The Simple Message Of The Gospel

Please take your Bibles and open them up this morning to the book of Acts.

The book of Acts. We're pausing our series this morning.

! We're going through the book of Genesis regularly on Sunday mornings,

but we're going to pause it just for one week this morning to spend time in Acts chapter 17,

Acts 17:22–34

verses 22 through 34.

If you don't have your own Bible with you, that's okay.

We provide them in the seat back there in front of you,

and I would just encourage you to have a copy of God's Word open.

And if you don't have a copy of God's Word at all,

then please take that one home with you as our gift to you.

We want to make sure that you have a copy of God's Word available to you.

So the book of Acts, chapter 17, verses 22 through 34.

Acts 17:22–34

And when you've found that, let's stand this morning in honor of the reading of the Word of God.

It says,

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said,

Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

Whereas I passed along and observed the objects of your worship,

I found also an altar with this inscription,

To the unknown God.

What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.

The God who made the world and everything in it,

being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,

nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything,

since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth,

having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place,

that they should seek God,

and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.

Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.

For in him we live and move and have our being.

As even some of your own poets have said,

For we are indeed his offspring.

Being then God's offspring,

we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone,

an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

The times of ignorance God overlooked,

But now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness

by a man whom he has appointed.

And of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead,

some mocked,

but others said,

We will hear you again about this.

So Paul went out from their midst,

but some men joined him and believed,

among whom also were Dionysius, the Areopagot,

and a woman named Damaris,

and others with them.

Father God,

we praise you for the simple message of the gospel.

And we praise you for the efforts of Paul to go to Athens

and to proclaim this gospel message.

We praise you that this gospel message is going forth throughout the world,

even this very moment.

And we pray your blessing on the preaching of the word.

Would you make it clear to us?

Would we respond to you in faith?

We pray in Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

Imagine with me for a minute that you have come to a worship service.

Not making you work too hard quite yet.

You have come to this worship service gathering because,

well, you're not exactly sure why you're here.

Maybe a friend has invited you.

Maybe you saw a Facebook advertisement.

Maybe you were just driving by,

and you thought that it would be a good idea just to stop on in.

And you're not really sure what to believe about all of it.

You think that probably maybe you believe in some sort of spiritual something out there,

but you're not quite exactly sure what.

I mean, to be honest,

you're a little bit confused.

And maybe you pass by five or six other places of worship on the way here.

And so it seems like there's so many different opinions out there on which God is the right one.

How does He desire to be worshipped?

How would you even know?

And maybe it doesn't even matter.

You're here.

You're doing your best.

And you feel like it's probably wise just in case.

Make sure you have God or the gods,

whoever it may be,

in your corner.

And so you go.

You participate.

You sing the songs.

It feels good to be here.

You enjoy hearing the speaker talk as long as he doesn't go too long.

If you come on a special occasion,

you may even get a meal out of it.

Who knows?

But if you're honest,

you don't really have a clue what's going on.

It all seems a little bit strange and a little bit complicated.

You're not quite sure where you stand.

And it would be nice if somebody would just stand up and make it all plain and simple.

I can almost guarantee that this imaginary scenario is not so imaginary in many churches throughout the country this morning.

And in fact, it may not be so imaginary for some of you.

The truth is that we live in an age of great religious confusion.

People don't know who to worship or how to worship or why to worship.

If they ought to worship at all, it's all just a little bit confusing.

But it's not just our age.

What we see in our passage this morning is that this type of religious confusion is nothing new at all, is it?

In fact, we see it all the way back here in the first century in the book of Acts in Athens, Greece.

Here in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is journeying throughout the ancient world,

proclaiming the message of the gospel.

And he's come here to Athens, Greece.

And what he sees when he gets there is all sorts of religious confusion and uncertainty.

It's chaos.

And so what does Paul do?

Paul stands up here in our passage and he tries to very simply, very clearly clear up all of this religious confusion.

And what is the message that he brings to them?

What does he say?

He gives them the simple message of the gospel.

