1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,400 Now, as we know, unfortunately, many in this world don't believe that there was ever a 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:12,280 man who lived, died and rose from the grave. 3 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:19,200 They either haven't heard the good news of Christ's victory over sin and death, or they 4 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:24,240 have rejected the whole thing as a false claim. 5 00:00:24,240 --> 00:00:28,560 And that's the interesting thing about the Gospel, Ryan. 6 00:00:28,560 --> 00:00:31,360 None of us were there. 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:39,960 Not one of us in this room was an eyewitness of that miraculous event. 8 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:41,880 But we believe it. 9 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:48,360 And we believe it because we grasp the whole thing by faith. 10 00:00:48,360 --> 00:00:53,360 And that's what I want to speak to you this morning about out of this passage. 11 00:00:53,360 --> 00:00:55,480 Are you going to believe? 12 00:00:55,480 --> 00:00:59,320 Are you going to believe the Word of God? 13 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:06,360 Or like many in this world, are you going to succumb to unbelief? 14 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:11,280 You know, it's interesting this morning, Church, as you heard the Word read out just before, 15 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:15,360 and might I ask to have your Bibles open before you this morning. 16 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:21,320 But as we heard the Word read out, you may have noticed that Jesus himself in the text 17 00:01:21,320 --> 00:01:26,000 that we have before us didn't appear to anyone just yet. 18 00:01:26,000 --> 00:01:35,240 And that's very intentional in the way that Luke introduces the entire resurrection narrative. 19 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:41,040 It's intentional because our evangelist is pointing our attention to something, and that 20 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:45,320 something is faith producing. 21 00:01:45,320 --> 00:01:47,120 And that's the Word of God. 22 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:54,320 The very words of Christ himself produces faith in us. 23 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:59,300 But before we look at any of these wonderful truths and dive into our passage, would you 24 00:01:59,300 --> 00:02:04,160 please join me in asking our Father to help us in the task this morning? 25 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:05,160 Let's pray. 26 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:14,720 Father, we indeed thank you so much for your Word, that you sent the Word to become flesh, 27 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:19,040 and that your Word is given to us. 28 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:25,280 And Father, we ask by your Holy Spirit that you would enlighten the eyes of our heart this 29 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:31,040 morning, that Christ would indeed be held high among us, and that you would draw all 30 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:39,500 manner of people to yourself, that we would leave this place glorifying our risen Savior, 31 00:02:39,500 --> 00:02:40,500 the Lord Jesus Christ. 32 00:02:40,500 --> 00:02:43,880 We ask for your help in this this morning. 33 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:50,760 So just so we get our bearings of where we are in the book of Luke, if you look at the 34 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:58,960 chapter preceding this one, we're told of Christ's crucifixion, his torturous crucifixion 35 00:02:58,960 --> 00:03:05,160 to where many people saw our Lord publicly humiliated and executed. 36 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:10,720 Unlike the trial that took place in the shadows and behind closed doors in the middle of the 37 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:18,000 night to get things to this point, our Lord's crucifixion wasn't done in the dark. 38 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:24,960 No, the death of our Lord was a publicly gruesome spectacle for all to see. 39 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:33,160 I mean even our Lord's own mother saw him draw his last breath. 40 00:03:33,160 --> 00:03:40,160 All that to say, chapter 23 of Luke's account of the gospel, it's a graphic retelling of 41 00:03:40,160 --> 00:03:49,520 Jesus being nailed to a cross, dying, being removed, and then placed in a tomb. 42 00:03:49,520 --> 00:03:55,680 Now we're told that all of this happened rather late on the day of preparation, which is the 43 00:03:55,680 --> 00:04:03,080 Friday, which was a day where Jews would get things ready for the Sabbath, which was the 44 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:04,080 Saturday. 45 00:04:04,080 --> 00:04:10,080 And as we see in the few verses before us in this passage that we have here this morning, 46 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:15,160 none of these women saw our Lord laid in the tomb. 47 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,560 They didn't have time to prepare his body. 48 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:28,640 And so they went home to prepare spices and ointments and they rested on the Sabbath day. 49 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:33,400 And that's interesting to note because we see here in verse one, on the first day of 50 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:39,320 the week, being the Sunday, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they 51 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,240 had prepared and they went to the tomb. 52 00:04:43,240 --> 00:04:45,200 Do you see that? 53 00:04:45,200 --> 00:04:51,640 At the break of dawn, these women who loved and followed Jesus were on their way to the 54 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:59,560 tomb with the spices and ointments to properly give their loved one the treatment that he 55 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:07,520 deserved, the treatment they couldn't give him on the day that he was crucified. 