The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
Romans 8:11The spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, quoted to the congregation as good news
11 But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Baptism as a model of Christ's burial and resurrection, cited to explain why Fox's baptism on Easter was fitting
4 We were buried therefore with him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have become united with him in the likeness of his death, we will also be part of his resurrection;
Identified the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee and followed after the crucifixion
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.
Jesus began to tell his disciples it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, suffer, be killed and raised
21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
Moses said to look for a prophet like him, cited as one of the scriptures Jesus would have pointed to on the road to Emmaus
1 The priests the Levites, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the offerings of Yahweh made by fire and his portion.
2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers. Yahweh is their inheritance, as he has spoken to them.
3 This shall be the priests’ due from the people, from those who offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give to the priest the shoulder, the two cheeks, and the inner parts.
4 The first fruits of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil, and the first of the fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.
5 For Yahweh your God has chosen him out of all your tribes, to stand to minister in Yahweh’s name, him and his sons for ever.
6 If a Levite comes from any of your gates out of all Israel, where he lives as a foreigner, and comes with all the desire of his soul to the place which Yahweh shall choose;
7 then he shall minister in the name of Yahweh his God, as all his brothers the Levites do, who stand there before Yahweh.
8 They shall have like portions to eat, in addition to that which comes from the sale of his family possessions.
9 When you have come into the land which Yahweh your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the abominations of those nations.
10 There shall not be found with you anyone who makes his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices sorcery, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer,
11 or a charmer, or a consulter with a familiar spirit, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
12 For whoever does these things is an abomination to Yahweh. Because of these abominations, Yahweh your God drives them out from before you.
13 You shall be perfect with Yahweh your God.
14 For these nations that you shall dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery and to diviners; but as for you, Yahweh your God has not allowed you so to do.
15 Yahweh your God will raise up to you a prophet from among you, of your brothers, like me. You shall listen to him.
16 This is according to all that you desired of Yahweh your God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, “Let me not hear again Yahweh my God’s voice, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I not die.”
17 Yahweh said to me, “They have well said that which they have spoken.
18 I will raise them up a prophet from among their brothers, like you. I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I shall command him.
19 It shall happen, that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
20 But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.”
21 You may say in your heart, “How shall we know the word which Yahweh has not spoken?”
22 When a prophet speaks in Yahweh’s name, if the thing doesn’t follow, nor happen, that is the thing which Yahweh has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You shall not be afraid of him.
Recommended to the congregation as a passage about resurrection, noted as something he would have preached if not preaching Luke 24
1 Now I declare to you, brothers, the Good News which I preached to you, which also you received, in which you also stand,
2 by which also you are saved, if you hold firmly the word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
6 Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers at once, most of whom remain until now, but some have also fallen asleep.
7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles,
8 and last of all, as to the child born at the wrong time, he appeared to me also.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, who is not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the assembly of God.
10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
11 Whether then it is I or they, so we preach, and so you believed.
12 Now if Christ is preached, that he has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised.
14 If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith also is in vain.
15 Yes, we are also found false witnesses of God, because we testified about God that he raised up Christ, whom he didn’t raise up, if it is so that the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead aren’t raised, neither has Christ been raised.
17 If Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins.
18 Then they also who are fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead. He became the first fruits of those who are asleep.
21 For since death came by man, the resurrection of the dead also came by man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
23 But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then those who are Christ’s, at his coming.
24 Then the end comes, when he will deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father; when he will have abolished all rule and all authority and power.
25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.
26 The last enemy that will be abolished is death.
27 For, “He put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when he says, “All things are put in subjection”, it is evident that he is excepted who subjected all things to him.
28 When all things have been subjected to him, then the Son will also himself be subjected to him who subjected all things to him, that God may be all in all.
29 Or else what will they do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead aren’t raised at all, why then are they baptized for the dead?
30 Why do we also stand in jeopardy every hour?
31 I affirm, by the boasting in you which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
32 If I fought with animals at Ephesus for human purposes, what does it profit me? If the dead are not raised, then “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”
33 Don’t be deceived! “Evil companionships corrupt good morals.”
34 Wake up righteously, and don’t sin, for some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.
35 But someone will say, “How are the dead raised?” and, “With what kind of body do they come?”
36 You foolish one, that which you yourself sow is not made alive unless it dies.
37 That which you sow, you don’t sow the body that will be, but a bare grain, maybe of wheat, or of some other kind.
38 But God gives it a body even as it pleased him, and to each seed a body of its own.
39 All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, another flesh of animals, another of fish, and another of birds.
40 There are also celestial bodies, and terrestrial bodies; but the glory of the celestial differs from that of the terrestrial.
41 There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory.
42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown perishable; it is raised imperishable.
43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.
44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is also a spiritual body.
45 So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.
46 However that which is spiritual isn’t first, but that which is natural, then that which is spiritual.
47 The first man is of the earth, made of dust. The second man is the Lord from heaven.
48 As is the one made of dust, such are those who are also made of dust; and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly.
49 As we have borne the image of those made of dust, let’s also bear the image of the heavenly.
50 Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit God’s Kingdom; neither does the perishable inherit imperishable.
51 Behold, I tell you a mystery. We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed,
52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.
