Well, as I said on Friday evening, if you were here with us, the occasion that prompted
this sermon from Peter in Acts 2 was a unique pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the disciples
of Jesus who remained in Jerusalem.
This was some 50 days following the crucifixion of Jesus.
It was the day of Pentecost, which was a festival, a feast for the Jews that would take place
in Jerusalem, and it came exactly 50 days after Passover in Jerusalem, which was the day
that Jesus was crucified.
And just as the Lord had promised before his death, God's power was on display, and it was
working through the believers who followed Jesus.
And in response to this phenomena, this display in Jerusalem of the Holy Spirit's power on
their life, the crowds who were witnessing this were trying to figure out exactly what
this was all about.
In fact, you can see it right there in verse 12.
Keep your Bibles open through the duration of our time today.
Verse 12, all were amazed, and they were perplexed by what they saw, and they were saying to one
another, what does this mean?
So there's one set of the crowd that's just trying to determine, okay, this is weird.
Third, this is unusual.
What is this all about?
And then, you know, there's the group in every crowd of people that they don't have to ask
the question of what is this all about because they know what the answer to all the questions
always are, right?
And that's who we get in verse 13.
That's what they say.
They say, others were mocking, and they said, these people are filled with new wine.
They're just drunk.
This is just a drunken display from some depressed disciples of a teacher who is now dead.
That was the perspective of some.
But the crowds were wondering, well, what is this all about?
And so that prompts Peter's sermon, which begins around verse 14.
And it becomes the very first Christian sermon ever preached about the crucifixion and resurrection
of Jesus.
And beginning in these next verses, we find that Peter takes the prophet Joel from the
Old Testament as his text for the day, and he declares to the people that have gathered
to hear this explanation that what they witnessed was evidence that the Messiah had truly come
and that the Messiah in coming had inaugurated what Joel says in verse 17 are the last days.
Will you look at that with me?
Peter says in verse 16, but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.
And in the last days, that's a specific time frame foretold about in the Old Testament.
In the last days, it shall be, God declares, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.
So Peter stands before the people and he says, no, we're not drunk.
We haven't been drinking.
This is what Joel said would happen.
The last days, this messianic age has been inaugurated and you are witnessing before your
very eyes the pouring out of God's spirit just as Joel said it would happen.
In these last days, it refers to this age when the Messiah of God, the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah of God,
would rule over the people of God, giving them the blessings of the spirit of God.
That's how we might summarize that term, last days.
God sends the Messiah and he rules over his people and he pours out the blessings of his spirit.
So think, you're a Jew in the first century in Jerusalem.
You have been taught your whole life, the prophets of old, who said that this spirit would be poured out.
It would be a magnificent display and it meant that Messiah had come and he was bringing with him the kingdom of God.
You have awaited this as a people for hundreds of years.
Your whole life and theology is wrapped up in this kingdom.
And now you see this display and a man stands before you and he says,
this is it, folks, this is it.
The last days are here.
This was no small claim of Peter.
And if he was right, then the people were experiencing a life-changing, history-shaping moment.
It would mean that the death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in all of human history.
This is what Christians have proclaimed now for two millennia.
That the cross of Christ is the pinnacle moment of all human existence.
Everything in history revolves around that one day.
And according to the Bible, there is only one other day left to match it.
And it is when this king, this Messiah, this Jesus returns.
He returns.
And in his return, he sets all things right.
He ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.
When there will be no more sin and no more sorrow and no more death.
And we will ever be with the Lord, those who know him.
So if you're among the crowd in Jerusalem on that day, you're taken aback by Peter's words.
Could this really be true?
Because if it's true, it's everything.
It's everything.
And Peter's aim in his sermon that day was to prove that the promised Messiah was Jesus.
And that what they were witnessing was indeed the inauguration of these last days.
And I want you to notice, before we really get going into the part about the resurrection,
I want you to notice the way that Peter closes his quotation of the prophet Joel.
Look at verse 19.
This is the end of what the prophet Joel had foretold would happen.
It's still a part of Peter's quotation.
He says,
This is from God's perspective speaking through Joel.
I will show wonders in the heavens.
I will show signs on the earth below.
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.
Before the day of the Lord comes.
That great and magnificent day.
And it shall come to pass.
That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Now Joel's point was not to say that all of these things were going to happen at once.
