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Luke 24 · Providence Baptist Church - Sermons

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It was a part of their daily language.
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In fact, it's what drove the church forward.
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And so the cross and the resurrection were just continually on the lips of early believers
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!
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and not needing a specific day to set aside, even though it's okay for us to do that,
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but just to challenge us to make the resurrection a daily thing that we think about and talk about.
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And if we actually did that, it might have a great bearing on our soul.
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And that's the question to ask many of you, if you're a guest here today, if you're visiting,
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if you're a member of our church, just know that ultimately, however you got here,
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however you came with us today, God is the one who ultimately brought you here.
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And it says in Proverbs 16, 9, the heart of man plans his way.
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So we make our plans.
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But then it says, but the Lord establishes our steps.
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So he's the one who brings us together this morning.
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And just by way of introduction, before we get into Luke 24,
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there's a lot of stuff going on in our world and in our nation where there seems to be sort of a rising darkness,
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sort of a more of a hostility towards those in the church and Christianity in the West.
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It's existed for many other places in the world continually.
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But we've kind of had it easy for a very long stretch here.
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And even now, our current administration has named today Easter Sunday as National Trans Awareness Day.
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It's very sad.
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And I'm not telling you that as a political thing.
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It's just that it's just evil is being celebrated out in the open and in trying to sort of erase, I guess, Christian tradition.
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But I just want to challenge you.
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Like, it doesn't matter.
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It doesn't matter to us.
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Like, believers are going to celebrate the resurrection.
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And even if we don't have an official day to do it, it's a part of who we are as believers.
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We live in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, even if we don't have a national day to celebrate it.
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And such it was with the early church.
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And in July 64 AD, during the reign of Nero, who was the last of the Julo-Claudian emperors,
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there was a huge fire that hit the city of Rome.
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And it burned for seven to nine days.
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And it destroyed about 70% of the city.
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Ten of the 14 districts of the imperial city were just destroyed utterly.
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And it's called in history the Great Fire of Rome.
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And many of the senators, many of the patrician class, which is the upper class,
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and they all believed, a lot of them, that Nero himself started the fire
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as a way to kind of clear away for some exotic palace he wanted to build.
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And in the context, in that context, the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus wrote about those events
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and what Nero did following that fire in 64 AD.
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He said that he sought to blame the new religious sect called Christians.
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They're the ones who did it.
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And so Tacitus wrote in 64 AD, he said,
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Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations
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called Christians by the populace.
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Christus, which is Christ, from whom the name has its origin,
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suffered extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius Caesar
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at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilate.
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And a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for a moment,
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again broke out not only in Judea where this evil began,
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but also in Rome itself where all these hideous things and shameful for every part of the world
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find their center and became popular.
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So, in the writing of Tacitus here in 64 AD,
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we have the first early ancient accounts that are outside the Bible about the life of Jesus.
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It says that he, in fact, lived, he was a historical person.
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It says that he suffered an extreme penalty of death, of crucifixion.
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And then it says it was carried out under the rule of Tiberius under Pontius Pilate.
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And then if you notice that it says it refers to a most mischievous superstition, right?
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That's in direct connection to the resurrection.
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They're like, oh, this man's still alive.
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And that, you know, superstition has spread not only from Judea,
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but from all over the empire, he's saying.
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And so, again, the early believers, they celebrated the resurrection all the time.
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It wasn't a once-a-year type thing.
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And it altered society.
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What do you believe about the resurrection of Jesus today?
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Did it actually happen?
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But Jews in the first century, many thousands of them,
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all of a sudden changed their normal day of worship from Saturday to Sunday.
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Religious scholars and sociologists, historians will tell you that the most ancient parts of a culture are found in their religious rites and traditions.
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They're the most steady, conservative values that any culture can have.
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They're the least likely and the slowest to change.
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You know that?
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Like, you don't just flip somebody's religion overnight, is what they're saying, their traditions.
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But if that's true, then why all of a sudden was the Roman Mediterranean world,
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where thousands of first century Jews went from worshiping on Saturday to Sunday, almost overnight, they flipped?
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How has thousands of years of established religious tradition changed seemingly overnight?
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Because the life and death of resurrection of Jesus has stood the test of time for 2,000 years.
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It was Him.
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They saw Him.
