Knowing and the Resurrection

April 1, 2018

Scripture referenced 8 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

Luke 23 (latter verses) Women from Galilee follow Jesus to the tomb, see how his body is laid, return to prepare spices, and rest on the Sabbath

1 The whole company of them rose up and brought him before Pilate.
2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man perverting the nation, forbidding paying taxes to Caesar, and saying that he himself is Christ, a king.”
3 Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” He answered him, “So you say.”
4 Pilate said to the chief priests and the multitudes, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”
5 But they insisted, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee even to this place.”
6 But when Pilate heard Galilee mentioned, he asked if the man was a Galilean.
7 When he found out that he was in Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem during those days.
8 Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad, for he had wanted to see him for a long time, because he had heard many things about him. He hoped to see some miracle done by him.
9 He questioned him with many words, but he gave no answers.
10 The chief priests and the scribes stood, vehemently accusing him.
11 Herod with his soldiers humiliated him and mocked him. Dressing him in luxurious clothing, they sent him back to Pilate.
12 Herod and Pilate became friends with each other that very day, for before that they were enemies with each other.
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people,
14 and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one that perverts the people, and behold, having examined him before you, I found no basis for a charge against this man concerning those things of which you accuse him.
15 Neither has Herod, for I sent you to him, and see, nothing worthy of death has been done by him.
16 I will therefore chastise him and release him.”
17 Now he had to release one prisoner to them at the feast.
18 But they all cried out together, saying, “Away with this man! Release to us Barabbas!”—
19 one who was thrown into prison for a certain revolt in the city, and for murder.
20 Then Pilate spoke to them again, wanting to release Jesus,
21 but they shouted, saying, “Crucify! Crucify him!”
22 He said to them the third time, “Why? What evil has this man done? I have found no capital crime in him. I will therefore chastise him and release him.”
23 But they were urgent with loud voices, asking that he might be crucified. Their voices and the voices of the chief priests prevailed.
24 Pilate decreed that what they asked for should be done.
25 He released him who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, for whom they asked, but he delivered Jesus up to their will.
26 When they led him away, they grabbed one Simon of Cyrene, coming from the country, and laid on him the cross, to carry it after Jesus.
27 A great multitude of the people followed him, including women who also mourned and lamented him.
28 But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, don’t weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.
29 For behold, the days are coming in which they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed.’
30 Then they will begin to tell the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and tell the hills, ‘Cover us.’
31 For if they do these things in the green tree, what will be done in the dry?”
32 There were also others, two criminals, led with him to be put to death.
33 When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified him there with the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” Dividing his garments among them, they cast lots.
35 The people stood watching. The rulers with them also scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one!”
36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming to him and offering him vinegar,
37 and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!”
38 An inscription was also written over him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: “THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
39 One of the criminals who was hanged insulted him, saying, “If you are the Christ, save yourself and us!”
40 But the other answered, and rebuking him said, “Don’t you even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
41 And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 He said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”
43 Jesus said to him, “Assuredly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
44 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.
45 The sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two.
46 Jesus, crying with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” Having said this, he breathed his last.
47 When the centurion saw what was done, he glorified God, saying, “Certainly this was a righteous man.”
48 All the multitudes that came together to see this, when they saw the things that were done, returned home beating their breasts.
49 All his acquaintances, and the women who followed with him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
50 Behold, a man named Joseph, who was a member of the council, a good and righteous man
51 (he had not consented to their counsel and deed), from Arimathaea, a city of the Jews, who was also waiting for God’s Kingdom:
52 this man went to Pilate, and asked for Jesus’ body.
53 He took it down, and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid him in a tomb that was cut in stone, where no one had ever been laid.
54 It was the day of the Preparation, and the Sabbath was drawing near.
55 The women, who had come with him out of Galilee, followed after, and saw the tomb, and how his body was laid.
56 They returned, and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Keep this verse

Luke 24:1-12

Women go to the tomb at early dawn, find the stone rolled away, encounter two men in dazzling apparel, remember Jesus's words, and report to the eleven; Peter runs to the tomb

1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they and some others came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.

2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

3 They entered in, and didn’t find the Lord Jesus’ body.

4 While they were greatly perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling clothing.

5 Becoming terrified, they bowed their faces down to the earth. They said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

6 He isn’t here, but is risen. Remember what he told you when he was still in Galilee,

7 saying that the Son of Man must be delivered up into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again?”

8 They remembered his words,

9 returned from the tomb, and told all these things to the eleven, and to all the rest.

10 Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles.

11 These words seemed to them to be nonsense, and they didn’t believe them.

12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb. Stooping and looking in, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he departed to his home, wondering what had happened.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Luke 24:13-35

Two disciples walk to Emmaus, are joined by the risen Jesus unrecognized, discuss the crucifixion and lost hopes, hear Jesus expound the scriptures, and recognize him in the breaking of bread

13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia from Jerusalem.

14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened.

15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them.

16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”

18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”

19 He said to them, “What things?” They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people;

20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.

21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb;

23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.

24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”

25 He said to them, “Foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!

26 Didn’t the Christ have to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?”

27 Beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, he explained to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.

