No one was a prophet, called to preach the word. Tried to cry repentance, but nobody heard. They were busy sinning. No one preached in pain. They wished they hadn't sinned when they saw the ring.
Today is Easter Sunday, and obviously it's very fitting that we preach on the subject of the resurrection.
There is something I want you guys to know that differentiates us from the rest of the world. As Christians, we believe in this event.
The rest of the world does not acknowledge this event as a reality. It is true that secularists, other religions, and people all agree that Jesus of Nazareth was a real man.
There's a fringe minority group of people who think he was an idea or a figment of the Roman Empire. It's definitely not true. No serious scholar takes that position, but there's a fringe minority that think that.
That being said, even secularists will agree that there is a man in Israel during the first century named Jesus of Nazareth.
The Muslims agree there's a man in Jerusalem whose name was Jesus. The Jews will acknowledge this. The difference is, do they acknowledge this event?
They all acknowledge that he was alive. Not everyone admits that he was the son of God. They'll call him a good prophet. The Jews did not believe he was the Messiah.
People realize he was the most monumental character in all history. Jesus of Nazareth, from the moment that he came into the world, changed the course of human history.
That being said, when he lived his sinless life as the Bible teaches, he was tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin.
They'll question whether or not that's legitimate. They'll question the claims of the Bible. But we believe in the claims of the Bible, the inerrant, infallible, inspired Word of God.
So when he went around living this perfect sinless life, and them not necessarily accepting that, they'll say, well, he was a good prophet.
They'll even acknowledge his death on the cross. It was a historical event that he died on the cross. They'll acknowledge his burial, that at the death of him on the cross, they buried him in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea.
That's accepted across the board. The biggest question is, did he rise from the dead? That is the claims of the Bible. The title of this sermon this morning is, The Bodily Resurrection.
When we talk about the death, burial, and resurrection, the word gospel means good news. We do not start off when we present the gospel to people with this event.
I believe that the gospel starts with his birth. When Jesus came into the world, notice the gospel according to Matthew, the gospel according to Mark, the gospel according to Luke, the gospel according to John.
They do not start with this event. They start with his birth. They start with where he came from. Mark doesn't, but obviously it references back to his birth.
And ultimately, some Christians, some evangelicals, some Protestants will try to compartmentalize what is more valuable when we talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Is his death more valuable? Is his burial more valuable? Or is his resurrection more valuable? It's a fool's errand to take it upon yourself to try to compartmentalize parts of the gospel, what is more valuable.
The resurrection is the crowning achievement of Christianity. It is the claim, the physical evidence to those who have believed that this Jesus is who he said he was.
He claimed to have been the son of God. And he says that he will rise his body from the dead to be a proof of that, a form of evidence to prove that he is who he said to be.
And that being said, to say that his death is more valuable than his burial or that his resurrection is more valuable than his death is stupid.
Ultimately, we need to realize the gospel is a complete package. You cannot believe in Jesus Christ's death, burial and resurrection and not his virgin birth.
You must believe that during the time of Jesus becoming man, coming into the world, that he was born of a virgin.
Now, this is another big important reason why we are King James only believers.
The Bible clearly teaches, not only in the King James, but every English language Bible leading up to it, and in the original Masoretic text, and in the original Greek, that a virgin shall conceive.
Now, some will say, oh no, that word there in Hebrew does not mean virgin, it means young maiden.
Here's the silly thing about that. What people don't realize is, let's just take their argument for sake of argument, right?
Let's just assume that that word in Hebrew means young maiden, right? Culturally and generally, isn't it assumed that a young maiden is a virgin?
So, when we're bringing concepts into English to help understand it in an English rendering, the word there was used as virgin.
So, obviously, when the Bible said a virgin shall conceive, if you interpret that saying a young maiden shall conceive, you could walk away with a secondary doctrine thinking that, well, she was a young maiden, but she was with a man at some time.
Now, the Bible says a virgin, and we need to realize by faith, that is what has stood the test of time. You must believe that.
You can't compartmentalize aspects of the gospel that are more or less valuable to you.
Because think about the concept of the Trinity. Who is more valuable? The Father, the Son, or the Holy Ghost?
They're all equally valued. The Father is not greater in divinity than Jesus. Jesus is not greater in divinity than the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not greater in divinity than the Father.
These three are one. Elsewhere the Bible talks about when Jesus Christ has ascended on into heaven, as we saw in 1 Corinthians 15, that He's going to hand all authority to the Father.
But the Father is not superior to the Son. There is an authority structure. Just like in a family, who's more valuable? A husband or a wife? Or a child? Who is of more value than the other?
No one is more valuable than the other. They all have different roles. They all have different function. But the Father is the Dad. He's the one that rules the roost.
Mom is what's known as the one who, you know, the heartbeat of the family and the son or the child is there. Both the mom and the dad will die for the child.