That as soon as the Spirit is poured out on His people and on all flesh,
that in that same moment, then these wonders would be shown in the heavens
and the signs would be shown on the earth.
And then these miracles with nature then come to fruition.
That's not what Joel is saying.
He's saying that the culmination of the last days that are inaugurated by the Spirit are moving somewhere.
They are progressing towards something that he says is the great and magnificent day of the Lord.
Well, what is the great and magnificent day of the Lord?
It is the day of judgment.
It's the day of judgment.
Now whether we're to take these descriptions here in these verses as literal or symbolic is unclear.
But this great day of judgment is certain.
It is coming.
And Peter and Joel affirm that only those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved in that day.
And I thought about that judgment this morning.
Actually, I was looking over my notes for the day.
And for some reason, my mind immediately went to my senior year in high school.
We were setting up for a spring banquet at our school.
I went to a private school.
We didn't call it prom.
We called it spring banquet or something like that.
I can't remember what it was called.
But we were preparing for that and we were helping with it.
And me and one of my friends had gone to go pick up some items for this.
In near Bristol, Tennessee is where we were.
We had picked it up in my dad's truck and we were driving back.
And Jared had a bit of a lead foot in those days.
And a highway patrolman didn't appreciate the fact that I had a lead foot in those days.
And I got pulled over.
And as soon as he pulled me over, of course, he gave me the speech and the things that I wasn't supposed to be doing.
Everything that I did wrong.
And he wrote me a ticket.
But on the ticket, he gave me a date that I had to appear in court.
I was still a minor technically.
At the time.
Which meant there was coming a day.
It was set on the calendar.
I was going to have to tell my dad.
I got pulled over in your truck.
Doing 26 miles an hour over the speed limit.
This highway patrolman appreciated it so much, dad.
That you now have to take me to court so I can appear before a judge.
And receive the sentencing that he feels I deserve in that moment.
And this morning, my mind immediately went to that day.
And the fear of that day.
Not even of the judge.
But of my dad.
I got to tell dad about this.
And now dad's going to have to take me.
And it's going to be this whole thing.
What had happened on that day is I had violated the law.
And the one who had stopped me wrote a ticket.
And a date for my judgment was put on the calendar.
I had to appear before the judge.
Not that day.
But that day was set.
And it was coming.
This great day of the Lord that Joel speaks of.
That Peter refers to in this quotation.
This is a court date.
It is a day of judgment.
It may not be today.
But it's on the calendar.
It's coming.
Everything in history from this moment moving forward is all moving towards the culmination of this day.
When all of creation will stand before its creator, the righteous judge.
And we will give an account for our lives on that day.
Now here's the problem.
Dad took me to Bristol to the courthouse.
I sat before a magistrate on that day.
They asked what I had done.
And they verified that I was guilty.
And they issued a sentence.
Now God has created each of us for a purpose.
That purpose is to glorify him.
And he's given us a law that he has demanded as his creation that we follow.
And even before he wrote that law on paper through the work of Moses and he handed it to his people,
the Bible says that he had written that law on our hearts.
Which means that when God created us, he put something in us.
Something in us that recognizes this moral law that says there is a difference between what is right and a difference between what is wrong.
And when we violate that moral code that God has written on our hearts, we know it.
We can feel it.
We feel the guilt of that.
We feel the shame of that.
And we may not face judgment immediately in that moment.
But what the scripture says is that one day we will stand before the righteous judge.
And on that great and magnificent day of judgment, the Lord himself will look at our lives.
And he will judge us on the basis of his law.
His perfect righteous law that every one of us have fallen short of.
And the problem is we will all stand guilty.
We may try to come up with a great defense.
Magistrate, I was just in a big hurry.
I just needed to get to the banquet.
You know, maybe something was wrong with my speedometer.
Can you get that checked out?
Maybe there was an issue there.
We may stand before the judge one day and we may say,
Well, goodness grief, God, I went to church.
I went and I listened to this guy ramble for an hour on Easter Sunday that one time.
I mean, surely that counts for something.
You know, Lord, I did some good stuff.
You know, if I look at that guy down the road, I'm not nearly as bad as him.
Surely, God, you can cut me some slack.
Except that judgment is not on the basis of what everyone else has done.
And that judgment is not on the basis of whether or not your good outweighs your bad.
