40 Days to the Cross - The What and the So What of Easter

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Helping people know, enjoy, and glorify God.

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Lord Jesus, that's the gospel.

Because of the life, the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus, sin no longer has power over us.

It's lost its grip on me.

So we're free.

And the Bible says, whoever the Son is set free, if the Son sets you free, you're free indeed.

And so we've been liberated from just being religious, being desperate, trying harder, trying to do good, to outdo our bad.

We've been liberated from all that.

We've not only been liberated from something, we've been delivered to something.

And so, Lord, to just press in on our head and our heart the consequence, the powerful, beautiful consequence of the resurrection today.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Amen.

You can have a seat.

We have a Bible.

I invite you to take it and open up to Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

And I'll start reading in verse 36.

I want to talk to you this morning about the what and the so what of Easter.

The what and the so what of Easter.

Every sermon has two components.

The what, where you kind of look at what the Bible says, and then you ask the question, at least our culture does, uh, so what?

And so the resurrection is one of those things that, if we're not careful, it just kind of Easter erodes into a photo op for our kids.

And so I want to talk to you about, okay, what's the big deal about the resurrection?

Here's what the Bible says.

Now, earlier, uh Mike, one of our elders, uh, read uh from Matthew 28 about the story of the resurrection.

I want to pick up this is resurrected Jesus talking.

So if we're gonna listen to someone talk about the resurrection, who better than resurrected Jesus to tell us about its implications in our life?

Amen?

That was pathetic.

Let's try that again.

Who better?

Now think just for a minute.

I'm not coming to you as a preacher today.

You're not hearing from a man today, okay?

You shouldn't have shaved your legs to come hear a man.

Stay home and check the ham, okay?

Make sure it doesn't burn.

But the resurrected Jesus is gonna talk today, and who better to talk about the ramifications of the resurrection in our life than a resurrected Jesus?

Amen?

That's better.

Now let's read.

The Bible says this in Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

And let me stop right here, by the way.

If you're visiting today or you hadn't been in church since last Easter, or this is somebody, you know, like, hey, come and relax.

No one's gonna beat you with a guilt stick today.

We're not gonna dim the lights and hum kumbaya and pass out snakes and spin them around or anything.

We're just gonna read the Bible.

I'm gonna tell you what this means.

Now, by the way, the Bible's not just intended for your heart, how you feel, it's intended for your head, how you think.

So be prepared to do both today, okay?

This is what Jesus says.

Luke chapter 24, verse 36.

Luke 24:36

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and he said to them, Peace to you.

And they were startled and frightened, and thought they saw a spirit or a ghost.

And he said to them, Why are you troubled?

And why do doubts rise arise in your hearts?

See my hands and my feet, that is I myself touch me and see.

For a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet, and while he still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat?

And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and he ate it before them.

Then, let me stop right there.

Jesus settles it for them once in all.

I'm not a ghost, I'm not Patrick Swayze coming to help you make pottery while music plays in the background, okay?

I'm a real, living, breathing, flesh and blood, tangible God who died and rose again.

That's why he says in verse 44, then.

Because if Jesus is not really the Son of God, then what difference does it make what he said?

He's just a religious kook that we should ignore along with all the other religious kooks.

But if he is the Son of God, if he died like he said he was going to, and he rose from the dead, then does that not put an emphasis on his words that don't belong to anybody else's words?

That's why Jesus says this in verse 44.

Then he said to them, These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.

That everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and said to them, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer on the third day, rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in the name in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things, and behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.

But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

The so what?

The what and the so what of Easter.

The what is it just like he said, Jesus rose from the dead.

The so what is four things that Jesus says this morning.

Number one, the resurrection means the life of Jesus is verifiable.

It's verifiable.

What do you mean?

That's verse 44.

He said, These are the words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, and that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

He's talking about the Old Testament.

Now, the Bible's not Christ-centered because it's kind of generally about Jesus.

He's kind of in there.

The Bible's Christ-centered because the Bible's primary purpose from beginning to the end is to point us towards the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus.

Now let me say that again because we quickly forget that in America.

The Bible's primary purpose is to point us from the beginning to the end.

You can't get two pages into the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis.

A couple pages in, you're reading chapter 3, that this messianic promise where God says to the serpent who deceived Adam and Eve, hey, he will he will crush your head or bruise your head, and you'll bruise his heel.

And so from very early on, you see that's the first reference to Jesus, the Messiah.

And all through the everything in the Bible points to that.

That's what I mean when I say that the resurrection means that the life of Jesus is verifiable.

He stands before his disciples who are doubting.

And he eats fish and says, Hey, I'm not a ghost.

