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[0:00] Easter, Easter time. We're going to think about that this morning. Actually, Easter probably isn't the best title. Easter is an old English goddess, apparently.

[0:11] ! What I'm thinking about is this time of year as it relates to the Bible. So if we were in Old Testament, we'd be thinking about Passover, the Jewish festival which I'm sure Jewish people still celebrate. I think it's called Pesach.

[0:27] That's the time at which Jesus was crucified, a certain time of the year. You can fix it by the movements of the moon and so on.

[0:38] They would be remembering the exodus from Egypt, but we are thinking of the events of Christ's death and resurrection.

[0:51] Many countries in the world would call that Pascha. And we are thinking of the suffering and death of Jesus. What's this season of the year called in Italian?

[1:03] Pasqua. Pasqua. So similar. Thank you. We're thinking of his suffering and death and particularly, as we read right at the beginning, his resurrection on the third day.

[1:18] That's what we're going to think about. And I want to sort of try and cover the whole territory of this by asking these questions. Number one, what does the Bible actually say?

[1:29] That would be worth knowing, wouldn't it? What the Bible actually says. So sometimes people say, well, actually the Bible has got multiple different unreliable accounts. Let's see whether that's the case.

[1:41] Second question, did it really happen? Some of you will be thinking, did it really happen? And what was the it? And why should we believe it?

[1:52] So we'll look at that. And then we'll look, what are the implications of that? What are the implications for Jesus? There are actually many implications for Jesus.

[2:03] What are the implications for Christians? We'll just touch on that. Try not to get too bogged down in too much detail on that. And fourth and fifthly, what are the implications if I'm not a Christian?

[2:16] So if you've come along this morning and you're not a Christian, does this say anything to you? And I would say, yes, it does. So that's what we're going to look at. So let's first of all say, are there in fact, what does the Bible say?

[2:33] Are there in fact contradictory, mistaken accounts in the Bible? Is that really what it is? Now I'm going to say that the Bible says that Jesus was raised from the dead in a physical body.

[2:45] That means to say a real body like you and I have, but not exactly the same. It's an upgrade. And it's upgraded to deathlessness.

[2:57] So our bodies are subject to death. We get older. We have processes of aging in our bodies, which are sort of death creeping up on us.

[3:10] Jesus was a real physical body, but it was upgraded to deathlessness. So it had different qualities to ours, but it was still a real physical body.

[3:23] And I'm going to say that many people saw this. So that's what I'm going to say the Bible says. Let's check it out. If you have a Bible and you are quick enough to turn things up, it would be worth doing so.

[3:37] So I'm going to look at the bit that we read earlier, 1 Corinthians 15. If you have a Bible from the back of the church, somebody will shout out a page number.

[3:51] 812? If you've got that Bible. Or alternatively. 1-1-5-2. I'm going to let you sink or swim.

[4:14] So this is a very early on. This letter was written early on after Jesus' death and resurrection. I'm not historian enough to know how early.

[4:28] But, you know, like you and some of us, some of us can remember the Beatles. Some of us can't. Some of us, what happened in the 2000s?

[4:43] Millennium? I don't know. Think of something that happened. Can't remember. 9-11. 9-11. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Some of us can remember that. I mean, we're talking about things within living memory.

[4:55] So this is within living memory. And what sort of things does he say? He says, chapter 15, verse 3, I passed on to you as of first importance, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter and to the twelve.

[5:23] So he says he was raised on the third day. He says he appeared to Peter, and he says he appeared to the twelve. Now, if you know your Bible, you'll know that Judas was one of the twelve, and he'd been, he'd betrayed.

[5:37] So, in fact, the number would be eleven, but symbolically, the apostles, he calls them the twelve. After that, says Paul, he appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.

[5:53] So, to 500, but most of them are still alive. So, living memory. Then he appeared to James, then to the apostles, and last of all, he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

[6:06] So, I didn't actually put those. But that's the sequence that he's got. Third day, Peter, twelve, five hundred, James, and then abnormally to the writer himself, to Paul.

