WEBVTT 00:00:04.180 --> 00:00:06.540 You're listening to the Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:06.540 --> 00:00:09.359 podcast, a ministry of Christ Our Cornerstone 00:00:09.359 --> 00:00:12.099 Church in O 'Neill, Nebraska. I'm Pastor Logan 00:00:12.099 --> 00:00:14.160 Merrick and it's our prayer that this message 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:16.519 strengthens your faith and draws you closer to 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.239 Christ. Let's dive in. I'm excited about that. 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:25.120 If you would go to Mark chapter 16. We've been 00:00:25.120 --> 00:00:28.120 walking through the book of Mark and typically 00:00:28.120 --> 00:00:31.500 the way I approach Easter sermons as I try to 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:34.880 read from each one of the gospels to see the 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:38.740 resurrection story. But because we've been walking 00:00:38.740 --> 00:00:40.880 through Mark, I figure we're gonna read through 00:00:40.880 --> 00:00:46.719 the book of Mark, chapter 16. The title of my 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:52.600 sermon is Lord, Liar, or Lunatic, Why the Resurrection 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.979 Matters. The big idea that I'm gonna kind of 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:58.240 drive home this morning is the resurrection is 00:00:58.240 --> 00:01:01.960 the hinge on which all of scripture turns. It 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:04.079 doesn't just matter. It's the reason we have 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.519 hope in this life and the next. Here's what I 00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:09.420 mean by it is the hinge. If you are here this 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:12.459 morning, you are a skeptic. You are someone that 00:01:12.459 --> 00:01:14.760 does not believe in the scriptures. You may think, 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:17.439 ah, some of it I think could be true. Some of 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:19.200 it can be historically accurate, but not all 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:23.150 of it. I would say this. If you can disprove 00:01:23.150 --> 00:01:26.430 the resurrection, you can disprove all of scripture. 00:01:27.409 --> 00:01:31.530 Everything with which our beliefs center, which 00:01:31.530 --> 00:01:36.510 is why I put that as our verse of the week, Paul 00:01:36.510 --> 00:01:39.590 says, if you can do away with the resurrection, 00:01:39.890 --> 00:01:42.150 all of this is in vain. This building is in vain. 00:01:42.230 --> 00:01:46.549 Us being here this morning is in vain. But if 00:01:46.549 --> 00:01:51.799 it is true, it is of infinite value. Yes? And 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:56.780 so that's what I mean when I say this hinges 00:01:56.780 --> 00:02:05.140 all on the resurrection story. Easter is the 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:08.900 one Sunday, Christmas is that way too, but Christmas 00:02:08.900 --> 00:02:11.500 is not so stressful, but Easter is the one Sunday 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:15.219 every year that stresses me out beyond belief. 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:19.319 Can you give any guesses as to why that would 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:26.360 be? More people. It's the one story that everybody 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:31.699 knows. So in this building right now are people 00:02:31.699 --> 00:02:37.199 that only come to church on Easter. I'm not poking 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.240 at you. I'm just, that's, that's just the truth. 00:02:39.300 --> 00:02:43.740 And so as a pastor, you feel this tension and 00:02:43.740 --> 00:02:47.759 the stress to share something about the resurrection 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:53.219 that is new or seems new. And that includes even 00:02:53.219 --> 00:02:55.599 for you guys that are sitting in these chairs 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:00.800 every Sunday. It's not the easiest Easter Sunday. 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:04.419 And so all week last week, all week this week, 00:03:04.719 --> 00:03:07.219 I've just stressed and stressed, like what am 00:03:07.219 --> 00:03:11.659 I gonna preach? And of course we could say, well, 00:03:11.860 --> 00:03:14.599 isn't scripture enough? Do you not have trust 00:03:14.599 --> 00:03:16.319 in the scriptures that they would do their job? 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.919 Yes, absolutely. But it's also my job to dissect 00:03:18.919 --> 00:03:22.430 those scriptures and help. And so today, what 00:03:22.430 --> 00:03:25.370 I decided is I stopped asking the question, how 00:03:25.370 --> 00:03:27.969 can I present this in a way that's new? I began 00:03:27.969 --> 00:03:33.389 to ask myself this question. If I only had time, 00:03:34.150 --> 00:03:37.729 the ability to preach, this was my last Sunday. 