29 They urged him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is almost evening, and the day is almost over.” He went in to stay with them.

30 When he had sat down at the table with them, he took the bread and gave thanks. Breaking it, he gave it to them.

31 Their eyes were opened, and they recognized him, and he vanished out of their sight.

32 They said to one another, “Weren’t our hearts burning within us, while he spoke to us along the way, and while he opened the Scriptures to us?”

33 They rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and those who were with them,

34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”

35 They related the things that happened along the way, and how he was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Luke 24:36-49

Jesus appears among the gathered disciples, invites them to touch him, eats broiled fish, opens their minds to the scriptures, and commissions proclamation of repentance and forgiveness in his name to all nations

36 As they said these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be to you.”

37 But they were terrified and filled with fear, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts?

39 See my hands and my feet, that it is truly me. Touch me and see, for a spirit doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you see that I have.”

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 While they still didn’t believe for joy, and wondered, he said to them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”

42 They gave him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb.

43 He took them, and ate in front of them.

44 He said to them, “This is what I told you, while I was still with you, that all things which are written in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning me must be fulfilled.”

45 Then he opened their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures.

46 He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,

47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 Behold, I send out the promise of my Father on you. But wait in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Luke 1:1-4

Luke describes his method of compiling an orderly account from eyewitnesses for Theophilus so he may have certainty

1 Since many have undertaken to set in order a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us,

2 even as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word delivered them to us,

3 it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus;

4 that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Acts 1:1-11

Luke's second volume recounts Jesus presenting himself alive by many proofs over forty days, promising the Holy Spirit, and ascending into heaven as two men in white robes promise his return

1 The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach,

2 until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

3 To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking about God’s Kingdom.

4 Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.

5 For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 Therefore when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

7 He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority.

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”

9 When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight.

10 While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing,

11 who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Isaiah 53

Cited as forecasting the gruesome death the Messiah would die

1 Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of Yahweh been revealed?

2 For he grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no good looks or majesty. When we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him.

4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, yet when he was afflicted he didn’t open his mouth. As a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and as a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he didn’t open his mouth.

8 He was taken away by oppression and judgment; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living and stricken for the disobedience of my people?

9 They made his grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in his death; although he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. He has caused him to suffer. When you make his soul an offering for sin, he will see his offspring. He will prolong his days, and Yahweh’s pleasure will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light and be satisfied. My righteous servant will justify many by the knowledge of himself; and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore will I give him a portion with the great, and he will divide the plunder with the strong; because he poured out his soul to death, and was counted with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Psalm 22

Cited alongside Isaiah 53 as forecasting the gruesome death the Messiah would die

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?

2 My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don’t answer; in the night season, and am not silent.

3 But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.

4 Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.

5 They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.

6 But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.

7 All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,

8 “He trusts in Yahweh. Let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him.”

9 But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust while at my mother’s breasts.

10 I was thrown on you from my mother’s womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.

11 Don’t be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is no one to help.

12 Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.

13 They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.

14 I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.

16 For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.

17 I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.

18 They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

19 But don’t be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me.

20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.

21 Save me from the lion’s mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.

22 I will declare your name to my brothers. Among the assembly, I will praise you.

23 You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!

24 For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

25 Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.

26 The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.

27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.

28 For the kingdom is Yahweh’s. He is the ruler over the nations.

29 All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can’t keep his soul alive.

30 Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.

31 They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

World English Bible · Read it in another translation

Keep this verse

Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

This Easter morning message from Pastor Blake walked through the resurrection narrative in Luke and the opening of Acts, asking why the people closest to Jesus were so slow to recognize and believe what He had plainly told them. The sermon kept returning to a single honest tension: knowing something and truly believing it are not the same thing. That gap, Pastor Blake argued, is where most of us actually live.

What was said

The women who came to the tomb on Sunday morning brought spices. That detail matters. They had heard Jesus say, more than once, that He would rise on the third day, and yet they showed up expecting a body. The angelic messengers in dazzling clothing had to remind them of words Jesus had already spoken, and only then did they remember. They had been exposed to the truth repeatedly. Exposure and belief, though, are different things.

When the women reported what they had seen and heard, the apostles called it an idle tale. These were men who had followed Jesus for three years, heard every prediction, watched every miracle. Peter ran to the tomb anyway, which is very Peter, but even he went home marveling rather than believing. The people with the most information were not the first to believe.

The two disciples walking to Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, are the center of the sermon. They were discussing everything that had happened, and Jesus Himself came alongside them without being recognized. Pastor Blake noted his wife's honest discomfort with that detail, that their eyes were kept from recognizing Him, and let it stand as written rather than explaining it away. Jesus walked with them, listened to them describe their lost hope in the past tense, and then, beginning with Moses and all the prophets, worked through the scriptures showing them what pointed to Him all along.

Even after that long conversation on the road, the two men still did not recognize Jesus. Their hearts were burning, something was happening, but the recognition came only when He broke the bread at the table. Pastor Blake read that sequence carefully: the teaching through scripture first, the recognition through the breaking of bread second. Understanding built up over the walk, but knowing came at a specific moment. Then He vanished, and they got up immediately and went back to Jerusalem to tell the others.

