WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.919 I'm reading John 20, verse 24. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.119 Jesus came and stood among them and said, 00:00:32.460 --> 00:00:33.159 Peace be with you. 00:00:33.679 --> 00:00:37.060 Then he said to Thomas, Put your finger here, see my hands. 00:00:37.579 --> 00:00:40.620 Reach out your hand and put it to my side. 00:00:41.219 --> 00:00:42.579 Stop doubting and believe. 00:00:43.159 --> 00:00:45.299 Thomas said to him, My Lord and my God. 00:00:45.939 --> 00:00:49.439 Then Jesus told him, Because you have seen me, you have believed. 00:00:50.060 --> 00:00:52.640 Blessed are those you have not seen and yet have believed. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:57.079 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, 00:00:57.400 --> 00:00:58.920 which are not recorded in this book. 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.520 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 00:01:03.060 --> 00:01:06.939 the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:01:10.659 --> 00:01:12.040 Amen. Thank you, Anderson. 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:14.760 Well, keep that passage open in front of you. 00:01:14.900 --> 00:01:20.159 I want just for the next few minutes to draw your attention to a few things in that passage. 00:01:21.200 --> 00:01:26.280 Easter Sunday morning really is the best morning to be in church together 00:01:26.280 --> 00:01:34.820 because it reminds us all that at the heart of the Christian message is not a kind of idea or a theory. 00:01:35.719 --> 00:01:38.519 Faith is not the center of the Christian message. 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:41.980 The church is not the center of the Christian message. 00:01:42.379 --> 00:01:49.200 No, the empty tomb of Jesus Christ is right at the heart of the Christian message. 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:53.340 This news that Jesus Christ was crucified. 00:01:53.340 --> 00:01:57.200 He died. He was buried. 00:01:57.939 --> 00:02:08.460 And yet three days later, physically walked out of the tomb and still today lives in the glories of heaven with a promise to return one day. 00:02:08.460 --> 00:02:12.340 So that news is at the heart of the Christian message. 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:19.300 Now, let me say to you this morning, especially maybe if you're a guest this morning, you don't normally come to church. 00:02:19.360 --> 00:02:20.180 It's brilliant that you're here. 00:02:20.260 --> 00:02:21.740 We're so glad you've come this morning. 00:02:22.480 --> 00:02:25.260 Let me say to you, but let me say to all of us, 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:29.580 because that news is at the center of the Christian faith, 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:34.319 because it's the news of what Christ has done in history that's at the center of the Christian faith, 00:02:34.319 --> 00:02:37.759 not what you think or you believe or what we do as a church. 00:02:38.000 --> 00:02:43.780 It means, doesn't it, that the Christian message is either true because that tomb was empty, 00:02:44.139 --> 00:02:47.859 or it's false because his body was still there or somewhere else. 00:02:48.359 --> 00:02:50.459 It can't be anywhere in between that, can it? 00:02:52.099 --> 00:02:57.919 You know, if it's true and Jesus really did rise from the dead and he walked out of that tomb, 00:02:57.919 --> 00:03:00.699 he ascended into heaven and has a promise one day to return, 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:05.179 then there is no news more important than his news. 00:03:05.979 --> 00:03:09.899 There's no one more important to listen to than to listen to him this morning. 00:03:10.819 --> 00:03:17.139 But if he stayed dead, then, well, to be honest, Christians are to be pitied above all people 00:03:17.139 --> 00:03:19.799 because they hold on to a myth and a lie. 00:03:21.659 --> 00:03:24.319 So what I want us to do this morning, and we're only going to do it for a few minutes, 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:27.419 I want us just to consider that passage that Anderson read for us, 00:03:27.699 --> 00:03:29.939 and I want to show you two things from it. 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:31.520 The first one is this. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:35.319 I want to show you enough evidence for you to believe. 