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And they bore witness of Him.
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And He's been alive and active ever since, redeeming sinful hearts, changing our lives, all that above.
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Our Redeemer lives today.
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And so as we get into Luke, this account, we're just going to walk through it piece by piece in chapter 24.
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Luke, as many of you are aware, is a historian and a physician.
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So he writes like one.
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He's very detailed about how he writes.
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He was in association of Paul's.
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And we'll start in verse 1 today.
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But looking back just over the previous chapters, you'll notice that Jesus was arrested.
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He was tried falsely.
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That He was, in fact, crucified, taking the place of a very sinful man.
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And He was on the cross bearing the wrath of God for our sins.
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He was dying in our place.
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And then He breathes His last.
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All right?
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And then they rushed and they took Him to a tomb.
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Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took Him to a tomb.
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And this is kind of where we're going to start in chapter 24, verse 1.
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And I'm just going to do it by scenes as if we're like reading a story or watching a movie.
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See, scene 1.
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This is your point 1.
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Scene 1 is Jesus and the empty tomb.
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And we see this in verses 1 through 12.
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So let's read together.
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It says,
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So just sort of stop there for a second.
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But it says they were basically there, what the Jews would say.
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That day of the week would be Sunday, what we would call it.
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But they were taking the spices to kind of prepare the body of Christ.
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It was kind of hastily done, minimal work, because of the Sabbath that was approaching.
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And so they were going to kind of finish the job and to kind of honor Jesus in that way.
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And it says in verse 2, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
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And so they're completely at a loss for what to do.
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This tomb was either rock-hewn or a natural cave that made like a vault for this huge stone to be rolled over to protect the dead body.
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And it's gone.
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Which these women are sitting there and they're brokenhearted and they feel lost.
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And all of a sudden, these two angels appear to them.
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Dazzling white apparel.
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And that very simple resurrection verse that we think of, right?
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Why do you seek the living among the dead?
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And really, it is a gentle but subtle rebuke.
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All right?
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These angels reveal that these women had not yet understood the Scriptures.
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They had forgotten what Jesus actually told them.
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That He must suffer and then rise from death.
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And if you notice that angels are a consistent theme throughout the life of Jesus.
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They were there at His birth, His temptation, at Gethsemane, and now at His resurrection.
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And they're there to ensure these women that His body has not just been stolen.
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It's in fact risen.
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He is not here.
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They mentioned that grave robbers did not come and do this.
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It was an operation of God.
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That He had been risen from the dead.
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And in Matthew's account, it says that this happened after, right?
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All the soldiers were there and they ran away.
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The guard that had been set there.
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So, the appearance of these angels scared away the Roman guard that was there.
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And they fled, right?
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They ran.
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This is in Matthew 28.
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To save their own skin.
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They kind of like just begged the Jewish authorities to protect them from what Pilate might do to them.
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And so, we go on.
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Just a little note that I made here.
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Just that I was reading this earlier.
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Notice that the rolled away stone was not so that Jesus could get out.
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Remember, He and His resurrected body was able to just appear wherever He wanted to go.
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Through walls.
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Didn't need to be let in.
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He didn't need to be let out.
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That was there for us to see that He, in fact, had risen.
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So, look at verse 9.
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It says,
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Returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
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Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.
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But these words seemed to be an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
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But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stopping and looking in.
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He saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home marveling at what had happened.
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And, okay, so sadly, these women, they run back to the disciples, and they're like, look, He's gone.
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And we saw these angels, and they say that He is risen, that we needed to remember what He told us, that He would rise.
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And sadly, it kind of fell on deaf ears.
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Their sadness, their mourning, and their unbelief kept them from really believing the women.
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But it says that Peter left up, and he ran, and went to the tomb.
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We also know from John's account that John also went.
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And John actually says that he outran Peter a couple of times, which I think is really funny.
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So, he's just more nimble, I guess, than Peter was.
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And it says that they got to the tomb, and in the Greek, it says they sort of peeped in,
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kind of like, kind of just like, I'm kind of scared to look.
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And then they looked, and it says that Peter's response to this was that he returns back marveling.
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That sounds like a positive word, but really it's used in a negative way.
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It's used in a way to kind of communicate unbelief, which goes consistent with what the other Gospels say.