His goal and my goal for us this morning is to make sure that all of us have heard the simple message of the gospel.

We want to make certain that you have heard the good news.

And so we see it here in our passage in four parts this morning.

Four parts.

The gospel is a message about God.

It is a message about man.

It is a message about Christ.

And it is a message that demands a response.

Let's take a look here at each part.

First, we see the gospel is a message about God.

Look there with me starting in verse 22.

Now again, Paul is trying to bring some clarity here.

He is interacting with these deeply confused Athenians.

And where does he start?

The first thing he starts talking about is God.

Look there to verse 22.

Paul says,

He says,

He says,

I see all of these objects of your worship.

I pass by all of these different synagogues, all of these different altars.

It is clear that you are very religious.

But it is also clear, y'all are real confused.

And so let me make this clear to you.

He says it with absolute certainty, doesn't he?

There is a God.

You know, depending on who you speak with, that type of certainty is hard to come by, isn't it?

Some people claim to be atheists, meaning they don't believe that there is any sort of God.

Others claim to be agnostic.

That's a little bit more fashionable now, these days.

Where they claim, well, maybe there is a God.

Maybe there is not a God.

But I don't know.

And how could we know?

But Paul here speaks with absolute direct certainty.

He says there is a God.

How can he be so confident?

You know, if you're here and you're not a believer,

you might wonder as you speak with your Christian friends,

as you come to a Christian worship service,

we stand here every single week proclaiming the truth that there is a God.

Maybe you wonder,

How in the world can all these Christians be so confident?

No one's ever seen God.

No one's ever touched God.

No one's ever sat next to him.

How do you know that there is a God?

I think Paul would answer that question in two ways.

For one, he would say,

Look around you.

Look around you.

Greece is one of those places where I would love to visit.

Maybe some of y'all have been there before.

I've never been.

I would love to go.

But everything that you hear about Greece

is that it is just absolutely breathtakingly beautiful.

You have Mount Olympus over here.

You have Elephanisi Beach.

I don't know if I'm pronouncing that right.

Elephanisi Beach over here.

It's got this pink coral sand.

And then the light blue, breathtaking, clear waters over here.

If you go dive into the waters,

there's over 500 species of marine life there in the water to see and explore.

You have loggerhead turtles and parrotfish

and all sorts of octopus there.

There's Samaria Gorge up here.

Some of the best hiking in all of Europe.

You have volcanic landscapes over here.

Everywhere you look, there is natural beauty all around you.

And I promise y'all I'm not trying to sell you a trip to Greece this morning.

Although if you want to go, I'll go with you.

The point is,

this type of beauty in creation and in nature,

it has a message.

All of it proclaims that there is a beautiful,

supernatural creator who made it all.

One way that God makes himself known

is in and through his works of creation.

This is where Paul starts, isn't it?

He says,

The God who made the world and everything in it,

this God I proclaim to you.

Psalm 19 tells us,

The heavens declare the glory of God.

They have a message.

The heavens proclaim the glory of God.

The skies above proclaim his handiwork.

Day after day, they pour out speech.

Night after night, they reveal knowledge.

And listen to this.

There is no speech,

nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

In other words,

everyone in creation,

everyone in this room,

and everyone in the world

has heard this message loud and clear.

There is a God.

We can know there's a God

because we live in his creation.

And Paul keeps going.

He says,

Verse 25,

This God gives to mankind life and breath and everything.

It all comes from his sovereign hand.

Not only this,

this God actively rules over his creation.

Verse 26,

He determines the allotted periods

and the boundaries of all the dwelling places

of all the peoples of the earth.

God is actively at work in his creation.

All his creation proclaims who he is.

We have to start here.

There is a God,

and we live in his world.

But there's another second answer

that Paul might give to that question.

If you were to ask him,

Paul,

how do you know that there's a God?

He would say,

creation,

that's one,

but also,

and especially,

proclamation.

Proclamation.

See, the Athenians,

they weren't atheists.

They weren't even agnostics.