53 For this perishable body must become imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.
54 But when this perishable body will have become imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then what is written will happen: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Death, where is your sting? Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke's second volume to Theophilus covering the ascension, the promise of the Holy Spirit, and the command to be witnesses
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.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This Easter message walked through the resurrection narrative in Luke 24 and the opening of Acts, tracing the story from the empty tomb through the ascension. The pastor tied the morning's baptism directly into the text, showing how Fox's decision to be baptized on Easter echoed Paul's words in Romans 6 about burial and resurrection. The whole sermon kept returning to one word: witnesses.
What was said
The women who followed Jesus from Galilee were the first ones at the tomb, and they found it empty. The two messengers waiting there asked them a question that set the tone for everything that followed: "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" The women had heard Jesus tell them this would happen, and now they were standing inside the proof. They remembered his words, and they ran to tell the others.
When the women reported what they had seen, the apostles wrote it off as an idle tale. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb anyway, acting on what he had heard even when he could barely believe it. That impulse to go and look, to take seriously what witnesses were saying, was already putting things in motion.
The heart of the sermon was the road to Emmaus. Two followers, probably still in shock from Friday, were walking the roughly seven miles home to Emmaus when a stranger fell into step with them. They poured out the whole story to him: what they had hoped, what had happened, and how some women were now saying the tomb was empty. The stranger, who was Jesus, listened and then walked them through Moses and all the prophets, showing them that everything that had happened was exactly what had been written.
When they reached Emmaus they urged the stranger to stay the night, and he sat down to eat with them. He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, and at that moment their eyes were opened. They recognized him, and then he was gone. They turned around and went straight back to Jerusalem, because when you have seen something like that you have to go and tell someone.
Back in Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to the gathered group, showed them his hands and his feet, and ate a piece of broiled fish to prove he was no spirit. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures, explained that repentance and forgiveness would be proclaimed in his name to all nations, and told them plainly: you are witnesses of these things. The word "witness" kept coming back throughout the sermon. A witness shares what they have seen and experienced, nothing more and nothing less.
The account picks up again at the start of Acts, where Luke returns to the ascension and records Jesus giving the same commission one more time. He told the disciples it was not for them to know the times the Father had set, but that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they would be his witnesses from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Then a cloud took him out of their sight, and two men in white robes told the disciples standing there with their necks craned upward that he would return the same way he had gone. Their job in the meantime was not to stand gazing into heaven but to go and bear witness.
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Pastor Carl mentioned that the women prepared spices and returned to the tomb even while grieving, doing what they knew to do. When have you kept on with faithful obedience during a season when your hope felt crushed, and what did that look like?
The messengers at the tomb asked, 'Why do you seek the living among the dead?' Where in your own life might you be looking for hope or answers in a place that cannot hold them?
Speaker 3just a a call and response real quick? He's risen. He's risen indeed. You ready? He's risen.
He's risen indeed. He's risen. He's risen indeed. Isn't that the best news? Is why we're here.
Because God has risen. And we can say it with conviction too. We know that we know that we know. Jesus is alive and well. There's a song that says, you ask me how, I know he lives.
He lives within my heart. Amen. We know that we know. We're not gonna sing that song, but I do wanna start with an older one, Christ arose. Would you would you stand and and let's sing this with with joy and conviction.
Speaker 1We got just a couple of announcements. Monday nights at first b. What's happening, Carl?
Speaker 3Yeah. We are on tomorrow. Meal music message. It's gonna be like a hot dog bar and we're in the book of James James chapter three and he's talking about controlling the tongue.
Speaker 1Controlling your tongue. Alright. Monday nights at first be meal music and a message down the hall. We've got Awana Kids Club happening. Starting out in this room and then they spread out all over the church.
We're pouring scripture. Loving people. There are a lot of volunteers involved in Awana. Loving people are pouring scripture into the minds of the kids to reach the hearts of the next generation. So, kids matter to God and they matter to us and so we have Awana every Monday night at 06:00 right here.
That's fun. We have a prayer group on Wednesday morning in the church office at seven: 3zero am. It's an early one but it's always good. I pray for missionaries and other. If you would like a directory of the church, old fashioned, in your hand, piece of paper.
It's a booklet out back out in the back in the little copper hanger out there. There are some church directories by the front doors. There is a breakfast between services today. So, ten ish whenever the preacher stops talking, there will be breakfast down
Speaker 2the hall.
Speaker 1Actually, it'll probably be ready before that. If I get near the end and you're all just famished, you'd head on down the hall. Alright? If I see two or three of you leave, I'll just close. No, not really.
We'll finish the story. Sunday, 10AM, that's today, Easter breakfast. And this is what I'm glad to see. I'm gonna move the podium out of the way. Sam and Becky Lunz, most a lot of y'all will know.
And Fox and Lincoln, you might not be as familiar with, but these this family has been with us a couple years, few years now and I just want to invite Fox and Sam up here to the front. So, Fox has been talking about baptism for some time now and this week, Sam called and said, hey, she is set on getting baptized on Easter and it's this week and I know Easter is a big program and there's a whole lot going on. I don't know. Would it be fine? Do you want to talk her out of it?
What do we want to do? I'm like, no, absolutely not. This is great. He said, I'd I'd understand. I said, no, no, man.