[6:20] That's the first witness. A real resurrection. A physical body, seen by many people. Let's see what Matthew's gospel says.

[6:33] So, you need to go back towards the front of your Bible. And then you get the gospel writers.

[6:45] So, these are the people who wrote the story of Jesus. And we're looking in chapter 28 of Matthew's gospel.

[6:57] And what does he say? Well, he says in verse 1, Matthew 28, verse 1. If you've got the same Bible as Maria, it's page 1,000.

[7:11] So, let me just wait until everybody's got it. Because if you have a Bible, you might as well look it up. If it's that Bible, you're on page 1,000.

[7:24] If you've got that Bible, you're on 705. We all more or less there?

[7:36] Matthew 28. So, this is another document. Another book, if you like. After the Sabbath at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

[7:54] So, we've got two people, Mary Magdalene and another Mary. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone, sat on it.

[8:05] His appearance was like lightning. His clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. So, we have an angel who scares the, rolls back the stone, scares the guards.

[8:20] Now, we get the women. The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen. Just as he said, Come and see the place where he lay.

[8:32] Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you. And the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

[8:47] And suddenly Jesus met them. Greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshipped. And then Jesus said, Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee. There they will see me.

[8:58] So you have the angel, and the angel speaks to the women. Two of them are named. Jesus meets them on the way back to tell the blokes, the apostles.

[9:11] And it goes on to say, in verse 16, The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted.

[9:26] So they saw him, but they didn't find it easy to believe, because it says some doubted. It doesn't mention Peter and John, as the other story did.

[9:38] So let's see what Luke says. So you go Matthew, Mark, Luke. You want to go forward about 20 pages.

[9:51] So now we're in Luke's gospel. And we want to be the last chapter, which is chapter 24. And Luke says, I'll just make sure everybody's reasonably there.

[10:13] Luke 24. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

[10:29] While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men, so this time we've got two men, two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground.

[10:41] But the men said to them, why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. Remember how he told you when he was still with you in Galilee. The son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again.

[10:57] Then they remembered his words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.

[11:14] But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves and went away wondering to himself what had happened.

[11:27] So this time we've got us a little bit different. We've got two men in shining clothes this time. We have names of the women. We've got Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and I think it says that there are others with them as well.

[11:42] We have Peter going to the tomb, but no mention of John. We have, following that, two of them on the road to Emmaus.

[11:53] Luke 24, verse 13, on that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus. So they're walking along. Jesus joins in with them. They don't recognize him until they've had quite a long sort of Bible study.

[12:10] And they say in verse 32, in Luke 24, 32, they asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?

[12:22] And it was in verse 31, their eyes were opened, they recognized him. So they don't immediately recognize him, but they do at a certain point, and then they rush back to Jerusalem and tell them that they've met the risen Jesus Christ.

[12:43] It says in verse 35, the two of them told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. In verse 36, it says that while they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said, peace be with you.

[12:57] And he goes on to eat something. Where does it say that? Verse 42, they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence.

[13:08] So that bit, you've got him eating something. So he's not a ghost. He's not like a hologram or he's not something just in their imagination because he eats the fish.

[13:20] See what I'm saying about the physicalness of the resurrection. Okay, that was Luke. Let's look at Mark. So you need to go back towards the front for Mark.

[13:34] Mark is a little bit different because it's quite a brief account. Mark says, this is in chapter 16, verse 1. So let's just find Mark's gospel.

[13:50] 1023. Or 1024. Or 741. 2-1.

[14:00] 7-2-1. So here is Mark telling us, when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices that they might go to anoint Jesus' body.

[14:12] Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, who will roll the stone away from the entrance to the tomb? When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

[14:26] And as they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in white robes, sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Do not be alarmed, he said. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified.

[14:37] He has risen, he is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go tell your disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you.

[14:49] And the women are trembling and bewildered and they run away. And there's a funny thing that happens with the ancient manuscripts that our printed version comes from, that it, we're not 100% sure on this, but it looks as though something happened, either happened to the ending or it finished very abruptly because the next bit looks as though this has been added by another writer or from some other source because it starts again in verse 9 now.

