WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.219 If you have your Bibles, turn with me today to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:00:06.799 --> 00:00:10.200 When we come to Easter, typically preachers can do one of two things. 00:00:10.259 --> 00:00:14.500 You can go to the Gospels and you can get the narrative story and you can rehearse that. 00:00:15.019 --> 00:00:20.660 Or you can go to the Pauline Epistles, especially chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians, 00:00:21.280 --> 00:00:24.800 and you can see the significance of the resurrection. 00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:30.800 And this morning, I want us to take that approach and look here at 1 Corinthians 15. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:33.219 In fact, every believer in this room ought to know this. 00:00:33.600 --> 00:00:37.399 You ought to write it in your Bible where you can see it if you don't already know this. 00:00:37.939 --> 00:00:41.840 The greatest word anywhere in the scripture on the resurrection, 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.799 the premier chapter is 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 00:00:46.679 --> 00:00:51.799 It is the definitive statement about the resurrection that the Apostle Paul makes. 00:00:51.799 --> 00:00:57.780 In this, he's going to drive three truths home that I want you to make sure you recognize today. 00:00:57.899 --> 00:01:01.420 In fact, you ought to memorize these if you possibly can, 00:01:01.519 --> 00:01:05.200 these three truths that come to us from 1 Corinthians 15. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:09.539 The first is the Christian non-negotiables. 00:01:10.120 --> 00:01:11.200 Have you ever thought about that? 00:01:11.579 --> 00:01:17.479 There are some things in the Christian faith that are just absolutely non-negotiables. 00:01:17.480 --> 00:01:22.680 I told you a few weeks ago, I was coming up Highway 8 one Sunday to church, 00:01:22.820 --> 00:01:26.100 and I had noticed before there were a lot of signs of churches along the way, 00:01:26.320 --> 00:01:27.840 and so I began to count. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:31.280 We took about a four-and-a-half-mile stretch, and we counted 17, 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:36.340 and this morning I counted them again, and actually they've added a sign now since I was last. 00:01:36.540 --> 00:01:40.219 And there are 18 churches, and they're all stripes and flavors. 00:01:40.420 --> 00:01:42.939 They're Methodists, and there's some Church of Christ, 00:01:42.939 --> 00:01:48.140 and there's some Reformed Baptists, and Baptists of every flavor. 00:01:48.399 --> 00:01:51.420 And, you know, there are more Baptists in Pickens County than there are people. 00:01:51.519 --> 00:01:52.420 Y'all do know that, right? 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:59.140 And so as I saw those signs, it reminded me of a sad truth, 00:01:59.219 --> 00:02:01.780 and that is we have difficulty getting along, don't we? 00:02:02.539 --> 00:02:05.920 I mean, we will divide over so many things. 00:02:06.459 --> 00:02:09.819 And I want to tell you just a sad truth, as I get in this first point this morning, 00:02:09.819 --> 00:02:13.919 and that is there are some things over which we shouldn't compromise, 00:02:14.280 --> 00:02:16.919 and Paul's going to give us three of those things. 00:02:17.519 --> 00:02:21.319 But I meet a lot of believers who have failed to recognize 00:02:21.319 --> 00:02:26.459 that people can still hold the Scripture as being authoritative in their life, 00:02:27.000 --> 00:02:28.659 believe it with all their heart, 00:02:29.219 --> 00:02:33.500 be conservative in the sense that they believe that this is God's Word, 00:02:33.539 --> 00:02:35.299 and whatever it says, it is true, 00:02:35.299 --> 00:02:39.740 but have a difference of opinion about what it means. 00:02:40.659 --> 00:02:41.639 Do you understand that? 00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.599 And a lot of us, especially those of us in the conservative camp, 00:02:45.699 --> 00:02:47.539 we have a tendency to forget that. 00:02:47.639 --> 00:02:50.979 We think, no, if you're really conservative the way I'm conservative, 00:02:51.359 --> 00:02:55.000 you interpret every passage exactly the way I interpret that passage. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:55.739 But I want to tell you something. 00:02:56.039 --> 00:03:00.639 There are a lot of issues out there over which good, strong, conservative, 00:03:00.859 --> 00:03:03.319 Bible-believing believers can look at a passage, 00:03:03.319 --> 00:03:07.060 and one interprets it one way, and one interprets it another. 00:03:07.060 --> 00:03:08.939 And I want to tell you something. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:13.599 For us to get all divided about all those kind of issues is foolishness. 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:21.140 The Apostle Paul says there are three things that are non-negotiable. 00:03:21.640 --> 00:03:24.819 And he wants to drive that point home, and he does so very effectively. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:29.719 Look at chapter 15 and verse 3 and 4. 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:31.900 And this is what Paul says. 00:03:34.060 --> 00:03:39.199 For I passed on to you as most important. 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:40.259 Underscore that. 00:03:40.439 --> 00:03:42.099 It's a superlative phrase. 00:03:42.879 --> 00:03:44.659 Most important. 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:47.740 What I also received. 00:03:48.259 --> 00:03:50.639 Now, before we even delve into that, let me just tell you this. 00:03:50.639 --> 00:03:57.159 We live in a country that is just consumed with something being the greatest. 00:03:57.759 --> 00:04:00.839 It's not good enough for something to be just real good. 00:04:01.519 --> 00:04:04.099 We want something to be the best, don't we? 00:04:04.119 --> 00:04:07.019 And so we take these little poles in town, and we say, 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:09.659 this is the best place to go get a hamburger. 00:04:10.279 --> 00:04:12.739 This is the best place to get a cup of coffee. 00:04:13.139 --> 00:04:14.779 Here's the best dentist in town. 00:04:14.879 --> 00:04:17.399 Here's the best whatever in town. 00:04:17.399 --> 00:04:21.919 Even in churches, I've seen cities that say, here's the best church. 00:04:22.019 --> 00:04:25.479 And that's just kind of crazy to even get involved in that kind of discussion, right? 00:04:25.539 --> 00:04:29.519 But we'll do it because we love superlatives. 00:04:29.899 --> 00:04:32.919 When I was a kid, if you were the goat, that was a bad thing. 00:04:33.359 --> 00:04:35.019 You know, somebody said, he's the goat, man. 00:04:35.359 --> 00:04:36.699 That man, he sat on the bench. 00:04:36.739 --> 00:04:37.459 He warmed the bench. 00:04:37.539 --> 00:04:38.859 He was not a good player. 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:42.159 But today, the goat is the best guy on the team, right? 00:04:42.239 --> 00:04:44.579 Or the best guy who's ever been on the team. 00:04:44.579 --> 00:04:47.439 It's the greatest of all time. 00:04:47.579 --> 00:04:50.919 We've made that little acronym as though we needed another acronym, you know? 00:04:51.579 --> 00:04:53.060 Here's the greatest of all time. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:54.300 Then we argue about who's the greatest. 00:04:54.419 --> 00:04:55.300 But we all know this. 00:04:55.659 --> 00:05:00.620 In the end, because we use that superlative greatest, there can only be how many? 00:05:01.860 --> 00:05:02.299 One. 00:05:03.120 --> 00:05:09.399 Now, we may disagree who that one is, but we all understand there can only be one greatest, actual greatest. 