When Jesus appeared to the gathered group that same evening, they were startled and thought they were seeing a ghost. This is after the women had reported it, after Peter had seen the tomb, after the two Emmaus disciples had come back to tell them. Pastor Blake's point was plain: even the people who had the most reason to believe, who had heard it from eyewitnesses, who had heard it from Jesus Himself, were still frightened and doubting when He stood in front of them. He had to show them His hands and feet and eat a piece of fish before they could take it in.

Pastor Blake drew on a J. I. Packer quote to describe repentance as turning from as much as you know of your sin, to give as much as you know of yourself, to as much as you know of God. He pressed on the word "as much as you know," saying that our knowledge of our sin, ourselves, and God all grow over time, and repentance has to grow with them. Nobody gets to a point of having it fully sorted, not the apostles, not anyone.

The sermon closed in Acts 1, with Jesus telling the disciples they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came, and that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Pastor Blake noted that Samaria was the uncomfortable place for them, the people they did not naturally like, and that witness to the ends of the earth meant people who looked and spoke and lived differently. The ascension left them staring into the sky until the two men in white robes asked why, and promised He would return the same way He left. Pastor Blake said plainly he does not understand how any of that works, but that he trusts it anyway, and that trusting what we do not fully understand is exactly what the whole narrative asks of us.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

The women who went to the tomb had heard Jesus say multiple times that he would rise on the third day, yet they still showed up with burial spices. Where in your own life have you heard something true over and over again but still acted as though you didn't believe it?
Pastor Blake described the two disciples on the road to Emmaus as having lost hope, saying 'we had hoped' in the past tense, even after hearing the women's report from the tomb. What does it look like when hope gives way to going through the motions, and what brought these two men back?

and 3 more questions in the guide

Open the study guide

Read the full transcript 7,250 words

Find in this transcript

0:00 Speaker 1Good morning, everybody. How are you? He is risen. He risen indeed. Alright.

0:07 I like that he has risen indeed. Somebody just said, you know, this year it's... He has risen. No fooling. All right?

0:14 He's risen indeed. Welcome and I'm glad that you're here this morning. I'm gonna invite up for the last three weeks. So this is a combined service. For the last three weeks, we've had 09:00 and 11:00 services.

0:24 That's normal. The 10:00 combined service is just a combined celebration, get all of us here at one time. Florine has been leading off for the last three weeks. He's been leading off with a verse and adding a verse and adding another verse of, Were you there? I'm gonna ask him if he'll come forward and sing that.

0:41 And as he is, would you just take a minute to center yourself on Christ Jesus and listen to this and go through three verses but when he gets to that fourth verse, would you stand and sing with him? Because we're celebrating Christ's resurrection this morning.

0:58 Speaker 2What a privilege to be here. Amen? Amen. Amen. I love church medics.

1:03 I love to worship God through music. Thank you, Rosemary, for giving me the privilege to sing, and thank you for doing such a beautiful, wonderful job at the 11:00 worship service. Oh, I love it. Your type of music, it's so... It reached my heart, honestly.

1:18 May God bless you. Thank you. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? What a beautiful song, honestly. I love this song.

1:24 So today is not about how I sing. It's about to whom I sing. I sing for my savior, for Jesus Christ. Amen? So if I don't mistake some songs, it's okay.

1:34 It's all good. I actually told Blake that please put the lyrics over there because I don't wanna sing in tongues. I wanna make sure you understand what I'm saying. And and one more thing. I love when you are sitting down because I can see you.

1:52 Now I lost the the tone. Let me go back. We gotta laugh a little bit. Okay? We gotta enjoy the service.

2:04 Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they crucified my lord? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Were you there when they nail him to the three?

2:49 Were you there when they nail him to the three? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble. Were you there when they nail him to the tree? I feel that, honestly. Were you there when they laid him in the two?

3:25 Were you there when they laid him in the tomb? Oh, sometimes it causes me to tremble. Tremble. Tremble. Were you there when they let him in the tomb?

3:51 This is what we celebrate today. Were you there when he rose up from the there? Were you there when he rose up from the there. Hallelujah. Oh, sometimes I feel like shouting glory, glory, glory.

4:26 Were you there when he rose up from the dead? Amen. Amen. Amen. So,

4:42 Speaker 1announcements this morning. Y'all can have a seat. Announcements this morning. I'm going try to keep em quick. We're off duty for Monday nights.

4:49 It's not happening. Iwana is not happening tomorrow night. It'll be back on a week from tomorrow, both of those. Spring break, the youth is taking a break also. Secret Church is happening coming up on April 20.

5:02 That's a Friday night. It is really happening from 6PM to 12:50AM. So it's an extended session. If you want to know more about it, Samantha McVay, would you stand up for just a second? See that lady right there.

5:13 She'll tell you more about the secret church. Alright. Guatemala. The mission trip to Guatemala. I've heard from almost everybody.