And the child, in a lot of cases, in general, can be seen, you know, kids, foolishness is found in the heart of a child. But there are kids who are wise enough to realize that they're contributing to their family.
And what I'm trying to get at in this beginning aspect of this introduction is, it's not wise to compartmentalize the Gospel. We're talking about the bodily resurrection.
The physical body of Jesus Christ rising from the dead. And this is a key doctrine to our faith.
Now, I'm going to say that clearly throughout the sermon because there are people who do not believe that his resurrection was physical, bodily, real. It was not metaphorical. It was not symbolic. It was not spiritual.
Jesus Christ was dead in every sense of the word. He was buried in every sense of the word. And then he rose from the grave with his physical body.
He physically got up, walked up out of the tomb. And that's what it means to be a Christian. You believe in the claim that the Bible clearly lays out.
The Son of God came into the world, Romans 5-8 says, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He came and lived a perfect, sinless life that none of us could ever live.
And in living that perfect, sinless life, he did the sins of the world upon himself on the cross. And that when he died for three days and three nights, he was buried.
But he rose from the grave. This is the crowning achievement, the pinnacle of the Bible, what it even meant for Jesus to be the Savior of men.
To show people as he rose from the dead, so one day, so will you, if you believe. That's the prerequisite to salvation.
Whosoever believeth in the Son, hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
So the title of this sermon is The Bodily Resurrection.
The first point I want you to realize is that Jesus Christ said that this would happen.
Turn to your Bibles if you would to Matthew 16.
Matthew chapter 16 to the left of your Bible.
While you're turning to Matthew chapter 16, I'm going to read from you from John chapter 2 verse 18.
John chapter 2 verse 18, the Bible reads,
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, they're talking to Jesus,
What signs showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?
Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
So Jesus just told the Pharisees, they're confounded about who Jesus is.
And there He's making claims and He says, what are the signs? Show us things that will come to be.
And He says, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.
Then it goes on to say, Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple and building,
and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But He spake of the temple of His body.
When therefore He was risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said these things unto them,
and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said.
So the first thing I want you to know is Jesus Christ said He would raise His body from the dead.
Now He spoke ambiguously to the Pharisees and that's on purpose.
A lot of people don't realize that it is true, the Bible teaches,
God is not willing that any would perish but that all would come to repentance.
God does not want anyone to go to hell, but there does come a point where if you reject the Lord long enough
and aggressively enough, He will give up on you.
Just as He did with Pharaoh, and the Bible says in Romans chapter 1,
professing themselves to be wise they became fools,
and changed the image of the corruptible God into four-footed beasts and corruptible things,
and that while they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, but became vain in their imagination,
and their foolish heart was darkened, therefore God gave them up.
So the Bible does talk that at some point, if you keep rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ,
He will reject you. The Pharisees fell into this camp,
they're talking to Jesus live in front of Him,
and He's telling them, destroy this temple in three days, I will raise it up.
Ambiguously giving them a statement towards what it means to be the Savior of men.
They're like, well forty and six years was this temple in building,
and He purposely was leading them astray because He does not want them
to acknowledge who He really is.
Now in Matthew 16, notice if you would, look at verse 13, the Bible says the same thing.
Matthew 16, 13.
When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi,
He asked His disciples, saying, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?
Good question, right?
Jesus Christ is going around doing all these miracles, professing to be the Son of God,
telling people who He is, they don't know. He says, who do people say that I am?
And this is a good rule of thumb, just for yourselves and your personal life,
I know I've discussed it more than once, you may think you're good at something,
but until someone else says you're good at it, you don't know you're really good at that thing.
For instance, I know I'm not good at singing,
and I didn't need any one of you to tell me that I knew I'm not good at singing,
but I can convince myself I'm good at singing, can't I?
Hey, I can convince myself whenever I have to, the fact of the matter is I'm not good at singing,
and I'm working on it.
But Jesus asked the question, whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?
Who do people call me?
And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist,
some Elias, and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.
He said unto them, but whom say ye that I am?
And Simon Peter answered and said, thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
And Jesus answered and said unto him, blessed art thou Simon Bar-Jonah,
for flesh and blood had not revealed this unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven, and I say also unto thee,
that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it,
and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shalt be bound in heaven,
and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that Jesus,
that he was Jesus the Christ.
Now once again, notice he's telling, don't tell people this.
David, isn't the goal to go around and preach the gospel?
Remember what he told Peter, did I reveal this to you,
or did my Father which is in heaven reveal this to you?
When it comes to presenting the gospel,
it is now our goal to go around and open our mouths boldly
to make known the mysteries of the gospel.
When somebody is not interested in listening,
look the Bible is clear, kick the dust off your feet and move on.
We're not going to argue or debate with people.
