The Joy Of The Resurrection - [John 16:16-24]

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Well, I would invite you to open your Bibles to John chapter 16. A few weeks ago, a young woman in her 20s came up to our front door and knocked.
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And I went to the door and ostensibly she was there to get me to change pest control services.
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I really didn't have much interest in that and it turns out we have a contract so we couldn't get out of it anyway. But as I spoke to her,
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I could tell that, you know, it's like, you're not from around here, are you? You know, I heard something and the same company had been to our house last year and the young man was from New Zealand.
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So I started talking to her and I figured out she wasn't local and I could tell that she was from the western
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United States. So I asked her, I said, where are you from? She said, I'm from Idaho originally, but I now live in Utah.
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Well, Utah would be a big clue, but Idaho was also a clue because there's a large percentage of Mormons there.
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So I said, I was originally from California and, you know, eventually we got to Mormonism.
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Her name, by the way, is Justina, if you want to pray for her. Because our roles suddenly changed.
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She was no longer the one trying to sell me anything. I was the one trying to convince her.
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And I said, you know, I mentioned to her that I had been Mormon and that I'd come out of Mormonism.
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And one of the reasons was because Isaiah talks about how there was no
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God before God. And really, this is God talking. God says there was no
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God before me and there'll be none after. And as I reflect on that, I just think, well, wait a minute. The whole goal of Mormonism is to become
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God. For the men, anyway. For the women, it's just, I don't know what their purpose is, really.
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It's a very male -centered religion. But I said, it was so contrary to Mormonism because Isaiah says there can be no other
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God. The Bible says repeatedly that there's one God. And I said, one of the problems
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I had is because I could never really figure it out how I was going to perfect myself. And I said, actually, I was rather relieved to find out
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I could not become God. And I also told her the implications that this had with regard to Jesus.
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Because Mormonism not only teaches that everyone can become God, but that Jesus did not exist at one particular point before God created him.
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And that he had to come to earth like everybody else and earn Godhood. And I said, that's not how the
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Bible presents Jesus. So I gave her the gospel.
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And I said, you know what? On Judgment Day, here's what matters. Not do you believe in Jesus, but do you believe in Jesus as he's presented in the
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Word of God? Do you accept and embrace and love the
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Jesus Christ of the Bible? And there's so much confusion about what the gospel is and even who
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Jesus is. And that's why I'm grateful for this gospel of John who focuses so clearly on these truths.
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So with that as an opening, let's go to John chapter 16. And I'm going to read verses 16 to 24.
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A little while, this is the Lord Jesus speaking, a little while and you will see me no longer.
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And again, a little while and you will see me. So some of his disciples said to one another, what is this that he says to us?
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A little while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me. And because I am going to the
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Father. So they were saying, what does he mean by a little while?
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We do not know what he's talking about. Jesus knew that they wanted to talk to him.
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So he said to them, is this what you were asking yourselves? What I meant by a little while and you will not see me.
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And again, a little while and you will see me. Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.
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You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.
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When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.
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But when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish.
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For joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again.
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And your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy from you.
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In that day, you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly,
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I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
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Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.
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Now, since it's been a little while since we've been in the Gospel of John. A brief review to kind of bring us up to where we are.
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The goal of the Gospel of John, much like the goal of any gospel presentation.
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It's to present Jesus Christ as the Christ, as the Messiah, as the
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Son of God. As the spotless lamb who takes away the sins of the world.
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Because eternal life is available through him and through him alone.
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So the focus of John is to show the deity of Christ. After all, the idea of believing, even as I was saying to Justina.
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Believing in Jesus means to believe all that is true about Jesus. And there can be no doubt that Jesus is
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God. He is eternally holy, truly divine. There was never a time when he did not exist.
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John makes a point out of this, even in John 1. In the beginning was the
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Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. And as I explained when we went through John 1.
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He makes kind of implicit the idea that there's a difference between Jesus and John the
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Baptist. By even using a different verb to explain their existence.
