The Reliable Testimony Matthew 28

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We gather here today to remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
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The historical reality that Jesus rose from the dead is documented in the
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Bible. I probably didn't need to tell you that, but there you go. It is predicted in the
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Old Testament and mentioned in numerous places in the New Testament. However, the story of the events of that day, with its details, shows up in four places.
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The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each of these accounts gives a different perspective, a different angle of what happened.
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Some give us more information, and some give us less. But each gives us a slice of this most extraordinary day.
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This morning, we are going to look at one of those accounts. The account from Jesus' disciple,
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Matthew, who was an eyewitness of the resurrected Christ. So I encourage you to turn with me to Matthew 28.
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We're going to be looking at the 20 verses of this chapter. And if you're using a red Bible in the pews, it's on pages 992 and 993.
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This sermon is titled, The Reliable Testimony. The Reliable Testimony.
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In our big idea, our proposition, and this is why Matthew wrote this.
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The Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in human history in order to move you.
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The Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in human history in order to move you.
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He's not just writing a dry history here. He wants to persuade you.
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He wants us to change your life as he writes this. So let's keep that in mind as we look at this chapter.
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We're going to see three acts in these 20 verses. And act number one is that after his resurrection,
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Jesus appears first to several women. After his resurrection, Jesus appears first to several women.
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We'll see this in the first 10 verses. Now two days ago, on Good Friday, for those of you who were gathered here, we looked at and remembered the death of Christ.
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The death of Jesus would not have significance, of course, without a resurrection. If Jesus had stayed dead, it would have shown that he was an imposter since he predicted that the
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Jews and the Romans were going to put him to death. And then three days later, he would rise bodily from the dead.
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But of course, we know Jesus did rise from the dead. And we gather here today to remember this most important of all days.
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This event changed the world forever. The resurrection of Christ is the reason we have hope, as we just sang that song.
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Because he lives, I can face tomorrow. Because he lives, my fear is gone.
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As that one line says, life is worth the living because he lives. Do you believe this today?
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Christians believe in a risen Savior that even though we die physically, we live forever with Christ.
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And one day when Christ returns, he will raise believers from the dead with a resurrection like the resurrection that he had.
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The text we're going to be looking at in Matthew 28, we're going to look at these first verses here.
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We're going to look verse by verse. And my prayer is that this account of Christ's resurrection comes alive to you.
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Imagine yourself being there. The people who witnessed this event were ordinary people like you and me.
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So put yourself in their shoes and imagine what this would have been like. Let's transport back in time to 2 ,000 years ago.
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Let's begin by reading verse 1. Now, after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week,
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Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.
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Let's stop right there. After Jesus' body was taken from the tomb on Friday, two men took his body to the tomb.
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These two men were Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea. These were two high -class
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Jewish men. Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy man who owned his own tomb.
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Jesus being buried in the tomb of this man is a fulfillment of prophecy. It fulfilled
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Isaiah 53 .9 that says, They made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death.
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Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary went to the tomb with these two men.
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So they knew where the tomb was located. In verse 1, these women go to the tomb with the purpose of anointing
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Jesus with oils. Obviously, when a body dies, it smells, and they wanted to anoint it with oils to make the smell better.
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And they couldn't go the day before because it was the Sabbath. The Jews, of course, didn't do anything on the
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Sabbath. They stopped all that they did. The Jewish Sabbath was Saturday, and the first day of the week was
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Sunday by the Jewish calendar. So these women go to the tomb not expecting to see anything.
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They just think they're going to anoint his body with oils. And then the incredible happened.
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Verse 2, And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the
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Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.
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So this earthquake and the angel from heaven moving the stone happened before the women arrived at the tomb.
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And we know this because in Mark, Luke, and John, they say that the women found the tomb with the stone already rolled away.
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So this earthquake and the angel moving the stone already happens. The stone that was over the tomb was tightly secured.
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The Roman soldiers did this to make it so that it would be impossible for anybody to steal the body away.
