experienced it. 00:27:01.840 --> 00:27:02.440 You've seen it. 00:27:02.820 --> 00:27:04.810 You've danced to it, right? 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:06.320 I hope not. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:10.250 If you got that on video, I will work that into next week's sermon. 00:27:10.360 --> 00:27:10.520 All right. 00:27:11.850 --> 00:27:17.180 And the cool thing about Paul telling us about the resurrection of Jesus, he's writing this 20 years later. 00:27:17.180 --> 00:27:23.880 And he says to us in verse six, after that, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers and sisters at the same time. 00:27:24.880 --> 00:27:26.200 Jesus didn't keep this a secret. 00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.260 When Jesus was resurrected from the grave, the grave. 00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:33.700 When he resurrected from that, he appeared to all sorts of people. 00:27:33.760 --> 00:27:41.020 A matter of fact, at one point there was such a large crowd that even 500 people saw Jesus resurrected at one time, and Paul saying this 00:27:41.460 --> 00:27:47.280 I like this next phrase most of all, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep, meaning died. 00:27:48.060 --> 00:27:48.680 Amen. 00:27:48.820 --> 00:27:55.940 Paul is saying this if you don't believe what I'm talking about in Corinth, buy your bus ticket and head to Jerusalem, because these people are still walking the earth 00:27:56.980 --> 00:28:02.160 and they're walking like they've seen a ghost, and they're living like this has changed their lives. 00:28:04.140 --> 00:28:11.080 He appeared not only to the disciples who wrote the Gospels, but he appeared to hundreds of people. 00:28:12.880 --> 00:28:15.440 And Paul continues to write to the believers in Corinth. 00:28:17.480 --> 00:28:24.680 He says in verse 12, but if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how 00:28:24.680 --> 00:28:27.260 can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 00:28:29.660 --> 00:28:31.940 People are going to challenge you this to this in the world. 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:35.800 How do you know Jesus really overcame the grave? 00:28:36.780 --> 00:28:39.500 And there's all kinds of reasons in history that we could point to. 00:28:39.500 --> 00:28:42.900 But this morning I just wanted to look at maybe the two most persuasive arguments. 00:28:42.900 --> 00:28:49.800 And that's the testimony of the disciples, what the early history is written about Jesus and the prophecy about Christ itself. 00:28:52.020 --> 00:28:55.120 When we ask ourselves this morning, how do you know Jesus really overcame the grave? 00:28:57.040 --> 00:28:58.720 The people in Corinth were challenged in this. 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:00.380 They began to doubt his resurrection. 00:29:00.520 --> 00:29:05.460 And Paul saying, if you're doubting this, you're doubting the message for which you stand for. 00:29:07.960 --> 00:29:14.840 And so he says in verse 14, and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless, and so is your faith. 00:29:16.980 --> 00:29:20.060 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God. 00:29:22.340 --> 00:29:29.300 For we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead, but he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 00:29:31.620 --> 00:29:36.680 Paul is saying this in verse 15, you think about the foolishness of not believing in a resurrection. 00:29:37.900 --> 00:29:43.680 You're saying to yourselves that these disciples who are facing massive persecution got together and decide, you know what? 00:29:44.580 --> 00:29:49.140 Let's formulate a monstrous lie and then validate truth on top of that. 00:29:53.360 --> 00:30:00.690 Paul's looking at these disciples, even John, who was at Jesus's crucifixion and was the first one to his tomb when he was resurrected, 00:30:01.040 --> 00:30:09.160 and he's saying, you guys are looking at individuals who have done nothing but walked with integrity, who have suffered massive persecution, and 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:10.140 we're calling them liars. 00:30:12.380 --> 00:30:19.420 We have hundreds of witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and to deny that Jesus was resurrected is denying your own 00:30:19.420 --> 00:30:19.740 faith. 