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But explicitly he says the Word was God. The Word didn't become God. The Word, Jesus Christ, always was
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God. In John 10, verses 27 to 33.
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Jesus says, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life.
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Who but God could do that? And they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
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Who could make such a statement but God himself? Then he says, my father who has given them to me is greater than all.
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And no one is able to snatch them out of the father's hand. I and the father are one.
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You can't be taken out of my hand. You can't be taken out of the father's hand. Why? Because we are one.
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We are equal. Verse 31, the Jews picked up stones again to stone him.
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Jesus answered them, I have shown you many good works from the father. For which of them are you going to stone me?
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The Jews answered him. You want to know if Jesus presented himself as God to the Jews.
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The Jews answered him, it is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy.
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Because you being a man make yourself God. The original audience had no problem understanding the deity claims of Jesus Christ.
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John underscores Jesus deity by pointing to eight signs.
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Changing water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Healing the royal official's son.
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Healing the lame man at the pool in Bethesda. Feeding five thousand. Walking on water.
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Healing the man born blind. Raising Lazarus from the dead. And then at the end of the gospel, causing an abundant catch of fish.
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Beginning in chapter 13, we've been looking at the last supper or the upper room discourse.
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It's Thursday night, just before he's going to be arrested, tried, crucified.
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And then resurrected. Arrested, tried, crucified on Friday. And then resurrected on Sunday.
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And our Lord's goal was to prepare his friends, his disciples, for his departure. And for the work they would do in the aftermath of his leaving.
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Now John chapter 16, it starts with Jesus warning the disciples that persecution would come.
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That they would have to face persecution and they did. And then in verses 7 to 15,
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Jesus told them about the coming ministry of the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, verse 13 is particularly important because it contains this amazing promise to them.
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He will guide you into all truth. Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth.
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Why can we rely on scripture? Because these men and their associates were guided into all truth.
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By God the Holy Spirit. Now this morning,
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I have three C's for you. Mostly because there really isn't a great outline here, but three
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C's. And I want you to grasp this truth as we walk through this. The resurrection of Jesus Christ changes everything.
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It is the hinge upon which all history swings. And without the resurrection, all of mankind would be doomed.
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But because the resurrection happened, we of all people should be the most joyful.
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Because Jesus Christ is resurrected, we should be the happiest people alive.
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Now, looking at our passage here, the first C is confusion.
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There's confusion among the disciples. Look at this. I mean, even in verse 16, we have this enigmatic statement.
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It means it's kind of mysterious, cloaked, it's not clear. Verse 16, a little while. I mean, notice all the times in the first several verses, three or four verses, a little while occurs.
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I think there's seven occurrences of a little while. Verse 16, a little while and you will see me no longer.
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And again, a little while and you will see me. That's really not all that clear.
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His goal, the Lord's goal is to comfort the disciples. They're struggling.
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They're despondent. Twice in chapter 14, the Lord exhorts them to not let their hearts be troubled.
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Why? Because their hearts were troubled. Don't let your hearts be troubled because they are.
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He had told them he was leaving and it devastated them. In fact, when he said it in the upper room,
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I think it's fair to say that it basically sucked all the oxygen out of the room. In verse 16, it's like he says, guys,
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I'm not going to be gone that long. I'm only going to be gone a little while. It reminded me of a parent who turns to a child and says, look,
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I'm going to the store, but I'm only going to be gone a little while. I'll be right back. Don't worry about it. Don't get upset. So what is a little while?
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It's not very precise. He could say, you know what? I'll be leaving you guys in a few hours.
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I'll be arrested. I'll be convicted. I'll be crucified. But don't worry about it. I'm coming back on Sunday.
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He didn't say that. It's a little while and then a little while. Why? Because he wants them to trust him.
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Look at verses 17 and 18 as they try to sort this all out. So some of his disciples said to one another, what is this that he says to us a little while?
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There it is again. And you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me.