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It's interesting that the chief priests and Pharisees, these Jewish leaders, the very ones who put
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Jesus to death through the Romans, were concerned that Christ's disciples would take the body away and say that he had risen from the dead.
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This is what these Jewish leaders said to Pilate in the previous chapter in verses 63 and 64.
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They said, Sir, we remember how that imposter said while he was still alive, after three days
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I will rise. Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people he has risen from the dead.
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So you see why they put guards there. And Pilate told them in verse 65, he says,
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Use your own guards if you really want to secure this place because the
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Jews would have had their own Roman guards who would have protected the temple that was in Jerusalem. They said, send these people to the tomb to protect it.
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So no mere man would have been able to overtake the guards and unseal this tightly secured tomb.
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It would take a miracle for the stone to be rolled away, and this is precisely what happened.
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An angel from heaven rolled it away. And verse 3 describes the description of the angel.
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His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.
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Now in our life, the brightest light that we experience is the sun.
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And we are never told to look at it because if you look at it too long, you might lose your eyesight. Remember that eclipse about a year or two ago?
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Everyone was warning, don't look up at the eclipse. And Brianne and I made the mistake.
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We actually looked up at it too long. And I'm not kidding when I say that our vision wasn't normal for a few days.
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We weren't blind, of course, but it was off a little bit. And the angel would have been blazing with light as he comes to this tomb.
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And the guards were there. The very ones who secured the tomb were the ones who were watching the tomb.
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And when this happened, they were there. And we see their reaction in verse 4. Throughout Scripture, the first words the angels utter when they make an appearance to a human is, do not be afraid.
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Well, why is that? It's because they're way more powerful and mighty than we are. The guards were terrified at seeing this angel.
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And all of this happened, as I already mentioned, before the women arrived at the tomb. So the women go to the tomb and notice that the tomb is empty.
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And as the women see that the tomb is empty, they see an angel. And this is what the angel said to the women.
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But the angel said to the women, Now, the
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Gospels of Luke and John say that there were actually two angels. The Gospel of Luke says there were several women who were with the two
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Marys. This is why it's helpful to read each of the Gospels, because each of them fills in a detail that another one does not.
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And as the women see the angels, they say to the women, do not be afraid. You notice how they didn't say that to the guards?
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They're a lot more kind, you could say, to the women than they were to the guards. They actually wanted to scare the guards and get them out of there.
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But to the women, they say, do not be afraid. These angels know that they have come to anoint
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Jesus' body. And then they deliver the incredible news in verse 6. As He said, come, see the place where He lay.
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So they explain to Him why He's not present. He's risen from the dead. This isn't a spiritual resurrection.
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There are just some people who believe that. This is not a spiritual, this is a bodily resurrection. And in the
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Gospel of Matthew, Jesus told His disciples five times that He would rise from the dead.
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Jesus said it, and it happened. And these women hear this amazing news from this angel.
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The angel then gives them the task to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead. Verse 7.
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Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead.
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And behold, He is going before you to Galilee. There you will see Him. See, I have told you.
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The angel tells the women to tell the disciples that they will see Jesus in Galilee.
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The region of Galilee, if we understand this part of the world, this is where modern -day
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Israel is. The region of Galilee was the location where Jesus and His disciples were from.
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It's where Jesus spent most of the time in His ministry. Galilee would have been about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.
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Of course, Jerusalem is where Jesus was crucified and where He rose. So one of the appearances
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Jesus is going to make after His resurrection isn't in the area of Jerusalem. It's actually going to be way north in Galilee.
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And Jesus is going to meet the disciples in this place at a time in the near future. At this time, there would have been 11 disciples because, of course,
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Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, was no longer with them. In fact, he took his own life.
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And we'll see in a bit that more than just the 11 disciples will go to Galilee to see
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Jesus. Again, let's put ourselves in their shoes here.
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They go to tell the disciples the incredible news that Jesus had risen from the dead. Imagine what this would have been like.
