1 John 1:1

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the Word of life. The life was manifested, and we have seen it. We bear witness and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard, we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Truly, our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.

Father, I think everyone here would agree this morning that we desire in our lives for our joy to be full. We desire to experience what You speak of in the Gospel of John as abundant life. We see in the world around us and in our own experience that there is a lot of brokenness. The thief has come to steal, to kill, and to destroy. But You said, "I have come that you may have life and that you may have it more abundantly." You said to Your disciples that You wanted Your joy to be in them and our joy to be full.

So, God, we pray that this would be among the outcomes of our getting to know You through Your Word. We pray that You would give us wisdom and insight as we consider this passage of Scripture today and as we celebrate this most important day. For we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated.

Of course, it is an important day, an important holiday: Easter Sunday. Many Christians like to refer to it more as Resurrection Sunday, the day in which we remember and celebrate the most important event for the church. There are nearly 2 billion people on this planet at this moment who are celebrating this most important event. It is the most important event for the church, but I believe it is also the most important event in all of human history. What we are celebrating today began just a couple of weeks ago here at Cross Connection Church.

We are starting a new series based on the letter that John wrote, the Apostle John, specifically the First Epistle of John. While it is common to deviate from the current passage of Scripture during a holiday like Easter to deliver a topical message, especially on the resurrection, I found that this passage fits perfectly with the topic of resurrection.

To provide a little background on this letter and its author, John, we have been discussing over the last couple of weeks that John was one of the earliest followers of Jesus. He was part of the group known as the twelve disciples, or sometimes referred to as the twelve apostles. Bible scholars believe that John was probably the youngest of that group. When he began following Jesus, it is very plausible that he was as young as fifteen years old. He was the younger brother of another one of Jesus' followers, a man named James. We often see them together in the Scriptures, James and John.

John was the son of a man named Zebedee, and he, along with his brother James, was taking on the family business. Their father was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, which is still present in Israel today. From the Scriptures, we can tell that they were partnered with another follower of Jesus, a man named Simon, who we typically refer to as Peter as we go through the Gospels. These three—Peter, James, and John—were often seen together with Jesus.

As they began to follow Jesus, it is important to remember, as I pointed out last week, that Peter, James, John, and the other apostles—Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Levi, Thomas, Simon, Judas Iscariot, and the others—did not initially follow Jesus for the purest of motives. This might come as a shock to some. After last week's service, several people approached me, expressing that they had never heard this perspective on John or James before. I want to clarify that this is not something I am forcing upon the text; it is simply an observation worth considering.

It's really clear when you read through the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—that these men, when they began following Jesus, were likely in their teenage years or just entering their twenties. They were just beginning their lives. When they started following Jesus, they weren't exactly the cream of the crop; they didn't have the purest of motives for following Him.

It's important to note that when Jesus came 2,000 years ago to the people in Israel, the entire nation was seeking an anointed, powerful political king. They were looking for someone who would redeem and rescue them, someone who would destroy the Romans who were occupying their land at that time and restore Israel back to its former glory, or even beyond it. The people of that day were looking for an anointed one to come. The Hebrew word for anointed one is the term we have today: Messiah.

In the Jewish thinking of the day, there were three different groups that were considered anointed ones who fulfilled the office of a Messiah figure in ancient Judaism. One was the king, who was anointed and thus a Messiah figure. Then there was the prophet, who would also be anointed, making him a Messiah figure as well. Lastly, there was the priest, who was also anointed and considered a Messiah figure.

The children of Israel had prophets predicting for more than a thousand years that someone would come to fill all of those offices—prophet, priest, and king—and would be anointed to make Israel great again. That is what they were looking forward to: the Messiah was going to come.

Peter, James, John, Bartholomew, Thomas, and the others were expecting this. From the earliest days when they met Jesus, they were already proclaiming that He was the Messiah. They believed He was the anointed one. As His inner circle, they expected that because they were close to Jesus, the Messiah, who would destroy the Romans and establish His kingdom, they would be part of His inner circle, His posse. They anticipated great things for themselves.

The culmination of that desire, or their belief that it was about to be fulfilled, happened on the day we celebrated last week, the week before Resurrection Sunday.

Palm Sunday is what we call the day when Jesus, accompanied by thousands of gathering pilgrims, entered Jerusalem to celebrate the most holy week in Israel, the week of Passover. As they approached Jerusalem from the east, descending the Mount of Olives, passing through the Kidron Valley, and entering the city, a large crowd had gathered. They saw this great man, whom they had heard so much about. He had been teaching and performing miracles, and news about Jesus of Nazareth was spreading throughout the nation.

