The Victory

All right. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. And happy Resurrection Sunday. Yes. Praise the Lord. Come on. Yes. We should be excited about today. If you guys want to go ahead and stand with us, we'll pray and we'll get started.

Oh, Lord God, we thank you for the day. Lord, we thank you for the thank you for the rain. Lord, we need it. So, Lord, I thank you for another opportunity to be here. I thank you that that you are alive. Lord Jesus, that you defeated sin and death in the grave, Lord. And that you are alive. And because you are alive, Lord, we have hope in you. We have hope for a new life. Lord, we ask your blessing upon this time.

Help us to sit everything else that's going on in our lives aside and to lift a sweet song to you. Us without hope. Praise the Lord. God, we just, we thank you, Lord, for the victory. The victory that we have in you, Lord, over sin and death. Because you are alive, it means that you defeated sin and death. And, Lord, that we have new hope. We have hope in you.

And we have that victory. Amen.

We can't help but just say thank you, Lord, for all that you've done for us. Lord, God, without you rising three days later, Lord, we have no hope. But you've done those things, so we do have hope. Lord, God, we have a reason to say thank you. We have a reason to express our gratitude to you this morning.

Would you guys stand with us for this last one? Lord, God, we just thank you again. We express our gratitude to you this morning. And we praise your name. We praise your holy name.

Lord, we know that you're coming back in glory and power and victory. Lord, help us to live expectantly of your return. It looks like you're coming again soon. Help us to be ready for you. Father, as Pastor Ryan brings the word this morning out, I just pray that you would overflow him with your Holy Spirit. Lord, give him the words to speak. Give us ears to hear and hearts to receive it.

But, Lord, let us not just hear it. Lord, your word says in James, but be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving ourselves.

Help us to hear it, but also act on it. Help us to do your word. Help us to be obedient. Father, we love you and we praise you and we thank you. And all God's people said, Amen. Let's take some time and greet one another.

Good morning. If you could begin to find your seat. Grab your bulletin and we'll get ready to go over some announcements.

Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you have joined us this morning. Happy Resurrection Sunday. Glad that you all could make it here. A handful of things to take note of in your bulletin. As always, over on the left-hand side, things that are going on throughout the week. Places to be plugged in. In the middle section, just two things I want to point out to you.

Number one, there's a National Day of Prayer event coming up Thursday, May the 1st. Excuse me. Over at Wilson Park. It'll be from noon to one under the rotunda. Ministerial Alliance is putting that on. So if you have a chance to join us, lunch will be provided there. So if you have a chance to join us, it should be a good time. And then our new memory verse for the week is there.

First Corinthians chapter 15 verses 20 and 21. So take a look at that. Apply that to memory has a lot to do with what we're talking about today. So those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile devices are silenced and for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 16, Psalm 16. Looking at the new American standard for our responsive reading,

just so that hopefully we sound the same. If you need a copy of a new American standard, there should be one in a row around you. And as you are turning to Psalm 16, if you are able, please stand in the honor of the reading of God's word.

I will read the odd verses. If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the even versus Psalm 16, a mischief of David preserve me. Oh God, for I take refuge in you. I said to the Lord, you are my Lord. I have no good besides you. As for the saints who are in the earth, they are the. Majestic ones in whom is all my delight. The sorrows of those who have bordered for another God will be multiplied.

I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance in my cup. You support my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places. Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me. I will bless the Lord who has counseled me. Indeed, my, my mind instructs me in the night. I have sent the Lord continually before me because he is at my right hand.

I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad in my glory rejoices. My flesh will also dwell securely for you will not abandon my soul to shield, nor will you allow your holy one to undergo decay and reverse 11 with me. You will make known to me the path of life in your presence is fullness of joy in. Your right hand. There are pleasures forever. And so father,

we praise you that you have given this prophecy in the Old Testament of your resurrection and Lord, you fulfilled it for us in the New Testament. And as we said, we're now waiting for the fulfillment of your second coming. And so, Lord, in the meantime, keep our eyes always focused on our risen savior. And so, Lord, this morning, as we take time to look at that father, would you minister to us by the power of your Holy Spirit father?

I pray that you would take your word and do. In each of our hearts, what only your word can do by the power of your Holy Spirit. So Lord move, we pray in Jesus name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would open up in your Bibles to the book of John chapter 20, John chapter 20. Well, today we come to the final message in our series crushing serpents part three.

