Hope

Good morning. Would y'all stand? Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. That just came across my mind. I want to welcome you this morning here to Calvary Chapel, those of you that have joined us this morning and those online as you've joined us, we welcome you. Would you bow your heads and join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity,

Father God, to come to you this morning to worship in song and to study your word. Would you move amongst us, Lord, by your Holy Spirit? Empower us to walk this Christian walk in you, Lord. May we just remember he is risen. Indeed, he is risen. Amen? Amen. Father, just bless now that the other end of the hall there is the children, the church is going on and we lift up the teachers, Lord, that you'd bless them as

they teach the youngsters, Lord. And Father, that time there in the nursery were those who watched the little ones. Would you bless that? Encourage the ushers, Lord. Not the ushers, the ushers. We pray that you would bless now our time as we worship you in song. Lord, you're worthy of our praise. No matter not how we feel, Lord, by faith, we come to you. this morning the author and the finisher of our faith we think of your faithfulness lord to us

you are a wonderful god we praise you this morning our song shall rise to the gates yes lord we praise you you're holy you're worthy of our praise this morning and we thank you lord jesus you may be seated father we think and this whole thought of john one one in the beginning was the word and the word was with god and the word was god the same was in the beginning with god there was nothing made that was made it wasn't made by him lord the word you the word lord we thank you lord eternal god

didn't want heaven without us you jesus we just praise you lord this morning whether we we come with each of us having different thoughts on our minds and maybe our week has each been different but by faith we can come and just express your worthiness lord worship respond because you loved us we can love you give you praise lord oh sovereign god is the door the angels sing these sufferings this passing time he shall flee has made me risen christ sitting up at the right hand of the father making intercession for us he loves us each one just as we are we came just as we were and as we are today we keep coming to him and looking to him trusting in him can say and the grave is full there's a day

that's strong would you all stand lord the risen christ there is a christ we thank you what you did on that cross lord for us redemption we who were slaves to sin purchased us you paid the price and we thank you for that and died for me i see his wounds his hands his feet my savior on curses is

all together now yes praise the lord hallelujah father we thank you lord we give you praise and father as we continue in our service as ryan comes up to preach your word teach your word that you anoint him by the power of your holy spirit to bring forth your word lord and that you would give us an anointing to listen to receive and because you love us we love you and that heart to obey lord and to to serve you with our whole heart we're weak vessels but in our weakness you're made strong and we thank you in jesus name amen let's have some family and friends amen let's have some family and friends amen let's have some family and friends amen let's have some

fellowship. Good morning. Glad you could be here this morning. If you'd start locating your seat, grab your bulletin. We'll go over a few announcements. First of all, glad you're here this morning. If this is your first time at Calvary, welcome. Very glad you could be with us. As far as announcements go, as you open up your bulletin over on the left side, those are the different studies that we have going on throughout the week.

We have things for the ladies, for the men, for couples, for youth, for college kids. So find one of those spots to get plugged into. Over here in the middle section of your bulletin, the only thing to take note of is that we have our men's breakfast coming up this coming Saturday, April 23rd at 8 o'clock. So fellas, come join us for that. It's always a great time of not only eating some good

food together, but fellowshipping together and spending some time in God's Word. So come join us for a good time together. With that, those are the things that are going on. If you would make sure that your mobile device is silenced. And then for our responsive reading this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 16. Psalm 16. We'll be looking at the New American Standard, just so we all sound the same. If you

need a copy of that, there should be one in your row. And as always, if there's not one in your row, make a friend. And as you're turning to Psalm 16, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

If you will follow along with Pastor Allen and the Even Verses. Psalm 16, a mictum of David. Preserve me, O 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 sorrow of those who have bartered 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 and 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 mind instructs me in the night. I have set the Lord continually before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Therefore, my heart... My heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will dwell securely. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will you allow your Holy One to undergo decay. And read verse 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 Father, I just thank you so much for this psalm, Lord, for this...

this prophecy of the resurrection that we have there in the Old Testament. Lord, I thank you that Jesus is alive and that we can celebrate and serve a living Savior. And so, Lord, as we spend time in your word this morning, I just ask that your Holy Spirit would produce that hope that only your Holy Spirit can produce. And Lord, that you, the God of all hope, would fill us with all joy and peace in believing.

And we just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Mark, chapter 16.

Mark, chapter 16. I've been praying for the last few weeks about where I was supposed to go for Resurrection Sunday. And as I was reading in my devotions, I came across this very last chapter of Mark. And it was, again, one of those moments where the Lord just sort of laid out to me what I was supposed to talk about, the points that I was supposed to make. And so, I really felt led.

That this was what I was supposed to be doing. And so, I've entitled the message this morning, Hope. Because I think if there's anything that we could really, really use a lot of right now, it's a lot of hope. Because the world just feels really, really hopeless right now. I was having a conversation the other day, and I shared this with First Service, too.

Okay, I'm going to go 14-year-old girl on you here for just a minute, okay? Our dog died this week, right? Now, y'all know how I feel about these dogs, right? They're little yippers. They're obnoxious, and I miss her more than I can imagine. And so, we had two of them. She, poor thing, just had all kinds of little health issues that came up. And so, there's not anything else we could do.