The judgment is on the basis of did you obey and love the God who created you?
And the answer for every one of us is no.
We have not done that.
We have not served him.
We have not loved him.
We have each violated his law.
And the Bible says that all of those who stand and offer these excuses before the Lord,
Jesus says, I will look at them and I will say,
Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, into eternal darkness.
I never knew you.
So Peter quotes Joel.
He says, Folks, what you're seeing today is the initiation of these last days.
And by the way, remember what Joel said.
The last days will come to an end.
There will be a last day.
And it is the day of judgment.
And only those, only those who have called on the name of the Lord Jesus
will be saved in that day of judgment, Peter says.
And so his message then was that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord
on which we must all call for this eternal salvation.
That's the point of Peter's sermon here.
When we considered the crucifixion dynamic on Friday,
today we're going to look at the resurrection.
Because the resurrection proves that Jesus is the true Savior.
And we can trust him for the forgiveness of sins.
We can trust him for eternal life.
And together the crucifixion and the resurrection
compose what we call the gospel of Jesus.
And it is this truth
that is responsible for the very existence of Christianity.
What is the reason of Christianity?
Why does it exist and why do we care?
The resurrection is why.
And my prayer this morning is that by faith
you will receive this gospel.
Look with me at verse 24.
God raised him up,
loosing the pangs of death
because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
So in a statement of affirmation about Jesus' resurrection,
Peter said that the Christ not only didn't stay dead,
he couldn't stay dead.
Did you notice that in verse 24?
It was not possible for him to be held by it.
And we considered this on Friday
in regards to the sinless perfection of Jesus.
He is the perfect Lamb of God
without spot, without blemish.
Death is the payment for sin is what the Bible tells us.
But Jesus had no sin of his own for which to pay.
And for that reason, death could not hold him.
It had no claim on him.
And God raised him up, Peter says.
But then he goes on in these next few verses
to provide another reason for Jesus' resurrection.
The resurrection was not only because of the perfection of Jesus,
it was in fulfillment of the Old Testament.
It was always God's plan for the Christ to die for sin.
It was always God's plan for the Christ
to then be raised in power over death.
And like a lawyer arguing his case,
in this short sermon,
Peter calls two witnesses to the stand.
Two witnesses.
And before you make your judgment on the resurrection,
I want you to hear their testimony.
Witness number one,
the witness of the scriptures.
The witness of the scriptures.
The resurrection of Jesus is deeply rooted
in the Old Testament scriptures.
And this was exactly the point Jesus made
when he appeared to his disciples
after rising from the dead.
We read it a moment ago.
Let's read it again.
Luke 24, I think it's on the screen for you.
Luke 24, verse 44.
Jesus said to them,
these are my words that I spoke while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures
and he said to them,
thus it is written,
the Christ should suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead
and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins
should be proclaimed in his name
to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
Now can you imagine
how amazing it would be
to have been in that room that night?
Not only to experience in person the resurrected Christ,
but to have that resurrected Christ
take his Bible
and begin to systematically walk through scripture
by scripture
and say, remember what I told you.
This is what was supposed to happen.
This is what the Bible has always said would happen.
I had to suffer.
I had to die.
And on the third day,
I would rise from the dead
to provide salvation.
So now you can take what I have done
and proclaim it to the world
so that they can be saved too.
Can you imagine how amazing it would have been?
We can only guess
as to what passages
Jesus might have gone through
with those disciples on the road to Emmaus
or with those disciples in the room
on that wonderful night.
Peter was in the room that night
and there were many texts
he could have referred to here,
but the one he chose was Psalm 16.
Psalm 16 verses eight through 11.
And I want you to read it with me.
Verse 25.
Peter says,
for David says concerning him,
this is the witness of the scriptures.
I saw the Lord always before me
for he's at my right hand
that I may not be shaken.
Therefore, my heart was glad
and my tongue rejoiced.
My flesh also will dwell in hope
for you will not abandon my soul to Hades
or the realm of the dead,
the place of the death,
or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life.
You will make me full of gladness
with your presence.
Peter says,
hear the witness of the scriptures.
There's a lot of them.
Let me just give you Psalm 16, eight through 11,
Peter says,
and he quotes it from memory.
Now the apostles often spoke of the gospel
in terms of a mystery.