00:30:22.780 --> 00:30:26.660 You think about the fear of death looming over you as a person. 00:30:28.520 --> 00:30:30.340 There's a lot of things that I will not die for. 00:30:34.620 --> 00:30:36.320 Amen. 00:30:36.320 --> 00:30:37.140 One of them is a lie. 00:30:39.000 --> 00:30:42.870 Forget that when I'm stating belief. 00:30:43.140 --> 00:30:47.020 And I'm trying to even persuade people to get some kind of monetary gain off of it. 00:30:47.060 --> 00:30:51.900 When my life comes to grips in that moment because someone is about to kill me, I will recant. 00:30:56.040 --> 00:31:03.620 Especially when we consider that the mode for which I'm about to die could be something as gruesome as torture and crucifixion and 00:31:03.620 --> 00:31:07.440 being lit alive by fire. 00:31:09.580 --> 00:31:14.500 I mean, but do we even see this even remotely in the lives of these disciples who are following after Jesus? 00:31:16.420 --> 00:31:21.080 What's funny is I was reading some of the historical accounts of individuals, and one Roman leader wrote this. 00:31:21.620 --> 00:31:27.220 He wrote to his authority above him he was a governor and wrote to the Emperor, and he said, I keep killing these Christians. 00:31:27.320 --> 00:31:30.460 This is the crude remark, I keep killing these Christians. 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:32.540 But it seems like the more I kill, the more multiply. 00:31:33.300 --> 00:31:34.560 How am I supposed to handle this? 00:31:35.840 --> 00:31:38.860 You cut one head off and two come from it. 00:31:42.000 --> 00:31:43.340 The testimony of the early church. 00:31:43.560 --> 00:31:48.420 It's been quoted from the first few centuries that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. 00:31:49.840 --> 00:31:52.800 They believe that they're immortal, so bad that nothing was going to stop them. 00:31:52.800 --> 00:31:57.400 But by the time of the middle of the fourth century, the entire known world became Christian. 00:31:58.100 --> 00:32:00.160 Amen. 00:32:00.160 --> 00:32:07.320 And Paul is saying to these people, because the minute you confess at 00:32:07.320 --> 00:32:13.340 the resurrection isn't truthful, you did not like the very message that we stand on. 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:19.500 The disciples wrote the Bible not because they thought Jesus's statements were really cool. 00:32:21.200 --> 00:32:24.780 It is they wrote the Bible because Jesus overcame the grave. 00:32:26.000 --> 00:32:29.720 You can't divorce the resurrection of Jesus from the teachings of Jesus. 00:32:31.760 --> 00:32:33.840 I mean, do you like the statement God is love? 00:32:35.020 --> 00:32:37.720 I know I do special when I'm being bad, right? 00:32:39.840 --> 00:32:41.800 John wrote that and John believed in the resurrection. 00:32:43.420 --> 00:32:45.480 Do you like it when the Bible says, Love God with all your heart? 00:32:47.000 --> 00:32:47.280 I do. 00:32:48.700 --> 00:32:49.160 Mark wrote that. 00:32:50.660 --> 00:32:52.220 Mark wrote it because he believed in the resurrection. 00:32:54.740 --> 00:32:56.580 Do you like the statement that love is patient? 00:32:56.780 --> 00:32:57.430 Love is kind. 00:32:57.600 --> 00:32:58.090 It is gentle. 00:32:58.220 --> 00:32:59.030 It does not envy. 00:32:59.060 --> 00:32:59.920 It does not think of itself. 00:33:00.420 --> 00:33:02.970 It does not boast, does not act unbecomingly. 00:33:05.180 --> 00:33:10.400 Paul wrote that as a matter of fact, Paul wrote it just a couple chapters before this chapter. 00:33:12.360 --> 00:33:14.100 Paul is sharing with us about the resurrection. 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:24.260 If you accept the teachings from the Bible without believing in a resurrected Jesus, you're accepting things that were never intended 00:33:24.260 --> 00:33:24.800 to be so. 00:33:27.260 --> 00:33:30.720 So Paul goes on in first Corinthians 15 and verse 17, he says this. 00:33:32.300 --> 00:33:38.500 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. 00:33:40.100 --> 00:33:43.840 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 00:33:45.940 --> 00:33:52.540 Paul poses for us an interesting point the need for Jesus's death and resurrection. 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:58.340 Because if you think you're earning your way to heaven, you've got no shot to get there. 