It was a part of their daily language.
In fact, it's what drove the church forward.
And so the cross and the resurrection were just continually on the lips of early believers
!
and not needing a specific day to set aside, even though it's okay for us to do that,
but just to challenge us to make the resurrection a daily thing that we think about and talk about.
And if we actually did that, it might have a great bearing on our soul.
And that's the question to ask many of you, if you're a guest here today, if you're visiting,
if you're a member of our church, just know that ultimately, however you got here,
however you came with us today, God is the one who ultimately brought you here.
And it says in Proverbs 16, 9, the heart of man plans his way.
So we make our plans.
But then it says, but the Lord establishes our steps.
So he's the one who brings us together this morning.
And just by way of introduction, before we get into Luke 24,
there's a lot of stuff going on in our world and in our nation where there seems to be sort of a rising darkness,
sort of a more of a hostility towards those in the church and Christianity in the West.
It's existed for many other places in the world continually.
But we've kind of had it easy for a very long stretch here.
And even now, our current administration has named today Easter Sunday as National Trans Awareness Day.
It's very sad.
And I'm not telling you that as a political thing.
It's just that it's just evil is being celebrated out in the open and in trying to sort of erase, I guess, Christian tradition.
But I just want to challenge you.
Like, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter to us.
Like, believers are going to celebrate the resurrection.
And even if we don't have an official day to do it, it's a part of who we are as believers.
We live in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even if we don't have a national day to celebrate it.
And such it was with the early church.
And in July 64 AD, during the reign of Nero, who was the last of the Julo-Claudian emperors,
there was a huge fire that hit the city of Rome.
And it burned for seven to nine days.
And it destroyed about 70% of the city.
Ten of the 14 districts of the imperial city were just destroyed utterly.
And it's called in history the Great Fire of Rome.
And many of the senators, many of the patrician class, which is the upper class,
and they all believed, a lot of them, that Nero himself started the fire
as a way to kind of clear away for some exotic palace he wanted to build.
And in the context, in that context, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus wrote about those events
and what Nero did following that fire in 64 AD.
He said that he sought to blame the new religious sect called Christians.
They're the ones who did it.
And so Tacitus wrote in 64 AD, he said,
Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations
called Christians by the populace.
Christus, which is Christ, from whom the name has its origin,
suffered extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius Caesar
at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.
And a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for a moment,
again broke out not only in Judea where this evil began,
but also in Rome itself where all these hideous things and shameful for every part of the world
find their center and became popular.
So, in the writing of Tacitus here in 64 AD,
we have the first early ancient accounts that are outside the Bible about the life of Jesus.
It says that he, in fact, lived, he was a historical person.
It says that he suffered an extreme penalty of death, of crucifixion.
And then it says it was carried out under the rule of Tiberius under Pontius Pilate.
And then if you notice that it says it refers to a most mischievous superstition, right?
That's in direct connection to the resurrection.
They're like, oh, this man's still alive.
And that, you know, superstition has spread not only from Judea,
but from all over the empire, he's saying.
And so, again, the early believers, they celebrated the resurrection all the time.
It wasn't a once-a-year type thing.
And it altered society.
What do you believe about the resurrection of Jesus today?
Did it actually happen?
But Jews in the first century, many thousands of them,
all of a sudden changed their normal day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.
Religious scholars and sociologists, historians will tell you that the most ancient parts of a culture are found in their religious rites and traditions.
They're the most steady, conservative values that any culture can have.
They're the least likely and the slowest to change.
You know that?
Like, you don't just flip somebody's religion overnight, is what they're saying, their traditions.
But if that's true, then why all of a sudden was the Roman Mediterranean world,
where thousands of first century Jews went from worshiping on Saturday to Sunday, almost overnight, they flipped?
How has thousands of years of established religious tradition changed seemingly overnight?
Because the life and death of resurrection of Jesus has stood the test of time for 2,000 years.
It was Him.
They saw Him.
And they bore witness of Him.
And He's been alive and active ever since, redeeming sinful hearts, changing our lives, all that above.
Our Redeemer lives today.
And so as we get into Luke, this account, we're just going to walk through it piece by piece in chapter 24.
Luke, as many of you are aware, is a historian and a physician.
So he writes like one.
He's very detailed about how he writes.
He was in association of Paul's.