Here he came, riding in on a donkey. While that may seem a little unusual, the people were laying palm branches in front of him as he entered. They were singing from the Old Testament Psalm, Psalm 118, which says, "This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." They shouted, "Hosanna," which means "save us now." They proclaimed, "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord." The atmosphere was electric, with the crowd screaming, chanting, and singing these words.

You can imagine Peter, James, John, and the other disciples walking alongside, filled with excitement. They were thinking, "This is it! By the end of the week, he’s going to be crowned king, and we’re going to be with him." As you read through the Gospels, it becomes clear what was going through their minds. This understanding sheds light on why this group of men constantly argued about who among them would be the greatest in the kingdom. That was their ongoing conversation: who would be the greatest in His kingdom?

It also explains why James and his brother John, the authors of the letter we are studying, approached Jesus at a certain point in His ministry. They knelt before Him and said, "Listen, Master, we want you to do something for us." When He asked what they wanted, they replied, "We want to sit, one on your right hand and one on your left hand, when you come into your kingdom."

It makes sense why James and John thought it would be acceptable to ask the Messiah, the anointed one who would destroy all His enemies and establish the kingdom, for such positions of honor. They were known as the sons of thunder, and it is understandable why they believed they could call down fire upon the enemies of Israel in judgment. This context also clarifies why the disciples asked Jesus about their reward.

What are we going to get when you come into your kingdom? We left everything to come and follow you. We're the first employees of this industry right here. The IPO is about to launch, and we're employee number one, two, and three. What are we going to get? What's the return for us? We're vested.

I hope you're getting the picture as you start to look through these things. Point number one on your sermon guide: the earliest disciples followed Jesus for lousy reasons. They really did. We might exalt them, venerate them, and lift them up high on a pedestal, but understand that when they first began to follow Jesus, they did not have the greatest reasons for doing so. If we're totally honest, the same could be said about us.

Maybe at the beginning, we follow Jesus because we think that He will make our lives better. Perhaps we think that He will give us health, wealth, and prosperity. There are certainly some people who say that. Maybe when we first begin to follow Jesus, we do so because we don't want to go to hell. I can tell you that when I prayed to receive Jesus as a little kid, I was one of those Sunday school brats who grew up in church. I remember praying as a little kid, four or five years old, to receive Jesus because the alternative was that I didn't want to go to hell.

Now, I want to suggest that this is not necessarily a bad thing. It might be a good place to start. However, I also want to say that that kind of beginning faith doesn't really have staying power through difficulty. Jesus talks about this in one of His parables, a story that conveys truth. He speaks of the parable of the sower, where some of the seed falls on shallow ground. When the sun comes up, it burns it out. He explains that the sun represents trials.

The shallow ground here springs up quickly, and they rejoice, saying, "I want to receive Jesus because I don't want to go to hell." But then, when things get rough, it's kind of like, "I don't know about this." Some of us follow Jesus because our lives are a mess, and we think Jesus is going to make our lives better. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it may not lead to the kind of faith that carries you through.

I would suggest that when you follow the story of the disciples, you realize that at the beginning, their initial trust in Jesus was not enough to carry them through.

Some of the difficulties that they face are significant. At this point, it would be understandable to wonder what this has to do with Easter. Don't worry; I'll get there, I promise.

All of Jesus' earliest followers—James, John, and Bartholomew—first began following Him without fully comprehending who He really was or what He came to do. They had expectations, assumptions, and even presumptuous views about what that would mean for them. They thought about the privileges they would receive, the possessions they might gain, and the fame they could achieve. When they first began to follow Jesus, their motivations may not have been the best.

Just when it seemed like everything was about to take off in a good way, everything completely fell apart. Immediately after the Palm Sunday experience, as Jesus entered Jerusalem and people were shouting, "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord," the first thing Jesus did, as recorded in Matthew's Gospel, was to go into the temple and perform what is known as the cleansing of the temple. He drove out all the people who were buying and selling, as some of the temple grounds had become like a swap meet. This act angered the religious establishment.

Over the next couple of days, as recorded in Matthew chapters 22 and 23, Jesus effectively picked a fight with all the ruling leadership in Jerusalem. He got into conflict with the Herodians, who were loyal to King Herod, as well as the scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees. In Matthew chapter 23, He spoke a word of condemnation upon the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites no less than seven times, declaring that they were not righteous. After this, He dropped the mic and walked out of the temple.