00:34:00.680 --> 00:34:05.720 The Bible tells us in verse 17 that without Jesus's resurrection, we're still in our sins. 00:34:07.880 --> 00:34:10.139 Give us an illustration of thinking about this. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:15.420 There's an individual who's lived his life as a model citizen. 00:34:15.520 --> 00:34:18.500 In fact, he was like Eagle Scout of Eagle Scouts, right? 00:34:18.540 --> 00:34:22.460 He this guy was MacGyver of Macgyver's loved, did everything nice. 00:34:22.940 --> 00:34:30.239 And then one day he goes berserk and he kills somebody, comes before the judge and 00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:37.699 says to the judge, judge, I've been such a good person my entire life that could you just overlook this one murder to all 00:34:37.900 --> 00:34:39.510 the good things that I've done and let me go. 00:34:41.620 --> 00:34:42.940 How would the judge respond in that moment? 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:45.699 No way. 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:46.980 Why? 00:34:48.620 --> 00:34:49.540 Because the judge is just. 00:34:51.800 --> 00:34:54.300 A just judge will let justice happen. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:34:58.760 You don't just get to skate free for doing things against the law. 00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:01.150 You're held accountable and judged for it. 00:35:01.700 --> 00:35:03.440 And Paul saying this to us as well. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:09.060 Listen guys, you have may live the just cleanest beautifulest life in the world according to other people. 00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:16.880 But you still have sin and God is a just judge and he's still going to judge you for that sin, regardless 00:35:16.880 --> 00:35:19.300 of how much good that you've done. 00:35:19.320 --> 00:35:20.980 Because he is a just judge. 00:35:21.940 --> 00:35:26.660 The unfortunate thing for us is that we sometimes compare the laws of God to the laws of our land, right? 00:35:27.820 --> 00:35:28.750 But God's laws are stricter. 00:35:29.680 --> 00:35:36.280 See, in our country you may get away with lying and cheating, not with God. 00:35:36.460 --> 00:35:37.980 God sees the heart of every man. 00:35:39.380 --> 00:35:41.250 God sees every lie that we tell. 00:35:41.360 --> 00:35:44.040 God sees every lust that we conduct. 00:35:44.300 --> 00:35:45.380 Every time that we cheat. 00:35:46.880 --> 00:35:48.090 God sees the hate in our heart. 00:35:49.820 --> 00:35:51.400 That's what that judge is judging on. 00:35:52.640 --> 00:35:53.280 And he is just. 00:35:56.020 --> 00:35:59.000 And you think about what Paul is saying in this passage of Scripture. 00:36:01.060 --> 00:36:07.820 Listen, if you don't believe in a resurrection when you come before that judge, woe is you on that day. 00:36:11.340 --> 00:36:15.060 And those who have died since the time of Christ are even lost. 00:36:15.100 --> 00:36:22.560 He tells us in this verse to divorce the resurrection of Jesus from the gospel, 00:36:22.680 --> 00:36:27.160 from the story of Christianity, is just to simply say, I'm not a true follower of Jesus. 00:36:27.480 --> 00:36:34.520 I'm not a Christian because it takes the resurrection of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, to validate to us that he has 00:36:34.520 --> 00:36:37.200 overcome death and sin in the grave. 00:36:37.820 --> 00:36:39.600 Amen. 00:36:39.900 --> 00:36:39.900 Amen. 00:36:39.900 --> 00:36:41.100 Amen. 00:36:43.290 --> 00:36:47.640 I think the beautiful thing is that no other religion in this world has a living teacher. 00:36:49.150 --> 00:36:54.340 It says in verse 19, if only for this life we have hope in Christ. 00:36:55.600 --> 00:36:58.120 We are of all people most to be pitied. 00:37:00.680 --> 00:37:07.740 Paul saying, if all you're doing from Jesus is just taking his fluffy, wonderful teaching, the only hope that you have is just how it helps 00:37:07.740 --> 00:37:08.300 you in this world. 00:37:08.700 --> 00:37:09.400 That's it. 00:37:09.500 --> 00:37:10.440 It's just a nice little model. 