And we'll start in verse 1 today.
But looking back just over the previous chapters, you'll notice that Jesus was arrested.
He was tried falsely.
That He was, in fact, crucified, taking the place of a very sinful man.
And He was on the cross bearing the wrath of God for our sins.
He was dying in our place.
And then He breathes His last.
All right?
And then they rushed and they took Him to a tomb.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Him to a tomb.
And this is kind of where we're going to start in chapter 24, verse 1.
And I'm just going to do it by scenes as if we're like reading a story or watching a movie.
See, scene 1.
This is your point 1.
Scene 1 is Jesus and the empty tomb.
And we see this in verses 1 through 12.
So let's read together.
It says,
So just sort of stop there for a second.
But it says they were basically there, what the Jews would say.
That day of the week would be Sunday, what we would call it.
But they were taking the spices to kind of prepare the body of Christ.
It was kind of hastily done, minimal work, because of the Sabbath that was approaching.
And so they were going to kind of finish the job and to kind of honor Jesus in that way.
And it says in verse 2, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
And so they're completely at a loss for what to do.
This tomb was either rock-hewn or a natural cave that made like a vault for this huge stone to be rolled over to protect the dead body.
And it's gone.
Which these women are sitting there and they're brokenhearted and they feel lost.
And all of a sudden, these two angels appear to them.
Dazzling white apparel.
And that very simple resurrection verse that we think of, right?
Why do you seek the living among the dead?
And really, it is a gentle but subtle rebuke.
All right?
These angels reveal that these women had not yet understood the Scriptures.
They had forgotten what Jesus actually told them.
That He must suffer and then rise from death.
And if you notice that angels are a consistent theme throughout the life of Jesus.
They were there at His birth, His temptation, at Gethsemane, and now at His resurrection.
And they're there to ensure these women that His body has not just been stolen.
It's in fact risen.
He is not here.
They mentioned that grave robbers did not come and do this.
It was an operation of God.
That He had been risen from the dead.
And in Matthew's account, it says that this happened after, right?
All the soldiers were there and they ran away.
The guard that had been set there.
So, the appearance of these angels scared away the Roman guard that was there.
And they fled, right?
They ran.
This is in Matthew 28.
To save their own skin.
They kind of like just begged the Jewish authorities to protect them from what Pilate might do to them.
And so, we go on.
Just a little note that I made here.
Just that I was reading this earlier.
Notice that the rolled away stone was not so that Jesus could get out.
Remember, He and His resurrected body was able to just appear wherever He wanted to go.
Through walls.
Didn't need to be let in.
He didn't need to be let out.
That was there for us to see that He, in fact, had risen.
So, look at verse 9.
It says,
Returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.
But these words seemed to be an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stopping and looking in.
He saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened.
And, okay, so sadly, these women, they run back to the disciples, and they're like, look, He's gone.
And we saw these angels, and they say that He is risen, that we needed to remember what He told us, that He would rise.
And sadly, it kind of fell on deaf ears.
Their sadness, their mourning, and their unbelief kept them from really believing the women.
But it says that Peter left up, and he ran, and went to the tomb.
We also know from John's account that John also went.
And John actually says that he outran Peter a couple of times, which I think is really funny.
So, he's just more nimble, I guess, than Peter was.
And it says that they got to the tomb, and in the Greek, it says they sort of peeped in,
kind of like, kind of just like, I'm kind of scared to look.
And then they looked, and it says that Peter's response to this was that he returns back marveling.
That sounds like a positive word, but really it's used in a negative way.
It's used in a way to kind of communicate unbelief, which goes consistent with what the other Gospels say.
Peter just doesn't know what to do with this.
He's like, I don't know what this means.
And so he leaves, and he goes back.
But I love what John says in his account.
It says after Peter left, he just sat there a little longer, right?
And he observed what happened inside the tomb.
And I just want to point this out to you.
It says in John's account that he says he saw the linen cloths lying there.
And the Greek, when you study that phrase,
it means that it wasn't just hastily thrown around everywhere.
Right?
Where it was laying exactly where the body of Jesus was.
As if the body had just like come out of it, and it just kind of collapsed where it sat.
Pretty crazy, right?
Just, if Jesus had sort of just woken up, the swoon theory,
he had been throwing clothes everywhere.
Parents, just wrap your kids up in something, and just say, all right, get loose.