She passed away last Sunday morning. I got the text in between services, but I put on my big boy pants. And I did second service without getting emotional. I felt pretty good about that. Then, later that evening, we had to tell our girls, and we all kind of fell apart over the whole thing. And so, I think it was Monday or Tuesday. When I came home at lunchtime,

I usually let the dogs out when I come home at lunchtime. But this time, there was just one. And I don't know why. It just hit me, and I was just like, man, that is a bummer. Like, it just makes you sad, you know? Like, everything just didn't feel quite right. And I think, for me, it's been the culmination of a lot of things that all encapsulated in the losing of that little furball, right?

And so, it was just like, oh, man, that just hurts. And as I was thinking about it while I was making my lunch, all I could think was, man, life on this earth is just not awesome, right? Like, this is just a sad world that we live in. And sometimes, it's just not fun to be a part of it and have to deal with all the things that we have to deal with on this earth.

And I felt like the Lord ministered to me. He said, just think about the people that don't have any hope. And I thought, isn't that true? Like, I have the hope of Jesus Christ. I have the hope of knowing that this place is not my home, that I have a Savior who has a place prepared for me. And I know how bad it hurts for me sometimes to live on this earth. It must be terrible to live life without hope.

And so, I wanted to spend this morning, as we go through this chapter 16 of Mark, talking about some areas of hope that we can have because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Well, I want to build just a little bit of context for you to get to chapter 16 because I think context is the key that we have that we use in the study of Scripture. And so, if we were to go back and look at Mark chapter 14, we would see that in Mark chapter 14, you would see the betrayal and arrest of Jesus. Remember, Jesus had been in Jerusalem, and the religious leaders found themselves jealous of his ministry, jealous of his followings.

As a matter of fact, it says that they turned him over because of envy. They were envious of what was going on with Jesus' ministry. Couple that with the fact that Jesus' teaching flew in the face of all of their religious legalism. All of their false interpretation of what God's word had to say. And his claiming to be the Messiah. And his claiming to be God.

You add all that together, and they truly just hated Jesus. There was one of his disciples, a guy by the name of Judas, who found himself desiring money more than he desired Jesus. And so, he betrayed Jesus for those pieces of silver. And so, Judas betrays Jesus. And we know that in Mark chapter 14, Jesus goes out to the Garden of Galilee, Gethsemane, to pray.

And while he's out there praying, Peter's falling asleep. Jesus is surrendering in that process of prayer, saying, Lord, if there's any other way, then let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but your will be done. And at that point in time, the soldiers, the temple guards, show up to take Jesus prisoner. And as they get ready to take Jesus prisoner,

Peter, who had been sleeping that whole time, but had a sword with him, decided he'd get up and protect Jesus. And as he gets up to protect Jesus, he wields a sword. Cuts off the ear of Malchus, the high priest's servant. Jesus heals the high priest's servant and says, Peter, that's not what we're here for. But there was something else that had taken place with Peter before this

that I think prompted Peter to be the one who would want to defend Jesus with a sword. After Jesus had told them that one of you is going to betray me tonight, and after that betrayer left, Jesus was speaking to his disciples and he said, you know, you're all going to be made to flee because of me tonight. You'll all abandon me tonight in this time. And that's okay.

Come back at some point in time. And Peter, of course, looked at his fellow disciples and he goes, I'm not going to do that. I don't know what you're talking about. Everybody else may leave, but I'm not leaving. And Jesus just sort of sighed a little bit and said, Peter, before the night's over, he'll have denied that you even know me three times. And Peter said, no, Lord, I'll die with you.

Well, it's a good backdrop for us to pay attention to. And so Jesus is arrested and he's taken to trial. And as you move, into chapter 15, you see both the trial and the crucifixion of Jesus, Jesus standing trial before the Sanhedrin, the religious leaders of the day, and then concocting charges against him and taking him before the Roman cohort, before the Roman governor, where Jesus stood trial. And of course the Roman governor knew he didn't do anything wrong and that they only turned Jesus over because of envy.

So he tried to appease them by having Jesus beaten with that cat of nine tails. Like we talked about before those 39 lashes, which by the way, most people don't survive, but Jesus did because God was pouring out his full wrath of sin on Jesus so that we wouldn't have to face it ourselves if we believe. And as all of that wrath was poured out on Jesus through those 39 stripes, he brings Jesus back before the people. And he says, behold, the man says, what do I do with him?

And they said, crucify him. He says, why, why would I crucify your King? And they said, we've got one King Caesar crucify him. So he gave in and he sent Jesus off to be crucified. And he said, let out to be crucified. And so in chapter 15, we see all of that trial take place. Jesus led out to be crucified. We saw his hands and his feet nailed to the cross. And we see Jesus give up the ghost.

He gave up the spirit after making that last cry from the cross of it is finished. And as he gave up his spirit, Joseph of Arimathea took his body and laid it in the tomb, but they weren't able to bury it properly. And so all of that took place in chapter 15. And so Mark chapter 14 looks like a chapter of grace. Great defeat. Mark chapter 15 looks like a chapter of great hopelessness,

but Mark chapter 16 is a story of hope because as I mentioned before, while it looked like everything was falling apart, the plan of redemption was absolutely falling into place. And so as we pick up in Mark chapter 16, I would like to read the entire chapter to us. So if you would look down at Mark chapter 16, verse one, and this is what it says. When the Sabbath, was over Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint him very early on the first day of the week.

They came to the tomb. When the sun had risen, they were saying to one another, one another who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb. And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away. Although it was extremely large entering the tomb. They saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe and they were amazed. And he said to them,

don't be amazed. You're looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who has been crucified. He has risen. He's not here because here is the place where they laid him, but go tell his disciples and Peter, he's going ahead of you to Galilee there. You will see him just as he told you. They went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.