They worshipped as many gods

as they could possibly think up.

They were religious pluralists.

They had those coexist bumper stickers

long before we did.

They thought that all of these different gods,

all of these different religions

could play nicely together,

and we just kind of take a piece of truth from here

and a piece of truth from here,

and we can worship all of them, right?

And there's an old argument that people make,

and they give this example of an elephant.

Maybe you've heard this before.

And they say,

well,

what if each religion is just kind of looking at the elephant

from a different perspective?

And so Christians,

they're looking at the side of the elephant,

so they describe it as tall,

and they describe it as long.

But maybe the Muslims,

maybe they're looking at the elephant

from the top view,

and so they describe these tusks

coming out from the front,

and the long trunk,

and the hair running down from top to bottom.

And maybe the Buddhists,

maybe they're looking at it from behind,

and so they describe these sturdy hind legs,

and they describe the wagging tail.

But really,

all of us,

we're all playing the same game here.

We're all worshiping the same God.

We're all describing the same thing.

We just all have different perspectives,

right?

The response that we would give

to that sort of argument would be,

well,

what if that elephant can speak?

What if we're not left to figure it out

with our own limited perspective?

What if the elephant can actually speak

and reveal to himself

what he's like?

We believe that's exactly what God has done.

The God who created all things

has spoken.

He has revealed himself

through his word.

His holy word reveals his holy character

and his plans for his creation.

And even more than that,

we have the supreme revelation

of the person and the work

and the character of our holy God

in his Son,

Jesus Christ.

The very word of God

who became flesh

and dwelt among us.

Jesus Christ

is the revelation of God.

Friend,

if you are

confused or uncertain,

if you want to know about God,

spend time in his world,

but also and especially

spend time in his word.

Paul begins his message

simply telling us

there is a God.

He is our creator.

He is our ruler.

He has revealed himself

in his world.

He has revealed himself

in his word.

But he doesn't stop there.

Second,

we see also

this gospel message

is also a message about us.

The gospel is also

a message about man.

John Calvin,

he starts off his institutes

with this now famous line.

He says,

Nearly all wisdom

that we possess,

that is to say,

true and sound wisdom,

consists in two parts.

The knowledge of God

and the knowledge

of ourselves.

This is important.

We need to not only

understand who God is,

but in light of who he is,

we need to rightly understand

understand who we are.

And we should know

that it is not good news.

Not yet at least.

Calvin goes on to say,

well,

when we truly see ourselves,

when we pop open the hood

and look and see what's inside,

what will we find?

He says,

we are going to find

a teeming horde

of infirmities.

To put it plainly,

the gospel,

the bad news

of the gospel,

it tells us that

you and I

and everyone else,

we are all

deeply sinful.

There is a God

and we are at odds

with him

because of our sin.

There is a creator God

and we have not

honored him

as we ought to honor him.

What do I mean?

Well,

consider the Athenians.

Paul tells us plainly,

for one thing,

like the Athenians,

we are deeply confused

about the value

of religion.

Paul goes through the city.

He's bothered

by what he sees.

There's idols

all over the place.

There's temples everywhere.

There's worship

being offered up

to every sort of false god

that you can imagine.

And he says,

man,

y'all are really religious.

It's clear

that simply being religious

in and of itself,

it may not be a good thing,

is it?

The religious devotion

in and of itself,

if it's misdirected,

is not a good thing.

Our Muslim friends,

they are deeply religious.

Our Hindu friends

are deeply religious.

Some of y'all college

sports fans, right?

Deeply religious.

We're wrong to think

that religious devotion

in and of itself

brings us any closer

to God.

You know,

you don't earn

any brownie points

with God this morning

for being here,

for singing the songs,

for coming to church,

for doing all

the religious things.

Apart from genuine

repentance from your sin,

and apart from

a saving relationship

with Jesus Christ,

your religion is empty.

Not only this,

but like the Athenians,

we have all worshipped idols.

I remember when

we lived in Charlotte.

Amanda and I,

we went on a walk.