We look at the victory. So what we've done so far is we, we, first of all, saw the battle. We saw Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane a few weeks ago as he as he had that prayer of surrender to the Lord, that that prayer of surrender to the will of the father, where ultimately I believe he won the battle of the cross because he knew what he was going to have to face. He knew what he was going to have to deal with.

And as he in his humanity went to God in prayer, went to the father in prayer, ultimately surrendered his will to the will of the father and was willing and ready to face the cross. And then, we looked at the the sacrifice. As we looked at the crucifixion, we looked at what took place in the scourging. We looked at what took place in the crucifixion. And the last time that I was together with you all,

we laid Jesus in the grave, and it seemed as though all of the world was shattered, even though what really took place was that the head of the serpent had been crushed when we finished talking about that this morning. And so at the end again of John chapter 19, Jesus has been laid in the grave. He has cried out. It's finished. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took his body and they anointed it the best that they could to prepare it for burial because they were in a hurry because the Sabbath day was quickly approaching.

And as they did so, they laid him in the grave and and now the third day has come. And so we pick up in John chapter 20 and it says this. Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark and saw, the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him.

So Peter and the other disciples went forth and they were going to the tomb and the two were running together and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first and stooping and looking in. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in and Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb and he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the face cloth which had been on his head and not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb also entered and he saw and he believed for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise again from the dead.

The first thing that I want to look at this morning in this section on the victory is I want to look at this. The discovery in John's account were told that Mary Magdalene was the one that came to the tomb and that would make sense because Mary Magdalene was the one who came and told Peter and John that Jesus was no longer in the tomb and other gospel accounts. We find that there were other women with her who stuck around to hear the angels say that you're looking for Jesus of Nazareth. He is not here for he has risen but John's account only tells us about Mary Magdalene and Mary went early in the morning.

Now, we're told that, prior to their arrival, there had been an earthquake and the angels had rolled the stone away. We'll find out later that that for Jesus to come out of the tomb, the stone did not need to be rolled away. The stone needed to be rolled away so that the disciples could get into the tomb to find out that it was empty because we'll find that the resurrected body of Jesus didn't care too much about doors and windows and walls. But as she arrived early in the morning, the first thing that she noticed in the only thing that she noticed is the Jesus.

Wasn't there. She didn't stick around to find out what had taken place. She didn't stick around to find out any kind of a message. She just saw that Jesus wasn't there. And in that moment, her world that had already been shattered was crushed because in her mind, not only was the man who had so much to her dead, but now his body had been stolen and she would never be able to visit that tomb again.

And there was so much fear. There was so much. Discouragement. There was so much brokenness inside of her that all she knew to do was to run and find the guys that she knew the best. She went to find his disciples. And so she ran to where the disciples were where they were hiding ultimately and she went and found them. And and the first thing that she tells them is they've taken away the body.

They've taken away my Lord and I have no idea where they've put him. And so she sort of you can imagine the scene, maybe sort of slowly works her way back to the garden, slowly works her way back to where the tomb was, but not Peter and John. Peter and John ran and they ran really fast. And John so comically tells us that he ran faster than Peter. It's one of my favorite scenes.

Somebody sent me a reel on this this week. It was hilarious. One of the funniest scenes in this entire thing in a very serious situation. John's like bt-dubs. I'm faster than you, Peter. Actually, he calls out Peter two or three times in this whole thing. And it's like, yeah, there it is. That's I think that's what those what God allowed a certain amount of personality

and their writing of the gospel accounts. But John and Peter were two very different people. John was a very young guy at this point in time. Many believe not over the age of 25. So it would make sense that he ran faster than Peter. I was having a conversation with a track runner the other day who's in college and we were talking about times and and me and another guy who aren't young anymore.

We're talking to him and he said, you know running a five-minute mile is not nearly as hard as you think. It is and we just looked at each other and we said, that's because you're 19 and I I'm almost 45. It's always going to be harder for me than it is for you. And that's kind of what it was with John, right? He runs faster than Peter. But but John even though he was young was sort of a deep thinker,

right? He was an observer. Actually, you find that in the gospel of John though. He uses the smallest words. He gives the biggest ideas, right? And so John shows up to the edge of the tomb when he shows up to the edge of the tomb. He sort of stoops down. Now that would make sense. Is the way that the tomb would have been built is not like what we think where it's like head height where you can just walk in.

It probably would have been a smaller opening maybe only three to four foot high and they would have to stoop down to get into it. And so he stops at the edge of where this tomb is and he stoops down and he looks in and the only thing that he sees is he sees the linen clothes lying there. He sort of thinks about it for a minute and then comes Peter, right? I don't know how you picture Peter.