56 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:15,720 And so they went to the tomb to prepare Jesus's body for the decomposing process. 57 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:21,120 Now this event is actually well attested to by the other evangelists. 58 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:27,160 And it's interesting to note in Mark's account that as they were on the way to the tomb, 59 00:05:27,160 --> 00:05:33,680 that they had a concern about who among them would be able to move the great big stone 60 00:05:33,680 --> 00:05:36,920 that had been placed in front of the tomb. 61 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:41,520 Clearly they didn't hear about the guards and the soldiers who had been posted at the 62 00:05:41,520 --> 00:05:43,720 place to guard it. 63 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:52,080 Whatever the case may be, when they got there, we read in verse two that they found the stone 64 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:53,080 rolled away. 65 00:05:53,080 --> 00:06:00,800 They found it rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body 66 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,480 of the Lord Jesus. 67 00:06:03,480 --> 00:06:09,440 And if we continue to read a little further down there in verse four, we see that they 68 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:18,160 wondered about all of this, or as other translations put it, they were perplexed. 69 00:06:18,160 --> 00:06:25,120 Now if we step back and have a think about what's going on here, we in no way want to 70 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:32,480 diminish the love and devotion of these women towards our Lord. 71 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:36,560 But look at why they had come to the tomb. 72 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:42,400 Look at what had motivated them to get up at the crack of dawn and to get on down to 73 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:43,400 that tomb. 74 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:50,560 Well it was to go and prepare Jesus' body, wasn't it? 75 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:56,080 That's why we read they didn't know what to do with the stone, that once they entered 76 00:06:56,080 --> 00:07:02,720 the tomb, once they had seen that there was no body to be seen, they were bewildered, 77 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:08,280 perplexed, and wondering what on earth is going on. 78 00:07:08,280 --> 00:07:12,360 Now in any other story we might instantly think the same thing. 79 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,920 What a mystery we might say. 80 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:21,240 But this gospel isn't just any ordinary normal story. 81 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:27,640 No as these women were privy to the teachings of Jesus and His public ministry, He had told 82 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:34,240 them plainly that He was going to die and that He would rise again. 83 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:43,120 He told them in as many words that the tomb wasn't going to be His final resting place, 84 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:51,200 and the very fact that they went to the tomb expecting His body to be there is an indication 85 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:59,160 that these women may have heard the word, but they didn't believe the word. 86 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:04,440 Just so there's no confusion among us this morning, these dear women, even though they 87 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:10,320 did this beautiful thing, wanted to do this beautiful thing for our Lord, they were in 88 00:08:10,320 --> 00:08:11,320 the wrong. 89 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:14,400 And we see this in verses 4 through 7. 90 00:08:14,400 --> 00:08:19,760 While they were wondering about all of this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like 91 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,320 lightning stood beside them. 92 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:27,000 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said 93 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:33,120 to them, why do you look for the living among the dead? 94 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:34,880 He's not here. 95 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:36,880 He's risen. 96 00:08:36,880 --> 00:08:45,080 Remember how He told you while He was still with you in Galilee, the Son of Man must be 97 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:57,400 delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again. 98 00:08:57,400 --> 00:08:59,720 It's amazing, isn't it, Church? 99 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:07,440 Jesus had told His disciples exactly what was going to happen to Him. 100 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:13,400 In fact, He's the only man in history to ever say that He would be killed and that He would 101 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:18,520 rise from the dead and actually do it. 102 00:09:18,520 --> 00:09:22,200 These aren't words easily forgotten. 