It was snowing outside,

and we decided to go

for a walk,

and we came up

to the Charlotte Buddha Temple,

and we were feeling

adventurous that day,

and so we decided

to walk inside

and just take a look.

They allowed us

to go in and do that,

and I will never forget

what I saw

when I went in there.

The walls were lined

from top to bottom,

up and down

with statues,

images,

idols,

and there were people there

bowing down to them,

head on the ground,

arms outstretched,

praying to these figures,

and I just thought,

somebody made these things.

Somebody pieced these together,

and somebody placed them

up on a shelf.

Somebody painted

the faces on them,

put them right there,

and how foolish it is

for these people

to bow down

and to worship

some created thing,

but the truth is,

we are all guilty

of this exact same thing.

I'll quote Calvin again.

He says,

the human heart

is an idol factory.

Constantly,

we are cranking out

idols in our hearts,

so no,

we may not bow down

to a statue,

but we make idols

of sports,

and we make idols

of sex,

and we make idols

of money,

we make idols

of success,

we make idols

of the approval

of others,

we make idols

of our children,

we make idols

of our marriage.

No,

we may not lay down

with our face

to the ground

and pray to these things,

but we give our lives

to these things,

and we put them

in a sacred place

in our heart

that belongs

to God alone.

That's idolatry.

Paul says,

how foolish is this?

Don't you see?

Verse 29,

don't you see?

He says,

we are the offspring

of God.

We are made

in the image of God.

Some of your own poets

have recognized this,

and if that's true,

then why would we

ever think

that God,

our creator,

is like gold

or silver

or stone?

Why would we ever

fall down

and worship

the created things

when our creator

is the one

that's deserving

of our praise?

Not only this,

but like the Athenians,

we have all

walked in pride.

Paul humbles them

a little bit here

in verse 24.

Look there.

Paul says,

this God

who created

heaven and earth,

he doesn't live

in your temples.

He's not served

by your hands

as though he needed

anything.

You realize

God does not need

anything from you.

What a prideful thought.

But again,

in our sin,

this is our default mode,

isn't it?

We want the universe

to be about us.

We want to be

in control

of our life.

And if we serve

a God,

if we worship

a God,

we got to have

a God that needs

us,

needs our service,

needs a little bit

of our help,

one we can pick up

and put down

exactly where we want

so we can be in control.

Paul says,

no.

What we need

is a bigger view

of God

and a smaller view

of ourself.

We have all

walked in pride.

It keeps going.

not only this,

but also like

the Athenians,

we have all sought

independence from God.

Look at verse 25

and verse 26.

Again,

Paul says,

God has given you

your life.

But have you

lived your life

for him?

God has given you

your breath.

He sustains your life

this very moment.

But do you consider

that every breath

you take

comes from him

and belongs to him?

Have you offered

back up

every single breath,

every single breath

you've taken

for your entire life?

Have you offered

it back up

to him in worship?

God has given you

everything,

he says.

But do you give

everything to God?

None of us have.

And not a single one

of us

have done this perfectly.

And I say all

because this is me too.

We all

have sought

independence

from God.

That's the essence

of sin.

Ultimately,

what this means

is that we have

all failed

to live up

to our purpose

for existing

in the first place.

Are you all

depressed yet?

Thought you'd come

in here and have

a peppy Easter message?

Think again.

We'll get there.

Verse 27 says,

God made us

that we should

seek him.

God made us

that we should

seek him.

God made you

that you should

seek him.

Have you sought

him?

Have you sought

him perfectly?

Have you always

sought him?

If not,

then friend,

join the club.

You are a sinner

just like me,

just like

the Athenians.

This is bad news.

And to make it

worse,

Paul says,

verse 31,

that there's a

time of judgment

coming against

the world.

Paul says,

God has fixed

a day of judgment

to address

every sin.

Look there

to verse 30.

He says,

the times of

ignorance God

overlooked,

but now he

commands all

people everywhere

to repent

because he has

fixed a day

on which he

will judge the

world in

righteousness

by a man

whom he has

appointed.