[15:25] Jesus rose early on the first day of the week. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping.

[15:36] When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. Afterwards, Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. That seems to be like the road to Emmaus, doesn't it?

[15:47] Verse 14, Later Jesus appeared to the eleven as they were eating and rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. So there's a reference to they found it a hard thing to believe.

[16:01] And then it talks about him commissioning them to go and tell everybody else. So we've got, that's Mark, we've got the young man dressed in white telling Peter, go to Galilee.

[16:16] It seems a bit unfinished. And then we've got this tailpiece on the end here. Mary Magdalene again is referred to, the two walking in the country, the eleven and Jesus is taken up into heaven.

[16:29] let's look at what John says. So John's gospel is the one that was read to us. So we need to go towards the back of the Bible. Need to go about 50 pages forward.

[16:46] And now we get to John chapter 20. And this says in John's gospel chapter 20, early on the first day of the week while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed.

[17:06] She runs back to Simon Peter, verse 2 and verse 3. Simon Peter and the other disciple who was John run for the tomb, go in, see that it's empty and come out again.

[17:20] Verse 10, the disciples went back to their homes but Mary stood outside the tomb weeping and then she sees Jesus who says to her in verse 17, do not hold on to me for I have not yet returned to the Father.

[17:35] Go instead to my brothers and tell them I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. And then in verse 19, the evening of that first day of the week the disciples were together with doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said peace be with you and showed him, sorry, he showed them his hands and his side, the physical wounds that had been made in his crucifixion.

[18:07] And then in verse 26, there's a sort of repeat of that a week later. So Mary Magdalene went, Peter and John went, Jesus met Mary, Jesus met the disciples in a locked room, it's repeated one week later.

[18:26] So those, we just did that very quickly, those are the accounts. They're not all the same, are they? You get different selections. But I think the fact they're not all the same doesn't, it's not saying that they're, I don't think that weakens their testimony, I think it strengthens it.

[18:45] Because what we don't have is one version which is then copy and pasted, you know, Matthew's version, copy and paste into Luke, copy and paste into Matthew, copy and paste into John.

[18:59] It's not like that. Each of them tells the same story from their own different point of view. I guess that if you were saying, you know, we went shopping yesterday, you know, Katie went shopping, well actually it was Katie and Chris went shopping, or actually it was Katie and Chris and Carly and Tim went as well.

[19:26] Different people telling it would tell you, different key characters in the story, and I think that's what happens here. The different numbers of women or the different women that are named.

[19:39] And then the angels are described in different ways. An angel, well actually the angel had a buddy, sometimes they're called two young men, or people dressed in white. I don't think that weakens it, I think that strengthens it.

[19:55] I think that's saying that here are four or five or six independent witnesses. Somebody tells us that, says what they have seen, it gets written down in that book.

[20:11] Somebody else says it gets written down in that book. Somebody else says it, it gets written down in that book. And we have multiple witnesses saying the same thing.

[20:23] The tomb was empty. we saw him. There was a bit of confusion about people running to and fro. It was hard to believe.

[20:35] But we were convinced by the fact. We wouldn't have been convinced otherwise. But we saw him risen.

[20:45] So what does the Bible actually say? It says that Jesus was raised from the dead in a physical body. A real body that could eat stuff, but it could also enter locked rooms.

[21:00] And multiple people saw this. Question two, did it really happen? Well, I'm just going to say the answer is yes.

[21:13] because we have these statements from people who saw it. We have the multiple testimony of good witnesses.

[21:26] It is a multiple testimony. It's not just one cranky person. It's a lot of people who could be fact checked.

[21:41] And they're good witnesses. They're not gullible people. We've got this strange idea that people in the foregone centuries were more stupid than we are.

[21:53] What a daft thing to think. They weren't stupid people. They were realistic people. They found it hard to believe. But they came to believe it because the evidence left them no alternative.

[22:07] they tell us time after time our testimony is true. We're not making this up.