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And because I am going to the father. So they were saying, what does he mean by a little while?
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We do not know what he is talking about. Now, Jesus had told them that he was going to the father in verse 10 and a couple of places in chapter 14.
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So some of the disciples are trying to puzzle this out. And you can almost see the scene.
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They're in this room together. And it's like the ones who are furthest away, who maybe think they can get away with talking about this, are trying to have this conversation.
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They're trying to resolve this amongst themselves. Why didn't somebody say, excuse me?
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Pardon me, Jesus. Pardon me, teacher. What do you mean? Why didn't they just ask him?
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Well, the text doesn't tell us. But it's reasonable to think that they might not have wanted to be embarrassed yet again.
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They'd heard the exasperation of Jesus before. Back in chapter 14, verses 5 to 10.
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Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going.
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How can we know the way? Jesus said to him, famous words.
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I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
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If you had known me, you would have known my father also. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.
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Philip said to him, Lord, show us the father and it is enough for us.
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Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and you still do not know me,
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Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the father. Listen, how can you say, show us the father?
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Do you not believe that I am in the father and the father is in me? The words that I say to you,
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I do not speak of my own authority, but the father who dwells in me does his works. They'd been down this road before where they didn't understand him and they questioned him.
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And he's like, how do you guys not understand this? What is not plain about this?
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Maybe they sense that they were at the limit of what he was going to tell them. After all, back in verse 12 of chapter 16, he said this,
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I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. You can't handle more than I'm giving you right now.
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You're at your human limits. But whatever the reasoning was, they obviously don't want to ask him directly, nor do they want him to hear their discussion.
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They're whispering, they're talking amongst themselves. So there's the confusion.
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Now, Jesus tries to bring some clarity, our second C. First, he restates it.
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Verse 19, Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him. So he said to them, is this what you are asking yourselves?
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What I meant by saying a little while and you will not see me. And again, a little while and you will see me.
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Jesus very plainly says the disciples wanted, or he knows that they wanted to ask him.
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It's very plain. And just as surely Jesus knew what they wanted to ask. He knew their overall sense of gloom, that they were depressed, that they were sorrowful at everything that he was saying.
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And of course, Judas had already left, and that had caused some more angst. They were even more concerned.
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Now he's going to give them some more information. But as they had already told them, there were some truths they were not prepared to carry.
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So it's not going to be perfectly clear. But here's the explanation of verse 20.
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Truly, truly, verily, verily. Take it to the bank. This is reliable.
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I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.
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You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
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This is Jesus as prophet, as it were. If he's prophet, priest, and king, we need to see the prophet part.
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Here he is telling them what's going to happen ahead of time. Right? And I want to focus on what it says here.
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But the world will rejoice. What does this mean? Why would anybody rejoice?
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They're going to rejoice when Jesus is put to death. Why would they rejoice?
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Well, the Jewish leaders, this is what they'd wanted for some time. They were delighted to have
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Jesus gone. He was causing trouble among the people. People were questioning the teaching.
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Even people were starting to follow him. There'd been some times where it seemed like Jesus was going to walk away with any number of thousands of Jews as his followers.
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The Romans also were going to be relieved because here was this man whose followers did not honor
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Caesar, did not worship him appropriately. So putting to death a Jew who had the possibility of leading an insurrection, this would be good for the
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Romans. But the truth is, every single unbeliever hates Jesus Christ.
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When we talk about the world, we're talking about the world system. We're talking about those who are unbelievers, those who are outside of Christ, those who do not have the
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Holy Spirit indwelling them. Every single unbeliever, to some extent or another, rejoices in the death of Christ.
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In fact, it's been well said that what? If we were there and we were unbelievers, when
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Jesus was hung on the cross, when he was at trial, we would have rejoiced. We would have joined the crowd saying, crucify him.
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The world will rejoice because the world and all of the world system, all the worldly philosophies have one source, and that is
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Satan. And of course, Satan would rejoice at the death of Christ.