This is fantastic. So when Fox got in there, I usually ask a few questions. And I've already asked some of these questions of some other kids here. But I asked her the questions and she answers them alright but I said, why Easter? That was my first question.
Why Easter? Why do you want to do this? Why are you so set on it being on Easter? And she said, because that's when Christ conquered the grave. Upset already.
I'm ready to dunk her on Thursday. So, it was beautiful and I'll give her a chance to speak here but I they are going to speak volume. Sam is actually going to be doing the baptizing. Do you want to say anything? She is saying aplenty.
We're in obedience to the command and the commission of Christ our savior, right? It's the obedience to the command to repent, believe, be baptized, right? So, she's doing that and she's showing you that she is aligning herself with her savior. Sam is in obedience to the commission, the great commission to teach others to obey all that I have commanded you and baptize them, right? So, he's going to baptize his daughter right now and do you want to say anything?
No, I I'm just extremely proud. There's a lot of
Speaker 2people here.
Speaker 1There are a lot of people here. Alright. Well, y'all can go ahead and do it. Now, have a have a seat. We'll catch you on the other side over here.
So, it also is very fitting that this would be on Easter. Paul says in Romans six, four, and five that if we are buried like him, it's it's a it's a model of his burial and his resurrection and so, yeah, this is fitting. Amen. Why don't you all get up and mill around and greet each other and the band will bring you back together? Good job.
There you go. Good job.
Speaker 2Okay.
Speaker 1Tell him to come on up. Okay. Cool. After we dismiss Fill in.
Speaker 3Why There's a reason why the darkness rises from light. There's a reason why we stand here now Jesus is.
Speaker 2There's a reason. And there's a reason
Speaker 3God, we we stand here just amazed in awe of you at our risen living savior. And because you live, we also live. God, thank you for this truth. May we hold it dear, hold tight onto it. In Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 2Our king. Your name your name is victory. Our praise will rise to Christ our king
Speaker 3Here's some good news from from Romans eight eleven. It says, the spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you. Amen. Amen. Consider that for a second.
The spirit of God who raised Christ from the dead lives in us who believe and he'll give life to our mortal bodies by the same
Speaker 2spirit living
Speaker 3Amen. You can have a a seat here for a moment. This is the worship you've given part of the service. I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. We got another resurrection song.
It's in graves in the gardens. But before we
Speaker 2do, Ray, would you would you pray? Sure.
Speaker 1Pray Would with me? God, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for all of that. All those words of all those songs this morning, the truth of them.
I thank you for that resurrection power that you have given through Jesus' sacrificial and atoning death on the cross. Lord God almighty, you have made a way for us to be right with you. It's amazing, lord. Thank you. Thank you for that.
Thank you for that good news. And I pray, Lord, that we would be carrying that good gospel forward with us daily in the way we live out our lives, but also the way we use our words, and the way we use whatever resources you've given us, Lord. Whatever it is that you've given to us. God, I pray that you would give us the the foresight to know what it is you'd have us to do and the strength, Lord. You've raised us just like Christ by the power of your Holy Spirit.
Would you direct us in that same power? Give us the strength, to live out our calling. Whatever it is that you'd have for us to do. In Jesus name, lord, I pray that you'd receive all that is offered to you here in this time. Worship through giving.
For those of us lord who know you, I pray that we would be good stewards of all that you've given and that we would look forward to the day when the gospel has reached every tribe, tongue, and nation that we would be, lord, your witnesses. In Jesus name, I pray that we would be doing, lord, your will and your way. Be gracious, humble, loving, merciful, caring, and we'll be looking out for other people. That we'd be able to share share and give a defense for the hope that is within us, lord. Easter hope, Easter joy, Easter love.
In Jesus name, may we be an Easter people. Amen.
Speaker 2To show you my weep. My failures and losses. Lord, you've seen them all. You still call me friends. Because I've
Speaker 1Amen. Wow. It is time for children's church downstairs and I see folks standing in the back. They're fixing to be some Swiss cheese like holes in the congregation that y'all can fill in if you will. There'll be lots of holes up here.
Probably a lot of them during the near the front. Don't let that scare you. If you want to come forward and fill in an empty seat, please feel free. Resurrection songs. Man, great set list.
I am so excited this morning. I'm just about to book to bust. Fox's baptism was a real blessing and later in the week this week, I I had asked her kind of what's your favorite verse, you know, and when I was a kid, I had somebody ask me that and I thought, aren't all of them good? You know, they are. They are and I'm kind of getting to show that, you know, as a pastor just walking through the scripture, we're going to do the Easter story today.
It's Easter, right? But I asked her, what's your favorite verse? And she said, the last part of Matthew twenty eight twenty, which the great commission is 28, nineteen, and twenty, right? That's awesome. For somebody at their baptism to know this.
Surely, I am with you always. Even to the very end of the age. To have the confidence and the hope in Christ to be able to say, that's my verse. That's what I hang my hat on. That that's awesome.
That's really, really cool. So, here we go. Easter twenty twenty two. It's a continuing narrative from Luke and Acts. Now, I have been going through the gospels lately.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke all at the same time and I've been going through em kind of saying, well, Mark says this, Matthew says that, Luke says that, some are longer, some are shorter. I'm just going to stick with Luke this time. I love the book of Luke because he says that he's setting out to do an accurate historical record. He's a good historian. He's also a physician.