[22:18] We're telling you. John himself says at the end of his gospel, he says, this is the disciple who testifies to these things and who wrote them down. We know that his testimony is true.

[22:31] the gospel writers tell us, I saw it, or Luke says, I researched it. I wasn't going to just take the first thing that people said.

[22:44] I researched it and I wrote it down so that you can be sure about these things. And of course the biggest assurance about them is that they testified to this to their own cost.

[23:06] Because to be a Christian, to stand up in front of a Roman court or a Jewish synagogue and say, Jesus is alive, Jesus is Lord, would cost these people their lives.

[23:20] And if they just made it up, then I guess they would have crumbled, wouldn't they? They would have said, ah, you know, blow this.

[23:32] I know it's all fake. I know it's not true. But they gave their lives because it was true and they'd seen it. And we can also see that these people had changed lives.

[23:52] Many of them were fishermen. And after Jesus' death, they were quite prepared to go back to being fishermen. You know, things just stay the same.

[24:07] But when they saw the risen Jesus, their lives were changed and they were no longer fishermen. there was something that compelled them to be outspoken missionaries who turned the world upside down.

[24:25] Now, something happened to change them. It wasn't just a figment of imagination or a nice idea like Robin Hood or believing in fairies.

[24:36] It was something powerfully motivated them and gave them no alternative. Did it really happen? Yes, it did. We have the multiple testimony of good witnesses.

[24:50] So let's move on and say what are the implications then? What are the implications for Jesus? There are powerful implications for Jesus.

[25:03] Let's begin with this. He was correct in what he foretold. So a number of times he had said things during the course of the three years that he was training his disciples and getting alongside them.

[25:19] And if you follow it in Mark's gospel, he several times says to them, I will be killed, the third day will rise, be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, the son of man will be handed over, he will be killed, and on the third day he will rise.

[25:38] And the disciples thought, what on earth is he talking about? They didn't get it, they didn't understand it, but the resurrection shows that Jesus knew what he was talking about all the time.

[25:55] You see, Jesus had taught a view of life, a view of death, a view of the world, a view of himself, a view of what he was going to do.

[26:07] the disciples didn't tell him that, he was teaching that, the disciples didn't really understand what he was saying. And the resurrection puts a huge, great tick against everything that he said.

[26:28] He was correct in what he said. and he's correct, not from his own power of positive thinking or anything like that, but because the God who runs the world, the God who has power of life and death, that God says yes to Jesus, that God raises him from the dead, that God endorses Jesus.

[27:02] Endorsing, literally it means right on the back of, but endorsing in the sense I'm meaning it, is to say a total yes. So, earlier this week I was invited to endorse somebody I know who's an artist, filmmaker, something like that, and I have to, would you endorse this person for their skills as a filmmaker, an artist, and I ticked all the appropriate boxes and says yes, I endorse her, I say yes, she can do these things, she is capable, she is competent, and this is God, do you do that on LinkedIn, anybody here on LinkedIn, just you and me, Corinne, oh right, okay, LinkedIn, do you endorse people for their skills, do you get endorsed?

[27:57] Occasionally, okay, I will endorse you for honesty, but God is endorsing Jesus, all the things Jesus said, God says, yes he is that, he's the saving divine son, in Romans Paul says that he was declared with power to be the son of God, his resurrection from the dead, and as Jesus is raised from the dead by the power of God, by the power of his spirit, God is saying, this Jesus said he was my son, this Jesus said he was my son, and he is, he is my son, just look at him, I take him, raise him from the dead, he is my son, God endorses Jesus as the saving son, and he endorses him as the judge of the living and the dead, in Acts 17,

[29:07] Paul comments this way, he says that in the past God has overlooked ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, for he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed, he has given proof of all this to all men by raising him from the dead, Jesus says that he will be the judge of the world, that he is the one who began the world with his word, and he is the one who will wrap up the world with his word, he is the one who will have the final word on everything, he is the one who will have the final word on your life and my life, and that is such a huge claim, who dares to say that their word is the final word?