I don't know how we're supposed to picture Peter, but I always picture him as a lumbering sort of guy, right? Maybe not the fastest human being on the face of the earth, perhaps a little bit of a fish belly that he has going on there. And he just in all of his force arrives ducks down shoots into the tomb, right? Peter is not an observer. Peter is a talk first think later sort of a guy,

right? And that's exactly what he does and God uses these personalities. And so so Peter runs into the tomb and I want you to notice what it says. It says Simon Peter verse 6 came following him and he entered the tomb and he saw the linen wrappings, lying there in the face cloth, which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

Now there's something kind of significant about what they see there because from what I understand, according to the Greek construction of what it says that the clothes were lying there. The idea of those linen wrappings lying there is that they looked like they were still wrapped up like a body would be in it, but there was no body in it. It looked like it was still wrapped up as a mummy. If you will, but it had no body left in it.

And so it was just sort of shrunken down. It was lying there neatly. Now, if you were going to steal a body, you would first of all have to either unwrap the body or take all of the linen wrappings with you, right? Not only that, but there would have been a specific face cloth that they would have laid over top of the face of the deceased. And that cloth was lying at the foot a little ways away and it was rolled up some accounts or some,

some translation. So it was folded up. The idea in the Greek is that it was rolled up. In other words, someone took the time to roll it up and neatly place it there because Jesus was alive and he wanted them to know beyond a shadow of a doubt. That's not me in there anymore because I'm alive. And we know that there was a distinct understanding of that because you notice that the commentary that John gives us in verse eight,

it says, so the other disciple who had first come to the tomb, also entered and he saw and he believed for as yet, they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. He saw and he believed. Now listen, he's going to need a little bit more than that. We're going to find that out in just a minute, but he believed because he could see what was going on.

But I want to point out to you that says that they did not yet know the scripture that he would rise from that. What scripture is he talking about? Well, we just read it this morning in Psalm 16. He says, you will not allow your holy one to see corruption, but you will show him the path of life. See that wasn't about David. David died and saw corruption. That was about Jesus.

That was about the Messiah who would be raised from the dead. After all, do you know how many days it takes for corruption for decay to set into the body? Four days. When did Jesus rise? He rose again on the third day. He did not allow his holy one to see corruption, but he gave him the path of life. He raised him from the dead. And so two very different accounts of the discovery of Jesus.

Mary Magdalene's freaked out and still hasn't seen Jesus yet. You've got the disciples who still haven't seen Jesus, but they at least see that his linen claws are there and they understand something's going on. There's one more account. We go back to Mary Magdalene again that we see. Actually, no, let's move into now the next part. Because there's three encounters with Jesus that we see that are very,

very interesting. It says this verse 10. So the disciples went away again to their homes, but Mary was standing outside of the tomb weeping. And so as she wept, she stooped and she looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her woman, why are you weeping?

And she said, because they've taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and she saw Jesus standing there. Only she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener? She said to him, sir, if you've carried him away,

tell me, tell me where you've laid him and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary, and she turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabboni, which means teacher. And Jesus said to her, stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my father and to your father and to my God and to your God. And Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples.

I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her. It's a fascinating scene that we see, first of all, with Mary Magdalene. Now, if you don't know very much about Mary Magdalene, she had quite a sordid past. Matter of fact, we're told that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her, meaning that probably she had fallen into some kind of sin that had led her to this demon possession.

She probably had had a pretty nasty reputation at some point in time. If nothing else, she had the reputation of the crazy woman who was possessed by all of the demons that no one wanted to be around. And Jesus had cast these demons out of her, which is why I think Jesus meant so much to her, because after all, he who has been forgiven much, loves much. He who has seen God's work in that great of a way in their life tends to respond in that great of a way in their life to Jesus.

And so as she's standing there, not having heard from the disciples that we saw that the tomb was empty, not having heard from the other women that the tomb was empty, not having heard the message from any of them, only knowing one thing, Jesus was gone and she didn't know where he was and her whole world had ended. And so she's standing there and she's, and she's weeping. The only thing she knows to do is to go back to the garden tomb. And so, so she goes back to the garden tomb and, and as she's standing outside of it, weeping, she, she looks in and she sees two angels.

Now, I want you to think every time up to this point in time, when someone has seen an angel, what have they done? They have absolutely freaked out, right? They have absolutely fallen down. They're either trying to worship them or they're freaked out by them or, or the first thing they say is, don't be afraid. She's not even freaked out when she sees the angels.