His disciples were a little concerned about this. You can follow this in the book of Matthew, from chapter 23 into chapter 24. They approached Him and said, "But Lord, look at the temple! Look how beautiful it is!" He replied, "Listen, I tell you the truth. Not one stone will be left upon another; all will be torn down. It's all going to fall apart."

That prediction, made around 30 AD, actually came to pass fully and completely 40 years later when the Romans destroyed the temple.

He says, "You see all this? It's all going to be broken down." About 24 hours later, Jesus gathers with his group, his twelve disciples, to partake of the Passover. The mood changes; he becomes really somber and quiet. The disciples are concerned about this. He begins to say things like, "One of you is going to betray me." He tells them, "All of you are going to be made to stumble because of me tonight." They speak up, insisting, "We would never do that. We will die with you." The one who is really leading the charge is Peter, who declares, "I would never do that."

Jesus responds, "Peter, you're going to deny me three times before morning." Peter insists, "No, that would never happen. Though everybody else denies you, I would never do that." A few hours later, he is betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, who betrays him with a kiss. All of his disciples flee, and Peter denies him three times. Jesus is arrested, beaten, falsely accused, condemned, and then crucified. On Good Friday, Jesus of Nazareth was crucified on a Roman cross outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.

The only one of his twelve disciples who was there to witness it was John, who writes this letter. He watches all of this happen. By sundown, Jesus' lifeless body is taken down from the cross and buried in a newly cut tomb hewn from the rock, laid to rest.

What happened to the inner circle, the twelve? Peter, James, John, Bartholomew—who had all said, "We will die with you." Jesus asks James and John, "Are you able to drink the cup that I'm going to drink?" They respond, "We can do it." But what did they do?

Point number two on your outline: When Jesus died, the earliest followers fled in fear. None of the apostles showed up to bury their friend. He was buried by two secret disciples—people who had begun to follow Jesus but couldn't do so openly because they were afraid of what it might mean for their positions as leaders in Israel.

One of them was a man, a wealthy man, by the name of Joseph of Arimathea. He is the one who had the tomb that Jesus was placed in when He died. The second was a man named Nicodemus, who, incidentally, came to Jesus by night in John chapter 3. These two secret disciples are the ones who showed up and went to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, and said, "Can we have the body of Jesus to bury Him?"

But Peter wasn't there. John wasn't there. James wasn't there. Bartholomew and Thomas were also absent. Where were the guys who said, "We can drink of the cup that You're going to drink of"? Where were the guys who said, "Even if we have to die with You, we will not deny You"?

On the Sunday following the crucifixion of Jesus, two of His disciples, as Luke chapter 24 tells us, decided to go home. They thought, "He's dead. Our hopes are crushed." They were leaving Jerusalem, heading towards a village called Emmaus. The risen Jesus appeared to them, though they didn't recognize Him. For some reason, they couldn't recognize Him. They said to Jesus, "This Jesus of Nazareth was crucified three days ago, and we had hoped that He was the Messiah. We hoped that He would rescue Israel, but He's been dead for three days, and our hopes are gone."

So why do I bring all this up? What does this have to do with Easter? I bring this up because the earliest followers of Jesus followed Him for what we might call baser reasons—ignoble motivations. They did not start following Jesus for the best reasons. They followed Him because they had expectations of greatness, and all of those expectations died with Jesus on the cross. Their hopes were dashed. All of their presumptuous play for power and privilege, being close to Him, was crushed when Jesus died.

So here's the question: Why, when everything fell apart and these guys fled in fear, didn't these fearful deniers just go home and return to their lives, back to their fishing businesses, and back to business as usual before they had met Jesus? How is it that these same fearful deniers, who hid in fear while others buried their friend, later became the most bold and powerful evangelists of the good news of Jesus Christ?

Nearly every one of them was later executed as martyrs, declaring to their deaths this great truth about Christ. What could have changed? What possibly happened? What does this have to do with Easter? I suggest to you it has everything to do with Easter.

Point number three on your outline: the resurrection is the only plausible explanation for the transformation of the disciples. I realize that's a lot. We'll leave it up on the screen for a moment. The resurrection of Jesus is the only plausible explanation for the transformation of the disciples. What changed them from cowering in fear, fleeing for their lives, and being scared to death of the religious leaders, to standing before the same religious leaders a month and a half later and proclaiming, "He has risen again, He whom you crucified"? What changed? The only thing that could explain that transformation is that three days after the death of Christ on a cross outside of Jerusalem, they saw Him alive. It transformed everything.