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Peter just doesn't know what to do with this.
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He's like, I don't know what this means.
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And so he leaves, and he goes back.
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But I love what John says in his account.
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It says after Peter left, he just sat there a little longer, right?
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And he observed what happened inside the tomb.
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And I just want to point this out to you.
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It says in John's account that he says he saw the linen cloths lying there.
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And the Greek, when you study that phrase,
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it means that it wasn't just hastily thrown around everywhere.
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Right?
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Where it was laying exactly where the body of Jesus was.
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As if the body had just like come out of it, and it just kind of collapsed where it sat.
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Pretty crazy, right?
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Just, if Jesus had sort of just woken up, the swoon theory,
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he had been throwing clothes everywhere.
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Parents, just wrap your kids up in something, and just say, all right, get loose.
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And like, see what happens to all the clothes that they're,
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all the stuff that you wrap them up in, it'll be just thrown everywhere.
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And it was just lying there.
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Right?
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And it suggests still done up, as if the body had just withdrawn itself.
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And then John says the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head,
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was not lying with the other linen cloths, but was folded up and put over to the side.
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As if Jesus just took it off, folded it, and just laid it there, and then walked off.
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Nicely folded up, wrapped in its place.
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And it says in John's account that he says that upon seeing this, I believed.
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Like it was real to him.
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And so, Peter goes back.
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John goes back.
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This leads us to scene two.
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And this is unique in the Gospel of Luke.
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There's a little story right here about point two, scene two.
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It's Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
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This is starting in verse 13.
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It says,
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That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.
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And they were talking with each other about all these things that they had, sorry, that had happened.
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While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
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But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
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So, this is the second of three resurrection appearances here in Luke.
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This is one of the longer stories in the Gospel.
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But it says that very day, like while all this was happening,
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after the women had seen him, after the disciples had heard these things,
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these two men, one of them was named Cleopas, but we don't know the name of the other.
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But they were going on Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem.
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And they were coming back after celebrating Passover in Jerusalem.
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And it says that they were discussing all the things that had happened.
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Right?
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And at a certain point, some of you go on walks.
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Some of you go on runs.
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Just imagine somebody just coming up beside you.
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And Jesus, the resurrected, living Jesus, comes up and walks with them on the road.
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It's just crazy to me.
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It gives me chills.
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Yet, he didn't reveal yet who he truly was.
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Verse 17.
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He said to them,
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What is this conversation that you were holding with each other as you walk?
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And they stood still, looking sad.
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Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him,
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Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?
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And Jesus said to them,
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What things?
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And he said to him,
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Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
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A man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and were before God and all the people.
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And how our chief priests and the rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.
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So, stop again.
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Imagine this from Jesus' perspective.
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He knows they're talking about him.
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Right?
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It's like that, you know,
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You're talking to somebody, and they don't really realize it's you,
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And then they say things about you while you're standing there.
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But, just sort of saying,
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Hey, what's going on, fellows?
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Like, what's all the fuss about?
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What's this heavy discussion y'all are having?
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And basically, their response is,
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Seriously?
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Where have you been?
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Are you an outsider?
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Because, like, if you were local,
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Well, you would clearly know the news that's being circulated right now.
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So, clearly, you're not from around here.
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Anyway, there was this crazy stuff that happened in Jerusalem with this guy named Jesus.
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And so, they kind of, like, dropped it there.
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But, Jesus plays along.
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He plays along with them.
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He goes,
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No, I don't.
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Please tell me about it.
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Again, imagine being in the company of people who are talking about you,
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But they don't realize it's you.
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It's funny, but just,
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It is funny to us,
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But realize that Jesus is not playing with them.
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He's not toying with them.
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He's getting ready to show them something very important.
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But it comes across like that to us,
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Because they clearly don't know it's him.
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But, they say,
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Yeah, there's about this man named Jesus of Nazareth.
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They said he was a prophet,
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Which is an adequate description of him.
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But he was mighty in deed and word.
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Remember all that Jesus did.
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He cast out demons.
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He healed the sick.
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He performed miracles over nature.
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And, all these wonderful things he taught with divine authority to forgive sin.
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And, it says,
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Before God and all the people.
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So, meaning that everyone heard him.
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Everyone knew about him.
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He's like the most popular thing to come around these parts in a long time.