00:05:09.399 --> 00:05:14.439 And when Paul says, this is the first importance, guess what? 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:18.819 There can't be a second or third or a fourth most important. 00:05:19.379 --> 00:05:20.679 It's only one. 00:05:20.839 --> 00:05:24.759 And so Paul says, here is what is of utmost importance. 00:05:24.859 --> 00:05:27.739 In other words, you can't debate these things. 00:05:28.599 --> 00:05:33.279 I want to tell you, if you don't believe these things, or you're in a church that doesn't believe these things, 00:05:33.399 --> 00:05:34.819 go find you another church. 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:36.819 Go find you another pastor. 00:05:36.819 --> 00:05:41.219 Here's what he says, for I passed on you as most important what I also received, 00:05:41.659 --> 00:05:45.759 that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:52.639 that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. 00:05:54.120 --> 00:05:57.000 Now, if you want to be divided over something, 00:05:57.259 --> 00:06:00.639 if you say we'll go start another church for people who believe this, 00:06:01.219 --> 00:06:04.959 those are the issues over which it ought to principally be. 00:06:04.959 --> 00:06:10.120 The death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord. 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:12.819 That's something you cannot be a Christian. 00:06:13.019 --> 00:06:19.859 You are not a church if you don't hold to those three truths according to the apostle Paul. 00:06:20.120 --> 00:06:23.599 Now, let's look at those statements individually just real quickly for a second. 00:06:23.600 --> 00:06:31.740 What does he mean when he says, it is of first importance that you believe that Jesus died for our sins? 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:34.260 He's emphasizing two things. 00:06:34.360 --> 00:06:37.780 He's emphasizing that he, in fact, died. 00:06:38.660 --> 00:06:41.660 And that is phenomenal in and of itself, isn't it? 00:06:42.060 --> 00:06:45.000 Because we believe that Jesus is the God-man. 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:53.939 He left heaven, he was God, and he took on human flesh, fully man, fully God, and he died. 00:06:54.519 --> 00:07:00.339 On the cross that day, God, in the person of Jesus, died. 00:07:01.860 --> 00:07:08.199 But it's equally important what he goes on to say, for our sins. 00:07:08.199 --> 00:07:12.879 In other words, no one took his life from him. 00:07:14.159 --> 00:07:18.219 The Jewish religious leaders didn't overpower him. 00:07:18.819 --> 00:07:21.860 They didn't outmaneuver him politically. 00:07:23.039 --> 00:07:28.019 This was the plan of God before the foundation of the world. 00:07:28.779 --> 00:07:30.019 And here's how we know this. 00:07:30.159 --> 00:07:36.360 Isaiah had prophesied this would happen hundreds of years before Jesus was ever born 00:07:36.360 --> 00:07:38.759 as a flesh and blood human being. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:43.740 In Isaiah 53, 6, one of my favorite verses in all the scripture, this is what it says. 00:07:44.220 --> 00:07:49.080 All we, and that means me and you and people of every age who have ever lived, 00:07:49.639 --> 00:07:55.000 all we, like sheep, have gone astray. 00:07:55.939 --> 00:07:58.020 And here's what picture he's painting for us. 00:07:58.400 --> 00:08:00.540 Here's this path that the sheep should take. 00:08:00.540 --> 00:08:02.540 It's the path that God has laid out for us. 00:08:02.939 --> 00:08:05.480 And we understand this is what God wants of me. 00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:07.319 But guess what? 00:08:08.080 --> 00:08:09.699 I'm rebellious against God. 00:08:10.420 --> 00:08:12.360 And I don't want to follow that path. 00:08:13.000 --> 00:08:17.920 And if we would be honest about it, every person in this room knows that there's been a time in your life 00:08:17.920 --> 00:08:20.060 where you knew exactly what God wanted. 00:08:20.379 --> 00:08:22.960 The problem was not in knowing what God wanted. 00:08:23.020 --> 00:08:25.800 The problem is, I don't want to do that. 00:08:26.860 --> 00:08:29.120 It doesn't suit me to do that. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:31.300 My flesh says don't do that. 00:08:31.800 --> 00:08:33.220 My will says don't do that. 00:08:33.220 --> 00:08:33.840 I don't want to do it. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:37.240 And so, in effect, we shake our fists in the face of God. 00:08:37.360 --> 00:08:39.160 We'd never be so bold as to do that. 00:08:39.740 --> 00:08:41.259 Most of us wouldn't at any rate. 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:45.840 To shake our fists in the face of the Almighty and say, God, no, you can't have it your way. 00:08:45.899 --> 00:08:47.080 I'm going to have it my way. 00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:51.480 But whenever we disobey him, that's exactly, in effect, what we're doing. 00:08:52.360 --> 00:08:55.360 Saying, God, I know what you said, but I refuse to do that. 00:08:55.399 --> 00:08:56.519 I won't do it your way. 00:08:56.519 --> 00:08:59.279 And so, the scripture says, all we like sheep have gone astray. 00:08:59.639 --> 00:09:01.519 We've each one turned to his own way. 00:09:01.620 --> 00:09:06.980 We've all gone our own path and chosen to do what we wanted to do, what satisfied the flesh. 00:09:07.639 --> 00:09:09.639 And then he says this, a remarkable statement. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:10.399 Listen to this. 00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:17.340 And the Lord, speaking of God the Father, hath laid on him, speaking of Jesus the Son, 00:09:18.319 --> 00:09:23.360 hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:31.800 Here's this holy, righteous, perfect Son of God, who God has sent to the earth for one purpose, 00:09:32.300 --> 00:09:36.240 and that is to take the sins of all humanity, past, present, and future, 00:09:37.139 --> 00:09:42.019 and place them squarely on the shoulders of his Son. 00:09:43.060 --> 00:09:51.300 Every sin Ralph Carter ever committed, or you ever committed, God placed on his Son on the cross. 00:09:51.299 --> 00:09:57.939 And that's why Paul says, I want you to understand, this is the centrality of the Christian message, 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:00.379 and you can't argue this, you can't debate this. 00:10:00.459 --> 00:10:03.679 If you don't believe that, you don't believe the gospel. 00:10:04.740 --> 00:10:08.339 It's not debatable that Jesus died for our sins. 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:11.319 Secondly, that Jesus was buried. 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:12.519 This is really important. 00:10:12.679 --> 00:10:14.459 You may think, well, that just seems natural. 00:10:14.579 --> 00:10:16.379 If he died, he was buried. 00:10:16.379 --> 00:10:20.039 But listen, Paul's to drive that point home, and you know why? 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:26.320 Because there were some then and now who say, he didn't really die. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.600 He had a near-death experience. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:32.360 He was beaten nearly to death, but he didn't die. 00:10:33.419 --> 00:10:37.519 Paul says, no, I want you to understand, he absolutely died. 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:39.720 He was graveyard dead. 00:10:39.720 --> 00:10:43.960 They took him from the cross only after they were sure of his death. 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:49.879 They stabbed him in the side with a spear, and blood and water flowed out the womb. 