00:03:39.099 --> 00:03:41.659 If this Sunday was the last Sunday I would ever 00:03:41.659 --> 00:03:43.520 preach to this congregation, if this was the 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:45.719 only time some of you would ever hear me preach 00:03:45.719 --> 00:03:48.860 ever again, what would be the topic I would preach 00:03:48.860 --> 00:03:51.659 and what would I say? And I came back with, I 00:03:51.659 --> 00:03:54.199 would preach the resurrection. I would preach 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:57.860 why I believe it. But the other thing was is 00:03:57.860 --> 00:04:02.000 I would also say, why does it matter? Because 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.449 it's not just historical. It's not just something 00:04:05.449 --> 00:04:09.189 that happened 2 ,000 years ago. Why does it matter 00:04:09.189 --> 00:04:11.990 today, right now, to you sitting in these chairs? 00:04:12.069 --> 00:04:15.110 Why does it matter to me standing up here? And 00:04:15.110 --> 00:04:19.009 so here's what I would ask of you. I would ask 00:04:19.009 --> 00:04:21.670 for an agreement between you and me this morning 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:25.990 that for the next 20 minutes, because yes, I'm 00:04:25.990 --> 00:04:30.310 gonna confine myself to 20 minutes, it would 00:04:30.310 --> 00:04:33.920 just be you and me. It's not you and your spouse. 00:04:34.699 --> 00:04:36.040 It's not you and your friends. It's not you and 00:04:36.040 --> 00:04:40.259 your children. It's just you and me. And I want 00:04:40.259 --> 00:04:43.379 you to believe or to imagine in your mind that 00:04:43.379 --> 00:04:45.920 it's just you and me going to a coffee shop. 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:49.420 And I'm going to give an appeal to you of why 00:04:49.420 --> 00:04:53.860 the resurrection matters. Is that fair? That 00:04:53.860 --> 00:04:56.920 for 20 minutes it's just you and me and you just 00:04:56.920 --> 00:05:00.449 give me 20 minutes of your attention. I would 00:05:00.449 --> 00:05:05.209 greatly, greatly appreciate that. So I want to 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:07.889 answer the question of why does the resurrection 00:05:07.889 --> 00:05:13.970 matter and why does it matter to me? And so there's 00:05:13.970 --> 00:05:17.209 a, in Mere Christianity by C .S. Lewis, he has 00:05:17.209 --> 00:05:21.209 this quote and he says, Jesus didn't leave open 00:05:21.209 --> 00:05:24.389 the option of being just a good moral teacher. 00:05:25.670 --> 00:05:33.560 He is either Lord, Liar or lunatic So it is with 00:05:33.560 --> 00:05:35.459 that quote that I was like, you know what? That's 00:05:35.459 --> 00:05:38.339 what I'm gonna base our discussion on this morning 00:05:38.339 --> 00:05:42.740 Because it's true I want you to think about this 00:05:42.740 --> 00:05:47.939 for just a moment a lot of people like Jesus 00:05:47.939 --> 00:05:54.560 Gandhi likes Jesus Muslims like Jesus. They will 00:05:54.560 --> 00:05:57.879 talk to you about Jesus They believe he's a good 00:05:57.879 --> 00:06:03.240 moral teacher. Atheists like Jesus. They like 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:06.660 what he stands for. Everybody in this room likes 00:06:06.660 --> 00:06:09.120 Jesus, but here's the thing. He's not a moral 00:06:09.120 --> 00:06:11.899 teacher. He is one of these three things that 00:06:11.899 --> 00:06:16.079 C .S. Lewis said. He's either a liar and what 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.199 he claimed is not true, or he's a lunatic claiming 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:25.259 to be God, and that's not true, or... If those 00:06:25.259 --> 00:06:29.160 things are true, He would be Lord. And so we 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:31.759 can't just sit this morning and go, yeah, the 00:06:31.759 --> 00:06:33.540 resurrection happened 2000 years ago, it doesn't 00:06:33.540 --> 00:06:35.620 really matter to me this morning. No, if it's 00:06:35.620 --> 00:06:38.959 true, it is like I said earlier, it is of infinite 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:42.600 importance and you're not just right now, but 00:06:42.600 --> 00:06:47.399 all of eternity matters right this moment. So 00:06:47.399 --> 00:06:51.379 what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna read Mark 16, 00:06:51.480 --> 00:06:56.029 and then I'm gonna start going through my notes. 00:06:56.949 --> 00:06:59.730 If you would follow along. If you don't have 00:06:59.730 --> 00:07:02.490 a Bible, we have some in the back. Those are 00:07:02.490 --> 00:07:05.470 your that can be yours to take home. It is our 00:07:05.470 --> 00:07:08.589 gift to you. If you don't want to do that, it'll 00:07:08.589 --> 00:07:13.870 be right up here. So we're going to go Mark 16. 00:07:15.430 --> 00:07:17.750 When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, 00:07:17.850 --> 00:07:21.430 Mary, the mother of James and Salome bought spices 00:07:21.430 --> 00:07:25.720 so that They might go and anoint him. And very 00:07:25.720 --> 00:07:28.139 early on, on the first day of the week, when 00:07:28.139 --> 00:07:32.399 the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And 00:07:32.399 --> 00:07:35.040 they were saying to one another, who will roll 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:37.639 away the stone for us from the entrance of the 00:07:37.639 --> 00:07:40.379 tomb? And looking up, they saw that the stone 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:43.939 had already been rolled away. It was very large. 