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Everyone saw him.
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Everyone heard him.
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It's why they're wondering why this man hasn't.
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And, it says that yet, even though all that happened,
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Judas delivered Jesus over to the chief priests and the rulers.
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And, they went to the Romans in order to put him to death.
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And, so, it gets on to verse 21.
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They're continuing their spiel.
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We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
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Kind of like they're moping.
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Like, we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.
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Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.
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Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
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They were at the tomb early in the morning.
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And, when they did not find his body,
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they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.
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Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it,
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just as the women had said, but they did not see.
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So, look at verse 21.
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It says,
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But we had hoped.
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So, this is going back.
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This reveals a serious contrast between what the Jews of the first century,
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the Jews of Jesus' day, believed about the Messiah,
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their view, their perspective versus what the Scripture actually taught.
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But, they had these high hopes, this great expectation that there would be more or less a king,
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warrior, religious Messiah that would come and, like, restore their nation again,
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bring them back to the days of David and Solomon,
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and make Judea this national thing again,
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fight the Romans, kick them out,
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drive out the pagans.
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And, that's what they had really thought would happen.
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It's like, well, we had hoped that he was the one.
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And, this is why, you know, again, Jesus is sitting there hearing this.
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And, I mean, it isn't just these guys.
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Even the disciples didn't really believe.
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I hope you know that.
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Like, even in John 12, verse 16,
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like, they fell into the wrong way of thinking about the Messiah all the time.
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That's just what they were susceptible to doing.
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And, it just sort of fell on these superficial, earthly expectations of the Messiah.
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So, just kind of imagine where Jesus is going here.
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And, then he kind of gives them a rebuke.
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A nice rebuke.
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And, he says in verse 25,
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He said to them,
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O foolish ones,
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and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
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Esclamation point.
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Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
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And, beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
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he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.
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So, O foolish ones,
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he rebukes them, these despairing men.
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He's saying, you've missed it.
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You don't see it.
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The Scriptures never said that this is what the Messiah would do.
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So, this is,
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and he began to interpret it for them,
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with Moses and the prophets.
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He went through it.
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And, he explained how all of it was a fulfillment.
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Everything that had happened in Jerusalem was a direct fulfillment of what he had said.
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He said, you're slow of heart to believe.
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Like, come on.
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Why are you so doubtful?
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Why can't you just see this and believe?
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And, this is a good question for us to ask ourselves.
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Are you shocked when God actually keeps his word to you?
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Sometimes I am.
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And, I'm like, come on.
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Like, he has had a huge track record of always keeping his word to me.
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Always fulfilling what he said he would do.
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And, yet, the next day, I'm like, oh man, what am I going to do about this?
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And, we just kind of fall into these traps and not believing.
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But, in this, God has fulfilled his word.
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He has brought it to pass.
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And, he tells them, rhetorically,
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that God has shown a pattern of taking his kings,
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taking his prophets,
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taking his people,
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and putting them through great suffering
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before they entered into a place of glory.
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So, that was an established pattern.
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God takes his servants and they suffer.
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They always do.
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And, then, they are, in fact, glorified.
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And, he said,
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this is the pattern that the Messiah himself set,
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that he must suffer,
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he must die,
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before he enters into his glory.
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Like, you should know that.
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And, they failed to see it.
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They failed to see it in their own scriptures.
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That the Messiah's path to glory
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must, out of necessity,
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pass through suffering.
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Right?
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So, he takes this opportunity
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to teach them what the scriptures said.
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Right?
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So, we need to pull away from
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the thought of
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pastors, churches,
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people who are trying to prove
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Jesus is somebody
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without using the scriptures.
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Because, Jesus,
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we can't make a better case than Jesus can.
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And, he's doing it
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with the scriptures himself.
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Right?
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And, he set this historical pattern
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of God's activity
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again and again
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throughout the Old Testament
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looking forward to himself.
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Verse 28.
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Moving along.
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So, they drew near to the village
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to which they were going.
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He acted as if he were going,
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were going farther.
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But, they urged him strongly,
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saying,
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Stay with us.
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For, it is toward the evening
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and the day is now far spent.
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So,
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Jesus went in to stay with them.
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When he was at the table with them,
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he took the bread
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and blessed it
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and broke it
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and gave it to them.