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:55.600 He bled out on the cross, and they buried him. 00:10:55.720 --> 00:11:01.879 They buried him in a borrowed tomb belonging to Joseph of Arimathea. 00:11:02.580 --> 00:11:04.540 And so he drives that point home. 00:11:04.639 --> 00:11:07.980 You must believe Jesus died for our sins, was buried. 00:11:07.980 --> 00:11:09.800 And here's the third and most important thing. 00:11:10.259 --> 00:11:13.879 Jesus was raised three days later. 00:11:14.019 --> 00:11:16.480 Look at what he says in verse 4. 00:11:17.620 --> 00:11:23.639 That he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. 00:11:25.019 --> 00:11:27.039 Now, we've said that so many times. 00:11:28.019 --> 00:11:29.899 It's become a hat to us. 00:11:31.240 --> 00:11:33.940 But I want you to think about the impact of that statement. 00:11:33.940 --> 00:11:38.100 How many of you in the last three months have attended a funeral? 00:11:38.920 --> 00:11:40.440 Have you been to anybody's funeral in the last three? 00:11:40.500 --> 00:11:41.380 Raise your hand real high. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:42.440 I'm going to say how many of you in this room. 00:11:43.000 --> 00:11:43.960 Lots of folk, right? 00:11:44.400 --> 00:11:46.460 Well, I've been to several in the last three months. 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:53.760 What if you went to a funeral this last week, and today you're getting ready for church, 00:11:53.840 --> 00:11:58.840 and the phone rings, and it's a dear friend in whom you have a lot of confidence, 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:01.259 and they're shaking. 00:12:01.399 --> 00:12:02.800 You can tell on the phone they're shaking. 00:12:02.960 --> 00:12:09.220 And they say to you, Bob, you know the other day we went to that funeral for so-and-so? 00:12:09.800 --> 00:12:10.019 Yeah? 00:12:11.660 --> 00:12:17.460 Bob, I don't know how to tell you this, but I was getting coffee this morning in this little coffee shop, 00:12:18.460 --> 00:12:20.180 and he walked in. 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:21.300 Who walked in? 00:12:21.300 --> 00:12:25.160 The guy we buried the other day. 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:29.899 You know already what you would say. 00:12:30.519 --> 00:12:31.339 I mean, you're mistaken. 00:12:32.360 --> 00:12:33.179 We were at his funeral. 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:34.500 We saw him buried. 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:37.000 I spoke to his wife. 00:12:37.100 --> 00:12:38.480 He's dead. 00:12:38.740 --> 00:12:39.939 He couldn't have walked in. 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:40.839 He did. 00:12:41.019 --> 00:12:42.339 I saw him with my own eyes. 00:12:42.559 --> 00:12:44.139 I walked up and talked to him. 00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:45.740 I asked him about it. 00:12:45.860 --> 00:12:47.879 He said after three days he came back to life. 00:12:47.939 --> 00:12:49.819 He came up out of the grave mysteriously. 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:56.900 Well, can you imagine how hard it would be to get your head around that? 00:12:57.040 --> 00:12:57.780 Can I tell you something? 00:12:57.879 --> 00:13:03.420 For 2,000 years, even this day, that's what the church is trying to convince the world happened. 00:13:04.580 --> 00:13:06.260 Do you see the difficulty in that? 00:13:07.300 --> 00:13:11.140 For us to go out into the world and say 2,000 years ago there was this guy who came. 00:13:11.220 --> 00:13:12.240 By the way, he was God. 00:13:12.240 --> 00:13:18.539 And he lived a perfect life, but they still hated him and they crucified him. 00:13:18.620 --> 00:13:19.919 They nailed him to a cross. 00:13:20.419 --> 00:13:22.379 And when he was dead, they wouldn't put him in this tomb. 00:13:22.480 --> 00:13:23.740 They sealed it with a stone. 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:30.539 They put a group of soldiers outside to guard it because some of his disciples had said he would arise from the dead. 00:13:30.580 --> 00:13:32.060 And they were afraid they would steal the body. 00:13:32.200 --> 00:13:32.919 And guess what? 00:13:33.620 --> 00:13:35.060 He came to life. 00:13:35.100 --> 00:13:39.039 And he gives you the possibility of living eternally as well. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:43.099 Now, you say that to people in our world today, and I'm going to tell you something. 00:13:43.219 --> 00:13:45.639 The vast majority are going to say, couldn't happen. 00:13:46.259 --> 00:13:47.000 No way. 00:13:47.559 --> 00:13:48.539 And they walk away. 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:58.659 But in the city of Jerusalem, when that message was first preached by literally the thousands, they embraced it. 00:13:59.659 --> 00:14:02.779 And in that first century, that message spread like wildfire. 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:04.360 And it has been spreading ever since. 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:13.500 Listen, today there are over a billion people in our world who are worshiping just as you do today because they believe those truths. 00:14:14.700 --> 00:14:18.320 So Paul recognizes this is a difficult thing to sell. 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:29.639 And so we've got to give evidence to support this claim, this bold, wild claim that we make that Jesus did, in fact, arise from the dead. 00:14:29.740 --> 00:14:31.259 And he is alive today. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:33.179 And here's the good news. 00:14:33.340 --> 00:14:37.679 Every young person, every person in the room under 40 today, please hear this. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:45.220 It's Paul's way of saying you don't have to commit intellectual suicide to believe the message of the resurrection. 00:14:46.480 --> 00:14:57.159 There is strong evidence to support the idea that Jesus has done exactly what he said in the scripture he would, in fact, do. 00:14:58.039 --> 00:14:59.000 Indisputable evidence. 00:14:59.159 --> 00:15:00.720 Now, what evidence is there? 00:15:00.720 --> 00:15:06.500 First of all, he's going to tell us there are eyewitnesses to what he says occurred. 00:15:08.300 --> 00:15:10.720 Any of you ever been an eyewitness in a court case? 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:12.700 Anybody here ever been an eyewitness? 00:15:13.060 --> 00:15:15.840 You saw an accident or maybe you saw a crime committed? 00:15:17.200 --> 00:15:19.960 You know what gets me about the world in which we live in today? 00:15:19.960 --> 00:15:28.259 I know that in America we believe in a trial of your peers by your peers and that people have to have justice. 00:15:28.420 --> 00:15:29.879 And I understand every bit of that. 00:15:29.879 --> 00:15:35.600 But I get amused sometimes because in today's world, everybody's got a cell phone, right? 00:15:35.659 --> 00:15:42.120 You all remember in Wisconsin this last year, in the last 12 months, there was an incident in Wisconsin. 00:15:42.279 --> 00:15:43.360 They're having a parade. 00:15:43.360 --> 00:15:46.320 And suddenly, nobody could predict it. 00:15:46.500 --> 00:15:51.759 This vehicle comes on the scene and it goes charging down the streets out of control. 00:15:51.759 --> 00:15:53.500 And it hits several people. 00:15:53.679 --> 00:15:56.860 And it just literally runs over the top of folk. 00:15:57.259 --> 00:16:00.899 And there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people there with iPhones. 00:16:01.179 --> 00:16:02.460 And they made pictures. 00:16:02.779 --> 00:16:04.720 And the media was there covering the event. 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:06.460 And they actually made pictures. 