I'm not some apparition.

It's like my youngest daughter watches a show on the uh on the animal planet or whatever called Searching for Bigfoot.

And I just stopped the other day.

I was walking through and I said, Have you noticed they've never found this guy?

Why do you keep watching?

And she goes, Oh, Dad, they got some sounds.

This one guy says, that's a squatch.

That's a squatch.

No, no, no, no.

That guy's a moron.

There's no such thing as a sosquatch, okay?

Don't waste your mental energy on things like this.

Are you done, Dad?

Yeah, but yeah, I mean, it's all we hear something out in the out in the woods, and they point their little TV antennas.

Oh, there's a Sasquatch over there.

No, no, there's not.

Why do I tell you that?

Because if you're not careful, you can think about God like that.

And Jesus says, hey, I'm not some spirit, I'm not a ghost.

So he eats in front of them.

And so the life of Jesus is verifiable.

He says everything written about me in the law of Moses, first five books of the Bible, the prophets and the Psalms, the entire Old Testament, all of it points forward.

Why do I tell you that?

Because in America, we consume Jesus upon our lust and we we turn the Bible into a playbook for life.

And we make Jesus out to be some kind of life coach that exists to make you better and show you how to manage your money and raise your kids and fix your marriage.

And pretty soon, if you're not careful, you open the Bible and you read it like a tenth grader reads their high school yearbook.

They open it up and look for their picture.

And so you've got to have a mechanism by which you kind of bring yourself back to what it's all about.

And I'm just going to confess: here's my mechanism for doing that.

I am 50 years old.

I am your pastor.

I have a master's degree in theology.

Not that it means anything.

And sometimes I find myself reading the Bible to write sermons or to prepare or to study or to understand.

And I forget that everything in the Bible points to Jesus.

And so my 11-year-old daughter has one of these.

She doesn't read it anymore because I'm big now and stuff.

And so every once in a while the conversation comes up.

Should we give that away?

No.

No.

Every once in a while, I'll put a box in my kid's room out in the hall and say, put anything in the box you're not wearing or don't play with anymore.

And this never goes in the box.

Why?

Because here's what I do.

On occasion, I'll sneak into my kids' room when she's asleep, and I'll find this on her desk, and I'll turn, not to any of the stories.

I turn to the very beginning and I remind myself that the Bible is radically Christ-centered.

And here's why.

This is the introduction to the Jesus storybook Bible written for six-year-olds.

That rescues your pastor from turning the Bible into a self-help manual, like churches all over America do.

This is what the introduction says.

God wrote, I love you.

He wrote it in the sky and on the earth and under the sea.

He wrote his message everywhere because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror, to show us what he's like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing, the way a kitten chases her tail, the way red poppies grow wild, the way a dolphin swims.

And God put it into words too.

And he wrote it in a book called The Bible.

Now some people think the Bible is a book of rules telling you what you should and shouldn't do.

The Bible certainly does have some rules in it.

They show you how life works best.

But the Bible isn't mainly about you and what you should be doing, it's about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy.

The Bible does have some heroes in it, but as you'll soon find out, most of the people in the Bible aren't heroes at all.

They make some big mistakes, sometimes on purpose.

They get afraid and they run away, and at times they are downright mean.

It's an adventure story about a young hero who comes from a far country to win back his lost treasure.

It's a love story about a brave prince who leaves his palace, his throne, everything to rescue the one he loves.

It's like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life.

You see, the best thing about this story is it's true.

There's lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one big story: the story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

It takes the whole Bible to tell the story.

And at the center of the story, there's a baby.

Every story in the Bible whispers his name.

He's like the missing piece in a puzzle, the piece that makes all the other pieces fit together.

And suddenly you can see a beautiful picture.

And this is no ordinary baby.

This is the child upon whom everything would depend.

This is the child who would one day, but wait.

Our story starts where all good stories start.

Right at the very beginning.

And I close my 11-year-old daughter's Jesus storybook Bible, and I walk back into her room quietly, and I set it on her desk, and I go set it at my kitchen table and weep like a kitty.

Why?

Because I have the capacity to kind of open the Bible and look for what it says about me and what and miss what it says about Jesus.

And on this resurrection day, the resurrection means that the life of Jesus is verifiable.

You can't get around that.

You can't pick and choose in the Bible, stories you like, truths you don't agree with or you don't believe, because everything in there points to him.

It's about him.

It's not about what us and what we should do, it's about him and what he has done.

And because the life of Jesus is verifiable, beloved, don't miss this today.

Before you leave this world, you are going to have to come to some conclusions about what your response to the life of Jesus is going to be.