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And then, all of a sudden,
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right,
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their eyes were open
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and they recognized him.
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And, he vanished
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from their sight.
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Man, again,
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just gives you chills.
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Vanished.
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Vanish.
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Meaning, like,
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ceasing to be there.
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Disappeared from their sight.
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They said to each other,
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Did not our hearts burn within us
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while he talked to us on the road?
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While he opened to us the Scriptures?
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And they rose that same hour
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and returned to Jerusalem.
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And they found the eleven
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and those who gathered with them together.
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Saying,
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The Lord has risen indeed
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and has appeared to Simon.
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Then they told what happened
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on the road
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and how he was known to them
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in the breaking of bread.
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So, again,
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this is a crazy passage.
26:18
It says,
26:18
After that,
26:20
their eyes were opened.
26:21
That means, like,
26:22
opened spiritually.
26:23
They actually recognized
26:24
who Jesus was
26:25
when Jesus was ready for them to.
26:28
And they recognized
26:30
that he, in fact,
26:31
was the one who was in Jerusalem.
26:33
He, in fact,
26:34
was the one who suffered
26:35
and died on the cross.
26:37
And he was the one
26:38
that everyone's saying
26:39
is now risen from the dead.
26:41
So, they go back and say,
26:42
Hey, he's risen indeed.
26:43
Like, he actually has.
26:45
He is alive.
26:46
We've seen him.
26:48
And then,
26:49
he said,
26:50
While he explained
26:50
the Scriptures to us,
26:51
right,
26:52
our hearts were burning.
26:53
Something was going on in us
26:54
that,
26:55
I mean,
26:56
wouldn't you love to hear
26:56
Jesus just unpacked
26:58
the Scripture to you
26:58
that your hearts would burn.
27:01
But all the promises
27:02
of the Redeemer
27:03
had come to pass.
27:05
They hurried back
27:06
and they told the other disciples
27:07
what had happened.
27:08
Now, remember,
27:09
the disciples are still
27:10
in a state of fear
27:12
and hiding.
27:13
They're still really afraid
27:15
about what's going on.
27:16
In Matthew 26,
27:17
and in John,
27:18
it says they were hiding
27:19
behind locked doors.
27:21
So, they were still fearful,
27:23
still weak.
27:24
I would just hesitate
27:25
to call them cowards
27:26
because I wonder
27:27
what any of us would do
27:28
in their positions.
27:29
Just sort of a humble
27:30
acknowledgement.
27:32
But they are confused.
27:35
They don't know
27:35
what to do next.
27:37
They're at a loss.
27:38
They're traumatized,
27:39
fearful.
27:40
And then these men
27:41
show up and say,
27:41
Hey, man,
27:41
we saw him on the road
27:43
to Emmaus.
27:45
We saw him.
27:46
He's risen indeed.
27:47
And this brings us
27:48
to scene three.
27:49
Scene three,
27:50
which Jesus appears
27:51
to his disciples.
27:53
This starts in verse 36.
27:56
All right,
27:57
moving through this.
27:58
As they were talking
27:59
about these things,
28:00
Jesus himself
28:01
stood among them
28:02
and said to them,
28:03
Peace to you.
28:05
But they were startled
28:06
and frightened
28:07
and thought they saw a spirit.
28:09
And he said to them,
28:10
Why are you troubled?
28:12
And why do doubts
28:13
arise in your hearts?
28:15
See my hands
28:16
and my feet.
28:17
There it is.
28:18
I myself.
28:19
Touch me and see.
28:21
For a spirit
28:21
does not have flesh
28:23
and bones
28:23
as you see
28:24
that I have.
28:26
And when he said this,
28:27
he showed them
28:28
his hands and his feet.
28:30
And while they still
28:32
disbelieved for joy
28:34
and were marveling,
28:35
he said to them,
28:36
Have you anything
28:37
here to eat?
28:39
And they gave him
28:40
a piece of broiled fish
28:41
and he took it
28:42
and ate it before them.
28:44
So we see in verse 36
28:46
that Jesus finally
28:47
appears to them.
28:47
Again, behind locked doors.
28:49
He just sort of shows up.
28:50
I just love that.
28:51
And he says to them,
28:53
Just peace.
28:55
Alright?
28:57
Be still.