And of this

he has given

assurance to all

by raising him

from the dead.

So we see

there is an

infinite gap

between the

glory and

the holiness

of God

and between

our sin.

There is a

problem to be

dealt with.

There is an

issue.

God's wrath

is against us

in our sin.

There is a

coming day of

judgment.

What can we

do about this?

The command

is clear.

He says,

friend,

repent of

your sin.

Repent of

your sin.

This is the

bad news

of the gospel,

but tucked

into this

bad news

is some

incredibly

good news.

I wonder

if you saw

it.

And it's

the good

news that

we celebrate

here at

Easter and

that we

celebrate every

other Sunday

for that

matter.

Third,

we see

the gospel

is a

message

about

Jesus.

Did you

catch it?

Read it

again.

He says,

sinners

everywhere are

commanded to

repent of

their sins.

Why?

Because God

has fixed a

day of coming

judgment.

God will

judge the

world in

righteousness

by a man

whom he has

appointed.

Who could

this be?

God has

given assurance

of this to

all by

raising him

from the

dead.

Who could

this be?

who is

the God

appointed,

resurrected,

coming judge

of all the

earth?

It is

the risen

Lord

Jesus.

The

resurrection

of Jesus

is right

here at

the very

heart of

the message

of the

gospel.

And it's

the only

hope for

sinners like

us.

In fact,

this seems

to be at

the very

heart of

Paul's

message.

Even

before he

gets up

there at

the top

of the

Areopagus,

verse 18

says he

was

preaching

about

what?

What does

it say?

How does

it sum

up his

preaching?

He was

preaching

about

Jesus

and the

resurrection.

This is

right at

the heart

of the

Christian

message.

If you

want to

know what

Christians

are all

about,

we are

all about

Jesus

and the

resurrection.

Look at

how they

responded to

this message.

They thought

he was

crazy.

Isn't

it

interesting?

They sat

through all

that stuff

about God

making

all

things.

They sat

through all

that stuff.

The hard

talk about

his rebukes

of their

idolatry.

They endured

that well

enough.

But verse

32 says

when they

heard about

the resurrection

of the

dead,

now they

mock him

and they

say that's

crazy.

You realize

it's no

different

today?

Do you

realize how

absurd it

sounds to

claim that

somebody actually

rose from

the dead?

If you

zoom out of

our Christian

bubble here

for a minute,

when you

go and

talk to

a non-believer

and you

tell them

that you

actually

believe that

some 2,000

years ago

this man

named Jesus

who's not

actually just

a man,

he's God

in the flesh,

he lived

perfectly,

he died on

the cross,

he actually

died,

he was laid

in the tomb,

but then he

actually got

up from

the dead.

Do you

realize how

crazy we

sound?

It sounds

absurd.

And because

of this,

some religious

groups,

entire

denominations

that claim

to be

Christian,

they no

longer teach

that the

resurrection

actually happened.

They minimize

it to an

idea or

some spiritual

lesson about

perseverance or

something about

Christ's example

living on after

he died.

You may be

tempted to

minimize it

like that.

You may

think that it

sounds crazy,

but I promise

you,

I am

convinced,

every member

of this

church is

convinced that

Jesus actually,

really,

truly,

physically got

up from

the dead.

And in

fact,

if Jesus

is not

actually,

truly,

physically,

really risen

from the grave,

not just as

an idea,

not just as

an inspirational

lesson or some

nonsense like

that,

but really,

truly,

physically,

alive again,

none of this

matters one

bit.

The resurrection

isn't just

something that

is just a

make-believe

story that we

celebrate once

a year because

it's kind of

traditional and

it's just what

we do.

No,

everything hangs

on this.

Everything hangs

on whether or

not Jesus

Christ actually

rose from

the dead.

God.

This is what

Paul tells us

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

chapter 15,

this famous

chapter on the

resurrection of

Jesus.