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:14.500 And they have pictures of the police who stopped the van finally and pulled the driver, the occupant, out of the vehicle. 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:18.419 And all these folk have seen it with their own eyes. 00:16:18.500 --> 00:16:19.600 They've got it on film. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.179 The news media has it on film. 00:16:21.500 --> 00:16:22.639 The policeman saw them. 00:16:23.100 --> 00:16:25.820 And everybody that ever talked about it, you know what they said? 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:36.559 The person of interest who has been arrested, the suspect, the alleged criminal. 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:41.100 Now listen, do I think he deserves to have an attorney? 00:16:42.039 --> 00:16:44.000 Could there be some extenuating circumstances? 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:45.039 They need to know about it? 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:45.679 Of course. 00:16:46.500 --> 00:16:47.620 But understand this. 00:16:48.759 --> 00:16:49.639 Was he the driver? 00:16:50.539 --> 00:16:51.980 Of course he was the driver. 00:16:53.100 --> 00:16:56.879 And the reason we know he's not the suspected driver, everybody saw him. 00:16:57.419 --> 00:16:57.740 Right? 00:16:58.100 --> 00:16:59.340 You got it on film. 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:00.240 You can document. 00:17:00.639 --> 00:17:03.700 He is the driver because of the eyewitnesses. 00:17:03.700 --> 00:17:11.660 How many eyewitnesses do there have to be for someone to establish a fact, that person did what you said he did? 00:17:11.660 --> 00:17:14.620 So Paul's taking that approach. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:17.480 He's not going to be concerned about chronology. 00:17:17.700 --> 00:17:21.019 And he's not going to be concerned about an all-inclusive list. 00:17:21.560 --> 00:17:28.259 He's just wanting to say, here's a good case for the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus. 00:17:28.259 --> 00:17:31.019 And he begins by saying, Cephas. 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:35.299 Look, if you will, at verses 5 through 8. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:48.140 And that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve, then he appeared to over 500 other brothers, at one time, most of whom remained to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 00:17:48.140 --> 00:17:57.380 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, last of all, as to one abnormally born, he also appeared to me. 00:17:58.840 --> 00:18:02.220 So he begins to call witnesses to the stand, so to speak. 00:18:02.259 --> 00:18:04.660 And he says, first of all, we call Cephas. 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:05.940 Now, why Cephas first? 00:18:06.520 --> 00:18:07.820 Was he the first to see Jesus? 00:18:08.000 --> 00:18:08.280 No. 00:18:09.320 --> 00:18:12.340 But Cephas was the leader of the early church. 00:18:12.339 --> 00:18:20.480 Now, we Baptists get a little heartburn admitting that sometimes because we know our Catholic friends say he was the pope of the first church, and we reject that idea. 00:18:20.819 --> 00:18:27.000 But listen, to not say he was the leader of the early church is just ludicrous. 00:18:27.699 --> 00:18:32.240 He's the guy who preaches at Pentecost, and 3,000 come and are saved. 00:18:32.439 --> 00:18:36.539 He's in those councils where they ask, hey, what does it take for a person to be saved? 00:18:36.639 --> 00:18:38.799 And Peter's one of the ones giving the answers. 00:18:38.799 --> 00:18:43.759 So he's clearly a leader in the early church. 00:18:44.200 --> 00:18:47.399 So Paul says Cephas saw him. 00:18:48.119 --> 00:18:50.079 And what do we know about Cephas? 00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:54.419 One time we know he's not exactly a star disciple, right? 00:18:54.919 --> 00:19:02.319 The only time he seems to take his foot out of his mouth while Jesus is alive is to insert his other foot, right? 00:19:03.759 --> 00:19:06.639 He's a bumbling character. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:16.480 But suddenly, after Jesus' death and burial and resurrection, when he's witnessed the resurrected Lord, guess what? 00:19:17.180 --> 00:19:24.460 He becomes a superstar preacher who preaches and 3,000 come and they receive Christ as their Savior and Lord. 00:19:24.560 --> 00:19:32.000 So he says, ask Cephas, who incidentally at the end of his life was crucified upside down. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.299 That's how strongly he felt about the resurrection of the Lord. 00:19:36.619 --> 00:19:38.599 And then he says, there are the 12. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:44.299 And the 12 is kind of a nickname for the 12 disciples. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:50.259 In fact, the gospel sometimes refer to these as not the disciples, but as the 12. 00:19:50.779 --> 00:19:54.200 This includes even Judas before his death. 00:19:54.200 --> 00:19:59.880 These are people who have been with Jesus and they have heard Jesus teach. 00:20:00.299 --> 00:20:06.640 But listen, they didn't even believe themselves that Jesus was going to be raised from the dead. 00:20:07.080 --> 00:20:10.279 They didn't go to the tomb seeking to find a risen Lord. 00:20:10.380 --> 00:20:13.460 They went to help with his burial preparation. 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:17.580 And so the 12, he says, they are witnesses. 00:20:17.579 --> 00:20:23.519 And then he says this, there were 500 brothers who saw him at one time. 00:20:24.199 --> 00:20:25.619 And this is really important. 00:20:25.740 --> 00:20:26.500 Get what he says. 00:20:27.240 --> 00:20:29.079 Some of them have fallen asleep. 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:31.859 Some of them have died. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:34.000 Years have passed. 00:20:34.099 --> 00:20:35.559 This wasn't a few months later. 00:20:36.059 --> 00:20:38.099 Years and years and years have passed. 00:20:38.659 --> 00:20:41.099 And now Paul writes the Corinthians and he says, 00:20:41.539 --> 00:20:45.659 remember there were 500 brothers who saw him at one time. 00:20:45.660 --> 00:20:48.840 And some of those who've fallen asleep. 00:20:49.040 --> 00:20:49.880 But watch this. 00:20:50.519 --> 00:20:52.500 But most of them remain to this day. 00:20:53.380 --> 00:20:57.440 Now, if he had been wanting to perpetuate a lie, 00:20:58.279 --> 00:21:00.080 you know what he could easily have said? 00:21:00.540 --> 00:21:02.620 If he's just making this up about the 500. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:04.820 Hey, there were 500 brothers. 00:21:05.060 --> 00:21:07.580 Everybody knows that was reported that saw him at one time. 00:21:07.900 --> 00:21:11.200 But now to be honest, it was during the time of the Passover. 00:21:11.480 --> 00:21:12.840 It was during the time of Pentecost. 00:21:12.839 --> 00:21:15.879 A lot of those folks have gone back to their homes and you can't find them now. 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:18.079 But that's not what he says. 00:21:18.980 --> 00:21:22.220 He's inviting them to do an investigation of these 500. 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:27.159 And so he says, I want to tell you, those 500, almost all of them are still alive. 00:21:27.279 --> 00:21:28.279 Some of them have died. 00:21:28.379 --> 00:21:30.679 That's what you would expect over a period of 15, 20 years. 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:32.519 Some of them have died. 00:21:33.259 --> 00:21:37.039 But many of them, most of them are still alive today. 