103 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:23,200 Imagine it. 104 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:28,200 The one you love, the one you've given up everything for, the one you follow with all 105 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:33,840 you are, telling you that they're going to be killed, but don't worry, they're going 106 00:09:33,840 --> 00:09:36,160 to come back from the dead. 107 00:09:36,160 --> 00:09:39,160 These are words that aren't easily forgotten. 108 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:43,560 Well, that's what the angels are reminding the women of here. 109 00:09:43,560 --> 00:09:49,000 They're saying, remember the words of Jesus. 110 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:54,680 And they're doing that because the only way that these women will understand anything 111 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:01,280 that's going on here, for anything to make sense to the things that they're witnessing, 112 00:10:01,280 --> 00:10:11,920 is to think back to the words of Jesus and understand what He had told them. 113 00:10:11,920 --> 00:10:17,880 Just to make it clear, Luke is teaching us all something here this morning. 114 00:10:17,880 --> 00:10:21,680 He's teaching us all something with this example. 115 00:10:21,680 --> 00:10:23,840 We see it in verse 8. 116 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:29,440 We read, then they remembered His words. 117 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:34,680 And that, my dear friends, is a great example of what every Christian should hang onto in 118 00:10:34,680 --> 00:10:35,680 this world. 119 00:10:35,680 --> 00:10:38,680 The words of God. 120 00:10:38,680 --> 00:10:44,520 We might be going through times of perplexity, doubt, and despair, but these women, they're 121 00:10:44,520 --> 00:10:50,640 a wonderful example of being in the midst of their world, being turned upside down in 122 00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:57,760 the midst of such uncertainty, yet they're reminded of the words of our Lord. 123 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:01,320 That's what they cling to in the midst of it. 124 00:11:01,320 --> 00:11:10,160 In fact, these women, these women are an example, this example of what is going on here is the 125 00:11:10,160 --> 00:11:18,320 example which the apostles, as we'll see soon, should have followed. 126 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:20,080 Verses 9 and 10. 127 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:24,920 When they came back, these women from the tomb, they told all these things, all these 128 00:11:24,920 --> 00:11:28,220 things to the eleven and to all the others. 129 00:11:28,220 --> 00:11:34,280 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told 130 00:11:34,280 --> 00:11:36,760 this to the apostles. 131 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:42,880 It's really important that we get what Luke is showing us here. 132 00:11:42,880 --> 00:11:44,560 What he's driving home. 133 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:53,660 This entire passage started out with these women who had gone out to the tomb to do what 134 00:11:53,660 --> 00:11:59,120 any ordinary Jewish person would do in their situation. 135 00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:07,400 Yet as we see here, they return only to tell the apostles all the things that had taken 136 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,720 place that morning. 137 00:12:09,720 --> 00:12:16,160 In other words, they came back to convince the apostles that Jesus had risen, that he 138 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:18,280 was alive. 139 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:23,320 But notice it, though they had seen angels, and that would have been amazing to tell everyone 140 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:24,320 about. 141 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:30,320 The thing that Luke points out here to have changed their entire mindset was their being 142 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:34,800 reminded of what Jesus had told them. 143 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:41,640 Their remembering of our Lord's words that he would rise again. 144 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:48,720 His word made sense of the event in front of them. 145 00:12:48,720 --> 00:12:55,040 Let's put it plainly, the exhortation to remember the words of Jesus was so that these disciples 146 00:12:55,040 --> 00:13:00,280 could make sense of the events that they had right in front of them. 147 00:13:00,280 --> 00:13:04,320 A missing body, an empty tomb. 148 00:13:04,320 --> 00:13:12,240 The exhortation to remember the words of Jesus was the angels gracious exhortation to these 149 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:17,920 disciples because they wouldn't be able to understand these circumstances. 150 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:23,840 They wouldn't be able to witness to others apart from the words of Jesus. 151 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:30,600 But once they remembered what Jesus said, things changed dramatically. 152 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:38,040 And might I say, isn't that a picture of the whole Christian life? 153 00:13:38,040 --> 00:13:43,560 I don't know about you brothers and sisters, but when hard times, when perplexing times 154 00:13:43,560 --> 00:13:52,920 come, the natural thing to do can be to revert back to our old ways of doing things. 