This Jesus Raised Up

Well, as I said on Friday evening, if you were here with us, the occasion that prompted

this sermon from Peter in Acts 2 was a unique pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the disciples

of Jesus who remained in Jerusalem.

This was some 50 days following the crucifixion of Jesus.

It was the day of Pentecost, which was a festival, a feast for the Jews that would take place

in Jerusalem, and it came exactly 50 days after Passover in Jerusalem, which was the day

that Jesus was crucified.

And just as the Lord had promised before his death, God's power was on display, and it was

working through the believers who followed Jesus.

And in response to this phenomena, this display in Jerusalem of the Holy Spirit's power on

their life, the crowds who were witnessing this were trying to figure out exactly what

this was all about.

In fact, you can see it right there in verse 12.

Keep your Bibles open through the duration of our time today.

Verse 12, all were amazed, and they were perplexed by what they saw, and they were saying to one

another, what does this mean?

So there's one set of the crowd that's just trying to determine, okay, this is weird.

Third, this is unusual.

What is this all about?

And then, you know, there's the group in every crowd of people that they don't have to ask

the question of what is this all about because they know what the answer to all the questions

always are, right?

And that's who we get in verse 13.

That's what they say.

They say, others were mocking, and they said, these people are filled with new wine.

They're just drunk.

This is just a drunken display from some depressed disciples of a teacher who is now dead.

That was the perspective of some.

But the crowds were wondering, well, what is this all about?

And so that prompts Peter's sermon, which begins around verse 14.

And it becomes the very first Christian sermon ever preached about the crucifixion and resurrection

of Jesus.

And beginning in these next verses, we find that Peter takes the prophet Joel from the

Old Testament as his text for the day, and he declares to the people that have gathered

to hear this explanation that what they witnessed was evidence that the Messiah had truly come

and that the Messiah in coming had inaugurated what Joel says in verse 17 are the last days.

Will you look at that with me?

Peter says in verse 16, but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.

And in the last days, that's a specific time frame foretold about in the Old Testament.

In the last days, it shall be, God declares, I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.

So Peter stands before the people and he says, no, we're not drunk.

We haven't been drinking.

This is what Joel said would happen.

The last days, this messianic age has been inaugurated and you are witnessing before your

very eyes the pouring out of God's spirit just as Joel said it would happen.

In these last days, it refers to this age when the Messiah of God, the Christ, the Savior, the Messiah of God,

would rule over the people of God, giving them the blessings of the spirit of God.

That's how we might summarize that term, last days.

God sends the Messiah and he rules over his people and he pours out the blessings of his spirit.

So think, you're a Jew in the first century in Jerusalem.

You have been taught your whole life, the prophets of old, who said that this spirit would be poured out.

It would be a magnificent display and it meant that Messiah had come and he was bringing with him the kingdom of God.

You have awaited this as a people for hundreds of years.

Your whole life and theology is wrapped up in this kingdom.

And now you see this display and a man stands before you and he says,

this is it, folks, this is it.

The last days are here.

This was no small claim of Peter.

And if he was right, then the people were experiencing a life-changing, history-shaping moment.

It would mean that the death and resurrection of Jesus are the most important events in all of human history.

This is what Christians have proclaimed now for two millennia.

That the cross of Christ is the pinnacle moment of all human existence.

Everything in history revolves around that one day.

And according to the Bible, there is only one other day left to match it.

And it is when this king, this Messiah, this Jesus returns.

He returns.

And in his return, he sets all things right.

He ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.

When there will be no more sin and no more sorrow and no more death.

And we will ever be with the Lord, those who know him.

So if you're among the crowd in Jerusalem on that day, you're taken aback by Peter's words.

Could this really be true?

Because if it's true, it's everything.

It's everything.

And Peter's aim in his sermon that day was to prove that the promised Messiah was Jesus.

And that what they were witnessing was indeed the inauguration of these last days.

And I want you to notice, before we really get going into the part about the resurrection,

I want you to notice the way that Peter closes his quotation of the prophet Joel.

Look at verse 19.

This is the end of what the prophet Joel had foretold would happen.

It's still a part of Peter's quotation.

He says,

This is from God's perspective speaking through Joel.

I will show wonders in the heavens.

I will show signs on the earth below.

Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood.

Before the day of the Lord comes.

That great and magnificent day.

And it shall come to pass.

That everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Now Joel's point was not to say that all of these things were going to happen at once.

That as soon as the Spirit is poured out on His people and on all flesh,

that in that same moment, then these wonders would be shown in the heavens

and the signs would be shown on the earth.

And then these miracles with nature then come to fruition.

That's not what Joel is saying.

He's saying that the culmination of the last days that are inaugurated by the Spirit are moving somewhere.

They are progressing towards something that he says is the great and magnificent day of the Lord.

Well, what is the great and magnificent day of the Lord?

It is the day of judgment.

It's the day of judgment.

Now whether we're to take these descriptions here in these verses as literal or symbolic is unclear.

But this great day of judgment is certain.

It is coming.

And Peter and Joel affirm that only those who call on the name of the Lord will be saved in that day.

And I thought about that judgment this morning.

Actually, I was looking over my notes for the day.

And for some reason, my mind immediately went to my senior year in high school.

We were setting up for a spring banquet at our school.

I went to a private school.

We didn't call it prom.

We called it spring banquet or something like that.

I can't remember what it was called.

But we were preparing for that and we were helping with it.

And me and one of my friends had gone to go pick up some items for this.

In near Bristol, Tennessee is where we were.

We had picked it up in my dad's truck and we were driving back.

And Jared had a bit of a lead foot in those days.

And a highway patrolman didn't appreciate the fact that I had a lead foot in those days.

And I got pulled over.

And as soon as he pulled me over, of course, he gave me the speech and the things that I wasn't supposed to be doing.

Everything that I did wrong.

And he wrote me a ticket.

But on the ticket, he gave me a date that I had to appear in court.

I was still a minor technically.

At the time.

Which meant there was coming a day.

It was set on the calendar.

I was going to have to tell my dad.

I got pulled over in your truck.

Doing 26 miles an hour over the speed limit.

This highway patrolman appreciated it so much, dad.

That you now have to take me to court so I can appear before a judge.

And receive the sentencing that he feels I deserve in that moment.

And this morning, my mind immediately went to that day.

And the fear of that day.

Not even of the judge.

But of my dad.

I got to tell dad about this.

And now dad's going to have to take me.

And it's going to be this whole thing.

What had happened on that day is I had violated the law.

And the one who had stopped me wrote a ticket.

And a date for my judgment was put on the calendar.

I had to appear before the judge.

Not that day.

But that day was set.

And it was coming.

This great day of the Lord that Joel speaks of.

That Peter refers to in this quotation.

This is a court date.

It is a day of judgment.

It may not be today.

But it's on the calendar.

It's coming.

Everything in history from this moment moving forward is all moving towards the culmination of this day.

When all of creation will stand before its creator, the righteous judge.

And we will give an account for our lives on that day.

Now here's the problem.

Dad took me to Bristol to the courthouse.

I sat before a magistrate on that day.

They asked what I had done.

And they verified that I was guilty.

And they issued a sentence.

Now God has created each of us for a purpose.

That purpose is to glorify him.

And he's given us a law that he has demanded as his creation that we follow.

And even before he wrote that law on paper through the work of Moses and he handed it to his people,

the Bible says that he had written that law on our hearts.

Which means that when God created us, he put something in us.

Something in us that recognizes this moral law that says there is a difference between what is right and a difference between what is wrong.

And when we violate that moral code that God has written on our hearts, we know it.

We can feel it.

We feel the guilt of that.

We feel the shame of that.

And we may not face judgment immediately in that moment.

But what the scripture says is that one day we will stand before the righteous judge.

And on that great and magnificent day of judgment, the Lord himself will look at our lives.

And he will judge us on the basis of his law.

His perfect righteous law that every one of us have fallen short of.

And the problem is we will all stand guilty.

We may try to come up with a great defense.

Magistrate, I was just in a big hurry.

I just needed to get to the banquet.

You know, maybe something was wrong with my speedometer.

Can you get that checked out?

Maybe there was an issue there.

We may stand before the judge one day and we may say,

Well, goodness grief, God, I went to church.

I went and I listened to this guy ramble for an hour on Easter Sunday that one time.

I mean, surely that counts for something.

You know, Lord, I did some good stuff.

You know, if I look at that guy down the road, I'm not nearly as bad as him.

Surely, God, you can cut me some slack.

Except that judgment is not on the basis of what everyone else has done.