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They just saw an angel sent from heaven, and they were told that Jesus, their dear friend, who was once dead, is now alive.
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And as they are running to tell the disciples, the text says that they are filled with fear and great joy.
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So they're terrified. They're probably shaking. And yet, it's a fear that is accompanied with joy.
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Isn't that interesting? As they go away, this is their loved one,
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Jesus. They followed him for three years through his ministry. They thought he was dead.
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They thought he suffered a brutal death. And they were in enormous grief, and now he's alive.
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And as these women are en route to tell the disciples that Jesus has risen from the dead, they are met by the man himself as the resurrected
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Christ appears to them. Let's look at verse 9. And behold, Jesus met them and said,
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Greetings. And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him.
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So the joy that they had as they saw Jesus overflowed.
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And some of you in this room, probably everybody in this room, has a loved one that is no longer with us. Imagine your loved one passes away, and just a few days later, you see your loved one again.
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You're like, what did you do? I thought you were dead. Now you're alive. Imagine the emotions that would have been there for these women to see their beloved
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Lord Jesus risen from the dead. They're not only with their Lord and Savior, they're with their friend.
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And he's not dead, but he's alive, and they are overjoyed. And note here, too, that they did not see a ghost.
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They saw Jesus with a body. It says they took hold of his feet. Spirits don't have feet.
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I don't have to tell you that, but it's true. They held onto his feet, and later on, when
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Jesus appeared to the 500, he ate fish with them.
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And so we see that the writers of the New Testament are trying to make it clear that this is a bodily resurrection.
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And they are also bowing down to him. They are worshiping, and you only worship God. These women knew that he was so much more than a man, but he is
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God in the flesh. And throughout his ministry, Jesus claimed to be God's son.
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And they give him the worship that he is due, and Jesus receives the worship because he is
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God. And I'll mention that more in a little bit. Before these women met
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Jesus, apparently they were afraid to tell the disciples. And the reason they were afraid is not only because they saw
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Jesus, who was once dead, but he's now alive, but they were also afraid because the same people who killed
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Jesus, who delivered him up to be crucified, the Jewish leaders, they were concerned that, well, we might be in danger if these people find out what's going on here.
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And so to embolden them, this is what Jesus says in verse 10. Do not be afraid.
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Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
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Now earlier, the angels told these women to tell the disciples that Jesus had risen. Jesus expands it even more.
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He tells them to tell his brothers. Throughout Jesus' ministry, he had many people who followed him.
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It wasn't just his 12 disciples. And the word was to spread that Jesus was going to Galilee.
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And many would go there to see for themselves that Jesus was really alive. The text that I read at the beginning of the service today, 1
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Corinthians 15 .6, explains that Jesus appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time.
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Jesus made many appearances after his resurrection. The Gospel account that we're looking at here, the
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Gospel of Matthew, is focusing on this grand appearance that took place 60 miles north in Galilee.
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That was the place to where they were to go to. And the Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in human history in order to move you.
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That's our big idea. This is meant to persuade you. This is meant to have an enormous impact on you.
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Act 1 of this account is after his resurrection. Jesus appears first to several women.
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Act 2 of this chapter is that the ones who killed Jesus try to cover up the reality of his resurrection.
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The ones who killed Jesus try to cover up the reality of his resurrection. We'll see this in verses 11 through 15.
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So we just saw the perspective of the women seeing the angel and going to tell the disciples and other followers of Jesus that he truly had risen from the dead.
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So now we're going to see the darker side here, the side of the ones who unjustly murdered
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Jesus. And this, of course, is the Jewish leaders, specifically the chief priests.
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These are people who had a lot of power, and they wanted Jesus dead in the first place. Well, one, because he claimed to be
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God, but they also had a comfortable position in the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire ruled this part of the world at this time, and these
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Jewish leaders, they thought with all these people running after Jesus during his ministry, the
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Romans are going to take away the power that we have. And so they always hated
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Jesus. And so we have to put ourselves in their shoes here, as difficult as that is.
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Verse 11, So I'll stop right there.