So much so that now, 60 years have passed. When John writes this letter, about 60 years have gone by. John is a very old man now, and he writes this letter of encouragement to the church. After he had watched his friend be arrested, beaten, crucified, and buried, John writes this letter 60 years later. During those 60 years, all of John's close friends—his brother, Peter, Andrew, Thomas—have all died by this point. He is the last one. Most of those guys died in horrific ways, and all of them were taken to their death saying, "We have seen a man who was crucified and dead alive."

James, the brother of John, was the first of the twelve to be martyred for his faith. It is recorded in the Bible in Acts chapter 12, verse 2. James was killed by King Herod by beheading in about 42 AD, approximately 12 years after Jesus had died on the cross and rose from the dead. Not just James, but Andrew, Peter's brother and John's good friend, who grew up together in Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee, was crucified in what we call Turkey today. Thomas was pierced through with spears after he had taken the gospel to India.

Philip took the gospel to northern Africa. He was arrested and tortured to death. Matthew, who wrote the Gospel of Matthew, took the gospel to modern-day Iran and then to Ethiopia. In Ethiopia, church tradition holds that he was stabbed to death for his faith in Christ.

James, the son of Alphaeus, ministered in modern-day Syria, where he was stoned and clubbed to death. Simon the Zealot ministered in Persia, Iran, and he was killed for refusing to sacrifice to the sun god. Peter, John's good friend and partner in business, was crucified in the city of Rome around 64 AD by Nero, the Caesar of Rome. Church tradition holds that when Peter was taken to be crucified, he said, "I can't possibly be killed in the same manner as my Lord," and so he requested to be crucified upside down.

Paul, the apostle, though not listed among the twelve, was also a witness of the risen Jesus. He was beheaded a short time after Peter by Nero in Rome. The resurrection is the only plausible explanation for the transformation of the disciples.

Many people in our day, what we might call modernists or post-modernists, certainly humanists, express skepticism about this whole thing. They say, "I'm fine with you believing whatever you believe," because we live in a relativistic culture that promotes the idea of "you believe what you believe, I'll believe what I believe." They advocate for a live-and-let-live approach, suggesting that we should leave each other alone. They might say, "You can do your church thing; I just don't believe that."

The reason they often give for their disbelief is rooted in science. They argue that people who die don't come back to life, so they find the resurrection implausible. They claim not to believe in miracles, even though more than one-third of Americans—about 330 million people—believe they have personally experienced a miracle. Our society often asserts that there is no such thing as a miracle, despite the fact that medical science has documented actual miracles. These events are often recorded in medical charts as a "spontaneous resolution," because the term "miracle" doesn't sound scientific.

So, they conclude, "What happened? Well, it spontaneously resolved itself." However, as a believer in science, they still find the resurrection implausible.

Listen, it was just as implausible to the disciples 2,000 years ago. Jesus told them on at least three occasions in the Gospels, "I will rise again the third day." He predicted his death by crucifixion and his resurrection three days later at least three times. In Matthew's Gospel, it's recorded in Matthew 16:21, 17:23, and 20:19. However, every time he did, his disciples were confused about this.

Let me give you an example. In Mark chapter 9, verse 9, Peter, James, and John are with Jesus on a mountain in Jerusalem, and Jesus is glorified before them, which is an awesome experience. As they're coming down from this mountaintop experience, Jesus is having a conversation with Peter, James, and John. We read this in Mark 9:9: "Now, as they came down from the mountain, he commanded them that they should tell no one of these things that they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead." He instructed them not to tell anybody about this until he rises from the dead. So, they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant. Peter, James, and John were wondering, "What is he talking about? Rising from the dead?"

In the same chapter, Mark 9:31, he taught his disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and after he is killed, he will rise again the third day." But in verse 32, it states, "But they did not understand this saying and were afraid to ask him." It's like this: Jesus says, "I'm going to die. I'm going to rise again the third day," and they all respond, "What's he talking about? I don't know. You ask him."

Why were they confused about this? Because the concept of a bodily resurrection was not a part of Jewish belief. They didn't know or believe in a bodily resurrection; it was completely foreign to them. Therefore, the resurrection might seem implausible to our modern thinking, but it was just as implausible to the disciples 2,000 years ago. However, it is no more implausible than the transformation that took place in them three days after the crucifixion.