And like, see what happens to all the clothes that they're,
all the stuff that you wrap them up in, it'll be just thrown everywhere.
And it was just lying there.
Right?
And it suggests still done up, as if the body had just withdrawn itself.
And then John says the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head,
was not lying with the other linen cloths, but was folded up and put over to the side.
As if Jesus just took it off, folded it, and just laid it there, and then walked off.
Nicely folded up, wrapped in its place.
And it says in John's account that he says that upon seeing this, I believed.
Like it was real to him.
And so, Peter goes back.
John goes back.
This leads us to scene two.
And this is unique in the Gospel of Luke.
There's a little story right here about point two, scene two.
It's Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
This is starting in verse 13.
It says,
That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
And they were talking with each other about all these things that they had, sorry, that had happened.
While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
So, this is the second of three resurrection appearances here in Luke.
This is one of the longer stories in the Gospel.
But it says that very day, like while all this was happening,
after the women had seen him, after the disciples had heard these things,
these two men, one of them was named Cleopas, but we don't know the name of the other.
But they were going on Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
And they were coming back after celebrating Passover in Jerusalem.
And it says that they were discussing all the things that had happened.
Right?
And at a certain point, some of you go on walks.
Some of you go on runs.
Just imagine somebody just coming up beside you.
And Jesus, the resurrected, living Jesus, comes up and walks with them on the road.
It's just crazy to me.
It gives me chills.
Yet, he didn't reveal yet who he truly was.
Verse 17.
He said to them,
What is this conversation that you were holding with each other as you walk?
And they stood still, looking sad.
Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him,
Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?
And Jesus said to them,
What things?
And he said to him,
Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
A man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and were before God and all the people.
And how our chief priests and the rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
So, stop again.
Imagine this from Jesus' perspective.
He knows they're talking about him.
Right?
It's like that, you know,
You're talking to somebody, and they don't really realize it's you,
And then they say things about you while you're standing there.
But, just sort of saying,
Hey, what's going on, fellows?
Like, what's all the fuss about?
What's this heavy discussion y'all are having?
And basically, their response is,
Seriously?
Where have you been?
Are you an outsider?
Because, like, if you were local,
Well, you would clearly know the news that's being circulated right now.
So, clearly, you're not from around here.
Anyway, there was this crazy stuff that happened in Jerusalem with this guy named Jesus.
And so, they kind of, like, dropped it there.
But, Jesus plays along.
He plays along with them.
He goes,
No, I don't.
Please tell me about it.
Again, imagine being in the company of people who are talking about you,
But they don't realize it's you.
It's funny, but just,
It is funny to us,
But realize that Jesus is not playing with them.
He's not toying with them.
He's getting ready to show them something very important.
But it comes across like that to us,
Because they clearly don't know it's him.
But, they say,
Yeah, there's about this man named Jesus of Nazareth.
They said he was a prophet,
Which is an adequate description of him.
But he was mighty in deed and word.
Remember all that Jesus did.
He cast out demons.
He healed the sick.
He performed miracles over nature.
And, all these wonderful things he taught with divine authority to forgive sin.
And, it says,
Before God and all the people.
So, meaning that everyone heard him.
Everyone knew about him.
He's like the most popular thing to come around these parts in a long time.
Everyone saw him.
Everyone heard him.
It's why they're wondering why this man hasn't.
And, it says that yet, even though all that happened,
Judas delivered Jesus over to the chief priests and the rulers.
And, they went to the Romans in order to put him to death.
And, so, it gets on to verse 21.
They're continuing their spiel.
We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
Kind of like they're moping.
Like, we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
They were at the tomb early in the morning.
And, when they did not find his body,
they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it,
just as the women had said, but they did not see.
So, look at verse 21.
It says,
But we had hoped.
So, this is going back.
This reveals a serious contrast between what the Jews of the first century,
the Jews of Jesus' day, believed about the Messiah,
their view, their perspective versus what the Scripture actually taught.
But, they had these high hopes, this great expectation that there would be more or less a king,
warrior, religious Messiah that would come and, like, restore their nation again,
bring them back to the days of David and Solomon,
and make Judea this national thing again,
fight the Romans, kick them out,
drive out the pagans.
And, that's what they had really thought would happen.
It's like, well, we had hoped that he was the one.