5:21 The only people that have not yet arrived are Carl and his daughter Rachel, and they are on they are en route right now. They're on the way. He had to wait for de icing the plane this morning. They left out this morning and I leave immediately after the service but would y'all be pleased, please, remember to pray for these 33 folks from First B who are going and hoping to help at Hope of Life International in Zacapa, Guatemala. I think that's all of the...

5:51 Yes, Dawn Lottshaw. Yes. You can treat these chairs like pews and just squish together if you could. Leave leave the area on the outside edges so it's easier for people to get in. When you greet, get up and greet one another, squish together as tight as you can when you sit back down.

6:14 Would you greet one another? We'll bring you back together with a song. Alright. Vamilos. Alright.

7:25 You're gonna you're gonna lead us off? Yeah. That sound good this morning. Do you mean it? Yeah.

10:05 Wow. Amen. Amy, would you lead us off?

10:09 Speaker 3Yes. Thank you, lord for that. It's awesome. Ray was like, we have to do that because we're going to have a full group. You guys Like the full choir.

10:20 Let's start off with just the chorus of nothing but the blood. Thank you, Lord. I... Just looking out the window at the snow this morning, I know it's not our favorite spring day, but it's a reminder. He makes us white as snow.

10:35 I was looking out there, and I'm like, I'm I'm white as snow. So are you. So are you if Jesus is in you. So let's sing this. One more time.

16:32 You, Lord. I was just talking to, this is Didi, by the way, and Paco, and Florine, and Ray, and we were just talking this morning about how God never changes. He's the same, the same God of Moses, the same God of Abraham, the same God of Isaac is our God today. And the amazing thing is is we are his temple. If we have accepted him, we are the temple that carries this God.

17:00 And, I just, as we sing this next song, I just... It's, Lord God, give us a revelation, a new fresh revelation of who you are and who we are, God, as your chosen temple, as your chosen dwelling place, father. That the risen power of Christ lives in us, father. May we see it. May we see it.

21:27 Speaker 1Amen. Y'all can have a seat. Imma invite the frontline team to come forward Would you pray with me? God, I thank you for a beauty of your resurrection for raising Christ, for exalting him in due time, lord and I pray that we would continually be lifting Jesus up and we'd continually be proclaiming repentance and the forgiveness of sins in his name. Lord, may it go forward from this place to the ends of the earth and we pray that it would begin right here.

22:00 We ask you to bless lord the giver and multiply the gift to do your kingdom's work here in our Jerusalem right here in Jackson and Judea, all of the surrounding area and Samaria, those even further out and to the ends of the earth. In Jesus name, we ask your blessing humbly. Thank you, lord. In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

25:53 There is children's church today. So, if there are kids here that want to go down to kids church, it's happening. So that's the cavalcade that you're hearing going out of here. I hope. I mean, there could be pitter patter of people running out before the sermon.

26:07 That's possible too. It's Easter. Easter 2018. Knowing and the resurrection. Knowing and the resurrection.

26:19 So I have not been preaching narrative lately. It's been the, you know, didactic teaching from Paul, letters in the New Testament. What normally do is just go forward. You know, if we go forward and we're going in the chronological order that the books were written, but I'm gonna drop back into an Easter sermon, and it's really gonna be the Easter narrative, and I have a lot of slides, and there are a lot of words, but if you'll listen fast, I'll talk fast. This is a narrative from the book of Luke.

26:46 I have a draw, but it's a very fast draw. So it's a narrative from the book of Luke, and I'm gonna take a couple verses from the book of Acts, and let's get right into it. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, first day of the week is when, by the way? Sunday, right? On the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices that they had prepared and that they there is the women.

27:10 This field dropped back just a few verses into chapter 23. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed, saw the tomb how his body was laid, and they returned and prepared spices and ointments. This is after the crucifixion, after his burial, these women, it says, and they returned and then they rested according to the commandment on Saturday, the Sabbath and then on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus while they were perplexed about this. Behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. Stood by them in dazzling apparel.

27:59 Actually, usually you see it more like this. They're considered to be angelic messengers. I I changed it to the ESV version just to use the word dazzling. Brightly colored, incredible, resplendent clothing these guys, messengers were wearing, and as they were frightened and they bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, why do you seek looking for it, right? Why do you seek the living among the dead?

28:30 He's not here but he is risen. Amen. Remember how he told you. Now, this is angelic messengers, right? Dazzling apparel and they said, remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee?

28:46 He knew where they had been. He knew where they meant together. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee that the son of man must be delivered into the hands sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Do you remember that? And they remembered his word.

28:58 Now, had been exposed to it. They knew it was supposed to happen. Where are they expecting it? Why did they show up with spices if they were expecting it? Right?

29:05 They had heard it. He said it multiple times. We read it in all the gospels where he's pointing towards this coming time and they remembered his words. What words that the son of man? That's Jesus.

29:18 Favorite self designation must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Those are his words. And returning from the tomb, they, those women, told all these things to the 11 and all the rest. Was 11. Why?

29:33 Because Judas, hang on some. He was out of there by this point. So it's all through. It's twelve twelve twelve twelve twelve all the way through Luke and then right here, it's an 11. And to all the rest, it says, the women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb how his body was laid and they saw it.