Now, after he had risen, early on the first day of the week, he first appeared to Mary Magdalene from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with him while they were mourning and weeping. And when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it. After that, he appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their own way on their way to the country.

They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either. Afterward, he appeared to the 11 themselves as they were reclining at the table and he reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved, but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

These signs will accompany those who have believed in my name. They will come, they will cast out demons. They will speak with new tongues. They will pick up serpents and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick and they will recover. So then when the Lord had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God and they

went out and they preached everywhere while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by signs that followed. Now again, this is a chapter that's full of a great, a great, a great deal of hope. When we see the beginning of this story, it really presents for us an interesting scene. We see these ladies who've decided what they're going to do is they're going to go and bury Jesus's body properly.

Remember we said that Jesus had to be buried in a hurry. Joseph of Arimathea is the one that took his body to the tomb, but because it was almost the Sabbath day, because the sun was about to go down, they had to do these things in a hurry so that they would not be doing that kind of work on the Sabbath day. So these ladies show up the next morning so that they can give Jesus the proper burial that he should have been given only on their way. They ask a very logical question.

Who's going to roll the stone away? Because there were two issues really that they were going to face. The religious leaders after Jesus died had approached pilot and said, this deceiver told us before he died that he would rise again three days later. We don't want his disciples to come and steal his body and falsely claim that he's risen from the dead. So let's put a guard and let's set a stone and let's put your seal on it so

that no one can mess with it. He said, fine, if that's what we need to do, that's what we need to do. So again, as they approached the place that morning, they were very concerned about Jesus, about how they were going to move the stone away and probably how they were going to deal with the guards. Only when they showed up, they didn't see any guards, at least not that are mentioned by the gospel of Mark and the stone had been rolled away.

And when they walk into the tomb and that stone had been rolled away, did you take note of who was sitting there? It says a young man who was dressed in white. Now we know that that was an angel. An angel that was put there for the very purpose of giving a message. I want you to know something. The angel did not have to roll the stone away. As a matter of fact,

no one really had to roll the stone away because Jesus could have done what he wanted to. The stone was rolled away so that people could come in and see that Jesus was no longer there. The angel was simply there to deliver the message to those who would come. And as he sat there, he would have sat there at the edge of the slab where Jesus's body, his body was laid.

And from the other gospel accounts, we know that what was laying on that slab was first of all, all of the linen wrappings that Jesus would have been wrapped in. And it says that they were still, the wrappings were still there. In other words, picture if you will, how his body would have been wrapped, only he's no longer in there. So it was just deflated. So they were just laying there flattened out,

but still in that wrap form. The only thing that was different was that the napkin that would have been placed over his face was folded and laying there and sitting next to the empty wrappings. And that folded, napkin was this angel who looked and said, he's not here. I know why you're here, but he's not here. And it's such a beautiful story of the hope that we have because Jesus is

alive. Now, as I read through Mark chapter 16, I felt like the Lord gave me three very good points that have to do with hope. And so these are the three things that I would like to share with you out of Mark chapter 16 this morning. Number one, Jesus was victorious, over death. He was victorious over death. And because of that, we have great hope. Now that's a statement that gets made quite a bit.

He's victorious over death, but I don't know that we all fully grasp exactly what it means that Jesus is victorious over death. What does that mean for me in my everyday life? Well, underneath this subheading, I think there's a handful of things that we should pay attention to. Number one, the fact that Jesus is alive and victorious over death proves that he is the Messiah.

It proved everything that he had to say. As a matter of fact, we're told in Romans chapter one, verse four. Now, sidebar real quick. I'm going to have us turning some different places in scripture this morning. And if you are able to turn there and you are good at navigating your Bible, then I would encourage you to turn with us. If you're new at navigating your Bible and you feel a little bit uncomfortable

because you don't know where some of the different things are in scripture, that's totally fine. Perhaps take a mental note, maybe write it down and look it up. I don't want you to, I don't want you to be nervous that you don't know where it is. And then you don't listen to what the scripture has to say. So be encouraged. If you don't know where it is, that's okay.

Just listen to what I have to say. In Romans chapter one, verse four, it says this, he was proved to be the son of God with power when God raised him from the dead. Now, as the son of God, when he lived on this earth, he made some very bold claims. He made bold claims. He made bold claims about him being the Messiah. He made bold claims about the fact that if you tear this temple,

meaning his body down, that in three days he would raise it up again. He made bold claims about his own resurrection claims that were so bold that though his own followers missed it, the religious leaders knew that he made those claims. He made bold claims about being God. Now, if you can't back those claims up with something, you're really just a liar and a lunatic.

You have no ground to stand up, stand on. So the fact that Jesus was raised again three days later proved that he was everything that he says that he is. Therefore, if he is the Messiah, if he was able to keep up with those claims, if he is God, then he is true. And everything that he said is true. That means everything that he said holds great weight in our lives.

He proved himself to be the son of God with power when God raised him from the dead. Why do we care? Why do we care that Jesus was victorious over death? Because it means that he is the son of God. The second thing under this aspect of victorious over death is that because he is victorious over death, it means that my sins are really forgiven. Turn to first Corinthians chapter 15,

first Corinthians chapter 15. You'll go over to your right just a little bit, just past Romans. First Corinthians chapter 15 is considered one of the greatest chapters on the resurrection. And so this is what it says. It says, it says in verse 13 of first Corinthians chapter 15. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.