00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:38.859 You can go find them. 00:21:39.399 --> 00:21:40.659 They still live in the area. 00:21:40.660 --> 00:21:42.360 You can question them. 00:21:43.300 --> 00:21:48.580 Now, how many of you today, I won't even ask you how many of you are on Facebook. 00:21:50.279 --> 00:21:52.200 It'd just be easier to say, ladies. 00:21:53.500 --> 00:21:54.160 Forgive that. 00:21:54.220 --> 00:21:54.700 Bad joke. 00:21:55.340 --> 00:21:55.740 Anyhow. 00:21:59.040 --> 00:22:03.380 Anyhow, have you ever seen anything on Facebook and you're reading it and you show it to somebody 00:22:03.380 --> 00:22:06.840 and they say, you might need to what? 00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:07.900 Snoke that, right? 00:22:08.520 --> 00:22:13.000 You might need to check that out because maybe if it's on the internet, it's not so. 00:22:14.200 --> 00:22:18.680 Everything that comes across the internet, everything that's on Facebook is not necessarily so. 00:22:18.940 --> 00:22:19.440 So what do you do? 00:22:19.560 --> 00:22:21.060 You check it out, right? 00:22:21.059 --> 00:22:27.980 There has always been a network of folk out there since the beginning of time who are skeptical. 00:22:28.279 --> 00:22:29.099 I'm in that number. 00:22:29.940 --> 00:22:31.940 And so when we hear things, guess what? 00:22:32.119 --> 00:22:34.059 We don't just immediately assume that's true. 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.599 We go digging until we can find some proof. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:38.879 That really did happen. 00:22:39.919 --> 00:22:40.839 And so I'm going to tell you something. 00:22:40.980 --> 00:22:45.720 If there were 500 people who lied about seeing Jesus resurrected, 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:49.240 don't you think there would have been some folk living at that time who would have said, 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:50.799 eh, that's not so. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.579 That didn't really happen. 00:22:54.620 --> 00:23:02.200 And this message, instead of spreading, would have died with those who perpetuated the lies. 00:23:02.660 --> 00:23:04.559 But instead, it was true. 00:23:05.400 --> 00:23:07.960 And then he says, there's a fourth witness, 00:23:08.339 --> 00:23:12.579 and that's James, who incidentally is Jesus' own half-brother. 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:14.779 And what makes this interesting is this. 00:23:14.779 --> 00:23:22.839 James did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah until after his death, burial, and resurrection. 00:23:23.460 --> 00:23:26.940 But following that, he becomes so committed to Christ, 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:30.139 he refers to himself, this is the half-brother of Jesus, 00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:33.599 as the slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:23:33.960 --> 00:23:37.160 And then he says, the apostles, which was the disciples, 00:23:37.399 --> 00:23:40.099 but now these are men who believe in the resurrection, 00:23:40.599 --> 00:23:42.240 and they are sent out with a purpose. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:45.500 And lastly, he says, and I, Paul. 00:23:46.700 --> 00:23:49.799 Now, I just want to tell you, of all the witnesses he mentions, 00:23:50.799 --> 00:23:55.599 perhaps the most notable of all is Paul himself. 00:23:55.779 --> 00:24:00.099 He puts himself last because he does that, I think, out of a sense of humility. 00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:03.759 But maybe the best witness of all is Paul. 00:24:03.759 --> 00:24:07.460 Did Paul see the resurrected Lord shortly after his death? 00:24:08.119 --> 00:24:08.480 No. 00:24:09.379 --> 00:24:11.779 He sees him much later than that. 00:24:12.859 --> 00:24:16.420 According to Acts chapter 7 and 8, 00:24:17.879 --> 00:24:21.420 he was a Pharisee among Pharisees who had stood there 00:24:21.420 --> 00:24:26.559 when Stephen had been called out for preaching the truths that I'm preaching this morning, 00:24:26.559 --> 00:24:31.159 and he consented to the death of Stephen. 00:24:31.339 --> 00:24:34.599 He watched, get this now, you're talking about cold-blooded murderer. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:39.000 He watched as Stephen was stoned to death. 00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:44.059 It's one thing for a person to die being beheaded. 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:49.240 It's another thing for a person to die with a firing squad, 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:51.200 or to be hung, 00:24:51.980 --> 00:24:54.419 or to even murder someone with a knife. 00:24:55.879 --> 00:24:58.819 But can you imagine standing there and watching 00:24:58.819 --> 00:25:04.899 as people again and again and again and again and again, 00:25:05.099 --> 00:25:06.759 for how long, I don't know, 00:25:08.159 --> 00:25:09.619 stone a man to death. 00:25:09.619 --> 00:25:15.059 I'm telling you, you've got to be pretty cold-blooded to stand there and watch that. 00:25:16.319 --> 00:25:23.219 And he stood and watched and gave his consent to Stephen being stoned literally to death. 00:25:24.159 --> 00:25:28.439 He watched as he dodged those stones and those boulders and rocks, 00:25:29.099 --> 00:25:31.259 and as they cut him, and as he bled, 00:25:31.479 --> 00:25:33.439 and as he stumbled, and as he fell, 00:25:33.599 --> 00:25:36.219 and then as he lay on the ground and he kept being pounded. 00:25:36.220 --> 00:25:40.079 That's how cold-blooded Paul was. 00:25:41.819 --> 00:25:43.960 And Paul then, according to chapter 8, 00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:48.039 Paul got letters from the chief priest to go to other cities 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:51.799 and find believers because he thought this was a threat to Judaism, 00:25:52.240 --> 00:25:54.240 and to drag them out of their homes 00:25:54.240 --> 00:25:55.980 and to bring them back to Jerusalem 00:25:55.980 --> 00:25:57.980 so that they could suffer the same fate. 00:25:59.000 --> 00:26:01.460 He's on one of those missions one day, 00:26:01.799 --> 00:26:04.620 and he goes, he's headed to Damascus, 00:26:04.619 --> 00:26:10.859 when suddenly he's struck down by a great, great light. 00:26:11.799 --> 00:26:15.039 Can you see him as he staggers in the darkness and the blindness? 00:26:16.379 --> 00:26:18.299 And he's wondering what happens, 00:26:18.679 --> 00:26:21.299 and suddenly a voice is heard from the heavens. 00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:24.219 It's obviously a supernatural voice, 00:26:24.359 --> 00:26:25.259 and the voice says this, 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:29.479 Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:26:30.699 --> 00:26:32.859 And he's having to process all this. 00:26:32.859 --> 00:26:33.979 And listen, he's frightened. 00:26:34.099 --> 00:26:34.899 He's struck blind. 00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:36.139 No one wants to be blind. 00:26:36.859 --> 00:26:38.219 He can't find his way. 00:26:39.219 --> 00:26:40.799 And he's processing all of this, 00:26:40.859 --> 00:26:42.839 and he asks the logical question, 00:26:42.839 --> 00:26:44.839 who is this? 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:49.579 And this supernatural voice from the heavens says, 00:26:50.579 --> 00:26:54.299 it is Jesus whom you are persecuting me. 00:26:54.299 --> 00:26:57.180 Why are you persecuting me? 00:26:58.619 --> 00:27:01.519 And he's trying to take all that in, 00:27:02.220 --> 00:27:04.480 and he goes to this home in Damascus, 00:27:04.680 --> 00:27:05.779 and for the rest of the day, 00:27:05.859 --> 00:27:07.659 he contemplates that situation. 