And, this is why, you know, again, Jesus is sitting there hearing this.
And, I mean, it isn't just these guys.
Even the disciples didn't really believe.
I hope you know that.
Like, even in John 12, verse 16,
like, they fell into the wrong way of thinking about the Messiah all the time.
That's just what they were susceptible to doing.
And, it just sort of fell on these superficial, earthly expectations of the Messiah.
So, just kind of imagine where Jesus is going here.
And, then he kind of gives them a rebuke.
A nice rebuke.
And, he says in verse 25,
He said to them,
O foolish ones,
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Esclamation point.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
And, beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
So, O foolish ones,
he rebukes them, these despairing men.
He's saying, you've missed it.
You don't see it.
The Scriptures never said that this is what the Messiah would do.
So, this is,
and he began to interpret it for them,
with Moses and the prophets.
He went through it.
And, he explained how all of it was a fulfillment.
Everything that had happened in Jerusalem was a direct fulfillment of what he had said.
He said, you're slow of heart to believe.
Like, come on.
Why are you so doubtful?
Why can't you just see this and believe?
And, this is a good question for us to ask ourselves.
Are you shocked when God actually keeps his word to you?
Sometimes I am.
And, I'm like, come on.
Like, he has had a huge track record of always keeping his word to me.
Always fulfilling what he said he would do.
And, yet, the next day, I'm like, oh man, what am I going to do about this?
And, we just kind of fall into these traps and not believing.
But, in this, God has fulfilled his word.
He has brought it to pass.
And, he tells them, rhetorically,
that God has shown a pattern of taking his kings,
taking his prophets,
taking his people,
and putting them through great suffering
before they entered into a place of glory.
So, that was an established pattern.
God takes his servants and they suffer.
They always do.
And, then, they are, in fact, glorified.
And, he said,
this is the pattern that the Messiah himself set,
that he must suffer,
he must die,
before he enters into his glory.
Like, you should know that.
And, they failed to see it.
They failed to see it in their own scriptures.
That the Messiah's path to glory
must, out of necessity,
pass through suffering.
Right?
So, he takes this opportunity
to teach them what the scriptures said.
Right?
So, we need to pull away from
the thought of
pastors, churches,
people who are trying to prove
Jesus is somebody
without using the scriptures.
Because, Jesus,
we can't make a better case than Jesus can.
And, he's doing it
with the scriptures himself.
Right?
And, he set this historical pattern
of God's activity
again and again
throughout the Old Testament
looking forward to himself.
Verse 28.
Moving along.
So, they drew near to the village
to which they were going.
He acted as if he were going,
were going farther.
But, they urged him strongly,
saying,
Stay with us.
For, it is toward the evening
and the day is now far spent.
So,
Jesus went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them,
he took the bread
and blessed it
and broke it
and gave it to them.
And then, all of a sudden,
right,
their eyes were open
and they recognized him.
And, he vanished
from their sight.
Man, again,
just gives you chills.
Vanished.
Vanish.
Meaning, like,
ceasing to be there.
Disappeared from their sight.
They said to each other,
Did not our hearts burn within us
while he talked to us on the road?
While he opened to us the Scriptures?
And they rose that same hour
and returned to Jerusalem.
And they found the eleven
and those who gathered with them together.
Saying,
The Lord has risen indeed
and has appeared to Simon.
Then they told what happened
on the road
and how he was known to them
in the breaking of bread.
So, again,
this is a crazy passage.
It says,
After that,
their eyes were opened.
That means, like,
opened spiritually.
They actually recognized
who Jesus was
when Jesus was ready for them to.
And they recognized
that he, in fact,
was the one who was in Jerusalem.
He, in fact,
was the one who suffered
and died on the cross.
And he was the one
that everyone's saying
is now risen from the dead.
So, they go back and say,
Hey, he's risen indeed.
Like, he actually has.
He is alive.
We've seen him.
And then,
he said,
While he explained
the Scriptures to us,
right,
our hearts were burning.
Something was going on in us
that,
I mean,
wouldn't you love to hear
Jesus just unpacked
the Scripture to you
that your hearts would burn.
But all the promises
of the Redeemer
had come to pass.
They hurried back
and they told the other disciples
what had happened.
Now, remember,
the disciples are still
in a state of fear
and hiding.
They're still really afraid
about what's going on.