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While the women were going to tell the disciples and the followers of Jesus that Christ had risen, word got out about what happened at the tomb.
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Certain guards went to tell the chief priests, and the chief priests met with other leaders known as the elders, and they come up with a plan.
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They devise an evil plan. And before we go any further, we need to contemplate how sinful their actions were.
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What they should have done is said, there is irrefutable evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead.
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He really is from God, and we are the phony ones. We are the ones who are guilty.
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Not him. Is that what they do? Of course not. They already murdered
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Jesus, and now they want to cover up the reality that Jesus rose from the dead as He said
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He would. And this happens in our world all the time. One sin leads to more sins, not to repentance.
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Once the sin is exposed, it should lead to repentance, but it doesn't. So they show their sin, and cover up the attempt in verses 12 -15.
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And when they had assembled with the elders and taken counsel, they gave a sufficient sum of money to the soldiers, and said,
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Tell people, his disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep, and if this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.
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So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story, this lie, has been spread among the
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Jews to this day. So they decided to come up with a lie that the disciples stole the body.
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And in order to prevent the truth of what really happened, they paid the soldiers who were on guard as the earthquake happened, the angel appeared and the stone rolled away.
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They pay off the guards to tell the lie that the disciples stole the body. And if somehow the governor
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Pilate, the one who ultimately said Jesus was going to be crucified, if he hears about this, the
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Jewish leaders are going to cover for the soldiers to keep them out of trouble. It's interesting that the day before, they suspected, remember
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I read this already? They suspected that the disciples may attempt to steal the body.
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Jesus throughout his ministry predicted that he was going to rise from the dead. And this word got out and they're thinking, well, the disciples are going to steal the body, they're going to make up a story that he truly was risen from the dead.
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And as they said, he will be a worse imposter than he was even at the beginning.
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These are evil people. And this story is still spread to this day.
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Several Easter's back, my father sent an email to one of our family members.
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And he said, he is risen. And my uncle responded by saying, no, the disciples stole the body.
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And Matthew 8, 28 is written largely to tell us that that's not the case.
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People are going to say this, but that's not true. Don't believe their lies. What really happened is that he did rise bodily from the dead.
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There were people in Matthew's day who believed this fable and people today as well.
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And what's interesting is that people who have studied this event very closely, Christian and secular, so not just Christian but also unbelievers who study this, agree on four facts regarding the resurrection.
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And I got this from a defender of the Christian faith who has argued that Jesus did rise bodily from the dead.
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So the four facts are these. Number one, Joseph of Arimathea buried
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Jesus in the tomb. Number two, several women found the tomb empty on Sunday morning.
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Number three, many people claimed to see Jesus after the tomb was found empty.
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And number four, the Christian movement started from these events as witnesses sincerely reported that they saw him alive.
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So this is widely believed among people who have studied this closely. Now the disagreement among people is on the explanation of all these events.
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How do you explain the four facts I just read? That people sincerely believe that they saw him after he was dead.
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Well, I'm here to tell you that none of the explanations besides that he rose bodily from the dead are credible.
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Let me give you a few examples of how ridiculous the other views are. One scholar has said that Jesus had a twin brother.
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So people thought it was him, but it was actually his twin. Others have said Jesus really didn't die.
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And this is silly, because do you think that the disciples would boldly call people to believe in an almost dead man and say his resurrection will change your life?
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No. One scholar said that all of these witnesses of the resurrection did not really see
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Jesus, but they had visions of him. One person or two maybe, but over 500?
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Not a chance. So the most probable explanation, and really the only one that makes any sense, is to explain the evidence by saying that he really did rise bodily from the dead, and the truth claims of Christianity stand above any other claim.
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Because there are people today who believe this is a myth. But that's not the case. It is indeed a reliable testimony from people who were there that very day.
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So Act 2 of this account focuses on the ones who killed Jesus and try to cover up the reality of his resurrection.
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Act 3 of this chapter is the grand appearance of Jesus as highlighted.