[30:13] I suppose you could look at the comments pages in the Guardian or in the Telegraph, Donald Trump, most dangerous man in the world, or Donald Trump, vindicated at last, or whatever, and these people have their word about Donald Trump and their word about Theresa May and their word about everything, comment, opinion.

[30:39] They could be right, they could be wrong, they can't all be right. Jesus says, my word, my comment, my assessment is the final one.

[30:54] That's the one before whom every other comment and assessment must bow. And God endorses that. He says, do you want to know who has the final word, who's going to be the judge of the living and the dead?

[31:10] Look for the person I raised from the dead. He is marked out as the judge of our race by his resurrection.

[31:21] He'll judge your life and my life. He'll have the final word on your life and my life. And that's a call for us to start negotiating with him as soon as possible.

[31:37] To work out with the judge what he's going to say about us. What are the implications for Jesus?

[31:48] God is vindicating, justifying, pronouncing his approval of Jesus, especially in respect of his cross. In the cross, the word that was hanging over Jesus was guilty, criminal, failure, humiliated, disgraced, shamed, rubbish.

[32:21] Those are the words that hung over Jesus as he died on the cross. And God says, those are not the right words for Jesus. God raised him from the dead.

[32:46] Peter says, let all Israel be assured of this. God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

[33:05] See, human beings crucified him, said that's what he deserves. And God says, I will not let that verdict stand. That is a no to Jesus.

[33:19] That's a no to Jesus. And God says, I am not going to say a no to Jesus. I'm going to say yes to Jesus and raise him from the dead. He was justified when he was raised.

[33:32] He was said to be right and good and the best. Let all Israel be assured that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ.

[33:47] Paul quotes what possibly was an early Christian hymn in Philippians where he says that Christ being in very nature God did not count equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant.

[34:06] And it says, being found in appearance as a man he humbled himself. He became obedient to death, even death on a cross. And Jesus was prepared meekly, obediently to go to that place of shame and suffering and sacrifice and it says, therefore God highly exalted him.

[34:36] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and I want us to get that therefore therefore he suffered and died for us for our sins for our salvation he did that and God says that is so brilliant that is such a brilliant sacrifice I am so totally pleased with what he's done therefore I will highly exalt him do you get that because of what he did therefore I highly exalt him and give him the name that is above every name that Jesus should be worshipped as Lord and God he has the highest name he has the name of

[35:37] Jehovah he has the name of Yahweh he has the name of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords God vindicates justifies pronounces his deepest profoundest most resounding approval on Jesus as he raises him from the dead what are the implications for Christians was it an implication for faith because there is not a credibility gap with Jesus if Jesus had said I'm going to be raised on the third day and then he wasn't then we'd start wondering how many of the other things he got wrong but seeing as he got that most difficult thing right it confirms to us he is totally to be believed did he say things that didn't come true well he's said things that haven't yet come true that the things that he said about his resurrection came true exactly and we're called on to trust him for the things that have yet to come true because he says he will come again as judge that hasn't happened yet but he got the last bit right we trust him for the bit that's still to come there's an implication for what it is to be a

[36:59] Christian one of the deep truths almost secrets of the Christian life is that the Christian is married to Jesus the Christian has union with the risen Christ a little bit like when Elizabeth Bennett married Mr Darcy in Pride and Prejudice that his riches and the wonders of Pemberley become hers she being from an impoverished family he enriches her with all that he has and Christ enriches us as his people we have union with him all that belongs to him becomes ours that includes his risen power his resurrection power is at work within us and for example in Ephesians let me quote to you what he says he says in chapter 2 verse 6 he says God raised us up with

[38:02] Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus says we were made alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions he says that there's some power that has entered the life of a Christian hasn't finished its work but it's ticking away inside a Christian doing things that could not be done by any other power and doing things that are really powerful and it's encouragement to us as Christians because sometimes we think well I don't know whether I'm that different actually my still sin the way I used to and some of the things I think are awful and Jesus says well even you might not be able to see what I'm doing inside you actually because just as I was raised and you belong to me that power is at work within you he says