28:58
Rest easy.
28:59
It's all well.
28:59
Why?
29:00
Because it says
29:01
that it scared
29:01
the junk out of them.
29:02
It says that they were
29:03
startled and frightened.
29:05
The word startled here
29:06
means terrified
29:07
to the point
29:08
of falling over.
29:10
So they just turn around
29:13
and there he is
29:14
in the room with them.
29:16
And he shows
29:17
the physical nature
29:18
of his resurrected body
29:20
by using their
29:20
natural senses.
29:21
Like,
29:22
see me.
29:23
See me.
29:24
Touch me.
29:26
Listen to me.
29:28
He invites them
29:29
to touch him
29:29
to see that he is real.
29:31
Hear me.
29:31
Hear me talk.
29:34
And it's just such grace
29:35
that even though
29:35
they're still in
29:36
disbelief,
29:37
he's like,
29:37
alright,
29:38
it's alright.
29:38
Just come close
29:39
and see that it's me.
29:42
Touch my hands
29:43
and my side
29:43
and see that it is I.
29:45
The one who was
29:46
crucified.
29:47
Like,
29:47
I am alive now.
29:49
Verse 44.
29:51
Then he said to them,
29:52
These are my words
29:54
that I spoke to you
29:55
while I was still
29:56
with you.
29:57
That everything
29:58
written about me
29:59
in the law of Moses
30:00
and the prophets
30:00
and the Psalms
30:01
must be fulfilled.
30:04
Then he opened
30:05
their minds
30:05
to understand
30:06
the scriptures
30:07
and he said to them,
30:08
Thus it is written
30:09
that the Christ
30:11
should suffer
30:12
and on the third day
30:13
rise from the dead.
30:15
And that repentance
30:16
for the forgiveness
30:17
of sins
30:18
should be proclaimed
30:19
in his name
30:19
to all the nations
30:21
beginning from Jerusalem.
30:23
You are witnesses
30:24
of these things.
30:27
And behold,
30:28
I am sending
30:28
the promise
30:29
of my Father
30:30
upon you.
30:31
But stay in the city
30:32
until you are clothed
30:34
with the power
30:34
from on high.
30:36
So Jesus explains
30:37
that he has fulfilled
30:39
the scriptures.
30:40
All that God has said
30:41
for thousands
30:41
of years prior
30:42
in the law of Moses
30:44
and the prophets
30:45
and the Psalms
30:45
all were fulfilled
30:47
in him.
30:49
He opened their mind
30:50
and they saw it.
30:50
They saw how
30:51
it all connected
30:52
that it indeed
30:54
was Jesus.
30:55
But again,
30:55
this shows you
30:56
that they didn't
30:56
even understand.
30:57
They were still
30:58
confused about
30:58
what was going on.
31:00
And he's like,
31:00
I told you this.
31:01
I told you
31:02
that this must happen.
31:04
And he goes,
31:06
you are witnesses
31:07
of these things.
31:09
I looked this word up,
31:11
witness.
31:11
You know what it
31:11
actually means?
31:12
It means martyrs.
31:14
You are my martyrs.
31:16
That's what he says
31:18
to them.
31:19
Later on,
31:21
really quickly,
31:22
if you would like to,
31:24
you can flip over
31:24
to 1 Corinthians
31:25
and just hold your hand
31:26
in Luke.
31:27
But all this was done
31:28
in fulfillment
31:29
of prophecy,
31:30
in fulfillment
31:31
of scripture.
31:31
But 1 Corinthians 15,
31:34
Paul wrote
31:34
to the Corinthians.
31:37
For I deliver to you
31:38
as first importance
31:39
what I also received,
31:41
that Christ died
31:42
for our sins
31:43
in accordance
31:44
with the scriptures,
31:46
that he was buried,
31:48
that he was raised
31:49
in the third day
31:50
in accordance
31:51
with the scriptures.
31:53
And when he also
31:54
appeared to Cephas,
31:55
which is Peter,
31:57
then to the twelve,
31:59
then he appeared
32:00
to more than 500
32:01
brothers at one time,
32:03
most of whom
32:05
are still alive,
32:07
though some
32:07
have fallen asleep.
32:09
Then Jesus appeared
32:10
to James,
32:11
then to all the apostles,
32:12
and last of all,
32:14
as the one untimely born,
32:15
he also appeared
32:16
to me.