And that judgment is not on the basis of whether or not your good outweighs your bad.

The judgment is on the basis of did you obey and love the God who created you?

And the answer for every one of us is no.

We have not done that.

We have not served him.

We have not loved him.

We have each violated his law.

And the Bible says that all of those who stand and offer these excuses before the Lord,

Jesus says, I will look at them and I will say,

Depart from me, you workers of iniquity, into eternal darkness.

I never knew you.

So Peter quotes Joel.

He says, Folks, what you're seeing today is the initiation of these last days.

And by the way, remember what Joel said.

The last days will come to an end.

There will be a last day.

And it is the day of judgment.

And only those, only those who have called on the name of the Lord Jesus

will be saved in that day of judgment, Peter says.

And so his message then was that Jesus of Nazareth is the Lord

on which we must all call for this eternal salvation.

That's the point of Peter's sermon here.

When we considered the crucifixion dynamic on Friday,

today we're going to look at the resurrection.

Because the resurrection proves that Jesus is the true Savior.

And we can trust him for the forgiveness of sins.

We can trust him for eternal life.

And together the crucifixion and the resurrection

compose what we call the gospel of Jesus.

And it is this truth

that is responsible for the very existence of Christianity.

What is the reason of Christianity?

Why does it exist and why do we care?

The resurrection is why.

And my prayer this morning is that by faith

you will receive this gospel.

Look with me at verse 24.

God raised him up,

loosing the pangs of death

because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

So in a statement of affirmation about Jesus' resurrection,

Peter said that the Christ not only didn't stay dead,

he couldn't stay dead.

Did you notice that in verse 24?

It was not possible for him to be held by it.

And we considered this on Friday

in regards to the sinless perfection of Jesus.

He is the perfect Lamb of God

without spot, without blemish.

Death is the payment for sin is what the Bible tells us.

But Jesus had no sin of his own for which to pay.

And for that reason, death could not hold him.

It had no claim on him.

And God raised him up, Peter says.

But then he goes on in these next few verses

to provide another reason for Jesus' resurrection.

The resurrection was not only because of the perfection of Jesus,

it was in fulfillment of the Old Testament.

It was always God's plan for the Christ to die for sin.

It was always God's plan for the Christ

to then be raised in power over death.

And like a lawyer arguing his case,

in this short sermon,

Peter calls two witnesses to the stand.

Two witnesses.

And before you make your judgment on the resurrection,

I want you to hear their testimony.

Witness number one,

the witness of the scriptures.

The witness of the scriptures.

The resurrection of Jesus is deeply rooted

in the Old Testament scriptures.

And this was exactly the point Jesus made

when he appeared to his disciples

after rising from the dead.

We read it a moment ago.

Let's read it again.

Luke 24, I think it's on the screen for you.

Luke 24, verse 44.

Luke 24:44

Jesus said to them,

these are my words that I spoke while I was still with you,

that everything written about me in the law of Moses

and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures

and he said to them,

thus it is written,

the Christ should suffer

and on the third day rise from the dead

and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed in his name

to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

Now can you imagine

how amazing it would be

to have been in that room that night?

Not only to experience in person the resurrected Christ,

but to have that resurrected Christ

take his Bible

and begin to systematically walk through scripture

by scripture

and say, remember what I told you.

This is what was supposed to happen.

This is what the Bible has always said would happen.

I had to suffer.

I had to die.

And on the third day,

I would rise from the dead

to provide salvation.

So now you can take what I have done

and proclaim it to the world

so that they can be saved too.

Can you imagine how amazing it would have been?

We can only guess

as to what passages

Jesus might have gone through

with those disciples on the road to Emmaus

or with those disciples in the room

on that wonderful night.

Peter was in the room that night

and there were many texts

he could have referred to here,

but the one he chose was Psalm 16.

Psalm 16 verses eight through 11.

And I want you to read it with me.

Verse 25.

Peter says,

for David says concerning him,

this is the witness of the scriptures.

I saw the Lord always before me

for he's at my right hand

that I may not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart was glad

and my tongue rejoiced.

My flesh also will dwell in hope

for you will not abandon my soul to Hades

or the realm of the dead,

the place of the death,

or let your Holy One see corruption.

You have made known to me the paths of life.

You will make me full of gladness

with your presence.

Peter says,

hear the witness of the scriptures.

There's a lot of them.