In Matthew 26,
and in John,
it says they were hiding
behind locked doors.
So, they were still fearful,
still weak.
I would just hesitate
to call them cowards
because I wonder
what any of us would do
in their positions.
Just sort of a humble
acknowledgement.
But they are confused.
They don't know
what to do next.
They're at a loss.
They're traumatized,
fearful.
And then these men
show up and say,
Hey, man,
we saw him on the road
to Emmaus.
We saw him.
He's risen indeed.
And this brings us
to scene three.
Scene three,
which Jesus appears
to his disciples.
This starts in verse 36.
All right,
moving through this.
As they were talking
about these things,
Jesus himself
stood among them
and said to them,
Peace to you.
But they were startled
and frightened
and thought they saw a spirit.
And he said to them,
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts
arise in your hearts?
See my hands
and my feet.
There it is.
I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a spirit
does not have flesh
and bones
as you see
that I have.
And when he said this,
he showed them
his hands and his feet.
And while they still
disbelieved for joy
and were marveling,
he said to them,
Have you anything
here to eat?
And they gave him
a piece of broiled fish
and he took it
and ate it before them.
So we see in verse 36
that Jesus finally
appears to them.
Again, behind locked doors.
He just sort of shows up.
I just love that.
And he says to them,
Just peace.
Alright?
Be still.
Rest easy.
It's all well.
Why?
Because it says
that it scared
the junk out of them.
It says that they were
startled and frightened.
The word startled here
means terrified
to the point
of falling over.
So they just turn around
and there he is
in the room with them.
And he shows
the physical nature
of his resurrected body
by using their
natural senses.
Like,
see me.
See me.
Touch me.
Listen to me.
He invites them
to touch him
to see that he is real.
Hear me.
Hear me talk.
And it's just such grace
that even though
they're still in
disbelief,
he's like,
alright,
it's alright.
Just come close
and see that it's me.
Touch my hands
and my side
and see that it is I.
The one who was
crucified.
Like,
I am alive now.
Verse 44.
Then he said to them,
These are my words
that I spoke to you
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
that 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 the nations
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses
of these things.
And behold,
I am sending
the promise
of my Father
upon you.
But stay in the city
until you are clothed
with the power
from on high.
So Jesus explains
that he has fulfilled
the scriptures.
All that God has said
for thousands
of years prior
in the law of Moses
and the prophets
and the Psalms
all were fulfilled
in him.
He opened their mind
and they saw it.
They saw how
it all connected
that it indeed
was Jesus.
But again,
this shows you
that they didn't
even understand.
They were still
confused about
what was going on.
And he's like,
I told you this.
I told you
that this must happen.
And he goes,
you are witnesses
of these things.
I looked this word up,
witness.
You know what it
actually means?
It means martyrs.
You are my martyrs.
That's what he says
to them.
Later on,
really quickly,
if you would like to,
you can flip over
to 1 Corinthians
and just hold your hand
in Luke.
But all this was done
in fulfillment
of prophecy,
in fulfillment
of scripture.
But 1 Corinthians 15,
Paul wrote
to the Corinthians.
For I deliver to you
as first importance
what I also received,
that Christ died
for our sins
in accordance
with the scriptures,
that he was buried,
that he was raised
in the third day
in accordance
with the scriptures.
And when he also
appeared to Cephas,
which is Peter,
then to the twelve,
then he appeared
to more than 500
brothers at one time,
most of whom
are still alive,
though some
have fallen asleep.
Then Jesus appeared
to James,
then to all the apostles,
and last of all,
as the one untimely born,
he also appeared
to me.
So Paul reinforces
this idea
that it was all done
in accordance
with what God
had said he would do.
And he goes,
by the way,
like,
he revealed himself
to the apostles,
to Peter,
then he appeared
to over 500 people
at one time,
like,
you know,
I've been in the hospital
in some crazy situations,
and I've had some crazy,
you know,
like,
medication that I was on
that made me hallucinate.
You know one way
to know you're hallucinating?
You can ask somebody,
hey,
do you see that?
And they'll go,
nope,
don't see it.
I saw a squirrel
jumping around the room,
and my nurse was like,
nope,
no squirrel in your room.
So 500 people
are not all doing this
at one time.
They're like,
yeah,
he actually is there.
Like,
I see what you see.
And he goes,
look,
most of them are still alive.