155 00:13:52,920 --> 00:13:59,960 Our old ways of trying to make sense of the world around us, of trying to figure things 156 00:13:59,960 --> 00:14:01,600 out. 157 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:08,520 It's not that we reject the word of God or even disbelieve it as the truth. 158 00:14:08,520 --> 00:14:15,480 As Christians we say a hearty amen with the psalmist, thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 159 00:14:15,480 --> 00:14:19,400 a light unto my path. 160 00:14:19,400 --> 00:14:26,880 Yet if we're all honest with ourselves, when perplexing circumstances come, when hard times 161 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:33,640 hit, when tragedy strikes, we wrestle, don't we? 162 00:14:33,640 --> 00:14:42,160 We wrestle with the things that we see right in front of us, with the situation that doesn't 163 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:48,800 make sense, with the loss, with the grief, the hurt. 164 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:54,920 I don't know if you've ever prayed these words and cried out these very things in desperation 165 00:14:54,920 --> 00:14:59,480 and said to the Lord, what on earth are you doing with my life? 166 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:03,760 Lord, what on earth are you doing with this situation? 167 00:15:03,760 --> 00:15:07,280 Lord, what's this all about? 168 00:15:07,280 --> 00:15:13,360 As Christians we know deep down that God is good and that we can trust him and as his 169 00:15:13,360 --> 00:15:19,680 children we know that we want to get to that place where we can say, I trust you and I 170 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,680 know that you're good. 171 00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:29,000 Brothers and sisters, the angel here in this passage, he reminds us all that we won't get 172 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:36,000 to that place until you remember what God says, until you remember the word of God because 173 00:15:36,000 --> 00:15:43,360 it is God's word that's life-giving and faith-producing. 174 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:50,960 Our apostle puts it like this, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word. 175 00:15:50,960 --> 00:15:55,040 Have you ever had that experience personally? 176 00:15:55,040 --> 00:16:01,360 Have you ever had that experience when you're in the depths of perplexity, uncertainty and 177 00:16:01,360 --> 00:16:11,000 fear and then you get a reminder from your Bible app, from your spouse, from a friend, 178 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:16,480 from a brother or sister in the faith or maybe even from a little child and you're reminded 179 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:20,360 of what God says about this. 180 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:25,960 It's not that you then understand all the mysteries of the universe or every detail 181 00:16:25,960 --> 00:16:31,840 about what you're going through but you heard the word of God and you said, I don't need 182 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:38,920 to understand everything that's going on here, I just know that God is good. 183 00:16:38,920 --> 00:16:41,840 I trust what he has to say. 184 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:49,000 It may have been a thing that only you know about, that you were worried about, that you 185 00:16:49,000 --> 00:16:59,440 had concerns over but somehow your Father in heaven, somehow in his gracious loving 186 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:07,080 care for you reminded you of his words and it brought you back to that place, brought 187 00:17:07,080 --> 00:17:13,760 you back to that place of trusting him over and against what had happened, over and against 188 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,960 what you saw right in front of you, over and against the worries that you were carrying 189 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:29,160 about the future, that you felt so personally cared for in such an intimate way that you 190 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:35,400 were able to speak to those around you, that you were able to witness that God is good, 191 00:17:35,400 --> 00:17:41,280 that he's trustworthy, that he's lovely, that he's caring, that he's beautiful even when 192 00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:44,000 you didn't understand. 193 00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:54,400 Well church, the word of God, it is faith producing and God's word is able to cut through 194 00:17:54,400 --> 00:18:01,320 anything and interpret the events of our lives. 195 00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:09,200 It was written yesterday but it speaks today and forever more. 196 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:15,000 So coming back to the passage that we have before us this morning, these women were clearly 197 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:22,400 wondering about the circumstances until they were reminded of the words of Jesus. 198 00:18:22,400 --> 00:18:28,400 It was as they remembered the words of Jesus that everything changed, everything changed 199 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:35,800 because we see in our text, it points to their faith, it points to their trust in the words 200 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:43,520 of Jesus because they go running back to the apostles to tell them what they had been reminded 201 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:51,640 of on that morning, to tell them the words of Jesus and yet this is what's so sad, this 202 00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:53,760 is what's tragic. 