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And we'll see this in verses 16 and 17. Now we transition to this grand appearance that Jesus made with his disciples and other followers in Galilee, north of Jerusalem.
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I once looked at a source that placed each of his appearances in the four
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Gospels in chronological order, and this source listed ten appearances that Jesus made during the 40 days he was on earth.
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Because when he rose from the dead, that was the beginning of the 40 days, and then his ascension was 40 days later.
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Matthew in his Gospel highlights the eighth appearance, the eighth out of ten, that took place on the mountain at the
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Sea of Galilee. So verses 16 and 17 of chapter 28. So the 11 disciples and many other people took the 60 -mile journey to Galilee to see
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Jesus risen from the dead. It wasn't as if Jesus just hung out with people for 40 days.
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He would come and he would go. We don't really know why, but he would come and he would go at different times just to show enough of himself to say, you need to write this down later on and pass this testimony on.
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And I already mentioned this, but there were over 500 people who saw Jesus on the mountain.
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And verse 17 says that they saw him and worshipped him. In verse 9, we already saw that Jesus appeared to the women and they worshipped him also.
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Now we also see that all these people worshipped him as well. This belief and doctrine that Jesus is
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God is clear in the pages of Scripture. We see it right here in our text. People worshipped him and he received worship.
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You only worship God. And this is what these people did. It's interesting that when you read the
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Bible, there's a few other places where humans try to worship someone they perceived as great.
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At the end of Revelation, in Revelation 22, verses 8 and 9, John, the apostle
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John, fell down to worship the angel who revealed the prophecy to him. You know what the angel said to him?
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Do not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers the prophets.
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And with those who keep the words of this book, worship God. This is why you see people, sometimes you see an athlete get interviewed, or you might see someone else who does an extraordinary feat, and they say, the glory goes to God.
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And when you hear someone say that, amen. Because it shouldn't go to you. Only God deserves all the praise, all the honor, all the glory.
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There's also an instance in the book of Acts with Herod Antipas. When Herod gave a public speech, the people shouted, the voice of a
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God and not a man. Then the account says that an angel of the Lord struck him dead.
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Because he liked hearing that. And he was receiving the worship. And God said, nope, only
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I get worshipped. Because only I'm worthy to be worshipped. So Jesus receiving worship here is significant.
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He truly is God. He's fully God and he's fully man. And the early followers of Jesus knew this.
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Now the end of verse 17 says that some doubted. And when you first look at this, you might think, is this referring to the 11 disciples?
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Probably not. It's probably referring to some of the 500 who were at this mountain in Galilee.
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What you can see in this appearance at Galilee is how God planned that the news of the resurrection would get out.
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This is the days before video cameras. And he didn't tell one person to see it and report it.
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Because he knew that people probably wouldn't believe just the testimony of one person. There needed to be multiple eyewitnesses.
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And it wasn't just one, two, or ten, or fifteen. Over 500 witnesses.
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And a small number of these people, who were mostly apostles, would write down not only that they saw
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Jesus after his death, but also the significance of his whole ministry and what this means for us.
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And that's what we have. Think about this. These people, we have these books right here because they wrote this down.
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And somehow, God providentially had written down and copied over and over again in many different languages.
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And here we are in Eureka Center, Wisconsin. We have it. We have the news. Thousands of miles and thousands of years ago from where this event took place.
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It's incredible to think about this. What's interesting is that when Paul wrote that more than 500 people witnessed the resurrection of Jesus in 1
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Corinthians 15 .6, he wrote that some of these people are still alive. Paul wrote this 20 years after this event.
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So people could approach these eyewitnesses and say, Did you see this? And they would say,
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Yes, I was there. I saw him on the mountain at Galilee. I remember when
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I was younger, I took a visit to visit my aunt and uncle in Dallas, Texas.
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And we went down to the site where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. And I've always been fascinated with that.
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And still to this day, there are people who are witnesses to that event. And you can ask them, What was it like that day?