00:03:35.800 --> 00:03:37.300 Enough evidence for you to believe. 00:03:38.000 --> 00:03:40.300 Look down at verse 30 and 31 for a moment. 00:03:40.400 --> 00:03:41.300 I'll read them to you again. 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:42.879 John writes this. 00:03:42.979 --> 00:03:43.340 He says, 00:03:43.340 --> 00:03:46.879 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:49.280 which are not recorded in this book. 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:54.800 But these are written, he says, that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, 00:03:55.259 --> 00:03:58.520 the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 00:03:58.520 --> 00:04:02.620 I don't know how familiar you are with the Bible's turn of phrase, 00:04:02.760 --> 00:04:06.140 but John is very direct in his language here, notice. 00:04:06.920 --> 00:04:11.580 He tells you that his book is not written to record everything that Jesus did. 00:04:12.060 --> 00:04:15.620 He's not writing a record of all the events of Jesus' life. 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:21.060 No, he's writing for you everything that you need in order to believe in him. 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:25.740 He wants you, notice, look down at the passage, to believe that he is the Messiah. 00:04:26.579 --> 00:04:31.280 He wants you to believe that Jesus is the promised saviour for the Jewish nation, 00:04:31.459 --> 00:04:35.759 who they were and still are looking for, and also the Son of God. 00:04:36.120 --> 00:04:41.500 That is the divine second person of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:04:41.500 --> 00:04:46.339 Now, you have to give John creds, right, because that is a bold claim. 00:04:47.459 --> 00:04:53.160 He essentially is telling you right here in this verse that he has given you enough evidence 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:56.259 for you this morning to become a Christian. 00:04:57.339 --> 00:04:58.459 That's what he's saying. 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:03.040 He's saying, listen, I am here, and I know this is not sort of an ordinary thing to do, 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:08.040 but he's writing here to persuade you to change your mind and become a Christian. 00:05:08.040 --> 00:05:12.860 He essentially says that the evidence is enough to persuade all of us this morning 00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:14.240 to put our faith in Jesus. 00:05:15.200 --> 00:05:20.820 Just glance across to chapter 21, verse 25, and you'll notice that he says something similar there. 00:05:20.920 --> 00:05:24.140 He says, Jesus did many other things as well. 00:05:25.240 --> 00:05:28.920 If every one of them were written down, I suppose even the whole world would not have room 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:30.060 for the books that would be written. 00:05:31.259 --> 00:05:32.420 It's just underlining this, isn't he? 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:33.780 He's saying, listen, I'm not writing everything. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:37.900 If I wrote everything, you would literally, there would not be a piece of paper left in the world. 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:40.500 I'm not writing it all down. 00:05:41.140 --> 00:05:42.900 Instead, I'm making a case. 00:05:44.160 --> 00:05:49.580 And like anybody making a case, John says that he has some signs or some symbols, 00:05:49.760 --> 00:05:56.259 some signposts to tell you what he's saying, that he is the Messiah, the Son of God, the signposts. 00:05:57.140 --> 00:05:58.520 Signposts to the identity of Jesus. 00:05:59.500 --> 00:06:01.360 Now, that's what John's book has all been about, 00:06:01.500 --> 00:06:03.879 and we don't have time this morning to go through all of them, 00:06:03.879 --> 00:06:10.600 but John, in his gospel, gives you seven signs that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.839 Some of them you may have heard of, others of them might be less familiar. 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:17.439 So you might have heard of things like the feeding of the 5,000, 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:19.399 or Jesus walking on the water. 00:06:19.759 --> 00:06:24.000 You may not have heard of turning water into wine or healing the man born blind. 