Let me just give you Psalm 16, eight through 11,

Peter says,

and he quotes it from memory.

Now the apostles often spoke of the gospel

in terms of a mystery.

Now by mystery,

they didn't mean that the gospel was a riddle

that is difficult to understand

and that unless you're just superior in your intellect,

you won't really be able to grasp it.

That's not what they meant by that.

What they meant by the gospel being a mystery

is that the purposes of God in salvation

are present throughout the entire Bible,

but only discernible through the lens of Jesus.

It is only as we look at the person

and the work of Jesus

that we can understand this mystery

that God has presented

in the Old Testament scriptures.

So in the Old Testament,

the gospel we say is veiled.

It's not that it isn't there,

it's there.

It's just veiled.

But in the New Testament,

the mystery of the gospel

is gloriously revealed.

The veil is uncovered

from the Old Testament

by the work and person of Jesus.

Let me give you just an example

of how the apostles use this term.

In Ephesians chapter one,

I think this is on the screen for you too.

In Ephesians chapter one, verse seven,

in him, that is Jesus,

we have redemption through his blood,

the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of his grace,

which he lavished upon us

in all wisdom and insight,

making known to us the mystery of his will,

according to his purpose,

which he set forth in Christ.

Do you see what the apostles were doing?

That's what Paul was doing there.

He was saying this gospel is a mystery

in terms of the Old Testament.

It's there, but it's veiled.

But now that Christ has come,

he has opened the veil.

He has allowed us, revealed to us

the truth of the gospel

that was always there for us to see.

Now, Psalm 16 is an example

of the mystery of the gospel

veiled in the Old Testament.

It was written by King David.

But the problem is that when King David died,

the meaning of that psalm became obscured.

How were the people supposed to understand

what David was trying to say

when he wrote that,

you will not abandon me to death,

you will not allow my body to see corruption?

How were they supposed to understand that

when David died and his body was corrupted

and decayed?

At the heart of the passage

is this confident assertion

that God will not allow this individual

to be abandoned to the realm of the dead

or allow his body to experience decay.

And apart from Jesus,

the only way to interpret this passage

is as a poetic promise of everlasting life.

But looking at it through the lens of Jesus,

we see this is not just a symbolic reference

to eternal life.

This is a prophetic psalm

of the resurrection of the Christ.

Which Peter goes on to say,

this resurrection is what secures

that everlasting life for us.

Which brings us to his explanation of the text.

Look at verse 29.

Brothers, I may say to you with confidence

about the patriarch David

that he both died and was buried

and his tomb is with us to this day.

Being therefore a prophet

and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him

that he would set one of his descendants

on his throne,

he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection

of the Christ.

That he was not abandoned to Hades

nor did his flesh see corruption.

Perhaps Peter's in Jerusalem at this point.

We know that for sure.

Perhaps he motions over to the enormous graveyard

on the south side of Jerusalem.

Perhaps he motions over to where they knew

that the tomb of David was.

And he says that we must understand Psalm 16,

not from the perspective of the King David,

but from the perspective of the Christ,

King Jesus.

The corruption of David's body was verified by his grave.

Therefore, he was speaking prophetically about Messiah.

So Peter is declaring in this moment,

not only is the resurrection of Jesus a historical event,

but it is also a fulfillment of the scriptures,

making known the mystery of the gospel.

The resurrection was not the spontaneous work of God

in a moment where he was just trying to take a tragic event

like the crucifixion and just make the best of it.

That's not what the resurrection is.

It was the eternal plan of God revealed in his word.

The Christ must die.

The Christ must rise.

And we sang about it a moment ago.

Come behold the wondrous mystery,

slain by death, the God of life,

but no grave could e'er restrain him.

Praise the Lord, he is alive.

The witness of the scriptures.

Then Peter gives the witness of the apostles.

He calls his second witness to the stand.

Verse 32, the witness of the apostles.

This Jesus, God raised up,

and of that we are all witnesses, he says.

Who's the we all?

All of those disciples standing there

who had experienced and displayed

this pouring out of the spirit of God.

They were all witnesses of the resurrected Christ.

The resurrection of Jesus was not something

that Peter heard about.

It was something that he had personally witnessed.

In fact, hundreds of people were eyewitnesses

of the resurrected Jesus.

Consider 1 Corinthians 15.

I think this is for you on the screen as well.