He's also a Gentile. So he's got a little bit of a different kind of objective stance. He may not have as much information to begin with, but he's interviewing people and he's getting all the information. So let's just go with it. And also, I'll say, we got about 10 pounds of Easter candy to put in a five pound bag today.
So if you all will listen fast, I'll talk fast. Okay? On the first day of the week, Sunday. On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb. Who is they?
They are a group of ladies, a group of women. In Luke 23, it says, the women who had come with him from Galilee. Actually, earlier in Luke, it says, these women were supportive of their ministry. This is how Jesus made his way during his itinerant ministry was some of these very same women. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed him after the crucifixion and saw the tomb and how his body was laid and they knew where he was and they knew what the process was and so they returned and they prepared spices in their grief, returning, prepared spices and ointments and on the Sabbath, they rested according to the commandments.
So, Saturday was silent Saturday. Boy, can you put yourself in that position where someone you had believed in and followed for the last three years, two or three years of ministry and you had seen the miracles and you had seen what he had done and you were following after him and believing that this was the one to redeem Israel. This was the guy. And now you've seen him on a cross and these ladies are preparing the spices after the crucifixion on Friday. After they've seen where he was laid.
And then we're here on the first day of the week, early dawn. They went to the tomb and taken those spices that they had prepared couple days before. They found the stone rolled away. It was not there. It was rolled away from the tomb and they went in and they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus and they knew where they put him.
There was no mistake in place here. They went and they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus and I imagine that this would be perplexing. It says, while they were perplexed about this, I'm trying to get you to put yourself in their position, okay? You're walking in and you see, I know he's right here. Why would they have moved him?
What's going on? What's happening here? And while they were yet perplexed about this, behold. Whenever you see a beholden, it means look at this, catch this, don't miss this, behold this, behold. Two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
They weren't there just a second ago and now they are. That would be scary, wouldn't it? I couldn't I couldn't think of anyone with any more dazzling apparel. So, oftentimes, it's presented as angels. It it is in the other gospels.
It says angels but angels are messengers of God. Actually, in that sense, I am trying my best to be an angel this morning by bringing the message of God. Angel in Greek means messenger. So, there are two men, two messengers there. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, this is the message from God almighty.
Through these messengers, why do you seek the living among the dead? Amen. Can I get a name of it? Now, we know the rest of the story. Most of y'all know this story as well as I do but they didn't know this story.
If you put yourself there with them and they're standing in the empty tomb, why do you seek the living among the dead? You're in the wrong place. But you've been entrusted with this message. Jesus is alive. He is not here but he has risen.
Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee? He told you, you heard it with your own ears. You weren't trusting somebody else for this news. You have been following him for a long time and he's been telling you about it. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee?
That the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. Remember, he's told you this before. And they remembered his words. I thought that that was figurative. I didn't know exactly what he meant.
Wow. I I I guess I do know these words that the son of man, that's what he all call always called himself. I mean, that's what Daniel call, that's what Ezekiel said. I'm putting it to, what in the, I can't believe they're perplexed, right? Confused and going through it and then, they remembered his words that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful man.
It had to be this way. It's upsetting and y'all have been terribly upset but you went home with life doing what you knew. You're preparing the spices. You're getting these things ready. But on the third day, he was going to rise and this is the third day and he has risen.
Amen. Matthew sixteen twenty one. I will jump around a little bit but from that time, Jesus began to point out to his disciples that it was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem even though they were seeking to kill him. It was necessary for him to go to Jerusalem and to suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and to be killed. The religious folk of his day were going to persecute him, and he knew it.
And as Luke says earlier, Carl mentioned this earlier too, that he set his face toward Jerusalem, and he went towards what he knew would be his death. He had no sin debt of his own and he had a perfect record and he was gonna sacrificially give that perfect record to anyone who would put their trust in him. To be killed and to be raised up on the third day. Now, had said it and he had said it before. And returning from the tomb, they, these are those women, they told all of these things to the 11 and to all the rest.
They told what they had seen, an empty tomb. They told about the two messengers, the men there at the empty tomb. They told them what? Don't you remember? And returning to the tomb, they told all of these things to the 11 and to all the rest.
So, it was not just the 11 but the 11 were there. You know, Judas was not there. Of the 12, but the 11 were there and then there were others to all the rest, told everything that had happened. Now, it says, who that they were, that they, now it was Mary Magdalene. Amen.
That Christ had rescued and saved her. It says from seven demons and Joanna, Joanna was of the household of Herod. We get that earlier. And Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. So, Jesus entrusted that this message or these messengers entrusted this message to these ladies and when they delivered the message, this is an orderly account too.
I love this. I might pop back to this every once in a while. Luke has interviewed these people. It seemed to me good also if you pick up in verse three. Oh, brother Theophilus, it seemed to me also good.
Having followed all these things closely for some time past to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, friend of God, that you may have certainty concerning the things that you have been taught. I want you to have it written out and I've done the work. I've done the historical interviews to get it to happen and here it is. Now, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, mother of James, other women went. They told these things to the apostles.
So, how did the guys receive their news? These words seem to them like an idle tale and they did not believe them. Does this smack of truth or what? Men did not believe women. Really?