Allow me to demonstrate.

Remember when Jesus was on trial, they were sending him back and forth, and then Pilate didn't want to make a decision, so he got this convicted convict named Barabbas.

You notice you don't go to school with anybody named Barabbas?

That's how wrong they got it on that day.

None of you are going to name your kid Barabbas, okay?

But they got a thief named Barabbas and Jesus.

And Pilate looked at the crowd because he was a politician.

He was just a chicken.

He was just a Frady cat.

He was just, hey, let me take a public opinion poll.

Who do you want me to release to you?

Jesus or Barabbas?

And the crowd said, give us Barabbas.

And they're like, oh yeah.

And so they let the guilty guy go.

But see, you can choose the wrong thing and you still have to deal with Jesus.

Which is why Barabbas looked at the crowd and said, Then what shall I do with Jesus who's called to Christ?

You can spend your entire life avoiding church, not thinking about, not believing in Christianity, not believing that Jesus was the Son of God.

And before you leave this world, you will have to answer the question, what are you going to do with Jesus who's called to Christ?

Why?

Because his life is verifiable.

You can't get away from it.

You can't just appreciate it.

You got to respond to it.

The resurrection tells us that.

Jesus resurrected, walking on the road to Emmaus, he says, Hey, everything written about me in the Old Testament has been filled full by my life, my death, and my resurrection.

Second thing that Jesus tells us is that the resurrection means that the death of Jesus was purposeful.

Look at verse 46.

He says, and then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said, Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.

And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

The resurrection means the death of Jesus was purposeful.

How do you mean?

Without the resurrection, the suffering of Jesus makes no sense.

It has no meaning.

Let me say that again.

Without the resurrection, the suffering of Jesus, it makes no sense.

It has no context.

But if the resurrection means, like the Bible says it does, that hey, his death was purposeful.

And by the way, that's one of the things that Jesus labored hard to teach his disciples, but they couldn't grasp it, okay?

Someone stopped me in the hallway over here and said, Oh, by the way, our son and our daughter-in-law are pregnant and with their first child.

And this thought went through my mind, congratulations.

Here's my unsolicited parent advice.

Because people every once in a while say, You got kids, what's it like?

And I'm like, oh, anybody here parents?

Anybody?

Can I see your hand?

Yeah.

Back me up on this.

Because some people don't have kids are going to go, oh, your pastor, he drinks too much coffee.

He needs to lighten up.

No, you shut up, okay?

You don't have kids.

Here's what parenting is: it's saying the same thing over and over and over.

True or false?

And you tell them, like, for example, I tell my kids, hey, I don't care.

Drink stuff, eat stuff, put your dishes in the sink or in the dishwasher when you're done.

And they look at me right in the eye and go, okay, dad.

And every morning I get up.

There's not like one or two, there's like six or nine.

I went into my 17-year-old's bedroom the other day.

We were running low on dishes.

They're all in there.

They're on the floor.

They're on the bookshelf.

Got a pastry.

Got a pastry, a whole cheese Danish thing about a foot long.

Just took the lid off with a fork.

She'd been sick for three days and just sat in bed and ate the whole thing.

And they just set it down on the floor.

I'm like, what?

The record was 12.

12 glasses out of her bedroom at one time.

And they've all got the milky dried residue of whatever they drank in the bottom of it.

That's what gets this old man.

I'm like your grandpa.

I'm like, rinse the glass out, okay?

No.

No.

My kids can't.

They can't pick stuff up.

They can't.

I say, hey, before you go to bed, just pick up all your stuff, put it in this room.

Every morning I get up and I'm just like, and you know what?

It's a very Christ-like feeling.

That's what I tell myself.

I am like Jesus all of a sudden.

Now, if you're visiting right now, you're going, what in the cat hair is this loser talking about?

Allow me to demonstrate.

The resurrection, I said, makes no the resurrection means the death of Jesus was purposeful.

This is what Jesus talked about.

Three different occasions, he told his disciples, and each time with more clarity and detail.

Mark chapter 8, Mark chapter 9, Mark chapter 10.

Mark 8 · chapter mention Mark 9 · chapter mention Mark 10 · chapter mention

Allow me to read.

Mark chapter 8, verse 31.

Mark 8:31

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

And he said this plainly.

Hello?

He said this plainly.

And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But turning and seeing his disciples, by the way, Jesus turns and sees the disciples, and he's like, I don't want anybody else to miss it the way Peter has missed it.

And so turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, Get behind me, Satan, for you're not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.

Next chapter, Mark chapter 9, verse 31.