But here's the thing, when someone is sincerely seeking God,
sincerely wanting to know the truth,
the Bible says ask and you will receive, seek and you will find,
knock and it will be opened unto you.
And if people pray to God and say I want to know the truth,
show me what the truth is.
And an evangelist shows up at your house
and tries to open to you the scriptures of who Jesus of Nazareth is,
that's the time to open your ears and listen.
And with that being said,
the Holy Spirit in you are going to work on that person's heart
for them to come to the knowledge of the truth.
But it says in verse 21, this is the point I wanted to get into,
Jesus said that he would raise his body from the dead.
Notice what it says in verse 21,
from that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples
how that he must go unto Jerusalem
and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes
and be killed and be raised again the third day.
So the first point I wanted to get into about the bodily resurrection
is Jesus said that he would do this.
Jesus told the disciples, he told the Pharisees,
he told them ambiguously but he did tell them
that this was going to happen.
The Bible as a whole, this is the consistent message of the Bible as a whole.
The next part I want to go into is what's known as
people seeing Jesus rose from the dead.
I should have had you leave something in 1 Corinthians 15,
if you can leave something in 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
and I'm going to have you leave a marker or something
in both Luke 24 and in John chapter 20.
So while you turn there, I'm going to read another statement
of Jesus telling people that he was going to rise from the dead.
The three parts you need are 1 Corinthians 1, 15, Luke 24, and John 3.
One section of Luke 24, verse 5, the Bible reads,
And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth,
they said unto them,
This is the story of the two men walking with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.
I'm just giving you context so you understand what's being said.
Why seek ye among the dead?
He is not here, but is risen.
Remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men
and be crucified, and the third day rise again,
and they remembered his words.
This is the angels speaking to the disciples
and Mary Magdalene about when they came to the tomb,
they're looking for Jesus.
He says, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
Didn't he tell you he was going to rise from the dead?
And then it goes into the story of the two guys walking with Jesus
on the road to Emmaus.
But while you guys stay where you are,
I'm going to read from Matthew 28.
Matthew chapter 28, this is the ending of the Gospel of Matthew.
Now for the next part of this section that we're going to go into,
we're going to see parallels in the Gospels.
You guys keep your spots in John 20 and Luke 24.
I'm going to read to you from Matthew 28 verse 8.
The Bible reads,
And they departed quickly from the sepulchre with fear and great joy,
and did run to bring his disciples word.
And as they went to tell his disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail.
And they came and held him by the feet and worshiped.
Then Jesus said unto them, Be not afraid.
Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee,
and there shall they see me.
So he appeared unto them.
He physically came to them.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, the resurrection chapter,
it teaches that Mary Magdalene was the first to see the risen Christ.
Then Peter and James and John,
and he appeared unto 500 other brethren.
Notice it didn't say 500 random people.
Notice it didn't say 500 unbelievers.
It said 500 brethren,
people who have already believed in the account of the resurrection.
This is important because the Bible teaches,
He that cometh to God must believe that he is,
and he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
It is our goal as Christians to believe in the promises of God as a whole.
And at that time, you got to remember,
it's a very monumentable moment in history.
When Jesus rose from the dead,
people did not always understand what he meant.
He did speak in parables.
He did speak ambiguously.
He did speak in metaphors and he did speak spiritually on things.
So when he talks about his physical resurrection,
you got to have some sympathy with the disciples
because they are sitting there scratching their heads
and thinking, what does this mean?
Is this like for real?
Is this like an admiration?
What does that mean that he's going to rise from the dead?
And then later on, when we look into these gospels,
we see that they remember that he said that he would do this.
Mark chapter 16, you guys stay where you are.
Once again, this is another reason why we are King James only here
at this ministry.
Mark chapter 16 is one of the most disputed parts of the Bible
on whether or not it's authentic.
Let me tell you really clearly,
Mark chapter 16 as a whole is authentic.
It has stood the test of time.
It has been preserved.
Modern critical scholars question whether or not verses 9 through 20
are a part of the original manuscripts.
And that's a joke.
Their claim is ultimately that a later scribe added this to the Bible.
Now in the Bible, there's a promise made
that if you take from God's word,
he's going to take your name out of the book of life.
If you add to God's word,
he's going to add into you the plagues that are written in this book.
So their claim is throughout all of Christian history,
there's been an addition to the word of God
and basically we have all been duped
and had not the complete and perfect and fallible word of God.
That's baloney.
Now if you would, well I'll read it from you.
Mark chapter 16 verse 9.
Now when Jesus was rised early the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene
out of whom he had cast seven devils.
So this is, I'm going to pause really quickly,
an important reason why people have church on Sundays
because it was the first day of the week.
That's when Jesus rose from the dead.
And then it goes on to read.