She's too struck by her grief. She's too struck by her brokenness. As a matter of fact, I would venture to say that Mary started believing her old identity again. Mary had started believing that she was the old Mary again. After all, she hadn't seen Jesus. So as she's standing there, she sees two angels and they say, what are you looking for? And you know, I love Chuck Smith pointed this out in this commentary.

I love that. She wasn't even moved by the fact that the angels were there. She wasn't impressed with the angel with the fact that the angels were there. This is what Chuck Smith said in his cat in his commentary. He said, when your heart's longing for Jesus, even an angel won't do when your heart's longing for Jesus, even an angel won't do because what she really needed in her life right now was not an appearance of an angel.

What she really needed was an experience with the risen savior. What she really needed was a real encounter with a risen Christ. And that's what she got. And so, so she said, they said, what are you looking for? I'm looking for Jesus. I don't know what they've done with him. I don't know where they've laid him. And then she turned around and there was Jesus standing there.

Only she didn't realize it was Jesus. And we can't run by this and not and not pick up on the subtle understanding of the fact that sometimes Jesus is standing right there, but we don't realize it's Jesus because because either we're too either were too broken in our grief or or we're too wrapped up in our sin or to wrapped up in our guilt. We're too wrapped up in our shame. And sometimes Jesus is right there and we can't see him.

And so she, he says, woman, what are you seeking? And she doesn't know that it's him. She's a man. I'm just looking for Jesus. And Jesus has one thing to her. I think this is fascinating. Jesus just looks at her and says, Mary. Now, there's an exclamation point in our English translation of this indicating that this is an imperative statement that he makes.

There's force behind it. He says, Mary. And the minute he says her name, she knows it's him. I was, I was want to know how, how it was when she told this story, right? It wasn't like when he was talking to Mary, his mom, it wasn't like he was talking to the other Mary because there's another one mentioned. That's the other Mary. I always feel bad for the other Mary.

That's neither here nor there. And then there's Mary Magdalene. And he said all their names differently. He says, Mary. And in that moment, she knew it was him. There's an interesting truth that Jesus taught us in the book of John. He says, my sheep know my voice. My sheep hear my voice and I know them all by name. And in that moment with this encounter with Mary,

when she is so broken, when she is so lost and feels like her identity is completely gone. She was reminded once again that there was Jesus. He says, Mary. And she cries out, Rabboni, which is teacher, right? And we know what she did, not because it says it, but because we know how Jesus reacts. He says, stop clinging to me. You can just imagine the moment,

right? Like she realizes it's him and she's like, and he's going, okay, yeah, that's yep. I love you too. Okay. Yeah, there it is. Hey, listen. Okay, so this is great. You got to just give it a minute. Okay. Listen, Linda, back off for a minute. Stop clinging to me right now. I still got stuff to do, right? I, I, I still have to go to the father because she was clinging to him

and he knew that when she was clinging to him, it was one of those. I'm never letting you out of my sight again. He's like, you got about 40 days and then I'm going to be ascending. You can't keep clinging to me, at least not in this physical way, but go, go and tell the boys, go and tell them what you've seen, go and tell them what I've told you. And I love this

because everything changes about Mary after a real encounter with the risen Jesus. Well, now we come to the next encounter and it's the disciples. It says in verse 19. So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, peace be with you.

And when he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side and the disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them, peace be with you as the father has sent me. I also send you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. This next encounter is kind of a fascinating encounter because Jesus shows up to his disciples.

I always want to know what the amount of time was between. Mary in the garden and Jesus showing up to the disciples. Other gospel accounts tell us that there was a whole situation that took place after this, right? Luke tells us that Jesus was walking with some disciples on the road to Emmaus. We're not given their names, but they're walking along and they're kind of freaked out.

Everybody's still sort of reeling about what's taken place. And he's like, hey, what are you guys talking about? They're like, have you been living under a rock? Like the Jesus who we thought was the Messiah. We thought he was the promised one. I mean, he died the other day. There's been a few reports from some women that he's alive, but I don't know if you realize this,

women weren't allowed to testify in a court of law at this point in time. Do you know that? So it's pretty significant that Jesus appeared to the women for the first time. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. And so they're, so they're walking along and Jesus is like, tell me more. And so they kind of tell him everything else that had taken place. And he goes,

you guys want to have a Bible study while we're on our way home? You guys want to have a Torah study on the way home? And starting in the beginning, he showed them all of the places. And scripture that taught them about the death of the Messiah had to have been one of the greatest Bible studies ever. And they arrive in Emmaus and they're like, why don't you come in and eat with us?