Now by mystery,
they didn't mean that the gospel was a riddle
that is difficult to understand
and that unless you're just superior in your intellect,
you won't really be able to grasp it.
That's not what they meant by that.
What they meant by the gospel being a mystery
is that the purposes of God in salvation
are present throughout the entire Bible,
but only discernible through the lens of Jesus.
It is only as we look at the person
and the work of Jesus
that we can understand this mystery
that God has presented
in the Old Testament scriptures.
So in the Old Testament,
the gospel we say is veiled.
It's not that it isn't there,
it's there.
It's just veiled.
But in the New Testament,
the mystery of the gospel
is gloriously revealed.
The veil is uncovered
from the Old Testament
by the work and person of Jesus.
Let me give you just an example
of how the apostles use this term.
In Ephesians chapter one,
I think this is on the screen for you too.
In Ephesians chapter one, verse seven,
in him, that is Jesus,
we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses,
according to the riches of his grace,
which he lavished upon us
in all wisdom and insight,
making known to us the mystery of his will,
according to his purpose,
which he set forth in Christ.
Do you see what the apostles were doing?
That's what Paul was doing there.
He was saying this gospel is a mystery
in terms of the Old Testament.
It's there, but it's veiled.
But now that Christ has come,
he has opened the veil.
He has allowed us, revealed to us
the truth of the gospel
that was always there for us to see.
Now, Psalm 16 is an example
of the mystery of the gospel
veiled in the Old Testament.
It was written by King David.
But the problem is that when King David died,
the meaning of that psalm became obscured.
How were the people supposed to understand
what David was trying to say
when he wrote that,
you will not abandon me to death,
you will not allow my body to see corruption?
How were they supposed to understand that
when David died and his body was corrupted
and decayed?
At the heart of the passage
is this confident assertion
that God will not allow this individual
to be abandoned to the realm of the dead
or allow his body to experience decay.
And apart from Jesus,
the only way to interpret this passage
is as a poetic promise of everlasting life.
But looking at it through the lens of Jesus,
we see this is not just a symbolic reference
to eternal life.
This is a prophetic psalm
of the resurrection of the Christ.
Which Peter goes on to say,
this resurrection is what secures
that everlasting life for us.
Which brings us to his explanation of the text.
Look at verse 29.
Brothers, I may say to you with confidence
about the patriarch David
that he both died and was buried
and his tomb is with us to this day.
Being therefore a prophet
and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him
that he would set one of his descendants
on his throne,
he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection
of the Christ.
That he was not abandoned to Hades
nor did his flesh see corruption.
Perhaps Peter's in Jerusalem at this point.
We know that for sure.
Perhaps he motions over to the enormous graveyard
on the south side of Jerusalem.
Perhaps he motions over to where they knew
that the tomb of David was.
And he says that we must understand Psalm 16,
not from the perspective of the King David,
but from the perspective of the Christ,
King Jesus.
The corruption of David's body was verified by his grave.
Therefore, he was speaking prophetically about Messiah.
So Peter is declaring in this moment,
not only is the resurrection of Jesus a historical event,
but it is also a fulfillment of the scriptures,
making known the mystery of the gospel.
The resurrection was not the spontaneous work of God
in a moment where he was just trying to take a tragic event
like the crucifixion and just make the best of it.
That's not what the resurrection is.
It was the eternal plan of God revealed in his word.
The Christ must die.
The Christ must rise.
And we sang about it a moment ago.
Come behold the wondrous mystery,
slain by death, the God of life,
but no grave could e'er restrain him.
Praise the Lord, he is alive.
The witness of the scriptures.
Then Peter gives the witness of the apostles.
He calls his second witness to the stand.
Verse 32, the witness of the apostles.
This Jesus, God raised up,
and of that we are all witnesses, he says.
Who's the we all?
All of those disciples standing there
who had experienced and displayed
this pouring out of the spirit of God.
They were all witnesses of the resurrected Christ.
The resurrection of Jesus was not something
that Peter heard about.
It was something that he had personally witnessed.
In fact, hundreds of people were eyewitnesses
of the resurrected Jesus.
Consider 1 Corinthians 15.
I think this is for you on the screen as well.