32:18
So Paul reinforces
32:20
this idea
32:21
that it was all done
32:22
in accordance
32:22
with what God
32:23
had said he would do.
32:24
And he goes,
32:25
by the way,
32:26
like,
32:27
he revealed himself
32:27
to the apostles,
32:29
to Peter,
32:30
then he appeared
32:31
to over 500 people
32:32
at one time,
32:33
like,
32:34
you know,
32:34
I've been in the hospital
32:36
in some crazy situations,
32:37
and I've had some crazy,
32:39
you know,
32:39
like,
32:40
medication that I was on
32:41
that made me hallucinate.
32:43
You know one way
32:43
to know you're hallucinating?
32:44
You can ask somebody,
32:45
hey,
32:45
do you see that?
32:46
And they'll go,
32:47
nope,
32:48
don't see it.
32:49
I saw a squirrel
32:49
jumping around the room,
32:50
and my nurse was like,
32:52
nope,
32:53
no squirrel in your room.
32:54
So 500 people
32:55
are not all doing this
32:56
at one time.
32:57
They're like,
32:57
yeah,
32:58
he actually is there.
32:59
Like,
32:59
I see what you see.
33:01
And he goes,
33:02
look,
33:02
most of them are still alive.
33:03
Go ask them.
33:05
Some have passed,
33:07
but a lot of them
33:07
are still alive.
33:08
Go and talk to them.
33:09
Then Paul humbly says,
33:11
yes,
33:11
but lastly,
33:12
he appeared to me
33:13
on the road
33:14
to Damascus.
33:16
So,
33:18
we go back to Luke.
33:19
We'll wrap it up
33:20
in the last little scene here
33:21
in Luke 24.
33:23
But,
33:24
we see in verse 49
33:26
that the Lord promises
33:28
that the Holy Spirit
33:29
will enable them
33:30
to go forth
33:32
as his witnesses,
33:33
as his martyrs.
33:35
That they should remain
33:36
in the city
33:37
and be patient
33:37
and prayerful
33:38
and wait
33:39
for the power
33:40
of the Spirit
33:41
to come
33:41
that will enable them
33:42
to carry out
33:43
that mission.
33:44
what would come
33:45
40 days later
33:46
at Pentecost.
33:48
So,
33:48
in closing,
33:49
we'll look at scene 4.
33:51
And this starts
33:52
in verse 50.
33:53
Scene 4 was
33:54
Jesus ascends to heaven.
33:57
And he led them out
33:58
as far as Bethany.
34:00
And lifting up his hands,
34:01
he blessed them.
34:03
While he blessed them,
34:05
he parted from them
34:06
and was carried up
34:07
into heaven.
34:08
And they worshipped him
34:10
and returned to Jerusalem
34:11
with great joy
34:13
and were continually
34:14
in the temple
34:15
blessing God.
34:18
Alright?
34:19
That wraps up
34:20
Luke's account.
34:21
He continues that
34:22
in the book of Acts
34:23
that he also wrote.
34:25
Kind of picks up
34:25
right there
34:26
what happened next.
34:28
But he led them out
34:28
as far as Bethany
34:29
on the Mount of Olives
34:31
and this is how Luke
34:32
ends that account
34:33
by Jesus blessing them.
34:35
And then ascending
34:36
into heaven
34:37
which is this visible
34:38
demonstration
34:39
of power,
34:41
of glory,
34:42
but also
34:43
that there is
34:44
a decisive shift
34:45
in redemptive history
34:47
that Jesus
34:48
has accomplished
34:48
his work
34:49
and now he's going
34:50
back to the Father
34:52
to rule
34:53
at his right hand
34:54
in glory.
34:56
And now
34:56
the disciples
34:57
respond to that
34:58
by doing the only thing
35:00
that you could do
35:00
which is worshipping
35:02
and giving praise
35:03
to God.
35:05
And so
35:05
that's how it is
35:07
until he returns,
35:08
right?
35:09
Now we're in this phase
35:10
of waiting for him
35:11
to return.
35:13
A few points
35:14
of application,
35:15
just a few.
35:16
There's a lot
35:17
to apply already
35:18
but just a few things
35:19
to hang your hat on.