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And so like their father, unbelievers rejoice. But now look at what it says about the disciples.
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It says, you will weep and lament. And as downcast as they were at the prospect of Jesus leaving them, he tells them, hey,
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I've got good news for you guys. It's going to be worse than you think. They were not going to merely shed a tear or two.
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They were going to cry out from the very core of their being when Jesus was being executed.
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Can you imagine that? There was going to be a sense of loss as they had never known.
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They would surely feel as though their hearts were being torn out.
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They love Jesus. They had followed him for three years, more than three years.
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They didn't trusted themselves to him. They'd given up everything to follow him.
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And now they were going to see him tortured, beaten, driven up the hill and then crucified.
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If you could have said, give me your worst nightmare about what is going to happen.
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None of them would have given you this. None of them would have stated the reality of what was going to happen.
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And when it happened, when they saw it, they were going to ache. But notice the word, but there where it says you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.
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How could that be? Jesus gives an answer.
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How is it possible that abject sorrow, gut -wrenching sorrow could turn to joy?
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And he gives an analogy. Verse 21, when a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.
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But when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world.
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And I would just note on the last part there, it's not, she doesn't, you know, a mom doesn't look and go,
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Oh, a human being has been born into the world, right? She says, my baby, there's a delight there, right?
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But the Lord is not saying that a woman in labor is sad to see her pregnancy end. As it kind of would indicate in the
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English, she has sorrow because her hour has come. She's not like,
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Oh man, I was so enjoying this nine months of, and see,
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I really wish it wouldn't end. He's saying that childbirth is painful and therefore it brings sorrow.
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In fact, I think it's one of the small wonders of God's handiwork that, you know, there are second and third and fourth children and families.
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If you've seen one, you just go, how could any woman ever have a second child? And somehow they're able to put some of that pain out of their mind, or at least not dread it so much that they won't have another child.
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But anyway, here's his point. The sorrow, the grief, the anguish, the loss that attended the disciples when
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Jesus was crucified is all but forgotten. When they see him again, when they greet the
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Lord on resurrection Sunday, when I say the resurrection is the single greatest event in history,
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I'm not using hyperbole. It is proof that Jesus is who he says he is.
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And then he did what he said he would do, namely pay the price for sins of all who would ever believe.
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The entire Bible is meaningless. If Jesus Christ stays in the tomb, if he's not raised from the dead, it's useless.
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We have no hope. Paul says we are of all men most to be pitied, but thanks be to God, he was raised.
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So we've seen confusion, clarity, or at least some clarity.
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Finally, let's look at the consequences, the consequences. What would the resurrection mean?
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Even though the disciples did not yet understand Jesus would come back from the dead. What would it mean that he would be resurrected?
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Well, firstly, it would mean everlasting joy. Look at verse 22. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again.
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You know, they imagined he was going to leave and not come back or they didn't really understand it. I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you.
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This unbelievable, unbearable sorrow that they would experience would be taken away and then their joy would never be taken away.
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When he sees them, when Jesus sees them again and they realize who he is, that he conquered death, their joy would propel them to inexplicable works of love for him in the cause of the gospel.
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And this is a joy that no mortal gave to them. And therefore no mortal can take away from them.
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How could they face death for the gospel as they did? Well, it's because they had seen their master put to this cruel death and then they met with him three days later.
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They knew that he, what he said was true. They'd seen it and nobody could take that away from them.
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And even when Jesus ascended, what happens when
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Jesus leaves them again, the Holy Spirit descends. So he in effect remains with them.
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Remember he said that he would dwell in them. The father would dwell in them. And now the
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Holy Spirit is going to come and dwell in them. For every believer here today, your faith cannot be taken away from you.
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Your joy cannot be taken away from you. No human being gave it to you and no human being can take it from you.
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In fact, your faith ought to contain that same joy that the disciples had.
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So first Peter chapter one, verse eight, you don't need to turn there because I'm just reading one verse, but listen, let's see.