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:30.639 But John records seven signs to persuade you that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. 00:06:30.639 --> 00:06:36.560 And the way it builds is that then it comes to the resurrection as like the final sign, 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:40.519 the eighth sign, the greatest, the culmination of everything else. 00:06:41.039 --> 00:06:44.579 And John is persuaded that as he tells you of the resurrection, 00:06:45.079 --> 00:06:47.339 he's giving you enough evidence for you to believe it. 00:06:49.979 --> 00:06:53.120 I guess the image really is of something like a law court. 00:06:54.379 --> 00:06:58.740 You know, imagine in a law court, someone is trying to defend the person in the dock, 00:06:58.740 --> 00:07:00.639 prove to you that they are innocent. 00:07:01.280 --> 00:07:04.379 And they bring you witness after witness after witness. 00:07:05.280 --> 00:07:08.240 And what they do is they save the best to last, don't they? 00:07:08.819 --> 00:07:11.840 The last witness, this is really the killer blow, 00:07:12.040 --> 00:07:14.199 the final straw in the case of the prosecution. 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.280 This is the thing that's going to prove to you beyond doubt, 00:07:18.740 --> 00:07:20.280 my client is innocent. 00:07:20.939 --> 00:07:22.180 My case is closed. 00:07:22.180 --> 00:07:25.819 And that's how John records the signs building up to the resurrection. 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:28.079 And notice how he proves the resurrection. 00:07:28.459 --> 00:07:29.639 Look at verse 24. 00:07:30.340 --> 00:07:31.759 There you'll find Thomas. 00:07:32.660 --> 00:07:34.540 Thomas is a skeptic. 00:07:35.340 --> 00:07:37.160 He's not yet seen the risen Jesus. 00:07:37.420 --> 00:07:40.399 And so he is as yet unpersuaded. 00:07:41.079 --> 00:07:43.699 Look down at verse 25 and see what Thomas says. 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:45.720 He says this, 00:07:45.720 --> 00:08:02.120 Now I think John writes that because he wonders whether you might be like that this morning. 00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.700 Thomas is a doubter and a skeptic. 00:08:07.080 --> 00:08:09.060 Someone who needs concrete proof. 00:08:09.060 --> 00:08:13.280 And that's what arrives a week later, verse 26. 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:15.000 Jesus arrives in the house again. 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:19.540 You'll notice if you look down at it that Jesus comes in through locked doors. 00:08:20.459 --> 00:08:22.280 Might make you think that Jesus is a ghost. 00:08:22.819 --> 00:08:25.519 But then he invites Thomas to do what he requested, 00:08:25.800 --> 00:08:27.399 pressing his hands on his side, 00:08:27.879 --> 00:08:30.279 proving that he has a real body. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:35.480 A body that while it might not be bound to time and space in quite the same way as the disciples, 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:37.840 it is nonetheless real flesh. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:44.320 Physical resurrection flesh raised from the dead to a new kind of imperishable life. 00:08:45.320 --> 00:08:49.420 And Thomas the skeptic is persuaded, having pressed Jesus' flesh, 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:51.360 and he says in verse 28, 00:08:51.920 --> 00:08:55.360 My Lord and my God. 00:08:56.420 --> 00:08:56.820 He says. 00:08:58.340 --> 00:09:02.960 And then John says that Jesus says something else to him. 00:09:03.220 --> 00:09:04.280 Notice verse 29. 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:06.100 He says, 00:09:06.100 --> 00:09:06.799 Jesus told him, 00:09:06.980 --> 00:09:08.759 Because you've seen me, you have believed. 00:09:09.419 --> 00:09:13.019 Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believed. 00:09:13.959 --> 00:09:16.759 See, you might be thinking, well, that's okay for Thomas, isn't it? 00:09:17.199 --> 00:09:18.120 I would love to be Thomas. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:20.120 I would believe in the resurrection of Jesus. 00:09:20.220 --> 00:09:23.759 I would become a Christian right now on the spot if Jesus walked into the room 00:09:23.759 --> 00:09:27.019 and allowed me to put my hands on his nail marks. 