Mark 9:31

And as they went on from there and they passed through Galilee, he did not want anyone to know.

For he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.

And when he is killed, after three days, he will rise.

But they did not understand the saying and were afraid to ask him.

You would think this is starting to sound familiar, but it doesn't.

It gets worse in the very next chapter, Mark chapter 10, verse 33, and taking the twelve again, again, circle that word.

Mark 10:33

He began to tell them what was to happen to him, saying, See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles, and they will mock him and spit on him and flog him and kill him.

And after three days, he will rise.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm walking with Jesus, I'm hanging out with Jesus, and three times and back to back to back, just I mean, pretty close proximity to each other.

He tells me, and each time with more granularity and detail, I'm thinking, okay, let's talk about this.

You know what they said in response to this in chapter 10 on the third time?

You know what they said?

They said, and I quote, look in your Bibles.

It's then there.

Mark chapter 10, verse 35, to his disciples said, We want you to give us whatever we're fixing to ask you.

Mark 10:35

Wait a minute.

What did Jesus not just say that they will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him, and after three days he will rise?

Okay, Jesus, we want you to give us whatever we're fixing to ask you for.

Let me tell you how jacked up that is, my man.

That's like you going to lunch here in a few minutes, and Grandpa saying to your kids, hey, I got about a month to live, and one of your kids going, Can I have your truck?

Would you not get your kid by the neck and go, come outside?

Let me just slap the taste out of your mouth.

But Jesus just smiles like, Are you kidding me?

Why?

Why does he tell them over and over and over and over?

Here's why.

At some point you got to ask that question.

He's not saying to them, hey, let me show you how to live.

He's saying, Let me tell you why I'm gonna die.

And here, beloved, said all that to say this Jesus dies.

We got that.

But why?

The Bible tells us first and foremost that he suffers for the sins of humanity in our place as our substitute because of this.

He is our savior, the only one who can save us from our sin.

Beloved, we live in a country where sin, we're slowly doing away with sin.

And because let's think a little bit.

Can you think a little bit on Easter?

I know the suit doesn't fit quite like it did last Easter.

Don't wear it anymore.

Okay?

But look at me.

Here's where we are in America.

We're on the slippery slope.

The reason, when's the last time you heard somebody refer to Jesus as Savior?

He's a moral example, he's a prophet, he's a good man, he's a bunch of things.

Because, see, here's the indicting nature of that.

Because if he's savior, then you gotta ask, what is he saving us from?

He's saving us from our sin.

Well, we don't sin anymore in America.

We just express our own individuality.

We live in a country, beloved, that is so jacked up and so misses the mark when it comes to what the Bible says is sin, that two gay men have more rights to make a Christian bake them a cake than an unborn fetus does to not be killed.

Happy Easter.

That's messed up.

And I'm not mad at anybody, I'm not mad at the two gay guys.

I'm just saying, I mean, we live in a country where religious right means just equates to discrimination.

We're gonna discriminate against everybody.

I'm gonna tell you that the discrimination is coming from the other end, and you might want to pull your head out of the neutral sand, Switzerland, and realize that you're just being swallowed up in mediocrity.

You're being swallowed up because there's no sin.

See, we're slowly doing away with sin, and when you don't have sin, what do you need a savior for?

And yet the Bible says very clear from day one.

This is how the Bible talked about him.

Luke chapter 2.

Luke 2 · chapter mention

This is the birth announcement.

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people, for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord.

That's that's that's how Jesus kind of broke into our world.

And in the book of Acts, in the book where the church was formed, where 3,000 people were saved in one day because they were cut to the quick and said, What must we do to be saved?

Oh my gosh, we're sinners.

We're out of sinners in America.

We just have a bunch of individuals.

But in the book of Acts, in the Bible, they had real sinners, and real disciples stood up and preached the real gospel and said to them, The God of our fathers, Acts chapter 5, the God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

And God exalted him at the right hand as leader and savior.

And to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

See, the death of Jesus is purposeful because without it, beloved, who saves you from your sins?

You do.

You have to.

And that's impossible.

The Bible says in Romans chapter 3, verse 20, by works of the law, no one will be justified in God's eyes.

Romans 3:20

Third statement of the resurrection.

The resurrection makes forgiveness possible.

Verse 47, you still with me?

And Jesus says that it is written that Christ should suffer and die and suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, verse 47, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

See, the resurrection makes forgiveness possible, beloved, because God is accepted as sufficient Jesus' death in our place.

Let me say that again.

The reason forgiveness is possible, and the reason Jesus rose from the dead, if there was still debt to be paid, why raise Jesus from the dead?

He didn't finish the job.