And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith also is in vain. Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that he was the son of God. And so we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we testified against God that he was the son of God. He raised Christ whom he did not raise.

If in fact the dead are not raised for if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised in your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. Then those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men the most to be pitied. But now Christ has been raised from the dead.

The firstborn, firstfruits of those who are asleep. For since by man came death by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. You see, Paul plays out for us a scenario because there was a teaching that had gone on in Corinth at that point in time that there is no resurrection of the dead. Once you're dead, your worm food, that's it. Game over. And Paul said,

here's the problem with that. If that's true, then Jesus isn't raised from the dead. And if Christ isn't raised from the dead, then we have really major problems that we have to deal with. One of the major problems that we have to deal with is you are still in your sin. In other words, the guilt of sin still rests upon you. You have to live in that guilt for the rest of your life and face the punishment that goes with living with that guilt for the rest of your life.

Now, I don't know about you, but I know what I've done wrong in my life. I can identify a good portion of the sins in my life. And I have to keep, if I have to keep living under those sins, then I may as well cash it in now because I live the most hopeless life ever. But you see, Christ has been raised from the dead. Therefore, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of my sins have been forgiven because we know that all of my sins,

all of your sins were placed upon Jesus cross, Jesus Christ. And he carried them on that cross outside of Jerusalem. When he carried them on that cross outside of Jerusalem, all of the penalty of sin was nailed upon him on that cross. He faced not only the physical punishment, but the spiritual punishment for my sins. And because of that, I don't, I don't wear them any longer because all of those sins were placed upon him.

He lifted them off of me. And I know that it's true because when God raised him from the dead, he declared the payment is satisfactory. It was enough to cover my sin. It was enough to take away my sin and brothers and sisters. If there was ever a reason to have hope, it's the fact that all of those things that you've done wrong. If you've put them on Jesus at his cross,

you don't own, you don't own them any longer. You've been forgiven. But not only does it mean that I've been forgiven and not only does it mean that it proves him to be true, but the last, the next thing about Jesus being victorious over death means that I have a living advocate with the father. Go over to Hebrews chapter seven. Keep going to your right. If you hit revelation,

you went too far. Hebrews chapter seven.

And I want you to look at verse 25. Oh, I did this first service too. Let's look at verse 24. Because like I said, I'm a sucker for context. But Jesus, on the other hand, because he continues forever, holds his priesthood permanently. Therefore, he is able to save forever those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

That verse alone can preach for the rest of the time that we're here. I'm not going to do that, but that verse alone can preach for the rest of this time. Because he is able to save us forever. Why? Because he is always making intercession for us. Do you know that as believers in Jesus Christ, we have a real enemy that we face? Do you know one of the terms that's used for that enemy that we face?

One of those terms that's used is called the accuser of the brethren. That's because the enemy stands before the Lord all day long saying, do you see what they've done wrong? Do you see what they are doing wrong? Do you see what they will do wrong? They are sinners. They don't deserve to be, to be with you. They are evil. Look at them. And you know what the problem is?

He's right. The accuser of the brethren is right. And so if he's right and he can accuse us before the father and prove us to be guilty before the father, then what do you and I need? We need an advocate. We need a defense lawyer who will stand before God and say, that may be true, but remember I paid the penalty. That may be true, but remember they belong to me.

That may be true, but they're covered in the blood of Jesus. They're covered in my blood, therefore they are innocent because you have declared them innocent because the sacrifice was satisfactory. Brothers and sisters, we have a living advocate who is constantly our defense lawyer before the father saying they can be ours forever because I already paid the penalty. All because Jesus is victorious over death.

But there's one other thing that I want to point out to you about the fact that Jesus is victorious over death. And to me, this has been one of the most comforting, most inspiring things that I know. Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter 15 again.

And I want you to look down at verse 54.

But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain. Do you know what that means? It means that since Jesus is victorious over death, death is not the end. It's only a change of address. Death is not the end. It's just simply a change of address.

It's just simply a change of body. And because of that, we can have a great deal of hope living on this earth. We can know that while we constantly, every day face the dangers of life. And again, I've told you over and over again, if I've learned anything, it's that none of this is guaranteed tomorrow. I can still live with joy today. Why? Because I know that if something happens

to this physical body of mine, that this perishable, this tent will put on something imperishable. That this mortal that's bound by the things of the earth will put on immortality. That this place, this place is not my home, that I'm waiting for something that's even better. And all of those that have gone before us before, as much as it hurts our heart that we don't get to be with them now, it brings us great joy because we know that we'll be with them for eternity.

Because they've put on a brand new body that's no longer subject to the pain of this earth, no longer subject to the sins of this world, no longer subject to any of those things because it has been completely set free. Oh death, where is your sting? Because no longer, no longer, does it hold sway over our lives because he has won the victory over death.

That was number one. Victorious over death. Number two, there's hope for the broken. There's hope for the broken. Go back to Mark chapter 16 if you would please. I took note of something as I was reading through Mark chapter 16 a couple of weeks ago. And what I took note of was all of the broken people that were involved in this chapter. The first people that I took note of

were all of the doubters. Which by the way, was all of them. I've always said this, I think doubting Thomas gets a bad rap, right? Because everybody doubted that Jesus was alive. It's just that somehow doubting Thomas stuck, right? You know in eternity he's gonna be like, see, told you. Because I feel like he gets a bad rap here because notice what happens.