00:09:27.019 --> 00:09:29.600 If Jesus did that, deal done. 00:09:29.899 --> 00:09:30.980 I'm a Christian this morning. 00:09:32.139 --> 00:09:34.960 And Jesus is anticipating that objection, isn't he? 00:09:35.019 --> 00:09:37.980 He's saying, no, listen, from this point onwards, 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:41.840 belief in the resurrection will be by faith and not by sight. 00:09:42.899 --> 00:09:44.720 A faith that doesn't see like Thomas, 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.939 but is built on the sight of a witness like Thomas. 00:09:47.940 --> 00:09:51.200 A faith that is a blessing, says Jesus. 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:53.080 Literally a joy or a happiness. 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:57.000 Because it's based on the truth and the reality of reliable witnesses. 00:09:59.560 --> 00:10:01.000 So let me ask you this morning. 00:10:01.660 --> 00:10:03.180 What do you think about the resurrection of Jesus? 00:10:04.460 --> 00:10:05.580 Fact or fiction? 00:10:06.620 --> 00:10:09.780 If you think it's fact, then it changes everything. 00:10:10.800 --> 00:10:14.320 I know some of you in this room have been Christians for a very long time. 00:10:14.320 --> 00:10:18.280 But really, this is at the bedrock of your Christian faith. 00:10:19.100 --> 00:10:24.000 At the bedrock of your Christian faith is not you, not your confidence, 00:10:24.760 --> 00:10:26.980 but is an empty tomb of Jesus Christ. 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:28.100 He died. 00:10:28.680 --> 00:10:29.420 He rose again. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:31.000 It really happened. 00:10:31.820 --> 00:10:32.620 Do you believe it? 00:10:34.640 --> 00:10:37.800 In the years that followed the death and resurrection of Jesus, 00:10:37.940 --> 00:10:40.500 these eyewitnesses continue to hold out to this truth 00:10:40.500 --> 00:10:42.020 that they'd met Jesus physically. 00:10:42.899 --> 00:10:45.960 Many of these men met violent deaths proclaiming that truth. 00:10:46.059 --> 00:10:47.319 The body was never produced. 00:10:47.460 --> 00:10:49.199 No fraud or scandal was ever uncovered. 00:10:49.939 --> 00:10:53.340 We're told that 500 witnesses saw Jesus all at the same time. 00:10:53.840 --> 00:10:56.279 The news of the resurrection transformed the Roman Empire. 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:57.840 It shaped Western civilization. 00:10:58.439 --> 00:11:01.659 And John says, listen, I've got enough evidence for you to believe it this morning as well. 00:11:03.759 --> 00:11:06.720 But there's just a little bit more to it than just that. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:09.659 So I want to show you next what John does next. 00:11:09.659 --> 00:11:13.179 He wants to show you a life you really don't want to miss. 00:11:15.079 --> 00:11:18.679 I guess, you see, what I'm trying to get you to see is it all sort of begs the question, doesn't it? 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:20.679 Why is this so important, right? 00:11:20.740 --> 00:11:24.339 There are lots of events in history that I know very little about, 00:11:24.500 --> 00:11:26.559 and I'm not even sure whether I've got any confidence in, 00:11:26.819 --> 00:11:29.360 but it doesn't seem to make a massive difference to my day-to-day life. 00:11:29.620 --> 00:11:34.419 So why does it matter that I believe that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, 00:11:34.480 --> 00:11:35.899 that I believe that he rose from the dead? 00:11:35.899 --> 00:11:37.459 But why does that matter? 00:11:38.639 --> 00:11:43.240 I mean, I don't know about you, but I've got no idea really about the sinking of the Titanic 00:11:43.240 --> 00:11:45.919 or what happened there other than what I've seen in the movies. 00:11:46.379 --> 00:11:47.360 That's probably not true anyway. 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:51.939 I know very little about Roman emperors or kings and queens of England. 00:11:52.759 --> 00:11:53.480 I'll let you in secret. 00:11:53.579 --> 00:11:56.799 I have not even a GCSE in history, right? 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.579 Many of you in this room are way ahead of me on that school. 00:11:59.580 --> 00:12:06.120 So what's so special about the resurrection of Jesus that means I should believe this historical claim? 