Paul says,

I delivered to you as of first importance

what I also received,

that Christ died for our sins

according to the scriptures,

that he was buried,

and that he raised on the third day

in accordance with the scriptures,

that he appeared to Cephas,

that's Peter,

then to the 12,

the other disciples,

then he appeared to more than 500 brothers

at one time,

most of whom are all still alive,

though some have fallen asleep,

or though some of them have died.

Then he appeared to James,

then to all the apostles,

last of all,

as to one untimely born,

he appeared also to me,

Paul says.

To say that the resurrection of Jesus

is some kind of elaborate hoax

is foolish.

It's foolish.

Hundreds of people

could verify it

by their own eyewitness,

and that was Paul's point

in 1 Corinthians 15.

He encouraged the skeptics

of the message of the gospel.

Go find the 500 people

who saw him

even at one time.

Interview them.

Scrutinize their words.

What you will find

is that their word stands true.

He knew that their statements of witness

would persuade the people.

Even the enemies of Jesus

did not deny his resurrection.

They just tried to cover it up.

Matthew 28.

While they were going,

behold,

some of the guard

went into the city

and told the chief priest

all that had taken place.

These were the guards

guarding the tomb

when Jesus rose.

And when they had assembled

with the elders

and taken counsel,

they gave a sufficient sum

of money to the soldiers

and said,

tell people,

his disciples came by night

and stole them away

while they were asleep.

And if this comes

to the governor's ears,

we will satisfy him

and keep you out of trouble.

So they took the money

and did as they were directed.

And this has been spread

among the Jews to this day.

Now think about that for a moment.

This is not just a handful

of followers

who wanted to fool everybody

and say,

gotcha.

Even the enemies of Jesus,

they never denied his resurrection.

They put the guards there

because they knew

he had predicted

his own resurrection.

And they were worried.

And then when the guards

come back

and they say,

we passed out

and we woke up

and now the tomb's empty.

And they said,

just don't tell anybody.

Here's some money.

Tell them the disciples

stole the body.

That way we can finally

be done with this.

They did not deny

his resurrection,

even his enemies.

But what about

the witness of history?

It's one thing to look

at the witness of the Bible.

What about the witness

of secular history?

Even secular history

acknowledges that

these witnesses,

Peter speaks of here,

were actual historical people

who genuinely believed

that Jesus had risen

from the dead.

They were so convinced

of the truth

of the resurrection

that they gave their lives

preaching the gospel

in hopes that more people

would believe

and be saved.

Now think about that

for a moment.

They're so convinced

by what they saw

that they left

everything behind.

They left their businesses behind.

They, in some situations,

even were abandoned

by their families.

In order to go

and preach this gospel

of Jesus,

there was nothing

in it for them.

He said,

well, they probably

just made the whole thing up.

To what end?

What benefit

does that provide

to these men?

What benefit

does it provide

for them

to go to their grave

being tortured

and in prison

and murdered

for a truth

that they made up?

It doesn't make sense.

No, they went

around the world.

They preached

the gospel.

Every one

of the apostles

of Jesus

died for their faith.

And so,

as that continued

on through Christian history,

the church,

so convinced

by the witness

of the scripture

and the witness

of the apostles

that they have continued

to give their lives

for the truth

of what Jesus did

and his resurrected

body.

And I realized

that it's not unusual

for people

to die for lies.

I understand that.

But these men

didn't give up

their lives

for a religious idea.

They gave up

their lives

convinced

of what they saw.

Not what they

hoped to see,

but what they

actually saw

with their own eyes.

And this truth

was so magnificent.

Nothing would

stand in the way

of them,

sharing it

with everyone

who would listen.

If you're invited

by a friend

to come to this service

today,

it's not because

they hope

that you'll give

some money

to the offering

of our church.

It's not so that

they could get

some kind of

spiritual credit

for bringing a friend.

There's no reward.

We're not offering money

for everybody

that brings a guest.

That's not how

this works.

You know why

they invited you

to come today?

Because they want

you to know

this Jesus.

They've been

so convinced

and compelled

by the truth

of the gospel

that they want

you to experience

it too.

And so it has

been through history.

The church

sharing the truth

so that others

might be saved.

The eyewitness

accounts of the

resurrection,

they give validation

to the witness

of the scriptures.

They're not more

important than

the scriptures.

They give validation

to the scriptures.