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What did it sound like? What did you see? What did you hear? And people would be able to tell you.
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And that's what it would have been like 20 years after the resurrection. These people would have been able to say, Yes, I remember what
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I saw, what I heard. I touched him with my hands. He was there. So we must understand that when we read the
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New Testament, when we read the whole Bible, but specifically this testimony, we are reading reliable, trustworthy people.
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Church tradition records that 11 of the 12 apostles, now
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Matthias would have been the 12th one replacing Judas, 11 of these men died because they truly believed that Jesus was risen from the dead.
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You don't die for a dead man. They died and they were martyred for their Christian faith.
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And the only one who didn't die was the Apostle John. And he was exiled to an island in the
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Mediterranean called Patmos. And that's where he wrote the book of Revelation. So you can see that these people gave their life for what
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Jesus had done. So the Apostle Matthew gives his account of the most impactful event in human history in order to move you.
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So are you moved today? My prayer is that each one of us is moved rightly.
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So to summarize the three acts that we've just seen of Matthew's account of the resurrection of Christ, Act 1, after his resurrection,
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Jesus appears first to several women. Act 2 is the ones who killed Jesus try to cover up the reality of his resurrection.
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Act 3, the grand appearance of Jesus is highlighted. And if this is true, and as I just presented to you, we see that this is not a fairy tale.
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This is real history. This has an enormous impact on your life, an enormous.
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It changes every day. It's why you get up in the morning. Just like that song we sang.
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So he wrote this to impact you, to move you. In this news,
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Jesus told them the disciples needed to get them out. These eyewitnesses on this mountain in Galilee needed to get this out.
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And this is where he speaks the famous words. It's called the Great Commission in verses 18 through 20.
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And Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations. Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
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Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
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And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. So he's sending them out saying, Go, preach the good news that I have died for sins on the cross.
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That I have risen from the dead. Preach the good news. And you know what? We know that they did. How do we know that?
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We wouldn't be here right now if they didn't. They spread the message. And we are here today to remember what
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Christ has done. So my question to each of us is, Are you getting the news out? That Jesus has risen from the dead.
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That if you believe in him, you will have eternal life. Are you getting this news out?
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There's people here who woke up today. They have no hope. We have the answer to their problems.
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We have the most deepest need they have. The question is, are we getting the word out?
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And my prayer is that we would do that. And if you're here today and you don't know Christ, Believe in the
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Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That's what scripture teaches us. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.
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The offer is there. You just have to receive it. And as Christians, everyone here who knows
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Jesus Christ, Let's get the good news out. The news of the risen
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Savior. So this concludes our sermon for this Resurrection Sunday. Now next weekend,
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I'm going to be speaking at a men's retreat in Minnesota. So I won't be here.
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And Rob will be here, but he won't be preaching. So we're going to have one of the associate pastors from New Life Church.
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His name is Bennett Anderson. He's going to be coming and he's going to preach next Sunday. And so that'll be a treat for you.
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So I just wanted to give you a heads up about that. And then in two Sundays from today, we'll be resuming
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Genesis. Now for those of you who are visiting today, we've been going through Genesis for the last 18 months.
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And we're in chapter 37, which is the story of Joseph. So we're going to kick off the story on Joseph's life.
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And so I look forward to going through that with you. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, what a great story.
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This happened 2 ,000 years ago. And this is the meaning of life. You created the world,
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Lord. We fell into sin. In the Old Testament, it was prophesied that the one who's the only hope for humanity was going to come.
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And that he would die on the cross for our sins. And that he would rise from the dead. And he would ascend to Heaven.
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And we would be sent out to preach this good news. And a day is coming in the future when he is going to break through the clouds.
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He is going to come to this earth. And he is going to gather his people. And may we be ready,
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Lord, to meet you. I pray for our community. I pray for the St. Croix Falls area. I pray for Eureka.
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That people would know Christ from this community. That we would be a light in this community to get the gospel out to the people here.
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So that they would have fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore. As Scripture teaches.