Virtually all skeptical historians and scholars in the last century have agreed on this. Do the research. Go read the research. I've read the research. Virtually all of the skeptical historians agree. One of the most noted is a gentleman by the name of Bart Ehrman.

He was a former Christian who has recanted Christianity. He has a problem with miracles. However, he states that, as a historian, it is very clear that the disciples saw or had some experience with a resurrected Jesus after his crucifixion. So, why, Bart, don't you believe in Christ? The answer is simple: he doesn't want to. It is not because the evidence doesn't support the resurrection; in fact, the evidence supports the resurrection.

Sixty years later, John, after all of his friends died professing to their deaths that Christ had raised from the dead, writes in 1 John 1, verse 2, "Life was manifested." This means it was made clear and revealed. Life was manifested, and we—who is the "we"? The twelve disciples—have seen it. We bear witness and declare to you that eternal life, which was with the Father God, was manifested to us. What is a greater manifestation of eternal life than that a man dies and rises again three days later? Life was manifested to us.

In verse 3, John continues, "That which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ." He adds that these things are written so that your joy may be full.

Point number four on your outline: there is no eternal life, fullness of joy, and fellowship with the Father without resurrection. Some people argue that the Christian faith, even apart from the resurrection, is still good because it offers a good philosophy that leads to a good life. I want to suggest to you that there is no eternal life, no fullness of joy, and no fellowship with the Father without resurrection.

In fact, it is even bigger than that. To show you how important this celebration is, turn to the left in your Bible, about 50 pages or so, to find a book called Corinthians—specifically, 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I want you to turn there so you can see this, as it is very important.

1 Corinthians chapter 15 was written about 15 years after Jesus died, was buried, and rose from the dead. It was written by the Apostle Paul, who had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, as recorded in Acts chapter 9, while he was on his way to the city of Damascus in Syria to persecute Christians because he did not believe in the resurrection and could not stand to see...

His Jewish brothers and sisters began to follow this Jesus of Nazareth on the testimony of the disciples who said that Jesus rose from the dead. Paul did not believe that the bodily resurrection was a thing, and so he tried to destroy Christians. However, he had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and his life did a full 180. The man who formerly tried to persecute Christians became the greatest preacher of the gospel that we have ever heard of.

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul writes, "Moreover, brethren, I want to declare to you the gospel, the good news, which I preach to you. This is the message that I declare, which also you received, in which you stand, and by which you are also saved." This is the message that brings salvation, Paul says, if you hold fast to the word which I preach to you, unless you have believed in vain.

In verse 3, he continues, "For I delivered to you, first of all, that which I also received." This is the message that I received from others and from Christ: that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures. This text is not original to Paul; it was a creed of the early church that historians believe was being spoken by the church within six months of the resurrection.

"Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. He was buried, and he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures." You might wonder, were there witnesses? Paul goes on to say in verse 5, "He was seen by Cephas," that's Peter, "and then by the twelve." After that, he was seen by over 500 brethren at one time, of whom the greater part remained until this present time, meaning you can go and investigate these things in Paul's day to find out if they were true. However, some have died or fallen asleep.

After that, he was seen by James, the half-brother of Jesus, who was a skeptic of Jesus before the crucifixion. Then he was seen by all the apostles. Last of all, he was seen by me, Paul, as one born out of due time.

So, here's the message Paul conveys: Christ died on a cross, which is historically verifiable, was placed in a tomb after his crucifixion, and three days later, the tomb was empty. More than 500 people saw him alive after his death. That's the message.

Now, skip down to verse 12. 1 Corinthians 15:12.

If Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? Some might argue that we have advanced so far beyond the people who lived in the first century that we no longer believe in resurrections. However, neither did they. We are not all that progressive. We see people die, and we see people buried. They do not come back to life. That is why it is so phenomenal.

Paul says, "I've been preaching, Peter's been preaching, John's been preaching. We've all been preaching that Jesus rose from the dead." Now, if people do not rise from the dead, how is it that we saw Him after His death? That is what he is saying. If Christ is preached, that He has been raised from the dead, how do some of you among them say that no resurrection of the dead happens?

In verse 13, Paul states that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. If no one rises, then Jesus did not rise. If Christ is not risen, then our proclamation, our preaching, is empty, and your trust, your faith, is empty. We are found to be liars, false witnesses of God, because we have testified that God raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. If Christ is not risen, your faith is empty, futile, and you are still in your sins.