00:07:45.060 --> 00:07:47.139 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting 00:07:47.139 --> 00:07:50.360 on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and 00:07:50.360 --> 00:07:53.209 they were alarmed. And he said to them, Do not 00:07:53.209 --> 00:07:56.490 be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was 00:07:56.490 --> 00:08:01.730 crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See 00:08:01.730 --> 00:08:05.610 the place where they laid him. But go, tell his 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:08.470 disciples and Peter that he is going before you 00:08:08.470 --> 00:08:12.209 to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he 00:08:12.209 --> 00:08:16.230 told you. And they went out and fled from the 00:08:16.230 --> 00:08:19.970 tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized 00:08:19.970 --> 00:08:23.160 them. and they said nothing to anyone for they 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:26.680 were afraid. Now your scripture or your Bible 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:28.459 may have a little note that says some of the 00:08:28.459 --> 00:08:30.519 earliest major scripts do not include verses 00:08:30.519 --> 00:08:34.639 nine through 20. I will do a podcast on that 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:39.340 this week. Let's go to nine. Now when he rose 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:42.940 early on the first day of the week, he appeared 00:08:42.940 --> 00:08:45.299 first to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast 00:08:45.299 --> 00:08:47.960 out seven demons. She went and told those who 00:08:47.960 --> 00:08:50.759 had been with him as they mourned and wept. but 00:08:50.759 --> 00:08:53.480 when they heard that he was alive and had been 00:08:53.480 --> 00:08:56.860 seen by her, they would not believe it. After 00:08:56.860 --> 00:08:59.600 these things, he appeared in another form to 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:02.500 two of them as they were walking into the country, 00:09:02.840 --> 00:09:05.539 and they went back and told the rest, but they 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:08.460 did not believe them. Afterward, he appeared 00:09:08.460 --> 00:09:11.179 to the eleven themselves as they were reclining 00:09:11.179 --> 00:09:14.340 at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:16.539 and hardness of heart, because they had not believed 00:09:16.539 --> 00:09:19.419 those who saw him after he had risen. And he 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:21.980 said to them, go into all the world proclaiming 00:09:21.980 --> 00:09:25.399 the gospel to the whole creation. If you have 00:09:25.399 --> 00:09:27.980 a highlighter, you should highlight that. Whoever 00:09:27.980 --> 00:09:31.139 believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever 00:09:31.139 --> 00:09:33.340 does not believe will be condemned. You should 00:09:33.340 --> 00:09:36.860 also underline that as well or highlight that. 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.039 And these signs will accompany those who believe 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:42.730 in my name. and they will cast out demons, they 00:09:42.730 --> 00:09:45.429 will speak in tongues, they will pick up serpents 00:09:45.429 --> 00:09:48.309 with their hands, and if they drink any deadly 00:09:48.309 --> 00:09:50.289 poison, it will not hurt them, and they will 00:09:50.289 --> 00:09:53.090 lay their hands on the sick and they will recover. 00:09:53.690 --> 00:09:55.909 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to 00:09:55.909 --> 00:09:58.649 them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at 00:09:58.649 --> 00:10:01.149 the right hand of God, and they went out and 00:10:01.149 --> 00:10:04.029 preached everywhere while the Lord worked with 00:10:04.029 --> 00:10:06.629 them and confirmed the message by accompanying 00:10:06.629 --> 00:10:10.289 signs. I just want to say this real quick. If 00:10:10.289 --> 00:10:11.830 you're sitting here going, whoa, does that mean 00:10:11.830 --> 00:10:14.129 I can pick up a rattlesnake after making it very 00:10:14.129 --> 00:10:19.269 mad and I'll be okay? Don't do that. Don't go 00:10:19.269 --> 00:10:21.470 into the mounds of West Virginia, into those 00:10:21.470 --> 00:10:23.950 snake handling churches because that is not what 00:10:23.950 --> 00:10:25.970 that means. If you didn't know, there are snake 00:10:25.970 --> 00:10:31.789 handling churches. They're pretty crazy. Well, 00:10:31.789 --> 00:10:33.450 then Pastor Logan, Jesus said it, it's right 00:10:33.450 --> 00:10:36.730 there. Yeah, no, he was prophesying about someone. 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:40.980 Anybody want to know who that is? Paul because 00:10:40.980 --> 00:10:45.299 Paul legitimately got bit by a viper and he did 00:10:45.299 --> 00:10:49.220 not die Those are prophecies that were to come 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:52.720 But I want you to notice that it says they were 00:10:52.720 --> 00:10:55.639 afraid then he appeared to them and things changed, 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.600 right? So here we go point number one. If you're 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:03.200 taking notes liars, don't rise I'm gonna ask 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:04.820 you a question right now. What do these names 00:11:04.820 --> 00:11:10.350 have in common? Thudious In the early first century, 00:11:10.429 --> 00:11:13.429 he claimed to be a prophet. He also claimed on 00:11:13.429 --> 00:11:16.169 the Jordan River that he was the Messiah. He 00:11:16.169 --> 00:11:19.309 was executed by the Romans. His followers scattered. 