He says,

I deliver to

you as of

first importance

what I also

received,

that Christ

died for our

sins in

accordance with

the scriptures,

scriptures,

that he was

buried,

that he was

raised on the

third day in

accordance with

the scriptures,

and that he

appeared to

Cephas and

then to the

twelve,

and then he

appeared to

more than

500 brothers

at one time,

most of whom

are still alive.

In other words,

if you have any

questions,

go ask them.

friend,

when we say

Christ is

risen,

and the

church responds,

he is risen

indeed,

this is a

historical

claim,

not primarily

a moral

claim,

or an

ethical

claim,

but actually,

we actually

believe,

I got to make

this clear to

you,

we actually

believe Jesus

rose from the

dead,

you know that,

right?

Billy Graham

says,

there is more

evidence that

Jesus rose from

the dead than

there is that

Julius Caesar

ever lived,

or that

Alexander the

Great died at

the age of

33.

Charles Spurgeon

says,

the resurrection

is a fact

better attested

than any event

recorded in

any history,

whether ancient

or modern.

There were so

many witnesses

to behold it

that if we do

in the least

degree receive

the credibility

of men's

testimonies,

we cannot

and we dare

not doubt

that Jesus

rose from

the dead.

Do you

believe it?

I just marvel

at this fact

for just a

minute.

Here we have

over 500

witnesses,

and not to

mention the

dramatic change

in the apostles,

they went from

fumbling and

bumbling,

scared and

uncertain,

and now to

giving everything

for the sake

of preaching

Christ resurrected.

How do you

explain that?

How do you

explain the

apostle Paul?

You know

this is the

same Paul

who used

to go around

arresting

Christians

and who

hated the

spread of

the gospel,

who wanted

to bottle

it up and

kill them

and wipe

them off

the face

of the

earth,

and now

he's going

around from

town to

town risking

injury,

risking death,

suffering,

in order to

proclaim that

Christ rose

from the

grave.

How do you

explain it?

How do you

explain the

sudden shift

all throughout

the ancient

world where

believers all

of a sudden

now move

their day of

worship from

Saturday now

to Sunday?

Why?

That's the

day of the

Lord's

resurrection.

Not to

mention to

this day all

anybody would

have to do to

just make all

these Christians

be quiet,

go dig up the

body of Jesus

and bring it

to me.

And they

can't do it.

Why?

Because the

tomb is

empty.

Christ has

risen.

death is

defeated.

Paul says

this is the

whole point.

This is what

Christ came to

do.

And this is at

the very center

and heart of

the message of

Christianity.

And if you

fit into that

category of

center, which

guess what?

We all do.

The message of

the gospel,

the good news,

is that Christ

Jesus has

come to live

in our place,

to die and

bear the wrath

of God that

we have

earned and

to rise again

from the

dead to

crush the

powers of

sin and

darkness.

It's proof

positive for

us.

Paul calls it

assurance.

And that

Jesus is in

fact God in

the flesh as

he claimed to

be.

His resurrection

is proof

positive for

us that his

sacrifice was

acceptable to

God.

His payment

for our sins

was sufficient

once for all.

his resurrection

is proof

positive.

It's assurance

that sin

and death

and the devil

himself have

been conquered.

Christ has

won.

His resurrection

is proof

positive that

every word of

the Lord

proves true

including his

promised coming

return.

The resurrection

of Jesus is

everything for

us.

As Paul says

in 1 Corinthians

15, if Christ

is still in the

tomb, we are

still in our

sins.

If the tomb

is full, then

all this

religion stuff

is empty.

If he is

dead, then so

is our hope.

But in fact,

Christ has been

raised from

the dead.

And this is the

basic message of

the gospel.

God is our

creator.

We have

rebelled against

him.

Christ has been

offered up as

the one time

sufficient payment

for our sins.

He lives and

reigns now in

resurrection.

But we can't

stop there.

Because fourth,

we see this

message demands

a response.

This message

demands that

you respond.

I wonder if it

would surprise you

to know that the

devil believes

everything that I've

talked about this

morning.

all the demons

in hell know

the truth about

God.