Thank you. Yes, I hear that amen. But Peter rose. I love this. I love this.
So, yeah. It seemed to them an idle tale. If you had just seen your lord, your master, your rabbi, the one you have been following. He's been brutally beaten, crucified, dead and buried, and then you hear this. It would be very, very upsetting indeed and very hard to believe.
Even if you had been told ahead of time, it would be hard to believe. But it says, Peter heard this tale and Peter rose and he ran to the tomb. John agrees that that's exactly what happened. When Peter heard this, he acted on what he heard. It's hard to believe, but he acted on it.
And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what happened. Can you imagine being Peter? My goodness, he had denied him just a couple days before. And he still ran to the tomb. I want to make I want to make things right and he ran to the tomb and he marveled all the way home at what had happened and this is the part of the story I really want to discuss.
All that's just prologue, okay? Here we are In Luke twenty four thirteen, it says this, that very day, two of them, this is two of them. I I highlighted it in orange instead of green because this is two different people. They were going to a village named Emmaus. Y'all may have heard of this.
The road to Emmaus Ministries is a is a ministry that tries to help people in their marriage. But y'all may have heard of the term Emmaus the the town. Two of them were going to a village named Emmaus. Now, that could be two guys or it could be a guy and a gal. It's hard to say because of the grammar there but the very day, the two of them were going to a village named Emmaus.
So, that's still on Sunday about seven miles from Jerusalem. This is interesting because I like to, I'm not going bring a lot of Greek in this time, but it says 60 stadia. That's what it says if you're looking at it in Greek. Now stadia was about six seventy feet or 185 meters. If you figure that out, six zero seven feet times 60 is three.
Do the math, carry the one, divide by 5,280 because that's how many feet there are in a mile and you get 6.897727 miles. So it's about seven miles. I love that if you check it out, if you check scripture out, it works. It may have an apparent contradiction here and there but it works. You have a loving God who is trying to communicate himself to you.
He's done it through his son and he does it through his word and it works. It works. Trust it. The very day, two of them are going to villages about seven miles from Jerusalem. If you know where that is, this is a map of Israel, New Testament, Israel, and the surrounding areas and Jerusalem and Emmaus on that map are right there.
It looks about like that. If you were to try to imagine in your head what it is, that red star is on right on top of First Baptist Church where you're sitting this morning and that green star is in Wilson. If you were to drive from here to Wilson, it'd be almost exactly the same distance. You drove to the cowboy no, not the cowboy, the stagecoach. If you drove to the stagecoach, it would be almost exactly 6.9 miles.
So that's the walk. Now some of y'all are, you know, clicking a century and going around these hills all the time on bicycles and skis and whatnot but that's pretty good walk. If you're leaving Jerusalem destitute, your savior, the one that you had put all of your hope in had been killed on Friday night or Friday daytime and you are here on Sunday and you're walking home after the Passover and you're just defeated. That's the walk they were having right there, Jerusalem to Emmaus. They were talking with each other about all of these things that had happened.
Can you believe that it was like that? I mean, the mockery that they made of it. Think about that. You're following somebody and then he is to the appearance, it looks like he's been made a fool of. And he's been killed and everything that you've been investing your time, effort, energy and for the last couple of years, all of a sudden just hits a dead stop.
And so they're talking about all of these things and how bad it was. And while they were talking and they were discussing together, Jesus himself drew near to them. I could stop right there. I've heard preachers preach on this while they were talking and discussing together. Jesus drew near to them.
It it is important that we get together with one another. You know, we do it by Zoom. You could do it by phone. You can do it just like we're doing it right here this morning. You can do it two or three gathered but these two were walking and discussing together and Jesus himself drew near and he went along with them.
Amen. But their eyes were kept from recognizing. I used Luke because it seems odd when I hear that somebody didn't recognize him. You know, Mary didn't recognize him at the tomb. And then when they were fishing, like some of the guys didn't recognize him.
And I think they've been following this guy for three years. How could they not recognize him? Well, I shaved this morning. Had somebody say, hey, you hardly even look like yourself. But if if if the last time that you saw me, I was beaten to a bloody pulp and hung on across to die.
And then you see me on Sunday like this. But this seems supernatural. It says their eyes were kept from recognizing. So we'll go with what it says. Have you all ever seen this show?
Undercover Boss. I've seen episodes of it here and there, just a little of But the premise is that a boss, CEO usually of the company dresses up like one of the workers, dock worker or somebody further down the line. So CEO of the company dresses up differently, gets a low level position and investigates to see what is going on in the company. That's Dion Sanders. That was a celebrity edition right there.
But they dress completely differently or they look completely different. And a lot of times in a big company, the CEO, right? I mean I think these disciples on the road to Emmaus would know their boss. I think they would. But for some reason, they were kept from recognizing them.
And that's all we get. That's what it says. Their eyes were kept from recognizing it. But I thought of it as that undercover boss. You get to investigate a little better than if they if you announce you're coming.
Right? They'll clean the whole place up and get ready for you. But if they don't know you're coming and you kind of come in, you see a real picture of what's going on. Maybe that was part of what he was doing because he said to them, these two disciples on the road to Emmaus, what is this conversation that you're holding with each other as you walk? You're just walking back home, I assume and what are you talking about?