Right? Okay, I'll come in and eat with you guys. And so Jesus blesses the bread and he breaks it. And in that moment, I think their eyes were open to see the scars in his hands and they were like, and Jesus was gone. See, this is why Jesus didn't need doors and windows. And walls anymore. Jesus was gone. Well, it was around that time that Jesus shows up to the disciples.

Now, I love where the disciples are right now, right? Okay, it's evening of the first day of the week. So Sunday evening, he rose early that morning. It's now evening and they're trying to sort through everything. Probably Peter and John are saying, man, we saw the tomb. He's got to be alive, but none of us have seen him yet. What's going to happen to us? Are we going to get killed too?

Are they going to come after us? After all, we're all of his followers. Peter's going. I don't even know if I am still one of his followers or not. I denied that even knew him three times. We've lost Judas. Everything is falling apart. What are we going to do? Because I want you to notice what it says. It was evening on that day. The first day of the week when the doors were shut,

where the disciples were for fear of the Jews. Bear in mind, these guys will go on to become martyrs themselves. At least most of them, one of them, they couldn't murder because they couldn't kill him. Okay, so, they will go on to become the boldest witnesses for Jesus. The world has ever seen, but in this moment, they're hiding in an upper room for fear of the Jews.

And they're all sitting there and probably every footstep. They hear every knock at the door. They hear every new person that comes walking in. Absolutely has them terrified. And as they're sitting there in this room, totally freaked out. Jesus just. Shows up. Again, please, Lord help. Let us see this. When we get to heaven. I want to know, was it like a just walk through the wall?

Like, or was it just like in there? He was like, whatever it was, Jesus shows up in the middle of the room of a locked door. Jesus didn't need a stone rolled away. He shows up in the middle of the room. And once you notice the first thing he says, peace, be with you. Now that's a typical Jewish greeting. He would have said Shalom, right? That's what he would have said to them.

But that statement, peace, be with you, carries so much more weight to it. So much more authority than just a simple Jewish greeting. He was saying peace to you who are living in fear, peace to you who had been living in sin, peace to you who had been at war with God, because I have made peace with my blood because I have made peace with the cross. And I have guaranteed that that peace has been settled by my resurrection, peace to you.

And then as he's standing there talking to them, he shows them his hands and his feet in his side. I don't know what that would have been like, because I can't imagine what it, I can't imagine what it's like to see somebody go through that, right? I've watched people go through intense pain. And it's the hardest thing you'll ever watch is to watch somebody in intense pain and know that there's, there's nothing you can do about it.

That's one of the hardest things that you can do as a parent. It's one of the hardest things you can do as a son. It's one of the hardest things that you do to watch somebody be in that kind of pain and not be able to do anything about it. And 72 hours before, that's what they were watching. And Jesus looks at him. He says, guys, check it out. Go ahead, feel it.

Look, look at what happened here. And they just slowly reach out their hand. I can't believe that that's you. And remember, they can touch him because even though he's not bound by the same things we are and can show up in places, it was still a physical body. They can touch those scars and they can, they can remember what it looked like to watch those nails go through his hands,

to watch those nails go through his feet and to watch that, that spear go through his side. And I could think about all of that and still go, but here he is alive. So as they, as they watch that, as they see that scene play out before him, notice what Jesus says again, Jesus said to them, peace be with you as my father has sent me. I also send you said, remember, I'm here to bring peace.

And you have a job to do. God sent me into the world to bring peace. I'm sending you into the world to bring the message of peace. That's what I'm sending you to do. But then he does something incredibly significant that we have to pay attention to. And honestly, the entire, the entirety of the gospel hinges on this one statement. It says, and he breathed on them and said to them,

receive the Holy Spirit. That's probably one of the most significant statements next to it is finished in these two chapters. We were to go all the way back to the book of Genesis and we were to go to Genesis chapter two. We would take a look at the creation of man. And we're told that when God created man, he formed him from the dust of the earth, literally like a potter would form a piece of clay formed him from the dust of the earth.

And when he formed him from the dust of the earth, he was just a shell lying there with no life in it. And so we're told in Genesis chapter two that God breathed the breath of life into his nostrils. It literally indicates that God physically breathed that breath into him and man, became a living being. That's the direct quote from scripture and man became a living being in Genesis chapter three.

God had told them if you eat of the fruit in that day, you will surely die. And in Genesis chapter three, they ate of the fruit and spiritual death entered the world physical death entered the world too, but immediately spiritual death entered the world. That was why the very first promise that God made. Was that he would send the seed of the woman to crush the head of the serpent.