00:12:06.940 --> 00:12:10.860 Well, look again at John's claim there at the end of verse 31. 00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:12.759 He says this. 00:12:13.400 --> 00:12:18.620 He wants you to believe that by believing, you may have life in his name. 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:20.720 That is extraordinary. 00:12:22.040 --> 00:12:25.920 John suggests that the kind of belief in Jesus that he's trying to persuade us of 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:30.259 is sufficient not just to kind of correct our view of historical events, 00:12:30.419 --> 00:12:33.719 but it is sufficient to give us a whole new kind of life. 00:12:34.099 --> 00:12:36.039 Life in his name, as he calls it. 00:12:36.839 --> 00:12:38.919 Again, John's book has been full of this. 00:12:39.379 --> 00:12:42.240 You might know the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead. 00:12:42.919 --> 00:12:47.259 And Jesus says outside the grave of Lazarus, he says to his sisters, 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:52.779 he says that he who lives and believes in me will never die. 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:58.279 Now, Jesus prays in John 17 that the disciples might know eternal life, 00:12:58.559 --> 00:13:00.319 the life of knowing God. 00:13:01.980 --> 00:13:04.339 Now, I'm going to promise this morning not to preach for too long, 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:07.379 so I don't have time to explain all of those things as much as I would really love to. 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:10.639 You can read them for yourself in John's book. 00:13:10.720 --> 00:13:14.639 If you don't have a Bible, just take home the one that you found on your chair this morning. 00:13:15.759 --> 00:13:19.179 But let me just short-circuit it for a moment and tell you what all of this means. 00:13:19.179 --> 00:13:27.719 John is saying that the kind of belief that he is talking about brings with it a sharing in the resurrection life of Jesus. 00:13:28.620 --> 00:13:36.719 Put it another way, to believe in the resurrection of Jesus is to receive resurrection life from Jesus. 00:13:37.620 --> 00:13:37.739 Right? 00:13:38.099 --> 00:13:42.819 If I believe in the resurrection of Jesus in the manner in which John is describing it, 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.679 I will from Jesus receive his resurrection life for myself. 00:13:46.679 --> 00:13:53.219 I think this is probably beyond illustration, but I'm going to have a go anyway and it might fail. 00:13:53.579 --> 00:13:53.719 Right? 00:13:53.979 --> 00:13:56.620 I want you just to imagine with me for a moment that it's your birthday. 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:57.839 I mean, that might be true. 00:13:57.959 --> 00:13:59.259 Perhaps it is your birthday this morning. 00:13:59.339 --> 00:14:01.219 If it is, happy birthday to you. 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:03.339 The next bit is mythical. 00:14:04.000 --> 00:14:09.000 Imagine it's your birthday and I've bought you a car and it's outside in the car park. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:11.100 I've bought you a Mercedes G-Wagon. 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:11.980 It's blacked out. 00:14:12.059 --> 00:14:12.700 It's been slammed. 00:14:12.820 --> 00:14:16.519 It's got a radio that will make your ears bleed when you turn it up full blast. 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:16.759 Right? 00:14:16.860 --> 00:14:19.059 It's the dream car. 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:19.539 Right? 00:14:19.559 --> 00:14:20.500 It's what you've always wanted. 00:14:21.159 --> 00:14:24.860 And as you step out of the building with me and I say, oh, you know, happy birthday. 00:14:25.379 --> 00:14:27.360 Here's your brand new G-Wagon car. 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:29.960 You literally can't believe it. 00:14:30.279 --> 00:14:31.539 You cannot believe it. 00:14:32.000 --> 00:14:34.819 Steve, you are known for your stinginess, not your generosity. 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:36.199 And you've bought me this. 00:14:36.620 --> 00:14:37.740 This is incredible. 00:14:38.179 --> 00:14:40.319 I can't believe how generous you are being to me. 00:14:41.199 --> 00:14:48.559 Now, at what point do I know that you've believed me that I bought you that car outside? 