But if the Bible's true, and it is, when Jesus hangs on the cross and says, it is finished, and he goes to the grave for three days and he rises from the dead as we're celebrate on this resurrection day, then the Bible says that forgiveness is not only a possibility, but it's an availability.

And see, here Jesus says this.

Don't miss what Jesus says.

He says, hey, and repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed.

Here's where the church in America has dropped the ball.

We preach forgiveness, but not repentance.

And when you separate, stick with me, just think for a minute.

When you separate forgiveness from repentance, what you do is you make yourself into a very spiritual hypocrite who has a bunch of religious rituals that never really seem to get to the heart of the matter.

It's kind of like men when you're sitting on your couch and you tell your wife, hey, scratch my back.

And she's scratching everywhere, and you're like, up, down, right, left, and finally you just get frustrated.

And you're just like, just quit.

And she's like, well, I was scratching your back, but not where I needed you to scratch it, okay?

And so you're like contorting yourself.

And the Bible says, when you separate repentance from forgiveness, that you're doing the same thing.

You're never going to get down to the heart of the matter.

You say, why is that?

I'll show you in the Bible.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 11.

Hebrews 10:11

This is what the Bible says.

He says that every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.

Look at that.

You're smart people.

For some of you in this room, this is summarized your life.

And every person stands daily at his service.

At the list of religious rules or traditions that you're willing to believe in, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, saying the same thing.

God, I'm sorry, I want to do better.

This is affecting my personal happiness.

God, this is not good.

This is causing me to have some addictions because I'm engaging in self-medicating behavior, whatever.

The Bible says, hey, when you just talk about forgiveness without talking about repentance, because see, repentance is a turning away from sin.

Forgiveness is, I just don't want to feel the consequences of it.

God loves us too much to let us sin and not feel the consequence of it.

Did you know that?

Let me say that again because that doesn't make sense to our modern mind.

God loves you way too much to let you sin and not feel the consequence of it.

Why?

Because the Bible says that the ultimate consequence of sin is what?

Is death.

How much do you have to hate someone to watch them kill themselves and not warn them about it?

That's not a God of love.

We live in a culture that says, well, my God's a God of love, not a God of judgment.

It's not about love or judgment, it's about the truth.

Jesus says very plainly, hey, and this is what you should preach.

Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed.

The resurrection, beloved, makes forgiveness possible.

It rescues you and I from being the people that stand every day and offer the same sacrifices.

Here's what ought to make you crazy.

Hebrews 10, 11 says that can never take away sin.

Ask yourself, is your religious tradition taking sin out of your life?

Because, see, that's the great thing about repentance.

It's a turning and a walking away.

I have a friend of mine that uh worked for an oil company here in town, and some of his buddies are like, uh, hey, we're gonna go to Hooters and have lunch.

And he just smiled and said, That's not a part of my life.

And they're like, Oh man, we love the chicken wings.

Some of you are like, I'm not making a facial expression at all.

What is Hooters?

I have no idea.

See, what my friend Jim was saying was, that's I I've turned away from that kind of living.

That's just not a part of my life.

He didn't say to them, Oh, you wicked sinners, go down there and eat them chicken wings, look at them nudie-noody girls.

He just smiled and said, That's not a part of my life, fellas.

And in that moment, they were forced to think about why is this part of our lives?

See, repentance and forgiveness.

If you separate repentance from forgiveness, you've just obligated yourself to a life of empty religious rituals where you stand and say and do the same things, and inside you don't even believe them anymore.

You're just doing them so everybody that's watching thinks something's true of you that you know isn't.

The Bible says, hey, forgiveness without repentance is not.

And by the way, our culture doesn't understand forgiveness.

I I talk to people all the time.

About people come to me and say, hey, you know, I just need to talk.

I kind of got some things in my life.

And I'm like, hey, we're in the forgiveness business here.

Talk to me.

So I I when I say our culture doesn't understand forgiveness, I want to read you a quote.

This is from a young man named Adam Lee.

He's a blogger, he's an atheist.

He doesn't believe in God.

He's very opinionated, uh, and a lot of people read you.

He lives in New York, which apparently makes you an expert on every topic known to humanity.

Uh but but I'd like to see how other people think sometimes.

This is how, this is, this is how scandalous, even to an unbeliever, okay?

This is not what the Bible teaches, okay?

Let me be clear about that before I put the quote up.

But this is how scandalous forgiveness is so scandalous that an atheist is offended by it.

This is what he said.

This is the problem, quote.

This is a problem I have with Christian belief in grace.

It emphasizes undeserved forgiveness.