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See if you think that Peter might have remembered what Jesus said. Though you have not seen him, you love him.
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Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy.
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That is inexpressible and filled with glory. I think
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Peter was listening. I think he did remember they would have everlasting joy.
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There's also the consequence of Jesus having a new office, that of mediator. Look at verses 23 and 24.
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In that day, you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly.
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I say to you, whatever you ask of the father in my name, he will give it to you until now.
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You have asked nothing in my name and ask, and you will receive that your joy may be full.
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Now that first part of 23 seems a little awkward. Why would they have asked nothing?
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Or why would they ask nothing of Jesus? Well, he's talking about in that day, what day after the resurrection in that time after the resurrection?
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Well, why wouldn't they ask Jesus for anything? Because they'd have the
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Holy Spirit. Jesus was going to leave, and they would have another helper. One like himself, only difference.
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One who would guide them into all truth. And up until now, that had been the role of Jesus. They could just go to the master.
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They could just ask him. But after the resurrection, they would not have that. That would be coming at Pentecost.
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Let's look briefly. Let's turn to Acts chapter one, and I'm just going to read the first eight verses of Acts chapter one.
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It's fascinating to see how this all works together.
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This is Luke, the physician writing, and he says in the first book, that is to say the gospel of Luke.
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Oh, Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day when he was taken up after he had given commands through the
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Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
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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 for John baptized with water, but you will, but you will be baptized with the
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Holy Spirit. Not many days from now. So when they had come together, when the disciples had gathered, the apostles had gathered, they asked him,
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Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Are you going to take the throne?
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Is this the end? He said to them, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the father is fixed by his own authority, but you will receive power when the
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Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all
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Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth. So the
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Holy Spirit would come upon them, but it's interesting 40 days. He was with them the distance between Pentecost, which is what they're celebrating in the upper room.
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And, uh, I'm sorry. Let me, let me reverse that from Passover, which they're celebrating in the upper room to Pentecost is 50 days.
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Jesus is with them 40 of those days. And there's a couple of days really before Passover when they're celebrating anyway.
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So basically we're talking about maybe less than a week where they don't have the presence of Jesus and they don't have the fullness of the
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Holy Spirit. So let's go back to John and in verse 23, just know this truly, truly again, verily, verily faithful statements, marks a complete change in content.
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He's just said, uh, you will ask nothing of me. Why? Because you'll have the Holy Spirit. That's implied.
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He didn't tell him that, but that's why truly, truly complete change in content.
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Up until the time of the resurrection, the disciples had not been praying in Jesus name. And if you think about it, why would they write?
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He was with them. And if you think about the great leaders of the
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Jewish faith or the, you know, the kind of the patriarchs, no one had ever prayed in the name of Abraham or Moses or Jacob.
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Then again, none of them had ever come back from the dead. None of them had ever said he was the son of God.
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None of them had ever died for the sins of others. And none of them had ever been demonstrated to be
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God incarnate. Paul writes in Romans one, talking about the resurrection.
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And he says that God wrote, or God said concerning his son, who was descended from David, according to the flesh and was declared to be the son of God in power, according to the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection.
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Right? This is the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. The resurrection is that declaration.
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According to the spirit of holiness, by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ, our Lord, that's Romans one, three, and four.
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After the resurrection, the promise is that whatever is asked of the father in the son's name will be granted.
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And I'm not going to develop all that means today. However, it is clear that Jesus has been established as divine, our divine mediator between God and man.
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He is the mediator, the only mediator between God and man. And we are to pray in his name because he is equal to the father.
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We are to appeal to him or through him. And we ask continuously.
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It says here that we might have joy. We pray continuously. We ask for things.
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We ask the Lord to do things. Why? That we might have joy, that our joy might be full. It says there,
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Leon Morris says this. He says, God is interested in the wellbeing and happiness of his people.
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They will go through trials, but when they put their trust in him, he puts a joy into their hearts that cannot be removed.