00:14:49.939 --> 00:14:51.759 Well, you walk around it, don't you? 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:53.980 And you kind of admire it. 00:14:54.139 --> 00:14:55.240 You admire the paintwork. 00:14:55.240 --> 00:15:01.580 You maybe kind of put your hands on it a bit just to check it's genuinely real and not just some elaborate picture. 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:10.460 But I know that you believe me that that's yours when you open the door, get in it, and drive off. 00:15:10.860 --> 00:15:13.580 Then I know that you believe me that it's yours. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:16.600 And in a sense, that's what it is here. 00:15:17.940 --> 00:15:21.840 John is not asking you just to assent to a few facts in history. 00:15:21.840 --> 00:15:28.820 John is asking you to believe in Jesus in the way that you would get into that car and drive off in it. 00:15:29.100 --> 00:15:35.820 He is asking you to invest everything in Jesus, to put your life into his hands. 00:15:36.660 --> 00:15:40.000 You know, plenty of people believe in the resurrection of Jesus. 00:15:40.139 --> 00:15:41.040 Maybe that's you this morning. 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:45.160 You're thinking, Steve, I am already totally persuaded of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:15:45.320 --> 00:15:46.540 I don't live like a Christian. 00:15:46.780 --> 00:15:48.200 I don't call myself a Christian. 00:15:48.480 --> 00:15:49.420 I don't go to church. 00:15:49.420 --> 00:15:50.800 But I believe in the resurrection. 00:15:51.840 --> 00:15:52.780 Well, well done. 00:15:53.759 --> 00:15:55.019 Lots of people do that. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:59.820 That guy, Wesley Huff, on the internet has persuaded most people that the resurrection actually happened. 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:04.120 Denying the historical resurrection of Jesus is sort of like denying the existence of Henry VIII. 00:16:04.780 --> 00:16:05.500 It's kind of stupid. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:06.019 It's dumb. 00:16:06.820 --> 00:16:14.639 But knowing that it happened is not enough because the kind of belief that John is trying to persuade you of is committing yourself fully to Christ. 00:16:15.100 --> 00:16:16.060 That's what he's recommending. 00:16:16.059 --> 00:16:21.139 He wants you to bank everything on Christ wholeheartedly. 00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:26.599 He wants you to build your life on the truth and foundation of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:16:27.119 --> 00:16:36.819 He wants you, if you like, to climb into Jesus by faith and drive off with him and live your life in him and through him and for him. 00:16:36.820 --> 00:16:41.440 Coming to realize that Christ alone is your hope. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:48.540 He is the one alone who can forgive your sin, cleanse your guilt, meet you in your hour of need. 00:16:49.280 --> 00:16:53.140 Jesus is not just a character of history, but he is God in a body. 00:16:53.540 --> 00:16:55.580 He wants you to know that he's your creator. 00:16:55.820 --> 00:16:56.680 He's your savior. 00:16:56.679 --> 00:17:00.799 He is my Lord and my God. 00:17:01.839 --> 00:17:03.199 Just like Thomas said. 00:17:05.579 --> 00:17:06.940 That's why this is so important. 00:17:08.759 --> 00:17:12.899 One of the great things about our church here, and I hope you get this as you sort of just look around you, 00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:15.960 our church is a brilliant cross-section of the community in which we live. 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:18.720 We are from all different kinds of backgrounds. 00:17:18.980 --> 00:17:19.819 We're different ages. 00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:20.980 We're from different places. 00:17:21.640 --> 00:17:26.920 But we have all come together because we have all found this to be true about Jesus, 00:17:27.500 --> 00:17:35.180 that he is risen from the dead and living our lives in him and for him is the best way to live. 00:17:36.319 --> 00:17:38.120 That's what unites us here this morning. 00:17:38.119 --> 00:17:47.619 And one of the privileges of being a member of a church like this is that we are amongst senior saints, right? 00:17:47.819 --> 00:17:53.539 There are men and women in this room who have been walking with the Lord Jesus for 60, 70, even 80 years. 