00:11:20.169 --> 00:11:23.009 Judas of Galilee, around 6 A .D., led a revolt 00:11:23.009 --> 00:11:25.750 against Roman taxation. Seen by his followers 00:11:25.750 --> 00:11:28.370 as a deliverer and the Messiah, he was killed. 00:11:29.269 --> 00:11:34.450 His movement dissolved. Simon of Pereira. After 00:11:34.450 --> 00:11:37.509 Herod's death, crowned himself king, he was killed. 00:11:37.769 --> 00:11:41.970 No lasting movement. Athrongus declared himself 00:11:41.970 --> 00:11:45.490 king with his brothers. He was defeated. His 00:11:45.490 --> 00:11:50.610 movement disappeared. Simon Bar of Koba, 132 00:11:50.610 --> 00:11:53.649 to 135 AD, proclaimed to be the Messiah by a 00:11:53.649 --> 00:11:56.549 respected rabbi. Let her revolt. He was killed. 00:11:56.809 --> 00:11:59.990 His followers abandoned him. Moses of Crete. 00:12:00.169 --> 00:12:03.889 5th century claimed that he would lead the Jews 00:12:03.889 --> 00:12:06.590 back across the sea. It failed. His followers 00:12:06.590 --> 00:12:12.250 perished and his movement ended. Abu Isa Ishafani, 00:12:13.129 --> 00:12:16.309 8th century claimed a messianic role. He was 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:18.669 executed. His followers disappeared. What do 00:12:18.669 --> 00:12:23.169 all of these men have in common? They all claim 00:12:23.169 --> 00:12:27.440 to be the Messiah. They all had followers, they 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:30.659 got very popular, all of them executed, and then 00:12:30.659 --> 00:12:35.840 what happened? All of it dissolved. In the book 00:12:35.840 --> 00:12:41.120 of Acts, Gamaliel says, hey, if this Jesus is 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:45.799 who he claims to be, we can kill him, we can 00:12:45.799 --> 00:12:47.539 try to kill his followers, it ain't gonna do 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:49.019 anything, because if it's of God, it's gonna 00:12:49.019 --> 00:12:53.259 continue on, and guess what? If he is not God, 00:12:53.759 --> 00:12:59.159 all of this will fizzle out. So, all of these 00:12:59.159 --> 00:13:01.179 men claimed to be the Messiah. Some even had 00:13:01.179 --> 00:13:03.240 large followings, but in the end, none of them 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:06.019 rose. They were executed, their movements died, 00:13:06.299 --> 00:13:08.740 their names almost forgotten, and you probably 00:13:08.740 --> 00:13:12.539 didn't even know they existed. Now consider Jesus, 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:17.600 only one who claimed to be the Messiah and then 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:20.100 actually did what he said he would do. He rose 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.639 from the dead. Did you know that within 24 hours, 00:13:22.639 --> 00:13:25.440 Jesus fulfilled 33 Old Testament prophecies? 00:13:27.319 --> 00:13:30.960 Only one continues to impact history. Only one 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:39.019 marked time, because we have BC and AD. He still 00:13:39.019 --> 00:13:41.399 continues to impact culture and even more so, 00:13:41.440 --> 00:13:44.340 your life today. Only one fulfilled prophecy, 00:13:44.600 --> 00:13:46.700 conquered death, and subverted worldly kingdoms, 00:13:47.139 --> 00:13:49.940 not with armies, but with grace. So think about 00:13:49.940 --> 00:13:53.139 it. You can visit the grave of Muhammad in Saudi 00:13:53.139 --> 00:13:55.659 Arabia. You can go see the places associated 00:13:55.659 --> 00:14:00.500 with Buddha in India. But Jesus? Multiple sites 00:14:00.500 --> 00:14:03.519 claim to be his tomb, yet when people look carefully, 00:14:04.279 --> 00:14:11.480 it's empty. Empty. And the evidence isn't just 00:14:11.480 --> 00:14:13.960 faith, it's historical. Scholars, even atheist 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:17.120 ones, admit he died, and yet they cannot explain 00:14:17.120 --> 00:14:19.679 what happened afterward. There's many theories. 00:14:20.840 --> 00:14:24.000 And I can say this with all confidence, liars 00:14:24.000 --> 00:14:29.379 do not rise. And Jesus is no liar. And if we 00:14:29.379 --> 00:14:31.899 had more time, I would unpack all the historical 00:14:31.899 --> 00:14:35.019 evidence piece by piece showing you that he did 00:14:35.019 --> 00:14:38.940 in fact die, that he did in fact rise. But this 00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:42.379 year, I did that last year. This year, I'm not 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:43.980 going to do that, but if you would like to have 00:14:43.980 --> 00:14:46.519 a conversation about that, I would love to have 00:14:46.519 --> 00:14:50.809 a conversation about it. But only one has truly 00:14:50.809 --> 00:14:54.649 risen only one gives hope beyond this life point 00:14:54.649 --> 00:15:05.850 number two Lunatics don't last Lunatics don't 00:15:05.850 --> 00:15:10.549 last So let's take it a step further Because 00:15:10.549 --> 00:15:12.649 maybe you're thinking okay, maybe Jesus wasn't 00:15:12.649 --> 00:15:15.269 a liar, but he could have just been mistaken 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:19.460 What if he really believed all this? What if 00:15:19.460 --> 00:15:23.019 he really was just a lunatic? After all, Jesus 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.700 didn't just claim to be a teacher, he didn't 00:15:25.700 --> 00:15:28.159 just claim to be a prophet, he claimed to be 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.799 God. And people today will say, well, Jesus never 00:15:31.799 --> 00:15:37.039 actually said that, but that's not true. We've 00:15:37.039 --> 00:15:39.820 actually seen, those of you in this congregation 00:15:39.820 --> 00:15:42.460 have already seen just in the chapters of the 00:15:42.460 --> 00:15:44.779 Book of Mark that Jesus has already made those 00:15:44.779 --> 00:15:48.110 claims. Jesus called himself the Son of Man, 00:15:48.490 --> 00:15:50.669 a title straight out of the book of Daniel that 00:15:50.669 --> 00:15:53.649 points to a divine figure. He walked into a synagogue, 00:15:53.870 --> 00:15:56.309 opened the scroll of Isaiah, read the prophecy 00:15:56.309 --> 00:15:59.169 about the Messiah, and then said, today the scripture 00:15:59.169 --> 00:16:02.049 has been fulfilled in your hearing. He forgave 00:16:02.049 --> 00:16:04.509 sins, something only God can do. He performed 00:16:04.509 --> 00:16:07.610 miracles, commanding nature, healing disease, 00:16:07.950 --> 00:16:10.389 raising the dead, and he spoke with authority 00:16:10.389 --> 00:16:13.750 that made people stop and say, who is this man? 00:16:15.980 --> 00:16:19.259 So we're left with a choice either Jesus was 00:16:19.259 --> 00:16:22.460 exactly who he said he was or he was completely 00:16:22.460 --> 00:16:26.440 out of his mind Because same people don't walk 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:29.279 around claiming to be God, but here's the problem 00:16:29.279 --> 00:16:32.659 with the lunatic theory Lunatics don't change 00:16:32.659 --> 00:16:40.610 the world Am I wrong Lunatics don't launch a 00:16:40.610 --> 00:16:42.990 movement that outlives empires. Lunatics don't 00:16:42.990 --> 00:16:45.889 produce teachings that reshape morality, compassion, 00:16:46.210 --> 00:16:49.049 and human history. Lunatics don't inspire billions 00:16:49.049 --> 00:16:51.629 across centuries to lay down their lives, not 00:16:51.629 --> 00:16:53.730 just for them, but because they're convinced 00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:56.769 he is alive. And most importantly, lunatics don't 00:16:56.769 --> 00:17:01.490 rise from the dead. So you see, darkness thought 00:17:01.490 --> 00:17:05.200 it had won. They expected a messiah with a sword, 00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.019 someone who would overthrow Rome, crush governments 00:17:08.019 --> 00:17:11.980 and take power. But Jesus came differently. Not 00:17:11.980 --> 00:17:15.880 with a sword, but with a cross. And it looked 00:17:15.880 --> 00:17:18.799 like weakness, and it looked like defeat. It 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:21.240 looked like he was playing right into their hands. 00:17:22.019 --> 00:17:24.420 But what they didn't understand was this. You 00:17:24.420 --> 00:17:26.480 don't defeat a spiritual kingdom with physical 00:17:26.480 --> 00:17:30.299 weapons. You don't break the curse of sin with 00:17:30.299 --> 00:17:33.720 political power. That kind of victory takes something 00:17:33.720 --> 00:17:38.880 only God can do, amen? Because every other system, 00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:42.819 religion, philosophy, even atheism, points the 00:17:42.819 --> 00:17:48.839 weight to you. You have to fix yourself. You 00:17:48.839 --> 00:17:51.859 have to earn it. You have to be better, do enough, 00:17:51.980 --> 00:17:54.140 and maybe you'll be okay in the end, but God 00:17:54.140 --> 00:17:58.099 knew something we don't like to admit. We can't. 00:17:58.099 --> 00:18:00.680 We can't fix ourselves. We can't outrun sin. 00:18:00.960 --> 00:18:03.880 We can't earn eternity. So instead of waiting 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:07.420 for us to climb to him, God came down to us and 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:10.380 he didn't just claim it. He proved it through 00:18:10.380 --> 00:18:12.559 his authority, through miracles and above all 00:18:12.559 --> 00:18:14.759 through the greatest miracle, his resurrection. 00:18:16.859 --> 00:18:20.339 But that's where it all comes together because 00:18:20.339 --> 00:18:22.680 if Jesus really rose from the dead, he is not 00:18:22.680 --> 00:18:24.880 a liar and he is not a lunatic. That means that 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:31.250 makes him Lord, he is God in the flesh. He is 00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:33.990 seated at the right hand of the father right 00:18:33.990 --> 00:18:37.730 now. And one day he's coming back, not as the 00:18:37.730 --> 00:18:39.930 suffering servant, but as a conquering King, 00:18:41.430 --> 00:18:45.089 the lion of Judah. And when he comes, he won't 00:18:45.089 --> 00:18:47.730 be misunderstood. He won't be mocked and he won't 00:18:47.730 --> 00:18:50.890 be crucified again. He will crush sin. He will 00:18:50.890 --> 00:18:55.420 crush death and darkness once and for all. So 00:18:55.420 --> 00:18:58.099 the question isn't just, was Jesus a good teacher 00:18:58.099 --> 00:19:00.819 or was he a good moral example? The question 00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:06.000 is, who do you say that he is? I can tell you, 00:19:06.920 --> 00:19:09.779 I can tell you who I say who he is, he's Lord. 