00:37:12.460 --> 00:37:19.520 And if that's the case, because his resurrection is true, then the more pathetic people today, if 00:37:19.540 --> 00:37:26.560 you've surrendered your life to follow after Christ, if you've given any sort of time to Jesus, if you've given resources to Jesus, if 00:37:26.560 --> 00:37:33.600 you've tithed money to Jesus, if you've if you've prayed to God, you of all people in this world right now, have a hopeless future in your 00:37:33.600 --> 00:37:34.700 most to be pitied. 00:37:36.900 --> 00:37:42.080 You understand the significance of the resurrection, the importance of standing for it. 00:37:43.560 --> 00:37:50.920 I mean the teachings of Jesus are wonderful and we abide by it as a church, but it's built on the foundation of his death, burial, and resurrection. 00:37:53.040 --> 00:37:54.560 He is the Babe Ruth of all Babe Ruth's. 00:37:55.840 --> 00:37:57.220 Mike Tyson of all Mike Tyson's. 00:37:58.360 --> 00:38:04.080 He called his shot and he defeated this world and sin and Satan and death. 00:38:06.900 --> 00:38:08.040 And so I like what Paul says. 00:38:10.120 --> 00:38:14.520 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. 00:38:16.560 --> 00:38:18.760 He is the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 00:38:18.920 --> 00:38:25.540 For since by a man came death, by also a man came the resurrection of the dead. 00:38:28.400 --> 00:38:35.460 And Paul is saying to us today the way that we look at Easter isn't just a message where a lot of people 00:38:35.460 --> 00:38:39.360 come to church and we, applaud Jesus and move on with our lives. 00:38:40.840 --> 00:38:45.660 The resurrection of Jesus impacts our lives every day. 00:38:45.660 --> 00:38:46.560 That's right. 00:38:47.000 --> 00:38:48.450 We are a people that are immortal. 00:38:50.320 --> 00:38:56.220 We are people that experience the presence of God at any given moment Because God is still alive. 00:38:56.440 --> 00:38:57.120 Amen. 00:38:57.120 --> 00:38:57.420 Amen. 00:38:57.700 --> 00:39:00.720 We are people that when we pray, God hears our prayers. 00:39:00.760 --> 00:39:03.500 Where are people that we have a hope for eternity? 00:39:04.240 --> 00:39:11.680 Where people that is loved dearly by God, who looks upon us as we sit in this earth and we worship his name and glorify him. 00:39:12.280 --> 00:39:13.440 Amen. 00:39:14.880 --> 00:39:15.950 I like how he says it. 00:39:17.120 --> 00:39:18.600 You know, one of my favorite words in the Bible is. 00:39:20.100 --> 00:39:20.500 But. 00:39:20.520 --> 00:39:23.760 I wish they'd make it bold and proud. 00:39:25.700 --> 00:39:29.380 Christ has been raised from the dead. 00:39:31.520 --> 00:39:32.150 For us, his people. 00:39:34.540 --> 00:39:36.160 This is the hope that Jesus gives us. 00:39:38.720 --> 00:39:40.280 We don't follow an empty religion. 00:39:41.820 --> 00:39:43.940 We're not believing in a philosophy, though. 00:39:44.060 --> 00:39:45.440 Jesus taught truth. 00:39:47.340 --> 00:39:49.780 What our trust becomes is in Jesus himself. 00:39:51.600 --> 00:39:53.240 It's not in a belief, it's in a person. 00:39:55.140 --> 00:40:03.720 And everything that Christ has done for us on the cross, being crucified and resurrected has 00:40:03.860 --> 00:40:06.560 proven to us that we have hope in him. 00:40:07.200 --> 00:40:09.300 Amen. 00:40:09.660 --> 00:40:14.240 And so, John, the last disciple to write a book. 00:40:15.640 --> 00:40:17.420 I like how he concludes the final book. 00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:19.160 We've seen this verse a couple of times together. 00:40:21.360 --> 00:40:28.560 He says this in first John 511, and this is the testimony God has given us 00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:29.880 eternal life. 00:40:31.560 --> 00:40:33.100 And this life is not in a philosophy. 00:40:33.780 --> 00:40:36.380 It's not in a belief, it's in a son. 00:40:38.280 --> 00:40:44.720 Whoever has the son has life, and whoever does not have the son does not have life. 00:40:47.860 --> 00:40:51.590 I think it's John in his old age who was the youngest of the disciples. 00:40:51.800 --> 00:40:58.840 He was near death at this point As he writes these words to us, the hope of the people that read this 00:40:58.840 --> 00:41:07.420 message is that we would turn from anything that we think is going to save our soul and just run to Jesus, because 00:41:07.420 --> 00:41:14.420 trusting in him and seeing that he's already overcame the grave will bring us life as 00:41:14.420 --> 00:41:17.900 we put our faith in who he is and what he's done.