What's going on? And they stood still looking sad, completely speechless, it sounds like to begin with, like, I can't even fathom. Now, in this role, this job, when we are talking to people who have just lost a loved one, it's really, really, really difficult sometimes for the people to say, everybody else is just going about their life just like they did yesterday and the day before, but I've lost my dearest. I've lost my husband, my wife, my child. I've lost my dearest and everybody else is just going and buying and selling and doing what they do.
So these guys walking along talking to each other, when this stranger walks up to him and says, What's going on? What's this conversation you're having? And it says, They just stood still looking sad like that. And then one of them named Cleopas, Luke, Luke has interviewed people. I believe he interviewed Cleopas.
He interviewed an eyewitness to write an orderly account and Cleopas answered Jesus, not knowing it was Jesus and said, are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened here in these three We're
Speaker 2We're
Speaker 1We're going
Speaker 3be
Speaker 1outside of the city on the path into the city. So, everybody walking in and everybody walking out will see it. All the people who are coming to Jerusalem for Passover won't fit inside Jerusalem for Passover. Most of them spend the night just outside. Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem that doesn't know the things that have happened here in these days?
And he said to them, what what things? Tell me what things you're talking about. I might know more about it than you do but you tell me your idea. Now, Jesus is playing dumb. And they said to him, concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed in word before God and all the people.
That's a testimony, is it not? They're telling what they know to be true. They are witnesses of what has happened and they're sharing what happened and how our chief priest and our rulers, the the people we're supposed to be able to trust. They delivered him up to be condemned to death and they crucified him. I I don't even, I still can't fathom it.
But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. There's a whole band of us that had had hoped this. And we thought we had it right and we don't even know what to do now. Walking back home. Yes, and besides all this, it's now the third day since these things have happened.
Now you can look at that and tradition says after the third day, yes, they're dead, right? There's no coming back from that. Medical care, Luke, the physician, right, at the time, somebody is dead for three days, even if they're barely, barely breathing, it looks like they've swooned, you give them three days before you declare them dead, but he's dead. It's now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, on top of all that, some women of our company amazed us.
They were at the tomb early this morning. And when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they'd even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Messengers told them that he was alive. Now, I don't know what to do with that. I I don't I don't know what to do.
It's hard to believe that doesn't happen. Mean he is purported to have no, I saw him raise someone from the dead. But himself? I don't know what to do with that. Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.
They said he was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women have said, they didn't see him. So they didn't have that message from those messengers. And he said to them, oh, come on now, foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. That's interesting because they believe a lot of what the prophets had spoken.
That victory for Israel, oh we want to believe that. That one day is coming when all the bad guys will be crushed. We want to believe that. What we don't want to believe is that we're one of the bad guys. And that Jesus is going to sacrificially die.
And it had been the prophets had pointed to it. It says right here that you're slow of heart to believe all the prophets had spoken. Even those ladies that were proclaiming, they were slow of heart to believe that this morning. Was it not necessary? Here it is, the must that the son of man must be delivered over and die and be raised.
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And beginning with Moses, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. And all the prophets. He interpreted them in all of the scriptures, all of the things concerning himself. Can you imagine that sermon?
I mean, I I trying to get a little bit of Luke 24 and a little bit of Acts one. He started with Moses and all the prophets and pointed out to them and interpreted them all the scriptures that were concerning himself. And listen, if you look at it today, you'll still see all the same verses. The Bible has not been corrupted over the years like people say that it has. The Bible is trustworthy.
Old and New Testaments and he takes their Bible, the Old Testament, law and the prophet's hand, interprets for them all of the scriptures concerning himself. Here's a little image I found this week on the road to Emmaus. I like it. It's it's recent. I'm going to go to a few older ones here in just a minute but those three walking on that road together, stand there looking sad, listening to Jesus and he's telling them about, doesn't this make sense?
Wouldn't it make sense that if he says you're supposed to be looking for a prophet like me, Moses says that in Deuteronomy 18, he goes, wouldn't it make sense that they were supposed to listen to me but they just didn't? Or supposed to listen to the Christ and just didn't? He still has not revealed who he is at this point. There's another one. Same guy painted this painting.
I think it's great. They're walking away from Jerusalem westward and They drew near to the village to which they were going. That's Emmaus and he acted as if he were going further. So, Jesus was playing dumb, kind of concealing who he was And he acted as if he were just going to, oh, I'm just walking on down the road. But they urged him strongly saying, no, stay with us.
Come on. It's enough of a walk for the day. And we're interested in what you have to say. It's been a blessing already to listen, but stay with us. It's it's toward evening.
The day is now far spent. Come on. Don't don't don't just keep on going. Stay here with us. So he went in to stay with them.
Ain't that cool? So, if the undercover boss comes in and he finds you doing something good, hadn't Jesus told them, whatever you do for the least of these, this is just a stranger on the road and they invite him in and said, come on. Come on in the house with us. Have something to eat. And when he was at the table with them, he took bread and he blessed it and he broke it and he gave it to them.
Is this ringing any bells? And their eyes were opened and they recognized him. Ain't that cool? They recognized who he was. Now, at the last supper when he broke bread and blessed it and he said, this is my body which is given for you.