203 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:59,280 Even when the women went running back, even when the women testified to what they had 204 00:18:59,280 --> 00:19:06,240 witnessed and reminded the apostles of all that had taken place, reminded them of the 205 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:10,760 words of Jesus. 206 00:19:10,760 --> 00:19:15,760 Well they remain somewhat dim-witted. 207 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:24,760 We read in verse 11, they didn't believe the women because the words seemed like nonsense. 208 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:32,080 These men aren't a great example of how one should respond to all of this. 209 00:19:32,080 --> 00:19:38,320 God's word was proclaimed among them, Christ's words were told to them and yes though we 210 00:19:38,320 --> 00:19:45,240 see the apostle Peter get up and go out, he's still with the very words of the women ringing 211 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:49,080 in his head with the words of Jesus in his ears. 212 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:55,560 Well he didn't leave that tomb any better than when he went there. 213 00:19:55,560 --> 00:20:02,000 It seemed like nonsense to him. 214 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:05,200 It seemed like idle tales. 215 00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:12,120 Church, why is any of this important for us to understand? 216 00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:16,360 Why do we need to understand any of this? 217 00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:21,840 Well today on this beautiful Easter morning, we have gathered together like many Christians 218 00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:28,800 are right now to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. 219 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:37,440 We have gathered today to celebrate his triumphant defeat over sin and death that is the very 220 00:20:37,440 --> 00:20:40,520 heart of the Christian faith. 221 00:20:40,520 --> 00:20:48,040 You might say without the resurrection we don't have a hope in this world. 222 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:58,040 No the resurrection of our Lord is the very roots of our hope and therein lies the difference. 223 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:05,280 We don't put our hope in something that's unsubstantial or wishy washy. 224 00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:13,440 We don't hope that the eagles get into the top eight or hope that the wallabies make 225 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:14,440 the finals. 226 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:19,960 That's a hope that really has no foundation. 227 00:21:19,960 --> 00:21:26,400 That is not the Christian claim of the hope that we have in the resurrection. 228 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:31,560 No we have a very real hope because God has spoken. 229 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:38,360 He has spoken and he has told us through his word that he raised Jesus Christ from the 230 00:21:38,360 --> 00:21:47,080 grave and that's important to know because the resurrection is the assurance that our 231 00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,200 sin has been forgiven. 232 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,280 That's what we're celebrating here today. 233 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:59,080 That's what we're being reminded of this morning. 234 00:21:59,080 --> 00:22:06,240 We're being reminded of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and it is indeed good 235 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:14,600 news because the resurrection was God publicly revealing that he had accepted the sacrifice 236 00:22:14,600 --> 00:22:21,240 of Jesus Christ for the sin of his people. 237 00:22:21,240 --> 00:22:30,040 And it is those that hear the word, that hear the proclamation of the gospel and believe 238 00:22:30,040 --> 00:22:37,960 it that have been forgiven, that have been given everlasting life. 239 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:43,760 Today church we gather and we're reminded of the very real hope that we have at this 240 00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:50,440 very moment because of the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins. 241 00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:58,360 The resurrection as told to us in the word of God is a very real hope. 242 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:07,040 A very real hope that will never disappoint anyone who trusts it. 243 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:11,200 So with that said I just want to leave you this morning with a couple of things to think 244 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:13,000 about. 245 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,440 The Bible is God speaking. 246 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:19,760 The Bible is God speaking. 247 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:26,400 The writer to the Hebrew says the word of God is alive and active. 248 00:23:26,400 --> 00:23:32,400 And so you might be here this morning and you have never heard the claims of the gospel 249 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:40,400 that Jesus lived a perfect life on behalf of his people, that he was crucified in the 250 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:47,000 place of his people and that he was raised victorious as a testimony to the whole world 251 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:56,240 that his very life was what was needed to rescue us from total utter and eternal devastation 252 00:23:56,240 --> 00:24:03,720 and that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life and that 253 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:10,640 he will in no way, in no way cast anyone who comes to him. 254 00:24:10,640 --> 00:24:13,000 No matter what you've done. 255 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,520 I see you here this morning and you've never heard that. 256 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:22,600 Let me tell you friend you're not here by any mistake this morning. 