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He puts a joy into their hearts that cannot be removed. Let's talk briefly about other implications of the resurrection.
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As I said, Jesus is confirmed as a mediator, right? We're to pray through him to the father.
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Well, that is in perfect concert with first Timothy two, five, for there is one
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God. And there is one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. And when we look at that, when we think of John 16, 23, it ought to put to an end, the idea of praying to Mary or to any other saints.
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Why would we appeal to anyone else? It is in Jesus name alone that we pray.
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There's no hint of praying to any saint or through anyone else in all of scripture.
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Jesus is also as a result of the resurrection. He's affirmed as a prophet, right?
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He said something would happen. It did happen. Recently. I listened to a debate between Andy Stanley and Jeff Durbin, both pastors and Andy Stanley argued that we should not reason from the scriptures when we present the gospel to people.
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And the reason we should not reason from the scriptures. He said is because then we have to defend their inerrancy.
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As soon as we start quoting scripture to somebody, they're going to come up with something like, well, do you still believe in not eating shellfish or some foolish thing like that?
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Stanley also argued that all we need to do is present the resurrection to demonstrate the truthfulness of Christianity.
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And can you see the flaw in that argument? Cause Jeff Durbin did.
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And he went right for it. Durbin said, we cannot present the resurrection. Apart from the
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Bible, right? I don't want to appeal to some kind of secular historian when
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I can just quote the Bible. This very passage is one reason Jesus predicts his death and resurrection.
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He's crucified on Friday and raised from the dead on Sunday. Just as he said, God will take care of defending scripture.
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He'll worry about inerrancy and all those things. Our job is to declare it and trust that the
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Holy spirit will use it to save sinners. Another consequence of the resurrection.
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Jesus is installed as the head of the church. Ephesians chapter one, verse versus 20 to 23, that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at the right hand at his right hand in the heavenly places, talking about the father far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named.
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Not only in this age, but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all and also a consequence of the resurrection is he is the head of the church, another consequence.
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And I'm, there are many, I just listed a few. Here's another one. Jesus fulfilled his work as the second
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Adam. First Corinthians 15 versus 20 to 22. I could have spent a lot of time in first Corinthians 15, the resurrection chapter, listen to verses 20 and 22 or to 22.
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But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep for as by a man came death, talking about the first Adam, introducing sin into the world, which condemned us all to death.
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For as by a man came death by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead for as in Adam all die.
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So also in Christ shall all be made alive. He reversed the work of the first Adam so that we will see life after death.
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Theologian Hendrickson said this about the resurrection. He said the resurrection would ever afterward be the source of the greatest and most triumphant joy on the part of all of God's children.
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Why are we here in this building this morning? We're here because the father raised the son from the grave.
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We're here because Jesus, who suffered and died that we might have the forgiveness of sins, rose from the dead without that truth.
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We are of most people as Paul wrote to be pitied. Why? Because all our hope is in Christ.
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And if he is not raised, our hope is vain. But Jesus is not dead.
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Death could not hold him. But for a little while, the good news, the gospel is so wonderful.
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We dare not keep it to ourselves. We must tell our neighbors, our friends, our enemies, our family.
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But I repeat myself. And even the salesmen who knock at our doors, right?
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Jesus Christ saved sinners. How? By living a perfect life, dying a substitutionary and excruciating death.
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And then by being raised on the third day, let's pray. Father, thank you for the
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Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for forgiveness of sins, full and free.
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The offer that you make that by simply believing and trusting in him, by believing your word, by investing our all our hope in him.
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We will not suffer your wrath. But we will spend eternity with him in heaven, rejoicing in all that he has blessed us with.
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Father, even now I would pray that we would think about the circumstances of our lives that bring us sorrow, that bring us grief, that consume us and that we might think, but Jesus Christ has died for my sins and been raised from the dead.
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What have I to fear? What have I to worry about? This life is but a little while.
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And then all of eternity with Christ is ours. And it's in Jesus name we pray.