Will you fast forward all the way to John chapter 20, and we see that after Jesus rose from the dead, he breathed on his disciples. He breathed new life into them. There's two words for breath given to us in Scripture ones in the Hebrew ones in the Greek in the Hebrew. The word is Ruach means to breathe. That's the word that's used in Genesis chapter two in the New Testament.

The word is new. My means error. That's the word that's used in John chapter 20. Well about I think around a hundred years before Jesus came on to the scene about a hundred years before his incarnation. A group of 70 scholars produced a Greek version of the Old Testament. They translated the Old Testament Hebrew into Greek a language that could be understand understood by the common people.

It's referred to as the step to agent. Well when those scholars translated from the. Hebrew into the Greek when they translated Genesis chapter two where it says that God breathes the breath of life into man and he became a living being. Do you know what word what Greek word they used for Genesis chapter two? They use the word Numa. So if you will the breath of life was breathed into man at creation physical and spiritual life and the breath of life was breathed into man again through Jesus after his resurrection and John chapter 20.

Breathing. 20. Breathing. Spiritual life into us again. Is that not one of the coolest things in the world? Brothers and sisters at that point in time they became born again. And they received the Holy Spirit. See that was their encounter with Jesus is they became born again. But as they became born again I want you to notice what happens God had get Jesus gave them a commission.

The Commission is first given to them here when he said. As the father sends me I send you and it would be reiterated. To them right before he ascended into heaven to go into all the world and to make disciples only the problem is they're living in an upper room in fear they're in this upper room in fear how can they go out and take the message into the world how can they with authority go out and carry the message into the world if they're trapped in an upper room in fear you know what changed them a real encounter with the risen Jesus that's what changed him. See resurrection day 16.

Resurrection day significant for a lot of reasons. Well there's one more encounter. That I want to look at. We're told that there was one apostle who wasn't there. Verse 24. It says but Thomas. One of the 12 called Didymus. Was not with them when Jesus came. Now before we get into this. This is where Thomas receives the nickname. Doubting Thomas. Now. I always feel bad for Thomas.

Right. Every one of these people. Doubted that Jesus was alive. Right. Tombs empty. Mary runs out. They stole his body. The disciples run in. Where's Jesus. Everybody didn't believe that Jesus was alive. Thomas is the only one that gets the nickname. Right. I always feel bad for Thomas. And here's what I appreciate. I appreciate about him. It takes all kinds in the body of Christ.

Right. Like so. So John's the deep thinker. Peter's the brash Baldwin. Thomas is Eeyore. Right. Like the glass is always half empty with Thomas. It's just the kind of guy he is. And sometimes I think if you're a glass half empty sort of a person. You feel like there's no room for you in the church. Like what we've all got to be happy and bubbly. Well, Thomas wasn't right.

Like there was a there was a scene after Lazarus died. When when Jesus is like, hey, we've got to go see Lazarus. And in Thomas is like, hey, the last time we went down to Judea. They tried to kill you. This seems like a bad idea. And Jesus is like, hey, if we walk in the day. Everything will be fine. And Thomas goes, okay. Well, let's go die with you. Right.

And it's like these got to appreciate a realist. That's who Thomas was. And and I think sometimes in the church, we don't always make room for the realists. We don't always make room for like the for like the kind of negative people. Like I just think there's room for that in the church. And so here's Thomas, right? Thomas is going to get a bad round. Maybe maybe partially deservedly, but a little bit of a bad round says.

So the other disciples verse 25. We're saying to him, we have seen the Lord, but he said to them, unless I see in his hands, the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side. I will not believe it. After eight days, his disciples were again inside and Thomas with them and Jesus came the doors having been shut.

He stood in their midst. And he said, peace be with you. And he said to Thomas, reach here with your finger and see my hands and reach here your hand and put it into my side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing. Thomas answered and said to him, my Lord and my God, and Jesus said, because you've seen me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see and yet have believed.

We we all have one of those friends, right? Maybe you're one of those friends that no matter what anybody tells you, you're just not going to believe it. You you just you don't believe everything you read. You don't believe everything in here. You got to check it out for yourself, right? And that's sort of sort of how Thomas was. All of the disciples are like, bro, you're not gonna believe this.

He's he's alive. We saw him Peter's like I saw him too and I believe and John's like I watched it was amazing, right? And they're all telling him here's the thing. Jesus is alive and Thomas is like no one gets me that easy. Nobody fools Thomas unless I actually see and can put my hands in those holes and feel the part in his side. I'm never going to believe and here's what I love about Jesus.