You know who the first people that I take note of that doubted him were? Was all of the ladies that came to anoint his body. Listen, they were wonderful and they loved Jesus with all of their heart. As a matter of fact, I think that these ladies are to be commended over the men. Because remember, what did the men do? They ran. What did the women do? They stuck around at the foot of the cross

and then they came back after Jesus, or on that third day so that they could anoint his body. Men, we could take a lesson from this. Be a little bit bold like the women. And so these women came back to the tomb but the problem was they hadn't listened to everything that Jesus had to say. Jesus over and over again, especially the closer that his death came, kept saying,

I am going to be taken by evil. I am going to be taken by evil men. I am going to be crucified but I will rise again three days later. All they heard was, I'm going to be taken by evil men. I'm going to be crucified. Wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. Wah, wah, wah, wah. Right? That last part was three days later. I don't know if you caught that or not. That's all they heard.

Do you know who had greater faith than them? The religious leaders. Do you know why? Because they said, this deceiver said he was going to rise again. We should put a guard there. They paid attention. They knew that's what Jesus said. They knew that's what Jesus said. Nobody else heard it. Or if they did, they didn't believe him. Otherwise, why do you show up at a tomb?

Unless it's to visit somebody. Unless they were like, maybe he's going to come out the grave as soon as we get there. No. They showed up to anoint a body, not to give a hug. And so they didn't believe. But it gets better than that because they go and they tell the disciples and they don't believe. Well, then there's two other folks that are mentioned. You take note of them.

We're told in verse 12 that there was two of them while walking along their way to the country. The gospel of Luke tells us about them. Those are the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. You remember that story? And while they're walking, Jesus just sort of appears. And as Jesus sort of appears, he goes, hey kids, what are we talking about? And they said, well,

what have you been living under a rock? Do you not have a news app on your phone? Jesus was crucified. And he said, son of a gun. I don't think that's what he said, but I like to think maybe, maybe in this day and age he would have. And it says at that point in time, beginning with the writings of Moses, he took them all the way through scripture and showed them how the son of God

had to be crucified. Well, they make it all the way back to their home there and they're breaking bread and they say, would you mind blessing the bread for us? And as Jesus blesses the bread, they look up and they go. And their eyes are open to who it is and immediately he's gone. That's the trippiest thing in the world. I can't help it. That's an amazing thought.

I don't know what I'd be like, hey guy walking with us, who's not here anymore. That's weird. These guys go, we got to go back and tell his disciples he's alive. So that's exactly what they do. They go all the way back to where they just came from and notice what it says. Turn too many pages. They went away, verse 13, and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.

You know what I appreciate is that Jesus is patient with doubters. Because you know what I have a hard time with sometimes? Believing what Jesus has to say. Oh sure, it may not be the fact that he's alive. I believe that. But sometimes those promises that I need to hold on to for the everyday portion of my life, I have a hard time believing that. And so I go and do my own thing

and Jesus is like, hey, remember all that stuff that I said? I meant it. You can believe that. Notice what Jesus does in verse 14. It says, afterward he appeared to the 11 disciples as they were reclining. They were reclining at the table and he reproached them for their unbelief and their hardness of heart because they had not believed those who had seen him after he had risen.

And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Now Jesus rebuked them. I want us to understand that. But Jesus did not reject them. Isn't that great? There is hope for those of us that struggle with doubt. There is hope for us that are broken by the doubts that sometimes we can hold on to. And though Jesus may have to rebuke us,

he does not reject us. Instead, what does he do? What does he tell them to do? Now get busy telling everybody else about it. And don't be worried if they don't believe because you didn't either. There's hope for the broken. But you know, there's another person I took note of. Maybe you took note of her as well. And that's the first person Jesus actually appeared to.

Look at verse 9. Now after he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. And notice the phrase that defines who Mary Magdalene is. From whom he had cast out seven demons. We're told of her story. And as we're told of her story, we think, what caused that to take place in her life? I don't know what kind of things you have to do in your life

to come to the place where you are possessed by seven demons. But her life is broken. Her life was broken to say the least. And as her life was broken, can you imagine what it would have been like? Undoubtedly, some lifestyle of sin had opened her up to this demonic possession. Undoubtedly, some lifestyle of sin had brought her to this place. And she probably thought,

there's no hope for me any longer because I'm too broken. And yet Jesus came along. And what does he do? He casts out all these seven demons. And then not only does he cast out the seven demons, but he takes her. He cleans her up. He makes her one of his disciples. And she's with him throughout the gospels to the point where she's there in the end. Where she's willing to come and anoint his body.

And we know the scene because I believe it's given to us in the book of Matthew. That scene of what takes place. Remember, everybody else had left. The tomb was empty. Everybody else had left. And she thought his body had been stolen because she didn't stick around to hear what the angels had to say. And she's crying. And through her tear-stained eyes, some guy comes walking up to her.

She thinks it's the gardener because that's the only thing that makes sense because surely Jesus isn't alive. And she begins saying, can you just tell me where they've laid his body? I just want to be able to go see his body. Can you just tell me where they've taken him? And in that one word, she totally realized what was going on because he said, Mary, and she knew.