Paul says,
I delivered to you as of first importance
what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures,
that he was buried,
and that he raised on the third day
in accordance with the scriptures,
that he appeared to Cephas,
that's Peter,
then to the 12,
the other disciples,
then he appeared to more than 500 brothers
at one time,
most of whom are all still alive,
though some have fallen asleep,
or though some of them have died.
Then he appeared to James,
then to all the apostles,
last of all,
as to one untimely born,
he appeared also to me,
Paul says.
To say that the resurrection of Jesus
is some kind of elaborate hoax
is foolish.
It's foolish.
Hundreds of people
could verify it
by their own eyewitness,
and that was Paul's point
in 1 Corinthians 15.
He encouraged the skeptics
of the message of the gospel.
Go find the 500 people
who saw him
even at one time.
Interview them.
Scrutinize their words.
What you will find
is that their word stands true.
He knew that their statements of witness
would persuade the people.
Even the enemies of Jesus
did not deny his resurrection.
They just tried to cover it up.
Matthew 28.
While they were going,
behold,
some of the guard
went into the city
and told the chief priest
all that had taken place.
These were the guards
guarding the tomb
when Jesus rose.
And when they had assembled
with the elders
and taken counsel,
they gave a sufficient sum
of money to the soldiers
and said,
tell people,
his disciples came by night
and stole them away
while they were asleep.
And if this comes
to the governor's ears,
we will satisfy him
and keep you out of trouble.
So they took the money
and did as they were directed.
And this has been spread
among the Jews to this day.
Now think about that for a moment.
This is not just a handful
of followers
who wanted to fool everybody
and say,
gotcha.
Even the enemies of Jesus,
they never denied his resurrection.
They put the guards there
because they knew
he had predicted
his own resurrection.
And they were worried.
And then when the guards
come back
and they say,
we passed out
and we woke up
and now the tomb's empty.
And they said,
just don't tell anybody.
Here's some money.
Tell them the disciples
stole the body.
That way we can finally
be done with this.
They did not deny
his resurrection,
even his enemies.
But what about
the witness of history?
It's one thing to look
at the witness of the Bible.
What about the witness
of secular history?
Even secular history
acknowledges that
these witnesses,
Peter speaks of here,
were actual historical people
who genuinely believed
that Jesus had risen
from the dead.
They were so convinced
of the truth
of the resurrection
that they gave their lives
preaching the gospel
in hopes that more people
would believe
and be saved.
Now think about that
for a moment.
They're so convinced
by what they saw
that they left
everything behind.
They left their businesses behind.
They, in some situations,
even were abandoned
by their families.
In order to go
and preach this gospel
of Jesus,
there was nothing
in it for them.
He said,
well, they probably
just made the whole thing up.
To what end?
What benefit
does that provide
to these men?
What benefit
does it provide
for them
to go to their grave
being tortured
and in prison
and murdered
for a truth
that they made up?
It doesn't make sense.
No, they went
around the world.
They preached
the gospel.
Every one
of the apostles
of Jesus
died for their faith.
And so,
as that continued
on through Christian history,
the church,
so convinced
by the witness
of the scripture
and the witness
of the apostles
that they have continued
to give their lives
for the truth
of what Jesus did
and his resurrected
body.
And I realized
that it's not unusual
for people
to die for lies.
I understand that.
But these men
didn't give up
their lives
for a religious idea.
They gave up
their lives
convinced
of what they saw.
Not what they
hoped to see,
but what they
actually saw
with their own eyes.
And this truth
was so magnificent.
Nothing would
stand in the way
of them,
sharing it
with everyone
who would listen.
If you're invited
by a friend
to come to this service
today,
it's not because
they hope
that you'll give
some money
to the offering
of our church.
It's not so that
they could get
some kind of
spiritual credit
for bringing a friend.
There's no reward.
We're not offering money
for everybody
that brings a guest.
That's not how
this works.
You know why
they invited you
to come today?
Because they want
you to know
this Jesus.
They've been
so convinced
and compelled
by the truth
of the gospel
that they want
you to experience
it too.
And so it has
been through history.
The church
sharing the truth
so that others
might be saved.
The eyewitness
accounts of the
resurrection,
they give validation
to the witness
of the scriptures.
They're not more
important than
the scriptures.
They give validation
to the scriptures.
Without the witness
of the apostles,
Psalm 16
is just a matter
of theological
interpretation
that we could
debate endlessly.