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.319 So point number three is this, if he's Lord, 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.799 this changes everything. So let's answer the 00:19:19.799 --> 00:19:22.740 question we've been building towards. Does the 00:19:22.740 --> 00:19:26.269 resurrection matter to you today? I hope you 00:19:26.269 --> 00:19:29.589 would say yes, because it absolutely does. Because 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:32.410 most people think the resurrection only matters 00:19:32.410 --> 00:19:38.190 for later. Heaven, hell, and eternity. And it 00:19:38.190 --> 00:19:42.529 does. It does matter for that. It means eternity 00:19:42.529 --> 00:19:45.089 is real. It means your life is not random. It 00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:47.430 means that what you do with Jesus has eternal 00:19:47.430 --> 00:19:50.349 weight. But this also means to you, you're missing 00:19:50.349 --> 00:19:52.910 half of it. Because the resurrection doesn't 00:19:52.910 --> 00:19:55.349 just change your destination, it changes what 00:19:55.349 --> 00:20:00.349 kind of person you are in the present. It means 00:20:00.349 --> 00:20:03.609 you can be forgiven, not partially, not temporarily, 00:20:03.890 --> 00:20:06.730 but fully. It means you can be made new, not 00:20:06.730 --> 00:20:09.710 just cleaned up, not just managed, but made new 00:20:09.710 --> 00:20:14.809 from the inside out. The same power that walked 00:20:14.809 --> 00:20:17.250 out of the grave now lives in those who belong 00:20:17.250 --> 00:20:20.730 to him, which means this. You don't have to keep 00:20:20.730 --> 00:20:23.890 living in the dark. You don't have to keep stumbling 00:20:23.890 --> 00:20:26.630 through guilt, shame, and confusion, or trying 00:20:26.630 --> 00:20:29.529 to figure it out all on your own. Because when 00:20:29.529 --> 00:20:32.690 Jesus rose, the light broke through, and that 00:20:32.690 --> 00:20:35.569 light doesn't just shine for you, it shines in 00:20:35.569 --> 00:20:38.890 you. And what should change how we live, or that 00:20:38.890 --> 00:20:41.390 should change how we live, not for ourselves, 00:20:42.130 --> 00:20:44.430 not building our own little kingdoms, not hiding 00:20:44.430 --> 00:20:46.990 away in our own little Christian ghettos. I hope 00:20:46.990 --> 00:20:52.119 you understand what I'm saying. What I mean by 00:20:52.119 --> 00:20:54.480 that is is we don't just huddle together and 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.400 we create our little little Christian communities 00:20:56.400 --> 00:20:59.339 and we create Christian art and we create all 00:20:59.339 --> 00:21:01.940 these the Christian music Christian music's great 00:21:01.940 --> 00:21:05.920 Christian movies are fine But you should actually 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:10.960 supposed to impact darkness You guys have heard 00:21:10.960 --> 00:21:13.920 me tell the story before about Noah and and his 00:21:13.920 --> 00:21:17.559 and his little rock rocket ship alarm clock that 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:20.619 wouldn't Shine light and we put batteries in 00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:23.789 it He says, can we go find some darkness to shine 00:21:23.789 --> 00:21:25.710 my light? Because he was like, we were sitting 00:21:25.710 --> 00:21:27.710 in a room with all these windows and he couldn't 00:21:27.710 --> 00:21:32.509 see the light. So it does us no good to sit here 00:21:32.509 --> 00:21:35.430 and hear this message every Sunday and do nothing 00:21:35.430 --> 00:21:41.269 for the world out there. We need to step into 00:21:41.269 --> 00:21:43.890 it, living as light in the middle of darkness. 00:21:44.690 --> 00:21:47.150 Like a lighthouse standing on the shore in the 00:21:47.150 --> 00:21:50.309 middle of a storm, unmoved by waves, unshaken 00:21:50.309 --> 00:21:53.430 by the wind, cutting through the fog so that 00:21:53.430 --> 00:21:56.890 those who are lost can finally see where to go. 00:21:57.789 --> 00:22:01.210 And that's where we are now. Not because we're 00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:04.170 better, but because we've been brought into the 00:22:04.170 --> 00:22:07.630 light. We belong to a kingdom, we have a king, 00:22:07.750 --> 00:22:10.269 and we carry a light that doesn't come from us, 00:22:10.470 --> 00:22:13.809 it comes from him. And here's the beauty of it. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:19.299 We don't just stand in the light. We get to shine 00:22:19.299 --> 00:22:23.759 it outward. To people who feel lost, to people 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:25.960 who feel stuck, and to people who think they've 00:22:25.960 --> 00:22:28.920 gone too far, we get to say this, there is a 00:22:28.920 --> 00:22:31.180 way, there is hope, and there is light in the 00:22:31.180 --> 00:22:33.920 darkness because you have been bought with a 00:22:33.920 --> 00:22:36.420 price, and you have been brought out of darkness 00:22:36.420 --> 00:22:39.400 and into light. You have been set free. And it 00:22:39.400 --> 00:22:43.400 is with that I want to tell you this story. I'm 00:22:43.400 --> 00:22:47.680 closing with this. If you have been zoning out 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.779 this entire time, this would be the time and 00:22:51.779 --> 00:22:57.319 the message that I would say, lock in. Because 00:22:57.319 --> 00:22:59.920 I want to tell you a story, a true story, an 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:03.720 absolutely true story that's going to feel fictional, 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:06.759 but I promise you, I swear to you, it is true. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:19.200 And it is about a friend of mine. This friend 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:23.519 of mine all he wanted to do was get married and 00:23:23.519 --> 00:23:26.279 and and have kids but he really wanted to know 00:23:26.279 --> 00:23:34.220 it was like to be married to someone and He finally 00:23:34.220 --> 00:23:38.819 met this girl who he fell deeply madly in love 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:45.480 with And when He fell for her, he could not stop 00:23:45.480 --> 00:23:47.420 talking about her. And he was like, I'm gonna, 00:23:47.819 --> 00:23:50.279 I'm going to do all I can to continue to love 00:23:50.279 --> 00:23:57.500 her and make her more beautiful. And so, he very 00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:04.279 quickly, they date and they get married. It was 00:24:04.279 --> 00:24:11.829 a wonderful, wonderful wedding. And as, their 00:24:11.829 --> 00:24:15.250 marriage goes on, I mean, he's a wonderful husband. 00:24:15.950 --> 00:24:19.029 He's a storybook husband. What I mean by that 00:24:19.029 --> 00:24:23.210 is, is like, I mean, he always remembered their 00:24:23.210 --> 00:24:25.410 anniversary and how many years they'd been married. 00:24:26.950 --> 00:24:31.230 It's a joke. He did the dishes and served his 00:24:31.230 --> 00:24:33.390 wife and did all the things. He never complained. 00:24:33.430 --> 00:24:36.250 He was always looking for, how do I continue 00:24:36.250 --> 00:24:40.210 to serve her and love her and push her? towards 00:24:40.210 --> 00:24:50.670 righteousness. So. She gets bored in this marriage. 00:24:52.369 --> 00:24:57.309 And. My buddy decides that he's going to take 00:24:57.309 --> 00:25:00.329 her out for a weekend. They have they've been 00:25:00.329 --> 00:25:01.829 married a couple of years at this point, and 00:25:01.829 --> 00:25:04.029 he decided he's going to take her out for a weekend, 00:25:04.329 --> 00:25:06.750 surprise her. And so he works it out with his 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:10.309 boss where he gets off early. and he's going 00:25:10.309 --> 00:25:13.829 to take her away. And he pulls up to the house 00:25:13.829 --> 00:25:16.630 and he sees a car in the driveway that's not 00:25:16.630 --> 00:25:23.009 his. And so he walks into his house and there 00:25:23.009 --> 00:25:27.710 are portions of clothing that is not his of another 00:25:27.710 --> 00:25:31.269 male's and all the way up the staircase. And 00:25:31.269 --> 00:25:36.269 you can imagine in this moment that his heart 00:25:36.269 --> 00:25:43.319 is beating. fast and hard. And he's thinking 00:25:43.319 --> 00:25:50.759 to himself, this can't be, nope, this isn't happening. 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.920 This is a dream. And he walks into his bedroom 00:25:54.920 --> 00:26:03.140 and he finds his wife with another man. And he... 00:26:03.180 --> 00:26:06.339 looks at his wife, and in not in anger, he looks 00:26:06.339 --> 00:26:09.460 at her and he says, I don't know what I did to 00:26:09.460 --> 00:26:11.819 make you want to find love somewhere else, but 00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:20.400 I promise I will do better. And she says, no, 00:26:21.839 --> 00:26:27.460 I don't love you. This was just kind of a thing. 00:26:30.579 --> 00:26:36.430 And he tells her, Hey, listen, I want to do whatever 00:26:36.430 --> 00:26:39.230 it takes to fix this. And so they tried. She 00:26:39.230 --> 00:26:44.369 did not give really much effort. And she left 00:26:44.369 --> 00:26:47.509 him. She left him for the man that she was with. 00:26:48.190 --> 00:26:51.410 Well, this is where the story gets really crazy. 00:26:51.450 --> 00:26:54.630 And you may be going, this can't be real life 00:26:54.630 --> 00:26:57.349 like this. This is a movie and it's a true story. 