29:55 They remembered that he said that he was going to rise when they were reminded of it. By those two dazzling dressed gods. Now, it was Mary Magdalene. Okay. So, now we get to hear who the women are.

30:08 Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles and these were the 11, right? And all the rest. There were other people that had been with him for a while. We know that from Acts a little later. They told these things to the apostles.

30:27 Now, remember this, if you're here today and you don't really know who Luke is and you don't know what his writing style is, Luke set about to do an orderly account. This is the first little introduction to the book of Luke and he says, in as much as many have taken under compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and they were ministers of the word have delivered them to us. It seemed to me good also having followed all things closely for some time past. He was a historian. He was actually a physician.

30:57 That's what he did kind of for a living. Seemed good to me having followed all things closely for some time past to write down an orderly account for you most excellent Theophilus that you may have certainty concerning the things you've been taught. So he's saying, I compiled all these stories from eyewitnesses. It was Mary Magdalene. He knew.

31:18 Mary Magdalene. He knew. Joanne, he knew Mary, the mother of James. He knew these people and he had interviewed many of them. He had interviewed Mary.

31:26 He said, she pondered these things in her heart. He says that elsewhere. So, this is a guy writing a historical account in the first century and then, verse 11 to me seems sad but the whole thing is important. These words though and they're delivering the message just as the angelic messengers had given it to them and they remember Jesus saying it and they were communicating the message and they said, but these words, they seemed to them, the apostles, the ones who had followed him for three years. It seemed to those guys an idle tale and they did not believe them.

32:03 But Peter, impetuous Peter, he's often the first one out of the boat, right? He's jumping out. Peter rose and he ran to the tomb. He was looking forward to this. Now, this is a guy who just three days before had denied Christ.

32:18 This is the guy who had a conversation with Jesus and Jesus told him, Satan has asked to sift you like wheat but I've prayed for you but I've prayed for you and when you've come through it, you'll be of great use. Peter ran to the tomb. Stupid and looking in, he saw the linen clothes by themselves, the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened. Now, this is the part that I really want to discuss right here. All that was just prologue.

32:46 That very day, two of them and this is disciples, apostles, followers of Jesus, whatever. It's not the 11 but it's two of them, the assembled ones. That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus. It's about seven miles from Jerusalem. Since there's so much text, I'm trying to put little breaks in here for you.

33:08 That's 60 stadia. Stadia is about 607 feet for those math people in here, 185 meters. If you multiply six zero seven feet times 60, you get 36,420 feet. If you divide that by 5,280, you get 6.89772727 miles. That is about seven miles, Alright?

33:28 If you still don't know where it is, this is ancient Israel, you know, Judea and Galilee, the whole thing. If you look up close, you can see Jerusalem is there, and Emmaus is there, and I had in my mind for some reason that it's about the same distances from here to somewhere, and so what would that be? Here we are at First Baptist Church right there. Boy, I'm nervous. Sorry.

33:50 And there's Wilson. And if you superimpose one map over the other, Jerusalem and Emmaus are exactly the distance from here to Wilson. So they're walking from here like they're walking to Wilson, and they're walking and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. And wouldn't that be what you did? You followed a guy for a good long while, and then he's crucified.

34:13 Friday, and this is Sunday. It's after Passover. It's after the big celebration. You're walking home. Wouldn't it be something to talk about?

34:24 That didn't go like I thought it was going to. I mean, really. I'm not... I didn't mean for that to be a joke. Really, they did not expect for this to go this way.

34:32 And they had been told. And they had been told. And they had been told. And they had been told. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

34:39 And while they were talking and they were discussing these things together, praise God. Jesus himself, the risen Christ, Messiah, lamb of God, Jesus himself drew near and he went along with them. But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And my wife said about two weeks ago, she said, I don't like that. I don't like that part of the story where it says, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

35:07 And I said, well, maybe we just don't need to know everything all at once. Why is it that they didn't... He didn't want them to know who he was right away? Why is it? Is it...

35:17 I said, I I chalk it up the glorified body. I'm not sure. Maybe shave the beard. I don't know. I don't know why, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

35:28 And that's what it says, so don't speculate any further. That's what the text says. And he said to them, and I've capitalized all the H's in here so you know who's Jesus, alright? The he is capitalized because it's Jesus and he said to them, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still looking sad because that's a sad conversation if the guy you've been following two or three years suddenly is just no more.

35:56 And all of the expectation of the triumphant takeover of the government and all of the expectation that you've built up as one of his followers is you might have a place in the new regime. And they just loved him. If somebody gets crucified that you love, I mean, that's horrible. It's horrific and they stood still looking sad. Then one of them named Cleopus.

36:22 So, that's how we know it's not one of the 12 or one of the 11 apostles. Then, one of em named Cleopus and I say that Cleopus, he interviewed these people. Luke says, eyewitness accounts. I'm putting it all down. I'm getting this.