But with the
eyewitness accounts,
the meaning
of Psalm 16
becomes indisputable.
It can only be
about the Christ.
Which explains
in part
why at the end
of this sermon
so many people
believed
instead of arguing
against it.
How can you
ignore the evidence?
It would take
far less evidence
to establish
something in a
court today
than what we have
about the resurrection
of Jesus.
There is far more
evidence of Jesus'
resurrection.
How can you
deny it?
He was dead.
Now he's alive.
Let me close
this way.
There must be
many people
who wonder
why the resurrection
of Jesus
is so important
to Christians.
Why is it so
important?
We choose Easter
as the day
that we focus
on it in particular
above all other
things because
of the anniversary
of it.
But for a
Christian,
every day
is a celebration
of the resurrection.
The reason we
worship on Sunday
is because the
Lord rose
on a Sunday.
That's why we
worship this morning
every week.
Everything that we
do is wrapped up
in the resurrection
and the crucifixion.
And there must be
people wondering
and perhaps even
maybe someone here
this morning
and what you
wonder is why
is this so
important to you?
Even if it's
true,
what possible
impact could
this truth have
on my life
today?
This is just
an ancient
story.
Maybe a historical
man,
maybe it really
happened,
but why should
that matter
to me?
And I want to
explain for a
moment why it
matters to me
and why it
should matter
to you.
Remember that
judgment that I
spoke about
before?
You know what
the pinnacle of
that judgment
is?
Death.
And I don't
mean just
physical death.
Yes, we will
all die,
but the Bible
speaks of a
death beyond
that.
It's a
spiritual death.
It's not
the extinguishing
of your soul
and spirit
in eternity.
That's not
what it is.
It's actually
you will live
on in eternity,
but you will
be separate
from God
and His grace
and His goodness.
you will
experience His
wrath in
eternity.
That's what the
scriptures tell
us.
So our
greatest enemy
then,
our greatest
enemy is
death.
And no matter
how much effort
you put into
living a happy
and a healthy
life,
we'll all face
the same fate.
All of us
are going to
die.
death.
The Bible
teaches that
it's because
of our sin
and our
rejection of
God that
death is a
reality.
He's the
righteous judge
and the only
way to satisfy
His holy
wrath is to
face eternal
death.
But the
resurrection of
Jesus proves
that His
crucifixion
was indeed
a perfect
sacrifice
for our
sin.
Made by
God
on our
behalf.
Think for a
moment.
The scriptures
say that because
of your sin,
you deserve
to die.
not only a
physical death,
but in
eternity,
you will be
away from
God,
separated from
Him,
in eternal
torment.
But God,
according to
His definite
plan,
provides a
Savior,
a perfect
sacrifice,
who on
behalf of
sinners,
absorbs that
wrath,
so we don't
have to face
it ourselves.
that's what
Jesus did
on the
cross.
When He
rose from
the dead
three days
later,
it proved
that God
received that
sacrifice as
acceptable
payment for
the sins of
whoever will
believe.
It means that
Jesus has
power over
death.
It means that
our greatest
enemy has
been defeated
by Christ.
it means that
He alone
has authority
to actually
give you
life.
All of us
are headed
towards death.
Jesus now
has authority
to reverse
it and
give you
life.
Now,
the next
question has
to be something
like this.
If that is
true,
if Jesus
really is
as loving
as we say
He is,
if He really
does have the
power to give
life like we
say He does,
why doesn't
He just
give life
to everybody?
Why don't
He just
give it to
everybody?
Why not
rid the world
of the evil
now and
just give
this life
to everybody
that's here?
And what
you must
understand
is the
truth that
He offers
it freely
to whoever
will take
it.
The question
this morning
is not,
will Jesus
give eternal
life?
The question
this morning
is will you
receive the
life that
He's offering
you?
He said
Himself in
John 11,
I am the
resurrection
and the
life.
Whoever
believes in
Me,
though he
die,
yet he
shall live.
And everyone
who lives
and believes
in Me
shall never
die.
Do you see
the wonderful
truth of this?
We don't
stand before
the judge
and the
judge say,
alright,
you're going
to have to
spend so
many years
in hell
and because
of this
amount of
sin,
after this
many years,
I'm going
to let you
out.
That's not
what God
says.