00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:11.339 You know what he ultimately decides? 00:27:12.680 --> 00:27:14.779 I knew that Jesus lived 00:27:14.779 --> 00:27:17.879 because all my friends told me about seeing him 00:27:17.879 --> 00:27:19.000 and hearing him preach, 00:27:19.519 --> 00:27:22.859 and the blasphemous things that he thought Jesus had said. 00:27:22.859 --> 00:27:25.759 And then he said to himself, 00:27:25.859 --> 00:27:26.240 no doubt, 00:27:26.679 --> 00:27:28.039 and I know he died 00:27:28.039 --> 00:27:32.359 because all my friends orchestrated his death. 00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:35.339 Those Pharisees that I had such great confidence in, 00:27:35.379 --> 00:27:36.779 I sat at the feet of Gamaliel, 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:39.899 they all told me they were the chief priests conspired, 00:27:40.199 --> 00:27:41.799 and they brought about his death. 00:27:41.899 --> 00:27:43.719 They thought they had outmaneuvered him. 00:27:45.319 --> 00:27:46.240 Peter had said 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:48.839 that this was all part of the plan of God, 00:27:48.839 --> 00:27:50.179 but that was just hogwash. 00:27:50.259 --> 00:27:53.519 That was covering up this failed plan going wrong. 00:27:54.519 --> 00:27:55.240 And he said, 00:27:55.399 --> 00:27:57.039 so I know he lived, 00:27:57.119 --> 00:27:58.240 and I know he died, 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:00.319 but they told me 00:28:00.319 --> 00:28:02.599 he didn't rise from the dead, 00:28:02.679 --> 00:28:04.039 as these believers say, 00:28:04.740 --> 00:28:07.079 but that they had stolen the body. 00:28:07.339 --> 00:28:09.819 But who is this voice from the heavens? 00:28:09.819 --> 00:28:12.799 And what is this great light? 00:28:13.960 --> 00:28:14.559 And how, 00:28:15.700 --> 00:28:18.819 why did he describe himself as Jesus whom thou persecutest? 00:28:20.519 --> 00:28:22.859 And it all suddenly clicked in his head. 00:28:22.960 --> 00:28:24.119 He had been lied to. 00:28:25.419 --> 00:28:27.359 Jesus had risen from the dead, 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:29.200 and that's who was speaking to him. 00:28:30.359 --> 00:28:32.279 And the only way he could be speaking to him 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:35.919 is if he were God who had come in human flesh. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.300 And all of a sudden, 00:28:37.580 --> 00:28:40.300 every answer fell in perfect place 00:28:40.300 --> 00:28:42.200 for the apostle Paul. 00:28:43.220 --> 00:28:45.340 And that's why he repents of his sin, 00:28:45.600 --> 00:28:47.860 and the Holy Spirit of God comes in his life 00:28:47.860 --> 00:28:51.060 and does a great, great work. 00:28:51.720 --> 00:28:52.180 Now listen, 00:28:53.120 --> 00:28:54.160 as a result, 00:28:54.300 --> 00:28:56.180 he goes from being a murderer 00:28:56.180 --> 00:28:58.380 to a missionary. 00:28:59.779 --> 00:29:02.380 And there's something even more fascinating than that. 00:29:02.380 --> 00:29:07.020 He goes from being one who martyred others 00:29:07.020 --> 00:29:12.540 to one who one day will be martyred himself. 00:29:12.720 --> 00:29:16.560 Will so believe these truths he has put people to death for 00:29:16.560 --> 00:29:19.540 that he now holds to himself 00:29:19.540 --> 00:29:21.980 and is willing to be martyred for. 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:25.800 And that leads me to the next piece of evidence, 00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:29.520 and that is those who were eyewitnesses could not be bought. 00:29:30.020 --> 00:29:31.920 Men like the apostle Paul, 00:29:31.920 --> 00:29:32.400 but listen, 00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:33.580 it didn't stop with Paul. 00:29:34.500 --> 00:29:36.460 It started with men like Stephen, 00:29:37.360 --> 00:29:40.620 who believed in the resurrection of Jesus so much so 00:29:40.620 --> 00:29:42.980 that rather than renounce their faith, 00:29:43.060 --> 00:29:44.960 they would be stoned to death, 00:29:45.240 --> 00:29:46.900 willfully stoned to death. 00:29:47.320 --> 00:29:48.620 Men like James, 00:29:48.820 --> 00:29:50.920 who were beheaded rather than deny 00:29:50.920 --> 00:29:53.640 that Jesus had risen from the dead. 00:29:54.480 --> 00:29:56.039 A man like Polycarp, 00:29:56.080 --> 00:29:57.240 are you familiar with that name? 00:29:57.779 --> 00:29:59.220 At the end of the first century 00:29:59.220 --> 00:30:00.660 in the church of Laodicea, 00:30:00.660 --> 00:30:02.340 they had a pastor named Polycarp 00:30:02.340 --> 00:30:04.300 who would refuse to renounce 00:30:04.300 --> 00:30:06.500 that Jesus had risen from the dead, 00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:07.700 and as a result, 00:30:08.600 --> 00:30:11.680 they doused him with flammable liquid, 00:30:12.380 --> 00:30:14.160 set him ablaze, 00:30:14.580 --> 00:30:17.500 and he sang hymns as he died. 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.960 There were many, many, many people 00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:21.860 throughout the ages, 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:22.759 and even today, 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:25.120 literally hundreds of thousands of people 00:30:25.119 --> 00:30:28.319 who have died rather than renounced their faith 00:30:28.319 --> 00:30:30.239 in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:31.099 --> 00:30:32.559 There's a third piece of evidence, 00:30:32.659 --> 00:30:35.299 the impact the gospel has made in the lives of believers. 00:30:35.459 --> 00:30:37.159 Look at verse 9 and verse 10. 00:30:38.359 --> 00:30:39.779 In verse 9 we read, 00:30:39.779 --> 00:31:00.200 One of the greatest pieces of evidence 00:31:00.200 --> 00:31:02.319 that Jesus rose from the dead is this, 00:31:02.620 --> 00:31:05.200 the difference the resurrected Christ made 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:07.299 in the lives of believers. 00:31:07.640 --> 00:31:09.160 How is it that Peter goes 00:31:09.160 --> 00:31:10.880 from being this bumbling disciple 00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:13.360 to being this great preacher of God's word? 00:31:13.620 --> 00:31:14.880 How is it Paul goes 00:31:14.880 --> 00:31:17.200 from being a person who martyrs people 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.220 to one who is willing to be martyred himself? 00:31:21.180 --> 00:31:22.160 Well, let me just tell you, 00:31:22.380 --> 00:31:25.480 it doesn't stop with just biblical characters. 00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:28.920 How many of you in this room right now today 00:31:28.920 --> 00:31:32.360 know a folk who you look at them 00:31:32.360 --> 00:31:35.180 and there is no answer for the change 00:31:35.180 --> 00:31:36.720 that occurred in their life 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:37.860 other than the fact 00:31:37.860 --> 00:31:41.220 that they have trusted the resurrected Savior 00:31:41.220 --> 00:31:43.099 into their life? 00:31:43.980 --> 00:31:45.860 That's the only explanation I know 00:31:45.860 --> 00:31:47.539 for the difference I see in the Apostle Paul 00:31:47.539 --> 00:31:49.980 before Christ and after Christ. 00:31:50.420 --> 00:31:51.140 But let me tell you something, 00:31:51.259 --> 00:31:53.559 it's not limited to just people in the scripture. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:55.400 It's people we know. 00:31:56.360 --> 00:31:58.539 I started to call a good friend of mine this morning 00:31:58.539 --> 00:32:00.460 and ask him if he would come with me to church, 00:32:00.539 --> 00:32:02.720 but I hated to take him out of his own church on Easter. 00:32:03.360 --> 00:32:05.120 His name is Donovan Garrett. 