36:36 This is trustworthy and he's saying that in the first century and do you think it was as skeptical in the first century as it is in the twenty first century? Oh, what a skeptical lot we are but Luke's account has remained just as it is. It's not corrupted. The Greek that was written is the Greek that we have and we have translated it over the years and translations are translations. They they are accurate.

37:01 Then one of them named Cleopus answered him, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? Because you'd have to be, right? Walking back to Emmaus would say, you know, if you're walking away from Jerusalem at this time, you're one of the Jews that went there for the big Passover celebration and whether you're for him or against him, Jesus was a figure that everybody knew, right? Are you not, are you the only one, the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And he said to him, what things?

37:38 You don't often see Jesus playing dumb, right? You do see it occasionally when he wants to teach the disciples a lesson like with the Gentile woman was there and she's asking for a little help and Jesus is saying, well, I don't know about that and all the disciples are gathered around. He's going, is it right that I should do this? I came for the lost sheep of Israel, right? And the disciples were there and they're basically racist.

38:04 And he's teaching them and she says, but even the dogs get the crumbs from the table and he blesses that woman and it teaches his disciples. Jesus doesn't play dumb off of but he is playing dumb here. And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed and word before God and all of the people and how our chief priest, these are Jewish background guys. Our chief priest and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped and it says, it's past tense right there, you know.

38:43 We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. We had hoped. We put our faith in him that he was going to be the one that got us out of this present mess that we're in. Yes and besides all this, it's now the third day since these things have happened. The third day was the official end of life, you know.

39:01 I don't know if you all know this, but even up until this past couple of centuries, we have a lot better accurate measure of when someone is dead, right? There's even... There are theories about the swoon theory. He wasn't dead, he just was... Looked like he was dead, and there are all kinds of theories people bring up.

39:20 This is a sideline. Probably shouldn't throw it in, I'm gonna do it anyway. You know the phrase saved by the bell? You know what that means? Saved by the bell.

39:26 I would think it was a boxing metaphor that somebody's getting pummeled and then the bell rang and they get to sit in the corner for a little while. It's not. Even up until the seventeen hundreds, late seventeen hundreds, Pilgrim, after the Pilgrims into the Northeastern United States, there was a scare about people who were swooning but not dying, and they were afraid that they would be buried. I'm not joking. They were afraid that they would be buried alive, and so they rigged coffins that had a string and a bell.

39:57 And so if you were to wake up in your coffin, you could pull the string and ring the bell. That's the truth saved by the bell is to dig him up quick. He's alive. I'm not joking. Three days though, three days is way past the point.

40:12 In... It was official in Judaism that the third day was the day that it's no no chance. Okay. We had hoped, past tense, that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it's now the third day.

40:25 They did not see any hope anymore. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning. Now, wait a second. They had no hope and they had heard the story from the women who heard the story from the angelic messengers.

40:43 And when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had a vision of angels who said that he was alive. They just said, we had hoped, past tense. They lost their hope and they're walking back to Emmaus. Some of those who are with us went out to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, checking up on the women, right? But him, they did not see.

41:06 They didn't see Jesus and he said to them, oh foolish ones and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have spoken. You've been exposed to this. You've been exposed to the Old Testament probably your whole life. Since your opening breaths, you they're whispering in your ear the Shema. And you've heard this your whole lives and you've heard all of the Old Testament, the law, and the prophets pointing towards Jesus.

41:34 Even Moses saying, there will be one who comes along like me, the Taeb, a great prophet. Look for him. Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe. All that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

41:52 Jesus is saying this. Jesus himself is saying this to the guys on the road and beginning with Moses and all of the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. I think that's why he was hiding his identity from them. It's reasonable people. No matter who the messenger is, this is a reasonable thing.

42:13 If you know the prophecies and if you know the law, it should make sense to you and Jesus is saying that. There's a little break in the reading right there. So they drew near to the village to which they were going. So walking from here, Jerusalem to Wilson, Emmaus. They drew near.

42:33 They've crossed the Snake River Bridge and they're closing in on home there. So they drew near to the village to which they were going and he acted as if he were going farther. Now, had been teaching them the whole time. He had been reminding them of things that they knew but he had not yet or they did not yet recognize him. He did not yet reveal who he was.

42:52 He acted as if he were going to keep on walking and go farther. But they urged him strongly and I'm so proud of him for doing this. They've been following Jesus for so long and they had gained from him so much and even though he was no longer with him as far as they were concerned, they didn't know he was with them. They urged him strongly saying, come on, stay with us. Spend the night here.

43:19 Stay with us. For it's toward even the day is now far spent. So, he went in to stay with them. And when he was at table with them, he took the bread and he blessed and broke it and he gave it to them and their eyes were open and they recognized it. So, the story, everything that had been telling all throughout Moses and prophets, everything point forward.

43:43 Didn't you remember this? Don't you remember this? Well, yeah, that's a good point. Wow. Yeah.

43:48 That makes sense but they still had not seen him with their own eyes as far as they knew. Knowing and the resurrection, our knowing is limited, people. What we know about God is limited. What we know about ourselves is limited. What we know about the Bible is limited too.