To dispense forgiveness indiscriminately with no regard to whether it is deserved or no need for the offender to make restitution threatens to make forgiveness a meaningless concept.

A person who finds remorse only at the very end of life, when there's no further chance of repairing the harm they caused, has come to their senses too late to find forgiveness.

Words alone, without action, do little or nothing to alleviate suffering.

This is a major break with religious traditions, most of which believe that a last-minute repentance can make up for a lifetime of evil.

That view has always struck me as outrageous, and any worthwhile secular morality would do right to discard it.

What Adam Lee, the atheist blogger, believes is once you get forgiveness, you've got to go out and add some works to it to demonstrate that you really deserve it.

He even says, and don't miss this, he says, the problem I have with Christian belief in grace is this it emphasizes undeserved forgiveness.

Hey, beloved, none of us deserve to be forgiven.

I don't deserve to be forgiven.

You dang straight, it emphasizes undeserved forgiveness.

But he goes on.

He says to dispense forgiveness indiscriminately with no regard to whether it's deserved or no need for the offender to make restitution.

Beloved, that's not grace, that's karma.

The Bible, God never says make restitution.

He says, receive forgiveness full and free.

So here's the good news of the gospel today, okay?

You still with me?

Regardless of what you've done in this room, the God of the universe who knows it all stands ready to forgive you and not put you under the law and say, Oh, because the Bible even says in Psalm 130, verse 4, oh Lord, if you kept a record of sins, who could stand?

Psalms 130:4

But with you, there's forgiveness.

Therefore, you are feared.

You understand people, the people who get forgiveness, they don't live in fear like servile fear, but they're just, they're just this sense of awe, like, oh gosh, why would I want to keep doing that which separates me from God?

If you, O Lord, kept a record of sins, he's not keeping a record of sins.

Because we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

This forgiveness is so impactful.

Jesus believed it so much that he said four things worth remembering this morning.

Hear these for just a moment as we get as we get to the end.

Jesus says, number one, and it should be proclaimed.

It should be, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed.

You talked this week, but you probably didn't proclaim.

It's like walking into work with a bullhorn.

Hear you, hear you.

Jesus says, This is so good, you should turn up the volume on it.

I love going to lunch with some of you because usually what happens is that a waiter or waitress, we get into a spiritual conversation, and some of you look at me like, this really does happen.

How are you talking about this in sermons?

And I just, I just didn't know if you just like made this stuff up, like Jimmy Fallon writing thank you notes, and here's what it usually comes around, it usually revolves around forgiveness.

And I tell waiters and waitresses, look them in the eye and say, There's nothing you've done that God can't forgive you for.

And they're like, whoa.

Well, why'd you say that?

Because you just look all heavy inside.

Oh man, yeah, I mean, I'm just messed up.

I mean, my girlfriend and I are living together and she's kicking me out, and sin never gets easier.

And the guy said, What do you mean, sin?

To live with your girlfriend before you get married?

That's sin.

I ain't hating on you or anything, but but I if I love you, I'm gonna tell you you're destroying yourself.

The wages of sin is death.

Something in you dies every time you sin.

And what may die now when you're 23 is the ability to look your 16-year-old son in the face and say, Don't have sex before you get married.

Because you're gonna lay that on him and he's gonna look at you and go, What about you, Dad?

What are you gonna say?

Yeah, your mom and I shacked up.

Can you feel it in here?

Y'all like, get back to the resurrection.

Look at me.

If you're living together, I ain't mad at you.

I'm not gonna chase you to your car, you sinners.

No, not at all.

I'm not mad at you.

I don't think you're bad people.

I just think, hey, think about it.

Think about it because something dies in me.

Anytime I sin, something dies.

And something's dying in you.

Which is why what one generation allows in moderation, the next one excuses in excess.

Be careful, beloved, that you're not right now in your 20s and early 30s are setting your kids up just to go off the deep end because you have no moral authority to look at them and kind of go, hey, that's wrong.

They're not going to need a savior because they're not sinning.

They're just following your example.

That's the heart of thinking about how you live.

Jesus says this should be proclaimed.

Secondly, he says, in his name.

In his name.

Why is that a big deal?

Because the Bible says in Acts chapter 4, verse 12, there's no name given under heaven whereby which men should be saved except the name of Jesus.

Acts 4:12

There's an exclusivity to Christianity that we can't apologize for anymore.

We've got to stop acting like, well, this isn't true.

No, this is true.

He says, this should be proclaimed, secondly, in his name, thirdly, to all nations.

Let me ask you, you want to think about one more thing before I let you out here this morning?

Ask yourself this question.