God doesn't
tell us now,
if you will
just live your
life in total
abandonment and
everything else,
surrender over to
morality,
do your best,
try your
hardest,
try to be a
good person,
if you do it
good enough,
I'll let you
in.
No,
that would be
a tragedy.
That would
be an
utter tragedy
if that's
the way that
God looked
at us,
but that's
not what
God does.
God sends
his son,
and he takes
our sin,
and he puts
all of it,
all of our
sin,
he puts it
on his
perfect,
righteous son
on the cross,
so that now
in faith,
when we stand
before God,
he does not
say,
now let me
calculate what
you did,
and we'll just
figure out how
we can square
this up.
No,
he looks at
us,
and then he
looks at his
son,
and he says,
because of
what he did,
we're square.
Because the
sinless Savior
died,
my sinful
soul is
counted free,
for God
the just
is satisfied
to look on
him and
pardon me,
and Jesus
says,
I am that
resurrection,
I am the
eternal life,
if you will
believe in me,
you will receive
this life,
that's why
the resurrection
matters,
it's not just
an ancient story
that even if
it's true,
has no bearing
on your life
today,
no,
this Christ
can give you
eternal life,
he will wipe
away your sins,
he will forgive
no matter how
much you have
rejected,
and denied him,
and denounced
him,
no matter what
you have done,
there is no sin
too great,
that he will
come to you,
and not forgive,
no,
he will forgive
it all,
if you will
believe,
he will grant
you this life,
and the resurrection
proves that he
has the power
to grant you
that life,
consider this,
John chapter 20,
at the end of
his gospel,
the apostle John
writes this,
now Jesus did
many other signs
in the presence
of his disciples,
which are not
written in this
book,
but these are
written that
you may believe,
that you may
believe that
Jesus is the
Christ,
the son of
God,
and that by
believing,
you may have
life in his
name,
he offers that
life freely,
and he says,
take it,
take the life,
the question is
not can he
provide it,
the question is
will you receive
it,
will you stop
being so stubborn
and prideful,
and just receive
the gift that he
offers,
you say,
well how do I
receive it,
Romans 10 tells
us,
if you confess
with your mouth
that Jesus is
Lord,
and believe in
your heart,
that God raised
him from the
dead,
you will be
saved,
saved from what,
the eternal
wrath of God,
for with the
heart,
one believes,
and is justified,
with the mouth,
one confesses,
and is saved,
for the scripture
says,
everyone who
believes in him
will not be put
to shame,
notice what Paul
says,
he doesn't say,
everyone who will
do their best and
try their hardest,
will not be put
to shame,
that's not what he
says,
he doesn't say,
everyone who gives
money to charity
and to the church
and their good
outweighs their bad
will not be ashamed,
that's not what he
says,
he doesn't say,
everyone who goes
to church on Easter
Sunday and is a
good little Christian
boy and a good
little Christian
girl will not be
ashamed,
that's not what he
says,
he says,
whoever will
believe in his
name will not be
put to shame,
for there's no
distinction between
Jew and Greek,
the same Lord is
Lord of all,
bestowing his riches
on all who call
on him,
for everyone who
calls on the name
of the Lord
will be saved,
there's that quote
from Joel again,
whoever calls on
the name of the
Lord,
do you see the
picture here,
what does it mean
to call on the
name of the Lord,
it means you
recognize that you
are sinful,
that none of your
goodness and none
of your morality
and none of your
spirituality could
possibly earn you
eternal life,
eternal life can
only come from
Jesus and in
recognizing your
sinfulness,
you call out to
Jesus for his
mercy,
that's it,
Lord save me,
have mercy on me
a sinner,
save me,
I trust in you,
Jesus died for the
sins of the world
and he alone can
give you life,
the resurrection is
why Christianity
exists and the
resurrection is your
only hope to escape
the judgment of God
on that day,
will you not receive
him,
will you not
believe him,
he says whoever
will,
I will never
cast them out,
I will change
them,
I will come into
them and I will
sup with them and
he with me,
come unto me all
you who labor and
are heavy laden and
I will give you
rest,
he says,
we close with
1 Corinthians 15
again,
hold death,
where is your
victory,
death,
where is your
sting,
the sting of
death is sin,
the power of
sin is the law,
but thanks be to
God who gives
us the victory
through our Lord
Jesus Christ.