35:22
If Christ lives,
35:23
right?
35:24
Because he lives,
35:26
we can have
35:26
great hope
35:27
to face
35:28
whatever comes ahead.
35:30
And we can possess
35:31
the greatest motivation
35:33
for living.
35:34
We don't have to
35:35
spend our day
35:36
looking for something
35:37
to throw our lives
35:38
into.
35:39
That if there is
35:40
in fact
35:40
Jesus
35:41
who has risen
35:42
from the dead,
35:44
then that's the guy
35:44
I want to live for
35:45
and that's the guy
35:46
I want to die for.
35:48
Any other little cause
35:49
is minor
35:50
or almost insignificant
35:52
in comparison.
35:53
We can throw away
35:54
our lives
35:55
even to the point
35:56
of death
35:57
in the cause
35:57
of Jesus
35:58
because
35:58
that's not final.
36:01
He has overcome
36:02
the grave.
36:04
Right?
36:05
We can be in Christ
36:06
steadfast,
36:08
immovable,
36:10
always abounding
36:10
in the work
36:11
of the Lord
36:12
knowing that
36:12
in the Lord
36:13
our labor
36:13
is not in vain.
36:15
That's 1 Corinthians 15
36:16
58.
36:18
We don't have
36:19
to fear death.
36:22
I don't know
36:22
how you are
36:23
with death.
36:24
Like if you've
36:24
been around it,
36:25
if you've seen
36:26
people die.
36:27
I know some of you
36:27
have.
36:28
Some of you
36:29
have been close
36:29
to death.
36:30
When that day
36:31
comes for you,
36:32
you don't have
36:33
to be fearful.
36:35
You can be afraid,
36:36
but you don't
36:36
have to be terrified
36:37
because of what
36:38
Christ has accomplished.
36:39
You can indeed
36:40
have eternal life.
36:43
Jesus said
36:44
upon Lazarus dying,
36:48
He said,
36:49
I am the resurrection
36:50
and the life.
36:52
Whoever believes
36:53
in Me,
36:54
though he die,
36:55
yet shall he live.
36:57
And everyone
36:57
who lives
36:58
and believes in Me
36:59
shall never die.
37:02
And then He said,
37:02
do you believe this?
37:04
So hear that call
37:05
to you today.
37:06
Do you believe this?
37:08
And that we can
37:09
taunt death.
37:11
We can say that
37:12
death no longer
37:13
has power over us.
37:15
It's swallowed up
37:16
in victory.
37:17
Oh death,
37:17
where is your victory?
37:18
Oh death,
37:19
where is your sting?
37:22
So we can have
37:23
all that
37:23
and we can be
37:24
assured,
37:25
lastly,
37:26
that Christ
37:28
will come back
37:29
for us.
37:29
He will return.
37:31
I want to save time.
37:33
I want to tell you
37:34
1 Thessalonians 4,
37:36
16 through 17.
37:38
But the risen Lord
37:39
will leave the throne
37:42
sitting at the hand
37:43
of the Father
37:43
and He will return.
37:45
And He will come back
37:46
for His people.
37:47
He will come
37:48
to judge the world
37:49
in righteousness
37:50
and to call us up
37:53
to be with Him.
37:55
And that's what
37:55
gives us authority.
37:57
Like,
37:57
Jesus is coming back.
37:59
He's alive.
38:00
And you're going to
38:01
have to reckon
38:01
with Him one day.
38:03
You can't just forget Him.
38:04
He's going to come back.
38:05
And you're either
38:06
going to be
38:06
His friends
38:08
on His terms
38:10
or enemies
38:11
on your terms.
38:13
Right?
38:13
Every knee will bow.
38:15
And every tongue
38:15
will confess
38:16
that Jesus is Lord.
38:18
And this is the hope
38:19
we have of
38:20
the resurrection.
38:21
That He is living
38:22
and that He has
38:23
actually indeed
38:24
saved us.
38:25
saved us
38:26
and dwells in us.
38:28
We can have
38:28
great hope
38:29
and joy
38:30
for the future.
38:31
As the disciples did,
38:32
they left
38:33
upon knowing this
38:34
having great joy.
38:36
And I pray
38:36
that that joy
38:37
is yours today.
38:38
Join me in prayer.