00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:56.399 And we honor them for their faithfulness. 00:17:56.500 --> 00:17:58.099 We praise God for his keeping power. 00:17:58.659 --> 00:18:01.859 And on Easter Sunday, the resurrection, it says this to all of us, 00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:06.539 but I think it says it especially sweetly to you if you're a senior saint this morning. 00:18:06.539 --> 00:18:11.920 It says this, listen, the best is still to come. 00:18:12.599 --> 00:18:13.480 That's what it says. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:23.920 That through the trials of life, what you have experienced spiritually in the Lord Jesus will be yours physically one day. 00:18:24.859 --> 00:18:27.500 You too will receive a resurrection body like his. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:30.420 Death will be swallowed up in victory. 00:18:31.099 --> 00:18:33.759 What is mortal will be swallowed up by what is immortal. 00:18:33.759 --> 00:18:38.500 We will put off the tent of this body and put on the house of his new life. 00:18:39.180 --> 00:18:43.640 Jesus' resurrection really is like the spring of new eternal life. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.500 It is the first fruits of all that is to come. 00:18:46.900 --> 00:18:51.259 This creation will be remade by Christ in his power and for his glory as he returns, 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:57.500 receiving resurrection bodies to live for him, for his praise and glory forever and ever and ever. 00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:02.279 Not in something that is kind of like life, but in life as it was always meant to be. 00:19:02.559 --> 00:19:04.500 Real life, true life. 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:07.299 Life as we all want it. 00:19:09.140 --> 00:19:15.660 Let me just say as I finish this morning, John writes these words not just to persuade you with the fact of resurrection, 00:19:15.660 --> 00:19:20.360 but to give you an offer of a share in the resurrection. 00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:23.620 A life you don't want to miss. 00:19:24.740 --> 00:19:31.300 Because John knows, and if you're honest this morning, you too know that no one else can offer you this. 00:19:32.140 --> 00:19:35.400 There is nothing else like this on offer anywhere else. 00:19:35.400 --> 00:19:38.860 No one else in history has an empty tomb. 00:19:39.660 --> 00:19:40.800 Only Jesus is risen. 00:19:41.420 --> 00:19:43.160 Everywhere else you look are graves. 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:50.900 All the great thinkers, all the great leaders, all the great social campaigners, all the great heroes, all the great footballers. 00:19:51.420 --> 00:19:52.300 They're all dead. 00:19:52.920 --> 00:19:53.580 They're all buried. 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:55.900 But Jesus is alive. 00:19:56.620 --> 00:20:03.200 And he offers life, real life, and invites us to grasp it, not by sight, but by faith. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:06.600 The hand that reaches out and takes hold of him. 00:20:07.100 --> 00:20:09.059 So take hold of Jesus this morning. 00:20:09.700 --> 00:20:11.420 And don't let go. 00:20:11.880 --> 00:20:15.660 Because the best is still to come for those who trust in him. 00:20:16.299 --> 00:20:18.500 Let me pray, and then we'll sing together. 00:20:27.819 --> 00:20:33.080 Heavenly Father, we thank you this morning that Jesus is risen and alive. 00:20:33.860 --> 00:20:36.580 Thank you that he has conquered death and sin. 00:20:37.160 --> 00:20:39.480 Thank you that there is great hope in him. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:43.559 We thank you that for those who trust in him, the best is still to come. 00:20:44.259 --> 00:20:50.920 And we pray that you might help us to live our lives trusting him, honoring him, and bringing him glory. 00:20:51.259 --> 00:20:52.920 As we pray in Jesus' name. 00:20:53.779 --> 00:20:54.100 Amen. 00:20:54.100 --> 00:20:54.240 Amen. 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:54.880 Amen. 00:20:54.880 --> 00:20:55.039 Amen. 00:20:55.039 --> 00:20:55.100 Amen. 00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:55.100 00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:55.100 00:20:55.100 --> 00:20:55.100