Without the witness

of the apostles,

Psalm 16

is just a matter

of theological

interpretation

that we could

debate endlessly.

But with the

eyewitness accounts,

the meaning

of Psalm 16

becomes indisputable.

It can only be

about the Christ.

Which explains

in part

why at the end

of this sermon

so many people

believed

instead of arguing

against it.

How can you

ignore the evidence?

It would take

far less evidence

to establish

something in a

court today

than what we have

about the resurrection

of Jesus.

There is far more

evidence of Jesus'

resurrection.

How can you

deny it?

He was dead.

Now he's alive.

Let me close

this way.

There must be

many people

who wonder

why the resurrection

of Jesus

is so important

to Christians.

Why is it so

important?

We choose Easter

as the day

that we focus

on it in particular

above all other

things because

of the anniversary

of it.

But for a

Christian,

every day

is a celebration

of the resurrection.

The reason we

worship on Sunday

is because the

Lord rose

on a Sunday.

That's why we

worship this morning

every week.

Everything that we

do is wrapped up

in the resurrection

and the crucifixion.

And there must be

people wondering

and perhaps even

maybe someone here

this morning

and what you

wonder is why

is this so

important to you?

Even if it's

true,

what possible

impact could

this truth have

on my life

today?

This is just

an ancient

story.

Maybe a historical

man,

maybe it really

happened,

but why should

that matter

to me?

And I want to

explain for a

moment why it

matters to me

and why it

should matter

to you.

Remember that

judgment that I

spoke about

before?

You know what

the pinnacle of

that judgment

is?

Death.

And I don't

mean just

physical death.

Yes, we will

all die,

but the Bible

speaks of a

death beyond

that.

It's a

spiritual death.

It's not

the extinguishing

of your soul

and spirit

in eternity.

That's not

what it is.

It's actually

you will live

on in eternity,

but you will

be separate

from God

and His grace

and His goodness.

you will

experience His

wrath in

eternity.

That's what the

scriptures tell

us.

So our

greatest enemy

then,

our greatest

enemy is

death.

And no matter

how much effort

you put into

living a happy

and a healthy

life,

we'll all face

the same fate.

All of us

are going to

die.

death.

The Bible

teaches that

it's because

of our sin

and our

rejection of

God that

death is a

reality.

He's the

righteous judge

and the only

way to satisfy

His holy

wrath is to

face eternal

death.

death.

But the

resurrection of

Jesus proves

that His

crucifixion

was indeed

a perfect

sacrifice

for our

sin.

Made by

God

on our

behalf.

Think for a

moment.

The scriptures

say that because

of your sin,

you deserve

to die.

not only a

physical death,

but in

eternity,

you will be

away from

God,

separated from

Him,

in eternal

torment.

But God,

according to

His definite

plan,

provides a

Savior,

a perfect

sacrifice,

who on

behalf of

sinners,

absorbs that

wrath,

so we don't

have to face

it ourselves.

that's what

Jesus did

on the

cross.

When He

rose from

the dead

three days

later,

it proved

that God

received that

sacrifice as

acceptable

payment for

the sins of

whoever will

believe.

It means that

Jesus has

power over

death.

It means that

our greatest

enemy has

been defeated

by Christ.

it means that

He alone

has authority

to actually

give you

life.

All of us

are headed

towards death.

Jesus now

has authority

to reverse

it and

give you

life.

Now,

the next

question has

to be something

like this.

If that is

true,

if Jesus

really is

as loving

as we say

He is,

if He really

does have the

power to give

life like we

say He does,

why doesn't

He just

give life

to everybody?

Why don't

He just

give it to

everybody?

Why not

rid the world

of the evil

now and

just give

this life

to everybody

that's here?

And what

you must

understand

is the

truth that

He offers

it freely

to whoever

will take

it.

The question

this morning

is not,

will Jesus

give eternal

life?

The question

this morning

is will you

receive the

life that

He's offering

you?

He said

Himself in

John 11,

I am the

resurrection

and the

life.

Whoever

believes in

Me,

though he

die,

yet he

shall live.

And everyone

who lives

and believes

in Me

shall never

die.

Do you see

the wonderful

truth of this?

We don't

stand before

the judge

and the

judge say,

alright,

you're going

to have to

spend so

many years

in hell

and because

of this

amount of

sin,

after this

many years,

I'm going

to let you

out.

That's not

what God

says.