Jesus has no problem answering an honest doubter. Jesus has no problem answering an honest doubter. Sometimes when we have doubts. I think that we get really condemned right and if anybody else has doubts were like you can't doubt Jesus listen people have been doubting Jesus for years and he's not insecure Jesus wasn't like well, I hope he doesn't find out I'm not really alive.

What if what if that happens? What what if he never believes Jesus has no problem dealing with honest doubts. And so what does Jesus do the thing that Jesus always does he answers them with his presence. And so they're all eight days later by the way, right like some time went by a week later. They're all sitting in the upper room again undoubtedly saying man, I wish Jesus would

just show up right now because I'm so tired of listening to you Thomas like I promised he's alive good grief stop putting together a report right and so so they're all sitting there and and Jesus just shows up in the room. I cannot imagine. I don't know why John didn't record it. I cannot imagine Peter didn't say told you right because that feels like the right thing at that moment and Jesus just shows up and you know Thomas's jaw just hit the floor.

He's just like oh my gosh, I can't believe he's there and Jesus looks at him because Jesus knows everything first thing of course he says is peace be with you because I think Thomas was a little freaked out at that point the other disciples are like yeah, right says peace be with you. He says Thomas go ahead. Whatever you need good put put your fingers in there see go ahead feel feel my side. Look at the scar feel it touch it.

And Thomas probably a little bit embarrassed but also somewhat in awe of his risen Savior standing in front of him just simply cries out my Lord and my God because that's all he could say at that point in time. He could just simply declare what he knew to be true that was standing right in front of him. He cries out my Lord and my God and Jesus said I love that seeing me helps you believe but you just got to understand there's a huge blessing for everybody that's never seen me and they're going to believe in me. That's us.

Right, but he had a real encounter with the risen Jesus. And so as we look at this we first of all saw the discovery right? It was discovered the tombs empty because Jesus was gone. Jesus is alive, but then Jesus didn't just leave it with a report. He made these encounters with these different ones Mary Magdalene and the disciples and in Thomas and in each of these encounters was important.

So the last thing that I want to look at is I want to look at the risen Jesus. I don't want to look at what a real encounter with the risen Jesus. Does for us number one was Mary Magdalene right Mary Magdalene. I think began to doubt her identity because I think she thought maybe what Jesus did isn't going to stick maybe what Jesus did wasn't really real. Maybe my identity is going to end up going back to who I was before.

Maybe my identity is still that person because the Jesus that I thought was real is now dead. What's going to happen to me? But what happened the moment that she saw the risen Jesus? She was reminded of her identity. You see the risen Jesus a real encounter with the risen Jesus reminded her of her identity that she was one of his sheep and that he knew her by name and she recognized his voice

and in that moment she realized this is who I am in Christ. I am a child of God and I belong to Jesus and the real encounter with the real risen. Jesus reminds me of who I really am. What about you? What about you? Do you know what your identity really is? Do you know who you really are in Christ? Because I think a lot of people walk around and and maybe you've played around with faith

a little bit but you don't really know your identity in Christ and the only thing that's going to change that the only thing that's going to really tell you you're not your reputation. You're not your past. You're not your shame. You're not your guilt. You're not your sin. You're not all of those things is a real encounter with the risen Jesus. And you need that.

in your life so that you can be reminded that while you are a sinner, you are a sinner saved by grace who belongs to Jesus, and he knows you by name. The second thing that we see is we see the disciples, right? The disciples were living in fear. The disciples were living in discouragement. The disciples were probably living in depression. Peter living in a great deal of shame. Probably

all of them living with a great deal of guilt because they abandoned Jesus, and they're there in that upper room, and what happens? Jesus shows up, and as Jesus shows up, he takes those disciples who were living in fear, who were living in confusion, who were living in discouragement, and who were living in depression, and a real encounter with a real Jesus brought them boldness, brought them confidence, and brought them purpose. Boldness in the reality of the risen Jesus. Confidence in who they are in Jesus, and a mission to share with the world, a purpose to share with the world what the risen Jesus had done in their lives. What about you?