Furthermore, those who have fallen asleep or died have just perished. In verse 19, Paul adds that if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable. He emphasizes that if there is no resurrection, the Christian faith as a philosophy is dead, and we are to be pitied if we believe there is a resurrection when, in fact, He did not rise. Paul is putting everything on the resurrection.

Skipping down to verse 32, he makes an amazing point. In the middle of verse 32, he says, "If the dead do not rise, what is the implication of that? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." If there is no resurrection, you might as well just be a hedonist, because this life is all there is. That is Paul's conclusion.

Point number five on your outline is that if there is no resurrection, then there is no point to Christianity. That is how serious this resurrection thing is.

If there's no resurrection, there's no point to Christianity. Everything about the Christian faith rises and falls on the empty tomb. The disciples, three days after the crucifixion and burial, proclaimed unto their deaths that the tomb was empty and that they had encountered the risen Christ. If there is no resurrection, then one might as well give up on the whole Christianity thing and the going to church aspect. If there is no resurrection, this is all a complete waste of time.

However, the early followers of Jesus, who immediately after the crucifixion fled in fear, became the most bold evangelists three days later, proclaiming, "We have seen alive a man who was dead." So, what is the implication of that? The implication is that everything Jesus said is true. If Christ Jesus rose from the dead, as Christians have believed for the last 2,000 years based on the eyewitness testimony of the earliest followers of Jesus—who were tortured and killed because of their proclamation that he was alive—then when Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to God but by me," he was speaking the truth.

If Jesus rose from the dead, which is what Christians believe, then when he said in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live," he was also speaking the truth. That is why he turned to the woman he was speaking to and asked, "Do you believe this?" Do you trust that Christ died for your sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and rose again the third day according to the Scriptures?

If you do, and if it's true—which I believe it is based on the eyewitness testimony of more than 500 witnesses—then in him is life and that more abundantly. In him is fellowship with God and with one another, and fullness of joy forever. That is really good news, and that is why the church is so excited about this resurrection. Because if he lives,

Then we can live also. Amen? Would you stand with me as we close?

Lord, we believe that when we stand like this, close our eyes, and speak, we are not just speaking into the air. We are actually communicating with the one who is the Messiah, the Anointed One, who is not dead. The tomb is empty. The angels on that Resurrection Sunday said, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, for He is risen."

And so, Lord, we are speaking and praying to the living God seated upon a throne. Because of Your death on the cross, our sins can be taken care of and pardoned. We can be forgiven, receiving Your grace, and we can be given life—the life that was manifested, that eternal life that was with the Father, is manifested to us so that we can have a relationship with You, God, and with one another, and that we can have fullness of joy.

Lord, we thank You for what Your grace gives to us in the cross and in the resurrection, the empty tomb. We rejoice today that the tomb is empty. We praise You, Jesus.

It may be that as we are standing here this morning, this is the first time that this message has clicked for you. Maybe you've heard it before, or perhaps you've never heard it before, but it has clicked for you today. If you would like to receive that gift of grace and forgiveness that Jesus gives, remember that He died for our sins in our place. He who knew no sin became sin for us so that we could be given righteousness from Him to be right with God.

If you would like to receive His pardon and His forgiving grace, I want to lead you in a prayer of faith, of confession, and of commitment. The Scriptures say, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." If you'd like to do that today, I want to lead you into a relationship with God.

So, as we are in an attitude of prayer, would you lift up your hand this morning if that's you?

Anyone here this morning who says, "I want to receive that grace and that forgiveness?" Lift up your hand high. I see you over here. God bless you. In the back, I see a couple of you. Anyone else? I see you back there. God bless. Lift up your hand high. Praise the Lord. I see you.

Those of you who are lifting your hands right now, I just want to lead you in a very simple prayer of confession and faith, asking the Lord to forgive you by His grace. He promises to do that and to give you a new life in Christ. That doesn't mean that every one of your problems goes away, but the biggest problem we all have goes away in that instance: the problem of sin and death.

So if that's you, just follow along with me. Pray this prayer out loud:

Dear Jesus, I confess that you are alive. I pray that you would forgive me of my sin, that you would come into my life by your Spirit, that you would give me new life, and that you would give me fullness of joy. Help me to follow you by faith and to trust you with my life. In Jesus' name, Amen.

I'll see you next time.