On that night, it would have to be like, this is weird. But three days later, when he breaks the bread again and they go, his body was literally broken for us. And this is a reminder of that. Oh my goodness. And it's a reminder, right there it is.
Their eyes were open and they recognized him. That's Caravaggio's painting. This is a Caravaggio. He is known for chiaroscuro, which is light proceeding out of the darkness. Okay?
And Caravaggio painted this in sixteen o one, and it's called Supper at Emmaus. So, Jesus is sitting down. He is breaking the bread, saying the blessing, and the guy's like, what? Can you see it? Like, what?
Like this. There's a lot of energy in that painting and Jesus is right there and he's showing them everything that they need to know to get started as witnesses. This is the face of Jesus in that painting there's another painting, the taking of the Christ. This is from Thursday night when they came into the Garden Of Olives right there and they arrested Jesus. That's Judas giving him the kiss to signal that that's the one we're looking for right there.
So, that's the face of Christ on Thursday night before he was beaten and that's the resurrected Christ from Emmaus. I just thought it was interesting. Examining the anguish there and the lines in the forehead and the darkness but there's still bright light shining off of Christ, right? Even in the tough times and then it's a little subdued in the next one but he's definitely the center of the frame, the center of the picture. If I go back and see that.
One more. There it is. Oh my, what's going on here? Did I start that? Caravaggio, it's great.
This thing is a little slow this morning. Poof. Wait a minute. Will you all stop me there? I'm not touching anything up here.
Their eyes were open and they recognized him. Okay? This is where we were. Their eyes were open and they recognized him and you, can you imagine that? Now, we like the women this morning have had a message directly but ours was straight up from Jesus and then he vanished from their sight and that's all we get.
To me, it just sounds like poof. He vanished from their sight. I don't know if he got up and walked out or if he just went poof out. But I do know that in the other gospels, when he came into a room that was a locked door, he just was in there. He didn't bother unlocking the door.
Poof. Came in. And they said to each other, where two or three are gathered, right? Two of them gathered or maybe three said, did not our hearts burn within us? They had an experience with God.
Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures. They're paying attention to what he said. They're paying attention to the word of God and they rose that very same hour. Now, they had just invited a stranger into their house because it was late and as soon as they figured out who it was, they went back to Jerusalem and I imagine they ran a pretty good clip. They found the 11 and those who are with them gathered together and saying, the Lord has risen indeed and they must have called Peter along the road and said, he's appeared to Simon too and then they told what that happened on the road.
What are they doing? If they saw something and then they're telling it, they're witnesses. They told what had happened on the road and how he was known to them in the breaking of bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them. Again, poof and said to them, peace to you.
I'm bringing you peace. I have peace that only I can give not like the world gives. I'm giving my peace to you but they were startled and they were frightened and they thought they sought a spirit. Their heart is slow to understand, slow to believe maybe. And he said to them, why is it that you're troubled?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts? We know we're supposed to live a life of faith, but so often, our sight is what we go by. And we don't feel like we can trust. Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your heart? See my hands, see my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see. For spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. And when he had said this, he showed him his hands. He showed him his feet. He gave them what they needed.
And while they still disbelieve for joy. I like that. Might make a t shirt out of that. Disbelieving for joy. No, probably not.
While they still disbelieve for joy, they were marveling. It says, they were so overcome that it was hard for them to fathom. And he said to them, have you had you got anything to eat? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish. And he took it and he ate it right there in front of them and he said to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you.
Remember this, it's the same thing that the messenger said to the ladies that everything that was written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. It had to be. I had to walk it out. And then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. Now, on that crucifixion evening, it says that all of them scattered.
John remained behind and Mary, his mother, remained behind but all the rest of the disciples had scattered. And then after their interaction with the resurrected Christ, all of these guys served him for the rest of their lives. Thomas walked to India. That's crazy. Walking to Wilson, I don't want to do.
Walked to India. He opened their minds to understand the scriptures and this is key. When he opened their minds to understand the scripture and he as the resurrected Christ and said, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. When he said that, they got it. And the repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations beginning right here at Jerusalem.
This is where it starts, right here. And it's gonna go forth from this and it's gonna go all over. If you don't know what repentance is, JI Packer's got a pretty good definition, okay? Repentance means turning from as much as you know of your own sin. Turning from as much as you know of your own sin to give as much as you know of yourself to as much as you know of your God.
Does that make sense? God is good and we are not God. And when we realize that we fall short, we just hand that over to him. And as our knowledge grows, we'll see more. At these points, our practice of repentance has to be enlarged.
It's a ever growing scope. Right? It's good. Repentance has taken all I know of myself and my sin and given it over to all I know of God. Trusting that he can and will deal with it even though the circumstances may look like he won't.
Beginning from Jerusalem, it doesn't say it stops there and you are witnesses of these things. That words come up a lot in this sermon. Your witnesses. Your witnesses. What do witnesses do?
They share what it is that they know to be true, what they have seen, what they have experienced. They're not asked to go beyond that and say what they think about it. They just say what they've experienced. 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. That same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the Holy Spirit will come upon you.
And he led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them. This is this is funny. Y'all I assume that a lot of y'all watch maybe binge watch shows where you watch a show and you get towards the end and there's something that happens and it hooks you in for the next show. So Luke wrote two volumes. Luke wrote Luke and he wrote Acts.