What is so true that if I put you in a helicopter and dropped you out in any nation in the world, it would be true there, as true as it is right here in Sugarland.

What the Bible is saying, more importantly, what Jesus is saying is the universal need of humanity is forgiveness.

He says, repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations thirdly.

And then Jesus says this begin in Jerusalem.

Why?

Have you been to Jerusalem?

It's the most religious city on the planet.

People are killing each other to stake their flag and go, no, our way's the right way.

Jesus says, start here, or they're going to kill each other in the name of religion.

Not that that doesn't go on anywhere.

You see how relevant Jesus is?

He says, hey, this is how powerful this reality is.

Fourthly and finally, the so what of the resurrection says this the resurrection means that God is available.

Look at verse 49.

You still awake?

Pinch the baby.

You're headed to grandma's in four minutes.

Can you smell the ham?

Amen?

Verse 49.

Somebody stopped me in the in the hallway and said, I got the ham in the oven.

I said, I'll follow you to the car right now.

They can just sing for the whole time.

Don't tempt me, people.

Jesus says, You're a witness of these things, verse 49.

And behold, I'm sending you the promise of my Father upon you.

But stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high.

The promise of the Father.

What do you mean?

The resurrection means God is available.

The promise of the Father that Jesus refers to is the Holy Spirit.

He says, I'm sending the promise of the Father upon you.

Jesus said back in John 14 when he's explaining to his disciples, hey, I'm out of here.

I'm going back to heaven.

They were like, What?

No way.

And he goes, I gotta go.

But hey, I won't leave you as orphans.

I'll send the Holy Spirit, and He'll be with you forever.

He'll lead you into the truth.

See, the resurrection means that we don't have an absent God who watches in heaven.

We have a very present God.

The Bible talks about him in such tangible terms.

He says in Matthew 28, hey, go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

And teach them to obey everything I've commanded you.

And lo, and check this out.

Don't miss this.

I'm with you always.

Even to the end of the age.

Hebrews 13:5, he says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

Hebrews 13:5

I'll never leave you nor forsake you.

I'm not the bad ex-lover you had.

I'm not your first husband or your first wife.

I'm not your dad that abandoned you.

I will never leave you nor forsake you.

It says in the 23rd Psalm, Yea, though I walk through the valley in the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil.

Why?

Because you're with me.

He's not just with you.

He's speaking.

Isaiah 30, 21.

God says, if you stray to the left or to the right, you'll hear a voice behind you saying, This is the way.

Walk in it.

That's how real and available and tangible this God is.

Remember in the fourth grade, I had an experience that helped me to understand the presence of God in my life and how available God was.

I had a teacher, I won't say her name, she may be listening, but I had a teacher, and every time she would give us a test, she would say, and I quote, if you have any questions, raise your hand and I'll come to your desk and help you.

Got it?

I wasn't a very smart kid in school.

And so I'd get about two or three questions in.

I'd raise my hand and she'd come over and put her hand on my back and pat me, and I'd say, Yeah, I don't understand what this, what you're asking here.

So could you explain this question?

And she'd pat me on the back and say, just do your best, Neil.

And I remember thinking to myself, is that supposed to be helpful?

But I didn't say anything.

Second test, same thing happened.

I got about three questions in, same thing.

Just patted me.

She would smile, this condescending little smile.

Just do your best.

I kind of got a little angry, but I was kind of like, I don't want to disrespect my elders.

About the fourth, fifth test of the year, I just snapped and went crazy.

I mean, I was like Julia Robertson, pretty woman.

I don't know how business went, but I was a maniac.

I got to the fifth question, didn't even, I couldn't even understand it.

I raised my hand, she walked over, put her hand on my back, and I was like, And she said, What's the problem?

I said, Can you just explain?

I don't know how to answer this question.

And she pad said, Do your best.

And I said, Why are you even here?

You're not helping me.

And she said, Neil, get up and go to the office.

And I walked out and probably snapped my pencil and dropped it on the floor.

Now, if you're a teacher, what they called me in the fifth grade, fourth grade was incorrigible.

That was written on my report card.

He is incorrigible.

I was like, I don't know what that means.

How you expect me to understand that?

Are you offending me or complimenting me?

I'm incorrigible.

You're not helpful.

So I had to go see Miss Garrison, who was our principal.

I was not afraid of Mrs.

Garrison because she couldn't whip you.

She would be like, Neil, let me give you a little talk.

Okay, talk to me.

But I'm just so I go down there and she said, I was so, I was so angry.

You ever been so angry you couldn't lie?

I was that angry.

She said, Neil, why are you here?