All the demons

in hell know

the truth about

our sin.

All the demons

in hell know

that Jesus has

risen from the

grave.

They know it

better than

most.

Simply knowing

the truth will

not save you.

You must make

a grace-enabled

response to the

truth.

Paul here,

he gives them

the gospel as

plain and simple

and clear as he

can make it.

God is the

creator and

ruler.

Man is a

sinner.

Christ is the

risen Savior.

But look at

what happens

here in verse

32.

There's a mixed

response to the

message of the

gospel.

Now when they

heard of the

resurrection of

the dead,

some mocked,

but others

said, we will

hear you again

about this.

Now you see

the difference?

Some immediately

reject it.

They mock it.

They write it

off as ridiculous.

Others are

intrigued by it.

They want to

hear more.

And Paul goes

out from their

midst in verse

34.

He says, but

some men joined

him and

believed.

Now I love

that he calls

them by name.

It says, Dionysius

heard the gospel

and he believed

the gospel that

day.

And Damaris,

she heard the

gospel that

day and she

put her faith

in Christ.

She believed

the gospel

that day.

And still

others with

them.

They responded

to this truth

by putting

their faith

in Christ.

Friend, there

are many

responses to

this gospel

message.

And I have

no doubt

that this

morning, some

of you probably

will leave

here laughing

at the idea

of an actual

physical

resurrection.

Some of y'all

will think that

is absurd.

And still

some of you

might be

intrigued.

Maybe you

come back

next week.

Maybe you

want to hear

more about

this Jesus

and who

he is and

what he's

done.

You're

curious.

But I hope

and I pray

and I think

that some

of you this

morning may

be like

Dionysius

and like

Damaris.

Some of you

this morning

may be ready

by the grace

of God

to leave

behind your

sin and to

put your

faith in

Jesus.

And if

that's you,

if you are

not a

believer,

friend, your

response this

morning to

this message

is very

simple.

Repent of

your sins

and put your

faith in

Christ.

Turn from

your sin

and put your

faith in the

risen Lord

Jesus and

you will leave

here this

morning risen

with Christ

as a new

creation.

creation.

The old

is gone.

Behold, the

new has

come.

And for

you, church

believer,

we respond to

this familiar

message with

a heart of

worship and

gratitude for

what God has

done in

Christ.

Praise God.

In Christ,

your sins

have been

forgiven.

Because Christ

has conquered,

death has

been defeated.

And because

Christ is

coming again,

he will bring

you to be

where he is

for the rest

of eternity

in the

presence of

God.

J.C.

Ryle says,

we need not

wonder that so

much importance

is attached

to our Lord's

resurrection.

It is the

seal and

headstone of

the great work

of redemption

which he came

to do.

It is the

crowning proof

that he has

paid the debt

which he undertook

to pay on

our behalf.

He's won the

battle which he

fought to

deliver us

from hell

and is

accepted as

our surety

and our

substitute

by our

Father in

Heaven.

Had he

never come

forth from

the prison

of the grave,

how could we

ever have

been sure

that our

ransom had

been fully

paid?

Had he

never risen

from his

conflict with

the last

enemy,

how could we

have felt

confident that

he has

overcome

death and

him that

had the

power of

death,

that is the

devil?

But thanks

be to

God.

We are

not left

in doubt.

The Lord

Jesus really

rose again

for our

justification.

True

Christians are

begotten

again unto

a lively

hope by the

resurrection of

Jesus Christ

from the

dead.

They may

boldly say

with Paul,

who is he

that condemns?

It is Christ

that died,

yes,

rather,

that is risen

again.

Father,

we praise

you that

Jesus has

risen from

the grave.

And we

praise you for

his sacrifice

in our place,

that he has

paid the debt

that we owe

for our sin

and has been

raised for our

justification for

all who turn

from their sin

and put their

faith in him.

We praise you

for the gift of

eternal life that

you freely give

to all who

believe.

And we love

you,

Father.

We praise you

for this in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.