And volume two is coming for Theophilus. It is coming. But he shares this and then he shares it again in Acts. I'm going share it in both. He led them out as far as Bethany and he lifted up his hands and he blessed them and while he was blessing them, he parted from them.
He was carried up into heaven and they after worshiping him returned to Jerusalem with great joy and they were continually in the temple praising God because they understood things that everybody around them did not yet understand and they're probably just going on about their lives. So, that's a break in the reading because it's the end of the book of Luke but it's also going to be picked up in volume two, the Acts of the Apostles and here we go. I've only got a few verses here. In the first book, oh Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach because there's a continuing body of Christ here on Earth and the congregation of the Lord. Everyone who's ever trusted in him is a part of it.
So, what Jesus began to do and to teach, he's still doing it. Luke to Theophilus. I've dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach. In my first volume until the day that he was taken up and after he had given the commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, he presented himself alive to them after suffering by many proofs. If you read first Corinthians 15, it's good.
You can read that this afternoon. I know some of you are struggling through Amos right now because I asked you to last week but first Corinthians 15 is a lot about resurrection. If I hadn't preached this, I would have preached that. He presented himself alive to them after suffering by many proofs appearing to them during forty days and speaking to them about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them, he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait, to stay together, hang out with one another, and stay here until the promise of the father which he said, you heard from me.
For John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. So, hang out here together. So, when they come together, they ask him, lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel? Ain't that always the question? I got a text last night that said, hey, man.
Do you think we're going to see the rapture in your lifetime? I get that. I get that question or that text all the time because it's incredibly interesting. End time stuff and when you look around, you think, man, things can't get much worse. Maybe Jesus will come back soon.
When they had come together, they asked him, now, now, now that you're resurrected, apparently immortal, can we all go forward and do what it is we were going to do? Are you, you're the one to redeem Israel. Let's take over. Lord, will you at this time to restore the kingdom to Israel? And he said to them, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons.
Actually, it already says that. I don't know and you don't need to know. No man knows the hour or the day. He said to him, it's not for you to know the times or the seasons that the father has fixed by his own authority. There is a plan and he is in charge but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses.
Ain't that good? Witnesses. What do witnesses do? They share their own experience. And there is a room right here that's full of witnesses.
If you have not yet had an experience with Jesus, ask any one of these witnesses. And can I just tell you the story straight? The gospel is that Christ had no sin debt of his own. He paid the price for anyone who would believe. He picked up the check.
For anyone who would believe. And there are plenty of witnesses in the room that can tell you that. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you'll be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth, the very uttermost part. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on. So this is what I was saying.
At the end of Luke, he just says he rose up. In Acts, he gives us a little more thorough description of what happened in that rising up. The little dialogue that he had. And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up. And a cloud took him up out of their sight.
Now, while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men. Started off with two men. You remember that? Two men stood by them in white robes. Here's a picture from John singly singleton Copley in 1775.
Jesus is ascension into heaven. And you see the two men in white robes down at the bottom. But I like this image of Jesus. He has just told them all he needs to say and he's out. Isn't that great?
Just ascended into heaven with a little panache. And there are the guys looking up into heaven and these two are standing over there saying, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, men of Galilee, why are you standing around looking up into heaven? Well, I mean, did you not just see what was happening? Yeah. Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven, he'll come in the same way just as you saw him going to heaven.
Just be his witnesses. That's what he asked you to do. Just tell a story. You don't have to invent all kind of theologies. Just tell what he's done for you.
Just tell the story. So, that is the last slide I think. I've got a benediction slide. At the end, all Easter eggy but let's stand and sing together. If y'all would, consider what it is that we've heard and I've asked you to put yourself in that position but I also I'm asking you to think about today.
How the church has grown. Jesus said, I will build my church. It will go forth. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. So, he's crashing the very gates of hell, okay?
And it's still growing. Whether you believe that it is or not because of all the media is telling you. Jesus is building his church and the sovereignty of God for you depends on whether you are willing to be one of his humble servants. He has done all that he needs to. He's explained it over and over to witnesses and they've carried that message forward and the church has grown.
In Jesus name, lord, I pray that there would be someone here this morning that would just in simple faith say, I don't have it figured out but I trust you. Amen.
Speaker 2There was mercy in your eyes to fulfill to king of king. To reveal kingdom come and the wrath of lost. To redeem all creation, You did not despise the cross. Believe in suffering, you saw to the other side, knowing this was our salvation. Their tombs and the angels stood in awe.
Oh, the souls of all who come to the father are restored. And the church of Christ was born and the spirit lit aflame. Now this gospel truth of old that shall not kneel and shall not faint by his blood in his name and has freed my claim free for the love of Jesus Christ who's resurrected me.
Speaker 1To breakfast down the hall and it might take a bit to get in there through the crowd but it's it's worthwhile. Hang out. Spend some time together and this is the benediction. It's from the message but I want you to key in on witnesses. I've said it five, six, seven times probably.
Witnesses, not judges. Not lawyers. Witnesses. It's not for you to know the signs or the seasons the father has fixed by his own authority but you will receive power. Trust in Jesus.
You will receive power. When the Holy Spirit has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even into the ends of the earth. Lord God, would you make it so? Amen. Amen.