Only one person said her name like that, and that was Jesus. Can you imagine? I don't know if I can prove this scripturally, but I have a feeling one of the first things that he said to her when he cast out those seven demons from her is he said, Mary. And I bet it was that exact same tone of voice that he used with her this time when he said, Mary. And she said,

it's Jesus. And she goes all like, oh, you know, goes all bro hug on him and is just totally freaking out. He goes, no, you got to hold on to me right now. Go and tell my disciples. Go and tell them that I'm going to meet him in Jerusalem. And in all of her brokenness, he still loved her because there is hope for the broken. But there's one more person I took note of.

One more person that I think really tells the story of this brokenness, this hope for the broken that we have. And that's in verse seven.

Please forgive me. It says, but go, tell his disciples and Peter. He's going ahead of you to Galilee. And there you will see him just as he told you. If you're a person that likes to write in your Bible, I would encourage you to maybe put a little bracket or a little parentheses around that phrase and Peter, because I think that phrase is really important. And it's really important

because of what I alluded to earlier. Remember what happened with Peter? Jesus said, you're going to deny that you even know me three times. Peter goes, that's silly talk, Jesus. I am with you till the end. And he kind of was there in the beginning. In the beginning, right? He showed himself to be pretty, pretty gritty in his standing for Jesus when all of the soldiers were there

and he's wielding a sword. It's like, oh, well, take that, Jesus. I told you I'd stand with you. And then he kind of followed at a distance as they took Jesus to trial. And as he stood in the courtyard outside of where the Sanhedrin met, he was warming himself by a fire, not giving up on Jesus till the young lady, I believe scripture refers to as a young girl,

asks him a question. Hey, aren't you one of his followers? He goes, I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never seen that guy before. And then continues warming himself by that fire and somebody else comes along and says, you have a Galilean accent. I'm pretty sure you belong with him. He goes, I have no clue what you're talking about. I've never seen that guy before.

Finally, someone comes and says, I saw you with him. You're one of his. and he begins to curse and say, I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never met that man before. And at that point in time, they were leading Jesus out. And you remember what happens next, the rooster crows. He looks and he sees Jesus. He goes away. And remember what it tells us that he did?

It says he wept bitterly. And so that little verse right there is really important. Those two words are really important because I think when Jesus left that angel, he said, okay, here's the thing. These are the people that are coming. There's going to be a group of women. They're going to be coming. They're going to be pretty emotional. You have to tell them what went on.

Tell them to go and tell my disciples. But listen, when you tell them to tell my disciples, make sure that they also tell Peter because Peter's pretty broken. And he's going to need to hear that.

Sorry, I don't mean to get emotional. At the pastor's conference, they did a Q&A with pastors and they said, I hate when pastors get emotional. And me and Jared just looked at each other.

Peter's going to need to hear that too. Because Peter's hurting pretty bad right now.

And he needs to know it's not the end. That there's still hope for him. And you know, I think this is really cool because I could really easily pull Peter's name out of there and put my name right there. Because while I maybe have never denied that I know Jesus in my actions at times I do, in my actions at times I can deny that I know Jesus and I can tell you of time and time again where I can look and I can say, I let him down.

I knew it was coming. I knew I was going to stumble in that way and I did it anyway. I went headlong into sin. And I don't know what to do now because I'm broken. I did the thing Jesus told me not to do and here I am with nothing to stand on but my failures. And Jesus says, go and tell Ryan that I'm alive and that there's hope even though he's broken. Perhaps that describes some of you that are in here this morning.

As you feel a little bit broken because you're well aware of your sin. Because you're well aware of how easily you can slip back into the things of the world. I'm here to tell you right now, there is hope for the broken. As a matter of fact, I believe that if we really preach the gospel message the way it's to be preached, if we really deliver the gospel message the way it's intended to, only the broken can come.

It's kind of like what we're told in the book of Isaiah when God says, thus says the high and lofty one who inhabits eternity whose name is holy, I dwell in a high and holy hill. But who's he dwell there with? Those who have a broken spirit and a broken and a contrite heart. You see, only the broken can apply. Only the broken can come to Jesus because if you're not broken, you're not looking for Jesus.

If you're not broken, you don't care about Jesus. So if that's you here this morning, I want you to know there's hope. Whether you're a believer in Jesus Christ who feels like you failed or whether you've never met Jesus before in your life and you know you're a sinner, there is hope for the broken.

Number three, there's hope in the finished work of Christ.

There is hope in the finished work of Christ. Just write this one down. We won't turn there. John 19 verse 30. In John chapter 19 verse 30, it says that after having received that sour wine that Jesus cried out with a loud voice, it is finished. To tell us I paid in full. You know why? Because Jesus finished all of redemption while he was there on the cross.

He finished the whole thing out. It was all done. All of God's wrath had been poured out on him and the sacrifice was complete. And so we know that because that's what Jesus cried out from the cross, that that's exactly what it means, that the work of redemption is finished. It's complete for us. But do you know there's another verse that I think points this out equally as well,

if not maybe in a more powerful way, equally powerful way. Look over at Mark chapter 15 and I want you to look at verse 38. Mark 15, 38. And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Now, if you don't know anything about the Old Testament, that's okay, but that probably doesn't mean that much to you. Torn curtains don't mean much to a lot of people

other than I gotta buy new curtains. But it means a lot. And if you understand what the Old Testament has to say about the temple, then you understand exactly what's being stated. If not, let me explain it to you. You see, the temple was set up. Just like the tabernacle with three different compartments. You had the outer court where all of God's people could go.

That's where they would go and sacrifice would be made. Then as you moved into the tabernacle, the first place that you had was known as the holy place. Only the priests, only the Levitical priests were allowed to go in there. And inside that holy place was the table of showbread, the altar of incense, and the menorah, the candelabra that was in there that was always to be lit.