God doesn't

tell us now,

if you will

just live your

life in total

abandonment and

everything else,

surrender over to

morality,

do your best,

try your

hardest,

try to be a

good person,

if you do it

good enough,

I'll let you

in.

No,

that would be

a tragedy.

That would

be an

utter tragedy

if that's

the way that

God looked

at us,

but that's

not what

God does.

God sends

his son,

and he takes

our sin,

and he puts

all of it,

all of our

sin,

he puts it

on his

perfect,

righteous son

on the cross,

so that now

in faith,

when we stand

before God,

he does not

say,

now let me

calculate what

you did,

and we'll just

figure out how

we can square

this up.

No,

he looks at

us,

and then he

looks at his

son,

and he says,

because of

what he did,

we're square.

Because the

sinless Savior

died,

my sinful

soul is

counted free,

for God

the just

is satisfied

to look on

him and

pardon me,

and Jesus

says,

I am that

resurrection,

I am the

eternal life,

if you will

believe in me,

you will receive

this life,

that's why

the resurrection

matters,

it's not just

an ancient story

that even if

it's true,

has no bearing

on your life

today,

no,

this Christ

can give you

eternal life,

he will wipe

away your sins,

he will forgive

no matter how

much you have

rejected,

and denied him,

and denounced

him,

no matter what

you have done,

there is no sin

too great,

that he will

come to you,

and not forgive,

no,

he will forgive

it all,

if you will

believe,

he will grant

you this life,

and the resurrection

proves that he

has the power

to grant you

that life,

consider this,

John chapter 20,

John 20 · chapter mention

at the end of

his gospel,

the apostle John

writes this,

now Jesus did

many other signs

in the presence

of his disciples,

which are not

written in this

book,

but these are

written that

you may believe,

that you may

believe that

Jesus is the

Christ,

the son of

God,

and that by

believing,

you may have

life in his

name,

he offers that

life freely,

and he says,

take it,

take the life,

the question is

not can he

provide it,

the question is

will you receive

it,

will you stop

being so stubborn

and prideful,

and just receive

the gift that he

offers,

you say,

well how do I

receive it,

Romans 10 tells

us,

if you confess

with your mouth

that Jesus is

Lord,

and believe in

your heart,

that God raised

him from the

dead,

you will be

saved,

saved from what,

the eternal

wrath of God,

for with the

heart,

one believes,

and is justified,

with the mouth,

one confesses,

and is saved,

for the scripture

says,

everyone who

believes in him

will not be put

to shame,

notice what Paul

says,

he doesn't say,

everyone who will

do their best and

try their hardest,

will not be put

to shame,

that's not what he

says,

he doesn't say,

everyone who gives

money to charity

and to the church

and their good

outweighs their bad

will not be ashamed,

that's not what he

says,

he doesn't say,

everyone who goes

to church on Easter

Sunday and is a

good little Christian

boy and a good

little Christian

girl will not be

ashamed,

that's not what he

says,

he says,

whoever will

believe in his

name will not be

put to shame,

for there's no

distinction between

Jew and Greek,

the same Lord is

Lord of all,

bestowing his riches

on all who call

on him,

for everyone who

calls on the name

of the Lord

will be saved,

there's that quote

from Joel again,

whoever calls on

the name of the

Lord,

do you see the

picture here,

what does it mean

to call on the

name of the Lord,

it means you

recognize that you

are sinful,

that none of your

goodness and none

of your morality

and none of your

spirituality could

possibly earn you

eternal life,

eternal life can

only come from

Jesus and in

recognizing your

sinfulness,

you call out to

Jesus for his

mercy,

that's it,

Lord save me,

have mercy on me

a sinner,

save me,

I trust in you,

Jesus died for the

sins of the world

and he alone can

give you life,

the resurrection is

why Christianity

exists and the

resurrection is your

only hope to escape

the judgment of God

on that day,

will you not receive

him,

will you not

believe him,

he says whoever

will,

I will never

cast them out,

I will change

them,

I will come into

them and I will

sup with them and

he with me,

come unto me all

you who labor and

are heavy laden and

I will give you

rest,

he says,

we close with

1 Corinthians 15

again,

hold death,

where is your

victory,

death,

where is your

sting,

the sting of

death is sin,

the power of

sin is the law,

but thanks be to

God who gives

us the victory

through our Lord

Jesus Christ.