You living in fear today? Are you afraid of everything that comes along, every news story that comes along, every potential measles outbreak that comes along, everything? Yesterday was a fearful day. We lost people we love, and sometimes we live in that kind of fear, right? What if it's going to happen to me? And we don't have the confidence to go out and share because what if

somebody hates me for what I have to share with them? We don't have the purpose to go and live our lives for Jesus because all we can see is in here, and a real encounter with the risen Jesus will change everything about that for you. A real encounter with the risen Jesus will give you the boldness and the confidence that you need to go out and share the truth. I know because I'm standing here doing it right now, and that all came about because of a real encounter with the risen Jesus. And then what about Thomas? Thomas had all of his doubts dispelled and replaced

with belief by a real encounter with the risen Jesus. I love this because Jesus is not scared of doubts. Matter of fact, I just watched a movie again for the second time, might have been the third time the other day, The Case for Christ. If you've never watched The Case for Christ or read the book The Case for Christ, I would highly encourage you to do so because that story is about a guy by the name of Lee Strobel. Lee Strobel, who did not believe in God, but he did

not believe in Jesus. He didn't believe that Jesus existed. He didn't believe that there could be a God. And so he set about to disprove it. And somebody told him, if you really want to disprove Jesus, you have to go for what will affect it the most, and that's the resurrection. And so he did everything that he could to try to disprove the resurrection of Jesus Christ, only to find that

there was so much overwhelming evidence for Jesus being alive that he couldn't do it. But if you want to disprove Jesus, you have to go for what will affect it the most, and that's the The Case for Christ. If you watch the movie, it does a fantastic job of presenting the fact that the issue that he was having had nothing to do with the way that he thought, and it had everything to do with fighting against God. It had everything to do with fighting against Jesus. And in the

moment he finally surrendered, he had a real encounter with the risen Jesus. And all of his doubts were dispelled, and they were replaced with belief, to the point where he now is an apologist for the truth of Jesus Christ, and for the gospel, and has written multiple books telling us exactly who Jesus is and exactly what he's done for us. Why? Because his doubts were dispelled by a real encounter with the risen Jesus. Listen, if you're here this morning and you got doubts, just take

them to Jesus. Search it out for yourself. Do you realize there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than we have? Do you realize there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than we have? Do you realize there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than we have? Do you realize there is more evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ than we have? For the existence

of George Washington? There is more historical evidence for that. Go ahead, search it out. Try him. You're not going to defeat it. No one's ever been able to. No one's ever been able to disprove it. And God is not insecure. He's like, bring me your doubts. Bring me your doubts, and I'll show you who I am. Bring me all of your doubts, and I'll show you who I am by a real

encounter with me as alive. And it will change everything about who you are. Because that's what a real encounter with the risen Jesus does. But then I look at all of them. I look at all of them, and for all of the disciples, they were all given new life because of a real encounter with the risen Jesus. Do you remember? Do you remember that? Jesus breathed on them, and they received new life. They

received the Holy Spirit who made them alive again. And there are people in this world, maybe even people in this room, that have never received real life. You're still walking around in death. You're still walking around in death. You're still walking around in death. Maybe playing church a little bit, but you've never come to Jesus. You've never had a real

encounter with the risen Jesus. And so while you may have the look of life about you, you have no life. And Jesus wants to breathe on you the breath of brand new life. And he says, I want you to have a real encounter with me so that I can make you alive, so that you don't have to walk around in death any longer, so that you don't have to face death and eternity apart from me. But it starts

with a real encounter. With the risen Jesus. And so I'm going to ask the question again. What about you? Do you find yourself in any of those stories? Do you find yourself in one of these places where you need to answer the question, what am I going to do with Jesus? And do I need to have a real encounter with the risen Jesus? Some of you have doubts that need dealt with. Some of you have fear that needs

to have the confidence of knowing Jesus. Some of you need brand new life. Some of you need reminded of your identity. Saved or unsaved, we all just need another real encounter with the risen Jesus. Amen. Let's all stand. And if you'd bow with me. Father, we come to you now. And Lord, I thank you for the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for us. And I thank you

for the confidence that we can have in who you are and what you've done. And so, Lord, I want to lift up every person that's in this room this morning. And Lord, I want to ask this question. I want to ask that you would move on their hearts by the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, that you would move on them in the way that only you can and in the way that you see fit to bring about new life,

to bring about confidence, to bring about belief. Father, to remind them of who they are in you. And so, Lord, I just pray for that work of your Holy Spirit in the hearts and the lives of each person that's here this morning and ask that you would move as you see fit. Father, I thank you that you are alive. I just ask that you would continue to move throughout

this day. In Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. What you've done for us, Lord, for the fact that you are risen well today and that in you we have new life. Lord God, we just praise you and we thank you. And we ask that as we leave here today that your Holy Spirit go with us, that we have a real encounter with you, Lord, a life-changing experience. With you. Because that's who you are. We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.

You guys have a wonderful week. God bless you. Happy Resurrection Day.