Go ask them.
Some have passed,
but a lot of them
are still alive.
Go and talk to them.
Then Paul humbly says,
yes,
but lastly,
he appeared to me
on the road
to Damascus.
So,
we go back to Luke.
We'll wrap it up
in the last little scene here
in Luke 24.
But,
we see in verse 49
that the Lord promises
that the Holy Spirit
will enable them
to go forth
as his witnesses,
as his martyrs.
That they should remain
in the city
and be patient
and prayerful
and wait
for the power
of the Spirit
to come
that will enable them
to carry out
that mission.
what would come
40 days later
at Pentecost.
So,
in closing,
we'll look at scene 4.
And this starts
in verse 50.
Scene 4 was
Jesus ascends to heaven.
And he led them out
as far as Bethany.
And lifting up his hands,
he blessed them.
While he blessed them,
he parted from them
and was carried up
into heaven.
And they worshipped him
and returned to Jerusalem
with great joy
and were continually
in the temple
blessing God.
Alright?
That wraps up
Luke's account.
He continues that
in the book of Acts
that he also wrote.
Kind of picks up
right there
what happened next.
But he led them out
as far as Bethany
on the Mount of Olives
and this is how Luke
ends that account
by Jesus blessing them.
And then ascending
into heaven
which is this visible
demonstration
of power,
of glory,
but also
that there is
a decisive shift
in redemptive history
that Jesus
has accomplished
his work
and now he's going
back to the Father
to rule
at his right hand
in glory.
And now
the disciples
respond to that
by doing the only thing
that you could do
which is worshipping
and giving praise
to God.
And so
that's how it is
until he returns,
right?
Now we're in this phase
of waiting for him
to return.
A few points
of application,
just a few.
There's a lot
to apply already
but just a few things
to hang your hat on.
If Christ lives,
right?
Because he lives,
we can have
great hope
to face
whatever comes ahead.
And we can possess
the greatest motivation
for living.
We don't have to
spend our day
looking for something
to throw our lives
into.
That if there is
in fact
Jesus
who has risen
from the dead,
then that's the guy
I want to live for
and that's the guy
I want to die for.
Any other little cause
is minor
or almost insignificant
in comparison.
We can throw away
our lives
even to the point
of death
in the cause
of Jesus
because
that's not final.
He has overcome
the grave.
Right?
We can be in Christ
steadfast,
immovable,
always abounding
in the work
of the Lord
knowing that
in the Lord
our labor
is not in vain.
That's 1 Corinthians 15
58.
We don't have
to fear death.
I don't know
how you are
with death.
Like if you've
been around it,
if you've seen
people die.
I know some of you
have.
Some of you
have been close
to death.
When that day
comes for you,
you don't have
to be fearful.
You can be afraid,
but you don't
have to be terrified
because of what
Christ has accomplished.
You can indeed
have eternal life.
Jesus said
upon Lazarus dying,
He said,
I am the resurrection
and the life.
Whoever believes
in Me,
though he die,
yet shall he live.
And everyone
who lives
and believes in Me
shall never die.
And then He said,
do you believe this?
So hear that call
to you today.
Do you believe this?
And that we can
taunt death.
We can say that
death no longer
has power over us.
It's swallowed up
in victory.
Oh death,
where is your victory?
Oh death,
where is your sting?
So we can have
all that
and we can be
assured,
lastly,
that Christ
will come back
for us.
He will return.
I want to save time.
I want to tell you
1 Thessalonians 4,
16 through 17.
But the risen Lord
will leave the throne
sitting at the hand
of the Father
and He will return.
And He will come back
for His people.
He will come
to judge the world
in righteousness
and to call us up
to be with Him.
And that's what
gives us authority.
Like,
Jesus is coming back.
He's alive.
And you're going to
have to reckon
with Him one day.
You can't just forget Him.
He's going to come back.
And you're either
going to be
His friends
on His terms
or enemies
on your terms.
Right?
Every knee will bow.
And every tongue
will confess
that Jesus is Lord.
And this is the hope
we have of
the resurrection.
That He is living
and that He has
actually indeed
saved us.
saved us
and dwells in us.
We can have
great hope
and joy
for the future.
As the disciples did,
they left
upon knowing this
having great joy.
And I pray
that that joy
is yours today.
Join me in prayer.