I said, That woman's not helpful.

She pats me and pets me like a kitty.

But she says, if you need help, raise your hand.

I raise my hand and this, this, this, I wish I knew what patronizing meant back then, but I didn't.

This little patting, patronization is not helpful.

And she said, Would you like a donut?

And thus began the quest for truth in my life.

As a fourth grader, I walked out and said, If you tell the truth, you get a donut.

I ate my donut, I washed my face and hands, went back to class, and I gave her the death stare.

Now, you're probably wondering why he tells that on Easter.

Here's why.

Look at me.

When the Bible says the resurrection means that God is available, he doesn't just come and pat you on the back when your marriage gets hard and says, do your best.

Do your best.

When your kid goes off the reservation and does things that you told them not to do.

And the thing that breaks your heart the most, and they don't know this, is that you did that and you beg God not to let be passed on to the next generation.

He doesn't come and pat you on the back and just smile, this condescending smile.

Do your best.

Do your best.

No.

He's the God that comes.

He's the God that's here and that is available.

He's the God that stands up and says, Come to me, all you labor and heavy laden, and you'll find rest for your souls.

He's the God that stood up in John 7 in the middle of this big religious festival, just empty, religious, empty rituals, and said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.

Ask yourself this question: if God's not available, why would he invite you to come to himself?

What kind of nonsense is that?

But because of the resurrection, he is available.

He appears to his doubting disciples and eats a piece of fish and says, Then, now that we've settled the deal about whether or not I'm real, I'm not a ghost, let's get down to the get down.

Let me tell you the truth.

And he says the resurrection means the life of Jesus is verifiable.

You gotta do something, you gotta make a decision about Jesus before you leave this life.

It means the death of Jesus was purposeful.

He didn't just die so Bill O'Reilly could make bad movies.

It was purposeful.

Makes forgiveness possible.

Look at me.

I'm done preaching.

There's not a one of you in this room that has done anything that God won't forgive.

Don't walk out of here and just think, man.

I don't have any hope.

You have the hope of the resurrected Son of God who died on the cross for your sin.

And he says to you today, come to me.

He says in Isaiah chapter 1, come let us reason together.

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

Those your sins be a scarlet.

I'll wash you as white as snow.

That's the God of the Bible.

Why does he say that?

Because he's available.

So if you need him and you want a relationship with him today, he says to you, come.

You might want to just bow your head and just think for a minute and ask yourself, what did God say unto me?

Maybe he's just saying, come.

Maybe he's saying, Don't take a shower in order to come to me.

Don't get clean.

Don't take a bath in order to come take a shower.

You come just like you are, and he'll clean you up.

You stop doing everything Jesus says to stop doing.

Don't worry about the rest.

But right now, because he's available, why don't you come to him?

That's never happened for you.

You've never accepted Christ.

You've never had your heart changed by God.

Maybe you just want to say, just in your heart, God, I I come.

I'm I'm so tired of just trying to be spiritual and screwing it up.

Let's think about what it would look like for you to come.

Let's just listen for a minute.

Lay down your day.

Lift up your face, wanderer.

Come home, you're not too fine.

So lay down your hurt, lay down your heart.

Come as you are, come as you are.

With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, let me ask you a simple question.

What if it's really that simple?

What if Jesus lived the life he lived, died the death that he died, and rose from the dead, just to say, Come as you are?

It's the invitation way back in Isaiah.

Come let us reason together.

Though your sins be as scarlet, I'll wash you as white as snow.

There's nothing about you that puts God off, that makes God think, nope, it doesn't apply to you.

No, it applies to you.

And it is available to you because He's available to you today.

In just a minute, we'll pray a prayer and we'll conclude this service.

Myself and some of our pastors and elders will be available down front.

If we can pray with you.

If you'd like to understand more about what it means to come to Jesus, we'd we'd help you with that.

You were handed a worship folder when you came in, there's a little tear off part on there.

You can just kind of indicate on there.

I'll take you to coffee, I'll buy you lunch, I'll sit down with you.

We don't want to just preach to you, we want to pastor you.

You are loved by God.

And forgiveness is real.

When Jesus rose from the dead, it was an indication that God accepted his life, his payment for our sin.

So you don't have to be afraid.

God give us the revelation we need and the courage to act on the revelation that you give.

The invitation of God today is come.

Let us hear your voice.

We pray in Jesus' name.

And everyone said, Stand to your feet, I'm gonna speak a blessing over you.

Hold your hands out.

He is risen.

He is risen.

He is risen.

Because he has risen, you can be changed.

Depart now and live in light of the resurrection.

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Bless you.

You're dismissed.