44:11 This is Caravaggio's supper at Emmaus 1601. These guys are hanging out and they're like, but what about this? What about this? And Jesus is sitting there explaining. It's before he's broken the bread.

44:24 And they're trying to figure it out and I like the posture of what? This guy over here. And their eyes were open and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. So, now, he's gone. Again, and they start up and they said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us?

44:43 While he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures and yes, their hearts were burning within him and they were moved but they still didn't recognize him. They still didn't get to recognize him until the proper time. And they rose that same hour and they returned to Jerusalem. Now, what did the ladies do? When they heard from the messengers, they went back to those apostles and they gathered with them.

45:06 They said, listen, this is what happened and they were not believed and then these guys, when they see Jesus, what do they do? They gather together. We're gathered together here by the way. If you didn't catch that, we're gathered together to talk about Jesus. They found the leaven and those who were with them and they gathered together saying, the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.

45:28 Wait a second, we were coming to tell y'all that the Lord had appeared to Cleopus and the other guy and now you're telling us that the Lord's appeared to Simon and then they told them what happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread and as they were talking about these things, Jesus himself himself, I think he's funny. Jesus himself stood among them and he said to them, peace to you. How many times did he said that to him when he was with him in the last three years? Peace to you but they were startled and they were frightened and they thought they saw a spirit. Even knowing and even having Peter who's kind of their leader, right?

46:05 See him and even having these two guys and all the women have seen him and then Jesus shows up again, scares him again. They're frightened, thought they saw a spirit and he said to them, why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your heart? It's because what they thought that they knew was being shaken and so if you're here today and you're Christian, you've grown grown up in church your whole life and you know how this is supposed to go, maybe God has something new that he wants to stretch you. And if you are an absolute devout atheist, but you love your mama, and you came with her today, then maybe there's something new.

46:45 This story... I'm trying to tell the simple story of the Easter story because even the apostles did not believe it when it went against what they thought they knew. Do you get that? Knowing in the resurrection. Resurrection is a historical fact.

46:58 The knowing it is between sets of ears right here. The knowing it and it gets to your heart. Why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your heart? See my hands and see my feet that it is I, myself.

47:12 Touch me and see for spirit doesn't have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Resurrection body, like I said, glorified body. That's not just a cop out. It's he's Jesus himself explains it that way and when he had said this, he showed them his hand and his feet and while they still disbelieved for joy and were marving, marveling, he said to them, have you anything to eat here? He's going to show em a different way.

47:36 They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and he ate it before them and then he said to them, these are my words that I spoke. While I was still with you, they had been exposed to the truth over and over and over again. These are my words that I spoke to you 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 and there are some gruesome things. If you don't think that there are, read Isaiah 53. Read Psalm 22 and it forecast perfectly exactly the gruesome death that he, the Messiah would die.

48:14 Everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then, opened their minds. Amen. To understand the scriptures and said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead. And it goes further.

48:32 Now that you've got that, I know that you're scared. I know you're with me, and he explained it all again. And he said, this is what I said back then. Remember that? Uh-huh.

48:39 Okay. This is what it means. Now that you're seeing me resurrected, it's really me. Touch me. Seriously.

48:46 Let me see some fish. I'll eat something to prove that it's it's yeah, it's me. And then he goes further and he says, in repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. Now, the word repentance doesn't it comes up a lot in theology and it comes up a lot. I when I hit this, it's I usually would go into a Greek blah blah blah.

49:09 You know, meta no it's a turning around, a change of mind, a complete change of mind. A change of mind from disbelief to belief. A change of mind from disagreeing with God and his plan to agreeing with God and his plan, whatever it is. The repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name. I like this.

49:31 This is J. I. Packer quote. Repentance means turning from and he recognizes the limitations of our knowledge and our understanding, okay? Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God.

49:52 And as our knowledge grows, and I think our knowledge does grows, as we avail ourselves and as we surrender our will to the will of God, seeking him, seeking conscious contact with God as we understand him at that point, right? Our knowledge of God. As our knowledge grows at these three points, our knowledge of our sin, our knowledge of our self, and our knowledge of our God. At these three points, our practice of repentance has to be enlarged. Does that make sense?

50:24 It is progressive. You're never going to get to the place where you just got this. If the apostles didn't have it and they followed him for three years and he had to explain it over and over again, before revealing himself and then after. You're probably not going to get to that place. Sight is not what we live by.

50:43 We live by faith. Even when we don't completely understand the scriptures, we believe them and we trust them. So beginning from Jerusalem, you are witnesses of these things. You've seen them. You heard me talk about them, and you have seen them.

51:01 And so what's a witness responsible for in a court of law? Tell them what they saw, right? I've used the example a thousand times. There was a guy who became a Christian as an adult here, and his first few months, all that he could say when somebody said, man, what's what's the deal? You've changed.

51:18 He'd go, Jesus, man. That was his experience and that is exactly the experience. I don't understand it but I do know it. Experientially, all the way down. You're witnesses of these things and are witnesses responsible for telling what he knows personally and behold, I'm sending the promise of my father upon you but stay in the city until you're clothed with power from on high.