That's what was in the holy place. But then if you go into the next compartment in the tabernacle, you go into what's called the most holy place or the holy of holies. Inside that most holy place or the holy of holies was a box. That box is what's called the Ark of the Covenant. It was the visible representation of God amongst the people. The only people that could go in there

were the high priests only one time a year when they would offer atonement. Because on top of that Ark of the Covenant, sat the mercy seat. And on top of the mercy seat, what they would do once a year is the priests would make a sacrifice on that day of atonement. He would take some of that blood and he would go into that most holy place and he would sprinkle that blood on that mercy seat to make atonement for the sin for one more year.

If you will, the Ark of the Covenant, which represented the holiness of God, man's sin kept them, from knowing God, the blood was sprinkled there to make atonement for the sin. Those two compartments, the holy place and the most holy place, were separated by a veil. Depending on who you read, that veil was anywhere between four inches and 16 inches thick. Either way you look at it, that's a really thick curtain.

And it was representative of the fact that because of sin, man would always have to stand at a distance from God. Man could never come directly into the presence of God, because God is holy and he cannot stand the presence of sin. We would be incinerated if we went into his presence in our sinful state. But when Jesus was crucified, he went into the most holy place once and for all and made atonement for all time for all of man's sins.

God, if you will, took the blood of his own precious son and sprinkled it on the mercy seat for us. Not to sin, to cover over sin for another year, but to do away with sin for all of eternity. And now there is no longer a separation between man and God. We can go directly into the presence of God. And so when that took place, when Jesus cried out, it is finished,

God said, you're right. And he tore the veil in two, showing that we now have direct access to the Father, that we can go boldly to him as it tells us in the book of Hebrews, that because of the blood of Jesus, we have boldness to enter the most holy place. That's why we today can go directly to God in prayer. That's why today, when you go spend time with your Savior, you don't have to go through an intermediary and hope that he hears it.

You're going directly into the presence of God if you're born again. See, that work of redemption was finished. And all of that leads me to this beautiful verse at the end of chapter 16. Did you catch it? Verse 19.

Verse 19 of Mark chapter 16 says this. So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was received up into heaven and he sat down at the right hand of God. Now that's kind of an interesting thing for Jesus to do, right? He is taken up into heaven and he just sits down at the right hand of the Father. Now Mark is what's called the brief gospel because it covers a lot of territory

in a very short amount of time. If you're unfamiliar, if you're familiar with the gospels, just know this. Mark chapter 16 encompasses about 40 days worth of material. 40 days take place in this chapter because Jesus is resurrected and then all of these things take place. But by the time you get to verse 15, 40 days have gone by and Jesus is with his disciples

on top of the mountain. And as he's with his disciples on top of the mountain, he gives them that commission to take this message into all the world and tells them, I'm going to be coming back in the same way, that I'm leaving now. And he began to ascend into heaven. Anytime I talk about the ascension, I always just have to think about how mind-blowing that idea is.

I think sometimes we brush by that and just go, and then Jesus ascended into heaven because that's a normal thing that happens every day in our lives, right? If I'm Jesus, I do something sweet, like I do a Superman thing or I do like a, you know, or dabs his way. I don't know. I would have done something awesome. Jesus didn't do that because he's not about the show.

Whatevs. And so, and so Jesus just starts ascending into heaven. You can imagine being his disciples. They're just like,

and it says they stood there for a little while, right? And the angels came up and then angels came up because again, that happens every day and the angels come up and they're just like, what are you guys doing? Why are you staring into heaven? Listen, he's going to come back the same way. Shut up. Yep. Same way. All right. You better get busy doing what he told you to do, right?

Those, those, that's what happens in this amount of time between verses 14 and 15. And so it says that when Jesus ascended into heaven, what does he do? He goes and he sits down at the right hand of the father. Why? Because he's done working. His work is finished. His work of redemption is done. As a matter of fact, over in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12, last time, I promise.

Hebrews chapter 10, verse 12.

And again, I'm gonna have you start in verse 11. Hebrews 10, 11. Notice what it says. Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time and time again. Time after time, the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But he, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God. Why does Jesus sit down? Because he's done.

He doesn't need to work any longer. Why can you and I rest? Because we don't need to work any longer. Why can we rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ? Because it's, well, finished. There's nothing else I have to do. I can't make myself more lovable to God. I can't make myself more holy in God's eyes. I can't make myself more righteous. There is no work

that I can do that will bring me into a better standing with God. I am as righteous today because of what Jesus did for me is I will ever be for all of eternity. The only thing I'm working on now is sanctification, making me exactly what God says that I am. God transforming me into who he wants for me to be. But in God's eyes, that work is complete. I am 100% his

and there's nothing else that needs to be done because that's what happened on that day of redemption. There's only one time after this that we see Jesus stand up. You know what the one time after this that we see Jesus stand up is? It's when Stephen was martyred. That very first martyr, Stephen said, I see Jesus. What was Jesus doing? Standing at the right hand

of the Father. Why? Because God precious in the eyes of God is the death of his saints. Brothers and sisters, you can rest. You can rest in what Jesus has done for you. You can rest in the fact that the work is done. You can rest in the fact that once you've put your faith in Jesus, that's it. You're as holy as you'll ever be.