[39:05] I pray that you may know his incomparably great power for us who believe that power is like the working of his mighty strength which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand that power is at work within the Christian the power to take self from being on the throne and put Christ on the throne of one's life that takes a lot of power and there are implications for future salvation because although his power is ticking away within us it hasn't finished doing its work because the best is yet to come we belong to him we're in him we're linked with him and as he was raised physically from the dead so too shall we have you ever seen a tug of war have you ever seen a tug of war the camp that we we go to we go to a Christian holiday thing and they have tug of war with north versus south so you have to if you work if you live in

[40:18] Watford north or south you see so you have the big rope there and you have all the people from the north over here going come on lad come on we're going to pull this and then you get all the people in the south saying what are you doing right here and somewhere in the middle anyway so the way the tug of war they're connected together the rope lies on the ground and the first thing that they say is take the strain so they begin to pull and then gradually the pulling of the strongest team takes over and there's victory to one side or another it takes stages first you linked up then you take the strain then you pull then there's the final crossing of the line and that's a rather inaccurate illustration but Paul says about the resurrection in 1

[41:19] Corinthians 15 20 he says that Christ has been raised that's step one he's the first fruits of those that fall asleep and he says in verse 22 as in Adam all die so in Christ will all be made alive but each in his own turn Christ the first fruits then when he comes those who belong to him then the end will come he says first you belong to Christ first Christ is raised and people who belong to him are raised spiritually and then in turn in time raised physically there was a survey of Christians and it said some percentage of people didn't realize that Christians would be raised too they thought that the future for

[42:20] Christians was a disembodied floating around in heaven I hope nobody here would go away thinking that what is in store for us as Christians is to be raised physically in a new heaven and a new earth what it will be like I don't know whether there will be a patch in the new heaven and new earth I don't like it a new heaven and a new earth what are the implications if you've come along here and you're not a Christian does this say anything to you well it does say something about the world you live in it says that this world is not lacking the presence and powerful working of a God beyond the normal course of cause and effect so when BBC Radio 4 or ITV or Channel 4 or Netflix shows you the version of the world which it does almost without exception probably without exception

[43:29] I'll say almost without exception that version of the world does not include the resurrection of Jesus Christ and it is not the real world the real world has a resurrection in it that has already happened to live in a world where there was no resurrection is escapism it's not reality the real world is the one in which somebody has been raised from the dead and this somebody is flagged up to everybody as the authorised judge of the human race what he thinks of you what he says of you will count forever so I'm not going to say come and meet the Lord Jesus in prayer I'm going to say you will meet the Lord Jesus whether you decided to or not whether you prayed or not everybody here will meet

[44:31] Jesus because he's the judge of our race the beginning and the end of the world is Jesus shaped well I think this world runs on love or all religions sort of lead to the same thing and the truth behind the world is oneness well there's all these sorts of things that people say but they're not accurate the truth of the beginning and the end of this world is specifically Jesus not less than that but Jesus it flags up Jesus as the judge of the human race and it flags up Jesus as the authorised saviour for the human race I had a very interesting conversation at the weekend of the way with Tim Flood and with Ben Wheeler Ben Wheeler has bought a new no a new he's bought a

[45:31] Volvo have you seen his Volvo which is his pride and joy isn't it and Tim Flood said has it got a turbo charger I can't remember whether it did or didn't but he says if you buy a Volvo and the turbo charger is broken you might as well throw away the whole thing because the turbo charger is so nobody can repair a broken turbo!

[46:01] the turbo charger on your car is broken throw away the whole thing no one no one no one can fix a broken turbo charger I don't know what a turbo charger is but you can't fix it in this world our problem is not a broken turbo charger the problem is death isn't it and nobody in this world can fix death nobody nobody nobody can fix death except Jesus somebody has come and fixed it somebody fixes turbo chargers let's go and find that person because it's the only person who can fix a turbo charger well here's the one person who can fix death he's done it we need him let's sing together oh well that's what we did the questions what does the bible say did it really happen what are the implications for

[47:20]  Jesus the implications for Christians the implications for the whole world going to sing number 464 in the tomb so cold those