00:27:00.150 --> 00:27:06.549 This woman. ends up getting sold into human trafficking 00:27:06.549 --> 00:27:21.089 by this man. And she is gone. Well, my buddy 00:27:21.089 --> 00:27:26.950 finds out about it and he sells everything that 00:27:26.950 --> 00:27:30.569 he has. He sells his home, sells his cars, all 00:27:30.569 --> 00:27:37.730 of his retirement. Cashes it all in and he begins 00:27:37.730 --> 00:27:41.049 to go to work trying to find out where she is 00:27:41.049 --> 00:27:46.670 He finds out where she's at So he goes into this 00:27:46.670 --> 00:27:54.710 brothel and All of the women Get brought out 00:27:54.710 --> 00:27:58.309 and he goes in, you know, there's a John And 00:27:58.309 --> 00:28:00.289 they have a there's a madam there that runs this 00:28:00.289 --> 00:28:08.670 brothel and they all have numbers And his wife 00:28:08.670 --> 00:28:14.150 sees him and he sees her, but they don't say 00:28:14.150 --> 00:28:16.549 anything because it would mean they're both gonna 00:28:16.549 --> 00:28:21.470 die. But he said where he once saw life in her 00:28:21.470 --> 00:28:24.609 eyes is now dead. You can tell that she has been 00:28:24.609 --> 00:28:35.130 used and abused. And so my buddy takes about 00:28:35.130 --> 00:28:39.779 $500 ,000 and he... puts it into the hand of 00:28:39.779 --> 00:28:44.220 this madam and he says, I want her. And the madam 00:28:44.220 --> 00:28:46.299 says, are you sure? We've got much more younger, 00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:49.599 more beautiful women. She is old and used up. 00:28:51.700 --> 00:28:55.680 And he says, no, I want her. She says, okay. 00:28:56.859 --> 00:28:59.740 And so he grabs her by the hand and he begins 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:01.839 to walk out and he says, I'm buying her for the 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:05.099 rest of her life, which means wherever we go. 00:29:05.450 --> 00:29:09.509 you don't come after us because I have paid a 00:29:09.509 --> 00:29:13.029 very high price for her." And the brothel owner 00:29:13.029 --> 00:29:16.609 says, she doesn't make us money, take her. We 00:29:16.609 --> 00:29:22.650 were going to kill her anyway. And my buddy picks 00:29:22.650 --> 00:29:32.599 her up, takes her, and he says, I told you. I 00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:34.279 told you when we first got married that I would 00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:36.279 always pursue you. I would do everything I can 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:38.099 to let you know how beautiful you are to me and 00:29:38.099 --> 00:29:40.059 how much you mean to me and how much I care about 00:29:40.059 --> 00:29:47.039 you. And I hope that this shows that. Now, that 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:50.079 story should sound familiar to some of you because 00:29:50.079 --> 00:29:56.579 it's in here. It's the book of Hosea. And if 00:29:56.579 --> 00:29:58.880 you're here going, yeah, but you said your buddy 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:01.750 did that. Yeah. It was a buddy. His name is Jesus 00:30:01.750 --> 00:30:07.369 Christ. Because Hosea was going and he literally 00:30:07.369 --> 00:30:10.630 buys his wife multiple times off of the slavery 00:30:10.630 --> 00:30:14.309 block. And he kept asking God, why? Why is this 00:30:14.309 --> 00:30:16.930 woman my wife? And God says, because this is 00:30:16.930 --> 00:30:20.509 what it is to see of what the church that I love. 00:30:21.080 --> 00:30:24.519 The people who I love, I continually go back 00:30:24.519 --> 00:30:27.420 for over and over and one day I'm going to send 00:30:27.420 --> 00:30:29.940 someone to show you that I will pay the highest 00:30:29.940 --> 00:30:34.079 price to win them back. And Jesus, it says in 00:30:34.079 --> 00:30:37.099 John, Jesus was the propitiation, which is a 00:30:37.099 --> 00:30:40.740 fancy word for bought at a very high price. Each 00:30:40.740 --> 00:30:43.000 and every single one of you were bought with 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:47.039 a price on the cross. You and I both are that 00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:50.019 bride who continually goes after all these other 00:30:50.019 --> 00:30:52.539 things, thinking that it will fulfill us and 00:30:52.539 --> 00:30:55.359 it's not going to. And Jesus continually comes 00:30:55.359 --> 00:30:57.940 back and comes back and he's going, I love you. 00:30:58.019 --> 00:31:00.519 Don't you see that? I love you. I have paid the 00:31:00.519 --> 00:31:03.359 highest price for you. Stop going back to something 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:07.299 that only brings death. Do you see that? And 00:31:07.299 --> 00:31:10.460 when he rose from the dead, he ultimately conquered 00:31:10.460 --> 00:31:14.490 the curse of sin. Death and hell and the grave 00:31:14.490 --> 00:31:17.250 for you and for me and I hope that this morning 00:31:17.250 --> 00:31:20.509 this message you would go home Ultimately going 00:31:20.509 --> 00:31:23.349 you know what? I can't live any differently. 00:31:23.430 --> 00:31:26.849 I have to go and I have to show the gospel and 00:31:26.849 --> 00:31:29.549 I have to live out this hope and show it to other 00:31:29.549 --> 00:31:32.289 people because it does change your life. And 00:31:32.289 --> 00:31:35.509 L of eternity also hinges on this. And I need 00:31:35.509 --> 00:31:38.309 to live in a different way because Christ conquered 00:31:38.309 --> 00:31:40.269 death, hell sent to the grave. And it's more 00:31:40.269 --> 00:31:43.130 than just an Easter bunny. It's more than just 00:31:43.130 --> 00:31:45.269 these eggs. It's more than us just gathering 00:31:45.269 --> 00:31:50.490 together to eat ham. Yeah. It means a whole lot 00:31:50.490 --> 00:31:54.930 more. Yes? So with that being said, if you would 00:31:54.930 --> 00:31:55.890 bow your heads with me.