Well, as we come to a message like this, I think that the most important thing that I can do is now to call you to respond to it. To call you to respond to the message. And I think that there's two responses that a message like this warrants. The first response is that we must believe and receive that finished work of Jesus Christ. I always know that anytime I stand in front

of a group of people, there's probably about three groups of people, or probably about three types of people that are within the group. First of all, there are some of you that have never come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior before. You've heard the message. You've come to church. Maybe you've been drugged to church by a spouse or by a parent. And you've heard this message before,

but you've never actually received it for yourself. You've either considered yourself to be justified in your sin or justified in your own self-righteousness. But you've never come to a place of saying, I'm a broken sinner. I need to be made whole by a Savior. If that's you here this morning, then you need to come to Jesus. You need to come to Jesus. You need to come to Jesus.

You need to come to Jesus. You need to come to Jesus and confess all of your sins. Confess everything that you've done wrong and accept the work that Jesus has done for you. Accept the fact that what he did on the cross is enough to save you of your sins. And the moment that you do so, you will become brand new. You will be made completely whole in Christ. But you see,

I know that there's a second group of people that are sitting out there this morning. And the second group of people that are sitting out there this morning are those of you who have come to Jesus as your Lord and Savior but you're still trying to earn his approval. You've never really rested in who you are in Christ. And because of it, you're living a life of, may I say, failure.

And you feel like your life is just not peaceful. You feel like your life has no joy in it because you just feel like every day I fail. And it's because you're trying to do something God has never called you to do. You can never make yourself righteous in God's eyes. And you too need to find your rest in Jesus. In the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

You need to confess that you'll never be good enough but praise God, he is. And then there's that third group of you that are here this morning and that's those of you that have accepted that work that Jesus has done. And man, you're resting in that work and as you're resting in that work, you have a job to do. You have a job to do because this is the next part of responding to the work is that you need to now take that message to the people.

You need to take that message to the people that are around you. Notice what he said in verse 15. And he said to them, go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Do you know if you read that literally in the Greek, it would say, go into all the world and as you go, preach the gospel. See, a lot of people see go into all the world and preach the gospel

and they think, that's not me, that's missionary work. No, that's living. That is living out the gospel message with the people that are around you every day because you don't have to go to all kinds of places all over the world to preach the gospel. Sometimes you just need to go to the grocery store and preach the gospel because sometimes you need to be a witness while you're there at the grocery store.

Sometimes you just need to be that witness to what Jesus has done in your life and your workplace. Sometimes you need to take Jesus to the coffee shop or to McDonald's. We all know Jesus needs to go to Walmart, right? We need to take Jesus to the people of Walmart, especially after nine o'clock at night, right? We know people need Jesus and as you go, tell them what he's done for you.

Tell them, tell the people that you have new life in Jesus Christ. Listen, a couple of things are going to happen. One, people look at you weird and that's okay. They look at you weird already. They just do it behind your back, right? They'll start looking at you a little bit weird. Some of them will reject you. Again, they probably do that behind your back anyway,

but some of them will be like, oh my gosh, that's exactly what I needed to hear. And may I say, the greatest miracle that ever takes place in someone's life is the miracle of salvation. You can't describe it. When you tell somebody the truth of the gospel and then you say, would you like to accept Jesus as your savior? And they say, that's exactly what I need to do.

It is literally the most miraculous thing you'll ever see in your entire life. And then to see God take that life and then turn it into something that is beautiful because he who started a good work in you will be faithful to complete it. That's what I need to do. It's the most miraculous thing in the world. You can see all the signs and wonders that you want to.

You can hear as many people speak in tongues. You can see as many people healed. You can see legs grown back on people. You can see cancer healed, all that stuff. It will not equal the miracle of salvation because all of those things that take place on earth are just that. They're things that take place on earth. The miracle of salvation, it takes place for eternity.

Brothers and sisters, we have an amazing, amazing hope in Christ. Let it say, sink deep into your hearts and then let it flow into the people that are around you. Amen? Let's all stand. I'm going to invite the worship team to come on up.

I started thinking about this during worship this morning because there's actually one other type of response that the Lord kind of showed me this morning. I was listening to a radio broadcast the other day and it was several worship leaders basically having a conversation about worship and they said, you know, sometimes I think we forget what worship actually is. That is, it is simply our response to who God is. Why do we pour out our hearts to God in song?

We pour out our hearts to God in song because of everything that God is. And this morning, we just heard an amazing message of the hope that we have in Jesus Christ, the hope that we have in the Lord. Allow your heart to respond by pouring yourself out 100% to who God is as you sing these songs. Amen? Amen. Father, we come before you and I just thank you for the time

that we've had in your word this morning and I just pray that you would continue the work that you've begun in us. Lord, continue it as we go and have meals with our families. Continue it as we go into our work week and continue it throughout the rest of our lives. We just thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. Be blessed. And keep His face shined upon you

and be gracious to you. Lord, turn His face toward you and make His face shine upon you. Be gracious to you. Lord, turn His face toward you and make His face shine upon you. Be gracious to you. Lord, turn His face toward you. He is for you. He is for you. For beside you The right hand of the Father Thank you Lord Jesus Father would you Go before and bless our day our week

Encourage us in our Walk and witness for you Lord Strengthen us with your might to walk in your way Lord Impart your spirit of wisdom to us In the revelation of the knowledge of you Lord That you would enlighten the eyes Of our understanding that we see clearly Lord And hope We thank you for that In Jesus name Amen Lord bless y'all have a great week