00:32:05.620 --> 00:32:06.759 I don't know if any of you in this room 00:32:06.759 --> 00:32:07.740 know Donovan or not. 00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:10.500 He owns a company that paves roads. 00:32:11.500 --> 00:32:13.220 He's an ordinary working man 00:32:13.220 --> 00:32:15.500 like many of those of you in this room. 00:32:15.500 --> 00:32:17.839 I met him about five years ago 00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:19.400 when I went to be the interim pastor 00:32:19.400 --> 00:32:21.799 at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Fountain Inn. 00:32:22.259 --> 00:32:24.640 He's married to a woman by the name of Lovana. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:27.060 She had one boy when they married. 00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:28.660 He adopted him as their son. 00:32:28.740 --> 00:32:30.080 They've since had two other children. 00:32:30.620 --> 00:32:31.360 Can I tell you something? 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:33.680 Donovan is one of the sweetest, 00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:36.540 most gentle Christians I've ever met. 00:32:36.960 --> 00:32:40.220 But if you hear her testimony and his testimony, 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:41.300 you know what you'll discover? 00:32:41.700 --> 00:32:43.840 There was a time in Donovan's life 00:32:43.840 --> 00:32:45.980 he was one of the worst alcoholics 00:32:45.980 --> 00:32:47.640 you could ever imagine. 00:32:47.640 --> 00:32:50.380 In fact, about five, six months ago, 00:32:50.420 --> 00:32:51.720 I was asked to do a podcast 00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:53.340 and about three weeks before, 00:32:53.880 --> 00:32:55.780 he had been asked and his wife asked 00:32:55.780 --> 00:32:57.780 to come on this broadcast and to do a podcast. 00:32:58.420 --> 00:32:59.220 And I listened to it. 00:32:59.280 --> 00:33:00.500 They had him for two sessions. 00:33:01.320 --> 00:33:02.980 And she tells about the fact 00:33:02.980 --> 00:33:04.340 that he would go to work 00:33:04.340 --> 00:33:06.500 every day of his life, hard worker, 00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.480 but when he would come home in the evenings, 00:33:09.060 --> 00:33:10.240 he would begin to drink. 00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:14.319 And by suppertime, he would turn mean. 00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:17.519 And the kids would go hide in the closets 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.759 from their daddy. 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:21.279 When the weekend would come, 00:33:21.339 --> 00:33:22.660 he would drink all weekend. 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:24.440 And she said, oftentimes, 00:33:25.120 --> 00:33:26.819 me and the children would have to get in the car 00:33:26.819 --> 00:33:28.279 and go to a local motel. 00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:29.680 We knew this fellow, she said, 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:31.140 who would put us up in a cheap room 00:33:31.140 --> 00:33:33.640 and we would stay all weekend in the motel. 00:33:33.880 --> 00:33:36.019 And this went on year after year 00:33:36.019 --> 00:33:37.519 after year after year 00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:40.220 until one day Donovan came to know Christ. 00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:41.519 Christ is his personal savior. 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:42.859 And can I tell you, 00:33:43.059 --> 00:33:45.680 that day he invited Christ into his life. 00:33:46.059 --> 00:33:48.660 His life forever changed. 00:33:49.400 --> 00:33:51.859 Now, I know that you just hear me saying this 00:33:51.859 --> 00:33:52.900 and you haven't met Donovan, 00:33:53.019 --> 00:33:54.640 but you've met people like Donovan 00:33:54.640 --> 00:33:55.599 sometime in your life. 00:33:56.039 --> 00:33:57.339 Let me just tell you this about Donovan. 00:33:57.579 --> 00:33:59.079 If he came here today 00:33:59.079 --> 00:34:00.420 and he stood on this stage 00:34:00.420 --> 00:34:02.339 and you came up and shook his hand 00:34:02.339 --> 00:34:03.480 and looked him in the eye, 00:34:04.140 --> 00:34:06.640 within one to two minutes of conversation, 00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:08.260 you would walk away saying, 00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:09.719 I promise you, everyone in the room, 00:34:09.719 --> 00:34:11.159 you'd walk away saying, 00:34:11.939 --> 00:34:13.619 I think that's one of the sweetest, 00:34:13.799 --> 00:34:16.319 most gentle, nice human beings 00:34:16.319 --> 00:34:18.359 I've ever met in my life. 00:34:18.879 --> 00:34:21.039 They had a play at Pleasant Grove. 00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:22.679 They did on an annual basis. 00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:24.899 And Donovan was always the one 00:34:24.899 --> 00:34:25.959 that got to play Jesus. 00:34:26.279 --> 00:34:27.119 I was there two years. 00:34:27.199 --> 00:34:28.739 I've been back since that time. 00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:30.719 And he always played Jesus. 00:34:31.219 --> 00:34:34.059 And people would come by the hundreds and hundreds 00:34:34.059 --> 00:34:36.759 just to get to go through this one part of the play 00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:38.900 and meet Donovan and talk to Donovan 00:34:38.900 --> 00:34:41.040 because he would pretend to be Jesus. 00:34:41.160 --> 00:34:41.620 But I'll tell you, 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:43.360 he was just being Donovan. 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:47.780 I mean, he's got such a sweet, sweet, sweet nature. 00:34:48.140 --> 00:34:50.200 You can't believe this man could ever have been 00:34:50.200 --> 00:34:53.500 that man that they talk about on the podcast, 00:34:54.180 --> 00:34:55.560 who he was before. 00:34:55.559 --> 00:34:58.519 You know the only thing I can make of that? 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:02.119 That what Paul says is true in Romans 00:35:02.119 --> 00:35:05.019 when he says, Romans chapter one and verse 16, 00:35:05.420 --> 00:35:09.619 the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. 00:35:10.619 --> 00:35:12.799 God has miraculously changed his life 00:35:12.799 --> 00:35:13.619 because I want to tell you something, 00:35:14.259 --> 00:35:17.239 we don't have the power to do that on our own. 00:35:18.139 --> 00:35:19.340 Let me prove it to you. 00:35:20.280 --> 00:35:22.600 How many of you in this room have ever said to yourself, 00:35:23.079 --> 00:35:24.600 I'm tired of being me. 00:35:24.660 --> 00:35:25.840 I'm going to be somebody else. 00:35:27.019 --> 00:35:28.980 I'm going to change something about myself. 00:35:30.140 --> 00:35:32.100 I've never been somebody to be on time. 00:35:32.220 --> 00:35:34.180 So from this day forward, I'm going to be on time. 00:35:34.180 --> 00:35:35.160 I'm going to be punctual. 00:35:36.340 --> 00:35:37.539 How'd that work out for you? 00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:41.260 How many of you said, you know what? 00:35:41.260 --> 00:35:42.460 I'm tired of being fat. 00:35:43.660 --> 00:35:45.200 I'm going to lose 20 pounds. 00:35:46.600 --> 00:35:47.900 You lost three ounces. 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:51.820 How'd it work out for you? 00:35:53.340 --> 00:35:55.120 The truth is, on our own, 00:35:56.260 --> 00:35:58.440 there's only anything about us we can change. 