257 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:28,200 God is really holding Christ out to you through the gospel. 258 00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:32,200 Really holding out forgiveness and everlasting life. 259 00:24:32,200 --> 00:24:38,000 Will you believe and trust in the words of Jesus? 260 00:24:38,000 --> 00:24:43,440 For those of you this morning who would say yes Michael I do put my trust in Jesus. 261 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:45,400 My hope is in him. 262 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:53,200 Then let me say brother sister the resurrection reminds us that we have a saviour who is in 263 00:24:53,200 --> 00:25:01,040 a loop out there somewhere in the universe but by his very spirit is present with his 264 00:25:01,040 --> 00:25:02,040 people. 265 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:05,120 Look at what the angel said. 266 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:11,200 Why do you seek the living among the dead? 267 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:16,360 Why do you seek the living among the dead? 268 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:20,160 Jesus is alive. 269 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:28,640 Jesus is alive which means when we go through perplexing topsy-turvy dark times we can go 270 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:35,960 and speak to Jesus and through his spirit he comforts us and he speaks to us through 271 00:25:35,960 --> 00:25:38,000 his word. 272 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:44,820 We have a good shepherd who leads and guides us through the valley of the shadow of death 273 00:25:44,820 --> 00:25:53,520 because he is a good shepherd who has experienced the terrain yet he came out victorious and 274 00:25:53,520 --> 00:26:02,880 the resurrection reminds us that those things might be so hard that those things will be 275 00:26:02,880 --> 00:26:05,800 so hard. 276 00:26:05,800 --> 00:26:15,800 Well we too will be raised from our graves one day and we will be glorified and united 277 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,200 with our heavenly father forever because of the work of Jesus. 278 00:26:20,200 --> 00:26:26,080 We're reminded here this morning that the word of God interprets our lives, our situations, 279 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:33,400 our circumstances and it is the word of God that produces the faith that we need in the 280 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:36,160 Christian life. 281 00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:43,240 We can trust God and know all of these things and have great hope in this life because the 282 00:26:43,240 --> 00:26:48,120 word of God has told us so. 283 00:26:48,120 --> 00:26:58,480 The word of God has told us so and though dear ones we might not see it clearly now, 284 00:26:58,480 --> 00:27:08,920 though we might not understand all the twists and turns of the circumstance, the resurrection 285 00:27:08,920 --> 00:27:18,560 has told to us in the word of God tells us that we have a hope and it goes beyond anything 286 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:26,840 that we could imagine and that hope belongs to those who put their trust in the Lord Jesus 287 00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:27,840 Christ. 288 00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:33,720 Would you pray with me? 289 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:42,880 Father, you have given us the words of eternal life. 290 00:27:42,880 --> 00:27:46,320 Where else can we go? 291 00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:52,440 Father, we began our time this morning by asking that you would enlighten our hearts, 292 00:27:52,440 --> 00:27:59,480 that you would show us the truth of the gospel and that you would draw all manner of people 293 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,480 to the Lord Jesus Christ. 294 00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:09,840 Father, you know every single blood purchased child in this room this morning. 295 00:28:09,840 --> 00:28:11,600 You know your people. 296 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:14,920 Every hair on our head is known to you. 297 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:22,320 You know our situations, you know our fears, you know our follies, you know our enemies. 298 00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:30,920 Father, we would ask that we would be reminded continually of the hope that we have in the 299 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:33,880 Lord Jesus Christ. 300 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:44,040 That today as we go to be in our various circumstances, that our hope and trust would cause us to witness 301 00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,080 to those around us. 302 00:28:47,080 --> 00:28:54,320 That we have a very real, living and loving, gracious God that has rescued us, redeemed 303 00:28:54,320 --> 00:28:58,840 us, purchased us and filled us with your Spirit. 304 00:28:58,840 --> 00:29:02,360 We ask for all of these things in the mighty name of Jesus. 305 00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:29,360 Amen.