51:44 So, there's breaking the reading right there because that's the end of the gospel of Luke. End of the book of Luke. But the interesting thing is book writes... Luke writes volume two, and it's called the Acts of the Apostles. And so I'm going to scoot over into this, and the volume really does go, this is the life of Jesus, this is the life of the early church, and it overlaps a little bit.

52:04 So, here it is, the first 11 verses of this. In the first book, O Theophilus, I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach. Now, Jesus started this thing. We, church, are the continuing body of Christ. So, whatever Jesus started back then is what he is still doing now through his body, the church.

52:25 In the first book of Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he presented himself alive to them after struggling by many proofs appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God, and there were plenty of others too. There's a lot of historical accuracy and a historical detail involved because a lot of these people were still alive. He presented himself alive and many proofs. We see that at the end of the book of Luke. Appearing in them for forty days, speaking about the kingdom of God and while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the father which he said, you heard from me.

53:14 For John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. Jesus is now telling them the front side of something that they're going to have a hard time understanding in a few more days. Do you get that? He's telling them, telling them, telling them, telling them about the crucifixion. He's actually already told them about the Holy Spirit, but now he's talking about the promise of the Father, promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit.

53:38 John baptized with water, but you'll be baptized with the Holy Spirit, not many days from now. And so when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you, at this time, restore the kingdom to Israel? You think they'd have it by now, right? That it's not military, that this is a heart issue, that this is individual. Now, is he going to restore?

53:59 Yes. None of those promises have been revoked. He will but that's what they're worried about. Lord, are you going to restore your kingdom at this time? And he said to him, to them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority.

54:15 The answer to the question, why didn't he reveal himself to those guys? I don't know. It's not for me to know the times of the season that the father but those guys invited him in. They were consciously seeking Christ and they were when they asked him into the house, whatsoever you do to the least of these, Jesus said, you've also done it to me and so when they invited a stranger on the road to Emmaus to come into the house and Jesus comes in recognizing that, wow, these guys still get it. They get it.

54:43 They get what this is about. They get that it's about how you treat one another. It's about trusting me and godliness, even if they make mistakes here and there. April Fool's Day and Easter. Oh, there was a great opportunity here for this.

55:01 Really? Foolish as they can be. They hear all stuff over and over. How many times do we hear stuff over and over and over and over again and we still just don't get it? Or we just don't believe it?

55:09 Or we choose not to believe it. We'd rather believe something, oh my goodness, the History Channel. It's all about aliens. These days it's all about aliens. Aliens did this, that, and the other thing.

55:18 You'd rather believe that? Seriously? No proof whatsoever. Gospels that were written five hundred years later, three hundred years later, seven hundred years later, and they get all the time until Easter and then Jesus sells magazines at Easter. It's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority but you will receive this power.

55:47 When the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will be my witnesses. So, remember what it is that I've done. Remember what it is that I've said and transmit faithfully this message. You'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, right in your local area, and in Judea. That's where Emmaus is by the way.

56:04 It's in the greater state around Jerusalem, the land of the Jews, Judea, and in Samaria. Oh, wait. Wait a second. Samaria, those are the folks that we don't really like. They're half breeds.

56:14 You remember them? Yep. You're gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and Samaria, the places that you feel uncomfortable, and even to the end of the earth where they don't speak the same language as you, where they don't dress like you, where they don't look like you, where there are cultural differences that abound. You will be my witnesses and when he had said these things as they were looking on, he was lifted up. Ascension.

56:39 But that was confusing. And a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up in the sky? Why are you standing looking up into heaven? This Jesus, the same one that you've been with, that has now resurrected.

57:06 This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, he'll come the same way as you saw him go into heaven. Amen. Do I understand that? Not one bit. I don't get how that can be.

57:17 I mean, I've watched lots of Superman movies and different stuff and seen people fly and ascend and do things on film, but I don't believe that stuff because I've tried, you know? Jumping off a roof, you hit the ground. That's what happens. I don't know how to believe that. I'm saying the laws that I understand don't make any sense, but I trust that this is true.

57:37 Does that make sense? I think that's the last slide. This same Jesus who was resurrected and we're celebrating in 2018, the same Jesus who is risen will come back just as he left and he has not done it yet, folks, But he will. With all that I know of myself and all that I know of my own sin, I am surrendering that to all that I know of God and praying that he will use me to bring about his kingdom. Instead of looking for a position in that kingdom or looking for an overthrow of the government, I'm looking for Jesus to open my eyes.

58:21 Would you join me in that? I'm gonna invite the band back up, and if y'all would stand, we're gonna sing one. It's called Homeward Bound. I don't know if you know this one. I did not know it, but I like it.

58:32 If you'll stand and we'll sing it together. Amen. I'm glad y'all are here this morning and I'm delighted to be here. I'm going to ask God for his blessing this week and this is the benediction. Now, may the Lord of peace himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance and may the Lord be with you all.

1:02:29 In Jesus name, amen. Amen.

Topics

Doubt Repentance Resurrection Road To Emmaus Witnessing Faith

Recap

What was said

Doing a Bible study?

Topics

Share this message

Come find us