00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:01.160 By the time we're adults, we're pretty much who we are. 00:36:02.280 --> 00:36:05.000 For a man suddenly to go from being this man 00:36:05.000 --> 00:36:07.760 who they describe to the man that you see now, 00:36:08.120 --> 00:36:10.480 and for that to have been over a decade ago, 00:36:11.700 --> 00:36:13.820 God did a miracle in his life. 00:36:14.700 --> 00:36:17.960 And God is capable of doing a miracle in anyone's life 00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:19.780 who will turn to him and trust him, 00:36:20.039 --> 00:36:22.079 but it must be the work of the Holy Spirit. 00:36:22.340 --> 00:36:24.079 Here's the final point, and I close. 00:36:25.019 --> 00:36:28.599 Our hope for life beyond the grave 00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:33.320 rests solely in the resurrection of Jesus. 00:36:34.280 --> 00:36:35.139 Now listen to this. 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:39.340 If Jesus did not arise from the grave, 00:36:39.340 --> 00:36:43.400 what hope in the world do you have 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:46.079 of ever doing that yourself? 00:36:47.800 --> 00:36:50.420 Look with me as I read one final passage. 00:36:50.559 --> 00:36:53.079 Go to verse 12 of chapter 15, 00:36:53.960 --> 00:36:55.920 and I want to read through verse 19, 00:36:56.039 --> 00:36:57.720 and I close, I promise you. 00:36:57.740 --> 00:36:57.860 Ready? 00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:58.680 Look at verse 12. 00:36:59.120 --> 00:37:01.600 Now if Christ is preached, is raised from the dead, 00:37:01.860 --> 00:37:04.840 how can some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? 00:37:04.840 --> 00:37:07.320 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, 00:37:07.420 --> 00:37:08.840 then Christ has not been raised. 00:37:08.920 --> 00:37:10.320 And if Christ has not been raised, 00:37:10.420 --> 00:37:12.620 then our preaching is without foundation. 00:37:13.640 --> 00:37:16.160 And get this, so is your faith. 00:37:17.039 --> 00:37:20.860 In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God. 00:37:20.900 --> 00:37:22.800 In other words, we've been lying about God. 00:37:23.079 --> 00:37:26.340 Because we have testified about God that he raised up Christ, 00:37:26.500 --> 00:37:28.120 whom he did not raise up, 00:37:28.200 --> 00:37:30.780 if in fact the dead are not raised. 00:37:30.780 --> 00:37:33.019 For if the dead are not raised, 00:37:33.120 --> 00:37:34.940 Christ has not been raised. 00:37:35.040 --> 00:37:36.860 And if Christ has not been raised, 00:37:37.260 --> 00:37:39.060 your faith is worthless. 00:37:40.260 --> 00:37:42.360 You are still in your sins. 00:37:43.220 --> 00:37:45.519 Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ 00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:46.680 have also perished. 00:37:46.960 --> 00:37:50.080 If we have placed our hope in Christ for this life only, 00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:54.100 we should be pitied more than anyone. 00:37:56.100 --> 00:37:57.300 You hear that this morning? 00:37:57.300 --> 00:38:01.480 Listen, I'm grateful that I'm a Christian 00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:05.180 and that I have Jesus in this life. 00:38:06.220 --> 00:38:08.620 He makes a difference in my life 00:38:08.620 --> 00:38:11.800 each and every day that I live. 00:38:13.560 --> 00:38:15.039 But I gotta be honest with you. 00:38:15.080 --> 00:38:15.980 I agree with Paul. 00:38:17.200 --> 00:38:19.440 If this is all there is, 00:38:21.440 --> 00:38:22.440 man, we're hopeless. 00:38:24.140 --> 00:38:25.200 We're hopeless. 00:38:25.840 --> 00:38:27.039 You understand that, don't you? 00:38:27.039 --> 00:38:29.880 I mean, you pick up any history book 00:38:29.880 --> 00:38:31.380 and you see how old the earth is 00:38:31.380 --> 00:38:33.199 and how long man has been here. 00:38:34.400 --> 00:38:36.739 And you and I, the time we spend on this planet, 00:38:36.900 --> 00:38:38.259 it's about that long. 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:40.779 And we're gone. 00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.199 And I want hope that's not just 00:38:44.199 --> 00:38:46.219 for that little short period of time 00:38:46.219 --> 00:38:49.119 between the year I'm born and the year I die. 00:38:50.059 --> 00:38:52.779 I want hope beyond that. 00:38:52.780 --> 00:38:58.820 And the only hope I have is that Jesus arose from the dead 00:38:58.820 --> 00:39:00.080 because I gotta tell you something. 00:39:01.080 --> 00:39:03.900 If he didn't arise from the dead and he's God, 00:39:05.060 --> 00:39:06.320 what chance do you have? 00:39:09.060 --> 00:39:10.760 What chance do you have? 00:39:10.760 --> 00:39:11.620 You don't have any. 00:39:13.220 --> 00:39:15.920 Our only hope is that he's opened the door for us 00:39:15.920 --> 00:39:17.480 and that one of these days, 00:39:18.260 --> 00:39:19.800 he's going to come again 00:39:19.800 --> 00:39:20.860 and he's going to raise up 00:39:20.860 --> 00:39:22.720 all those who have died in Christ. 00:39:23.039 --> 00:39:24.700 Their spirit is already with God, 00:39:25.039 --> 00:39:26.880 but that's because of the Lord Jesus Christ 00:39:26.880 --> 00:39:28.000 and what he's done for us. 00:39:29.139 --> 00:39:31.240 If you've never trusted him as your savior, 00:39:32.079 --> 00:39:33.840 I want to give you that opportunity today. 00:39:33.920 --> 00:39:35.559 You say, well, pastor, how would I do that? 00:39:35.559 --> 00:39:39.539 Same way those folk did in Acts chapter two. 00:39:40.420 --> 00:39:42.159 Repent of your sin, turn to Christ. 00:39:43.019 --> 00:39:44.299 Recognize God, I'm a sinner. 00:39:45.759 --> 00:39:48.420 Listen, we talk about so many things in church. 00:39:49.359 --> 00:39:51.159 Talking with a good friend the other day about this, 00:39:51.219 --> 00:39:52.339 don't mean to extend the message, 00:39:52.500 --> 00:39:54.960 but just talking with a good preacher friend of mine 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:55.639 the other day. 00:39:56.739 --> 00:39:57.879 And it seems like we get, 00:39:58.219 --> 00:40:01.399 we talk about so much stuff in church. 00:40:01.399 --> 00:40:05.799 A lot of times it has no real meaning in our lives at all. 00:40:07.759 --> 00:40:09.359 What really counts is this. 00:40:10.019 --> 00:40:11.440 Have your sins been forgiven? 00:40:11.440 --> 00:40:13.559 Are you going to live eternally with God? 00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:16.720 And if not, you can settle that today 00:40:16.720 --> 00:40:18.800 by just turning to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, 00:40:18.880 --> 00:40:20.440 Jesus, I'm a sinner. 00:40:20.659 --> 00:40:21.579 I know I'm a sinner. 00:40:22.300 --> 00:40:23.720 And I need salvation. 00:40:24.000 --> 00:40:26.260 I believe you died for my sins. 00:40:26.840 --> 00:40:28.240 And I believe by your power, 00:40:28.280 --> 00:40:30.059 I don't understand, I can't get my head around it, 00:40:30.059 --> 00:40:32.220 but I believe God raised you up into the heavens 00:40:32.220 --> 00:40:34.360 and I believe you've offered us eternal life 00:40:34.360 --> 00:40:36.360 and I want that gift of life. 00:40:36.460 --> 00:40:38.280 Would you give me eternal life? 00:40:38.940 --> 00:40:41.260 It'd be the greatest decision you ever made. 00:40:42.240 --> 00:40:43.440 Would you do that today? 00:40:44.519 --> 00:40:45.860 Maybe you're already a church member. 00:40:46.000 --> 00:40:47.800 You know you've never really trusted Christ. 00:40:48.139 --> 00:40:49.200 Would you do that today? 00:40:50.059 --> 00:40:51.240 Say today, I trust him. 00:40:51.300 --> 00:40:52.539 I give my heart and life to him. 00:40:53.659 --> 00:40:54.599 Just call it to him. 00:40:54.639 --> 00:40:55.220 Something like this. 00:40:55.219 --> 00:40:55.779 Lord Jesus. 00:40:55.779 --> 00:40:55.879 Lord Jesus. 00:40:58.199 --> 00:40:58.279 Thank you.