And she went and told them that
Mary had been with him as they mourned and wept,
and they when they had heard that he was alive
and had been seen of her, believed not.
So she claimed to have seen them
and they're like, yeah, I don't know.
I don't know if we can trust what Mary's.
Maybe she's hysterical.
Maybe she just hopes to have seen him.
Maybe she saw him in her mind.
But they're kind of skeptical.
They believe not. They didn't believe her claim.
After that, he appeared in another form under two of them.
And this is where we're going to go into in Luke 24.
And as they walked and went into the country
and they went and told it under the residue,
neither believed they them.
So two other people are like, we saw Jesus.
And they're like, maybe it's a little too heated
and you got, once again,
it's not necessarily accepted yet as of this moment.
Then it says in verse 14,
And he appeared unto the eleven,
and they sat at meet,
and unbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart,
because they believed not them which had seen him
after he was risen.
And he said unto them,
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
This is the infallible inspired word of God.
There are people claiming to have seen the resurrected Christ,
Mary, the two guys on the road to Emmaus,
and we're going to see that in Luke 24.
Then he appears to the other eleven apostles
and sits down and has a meal with them to show them,
I am physically here right now.
This is not your imagination.
You're not hallucinating.
It's not even humanly possible that everyone could hallucinate
about the same image.
So it's like, I am here.
Accept this.
And then he tells them, go and preach the gospel.
Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.
That's where we get that famous quote from
in Mark chapter 16 verse 16.
Now in Luke, let's take a look at the story
of the two men on the road to Emmaus.
Where you are, let's take a look at verse 13.
Ready?
The Bible reads,
And behold, two of them went the same day
to a village called Emmaus,
which was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs.
And they talked together of all these things
which had appeared, and it came to pass
that while they communed together and reasoned,
Jesus himself drew near and went with them.
But their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
Take note of that verse right there
because we're going to get back to that in a moment.
Their eyes were holden that they should not know him.
And he said unto them,
What manner of communications are these
that ye have one to another
as ye walk and are sad?
And one of them, whose name was Cleopas,
answered and said unto him,
Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem
and hast not known the things
which are come to pass there in these days?
And he said unto them, What things?
And they said unto him concerning Jesus of Nazareth,
which was a prophet mighty in deed
and word before God and all the people,
and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered him to be condemned to death
and have crucified him.
But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel.
And beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done.
Yea, and certain women also of our company
made us astonished,
which were early at the sepulcher.
And when they found not his body,
they came saying that they had also seen
a vision of angels,
which said that he was alive.
And certain of them which were with us
went to the sepulcher and found it.
Even so, as the women had said,
but him they saw not.
Then said he unto them,
O fools and slow of heart,
to believe all that the prophets have spoken,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things
and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses
and all the prophets,
he expounded unto them in all the scripture
the things concerning himself.
I'm going to pause there really quickly.
See, once again, some people
are trying to associate the Bible
to just this moment.
In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God and the Word was God.
And the Word became flesh
and dwelt among us.
And we beheld his glory,
the glories of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth.
If you want to know the gospel
of our Lord and Savior,
you can open your Bible anywhere
and you're going to find the message of the gospel.
Genesis chapter 1, 1.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,
and the earth was without form and void,
and the Spirit of God descended into the waters.
You can find the message of the gospel
everywhere throughout the Bible.
Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh.
These words that we're reading from
is our Lord and Savior.
That is who Jesus is,
manifested in the flesh.
Now it goes on to read,
it says in verse 30,
And it came to pass,
as he sat at meat with them,
he took bread and blessed it,
and brake and gave to them,
and their eyes were opened,
and they knew him,
and he vanished out of their sight.
And they said one to another,
Did not our hearts burn within us
while he talked with us by the way,
and while he opened to us the scriptures?
And they rose up the same hour
and returned to Jerusalem
and found the eleven gathered together,
and them that were with them,
saying, The Lord is risen indeed
and hath appeared to Simon,
and these were done in the way,
and now he was known of them
in breaking of bread.
Now where you are, John chapter 20
is the last section I want you to see,
but while you go there,
I'm going to tell you the importance
of this doctrine,
or what the Bible clearly teaches,
the bodily resurrection.
There is a faction of people
known as Jehovah's Witnesses
that do not believe in this doctrine.
They profess to be called Christians,
and they are not.
There is a reason that they disregard
the bodily resurrection.
It has to do with the origin of their faith
because they made empty claims
about the second coming of Christ
and it never happened.
So then in their mind
they have to justify this.
Well, he never was here physically.
He was here spiritually.
And I'm going to show you
really quickly from Jehovah's Witness dot org
their statement of faith
on this very subject.
And for those of you who may be skeptical
and like, no, you're just being harsh.
Let me tell you this much.
I know what the Jehovah's Witnesses believe.
I've been to the Kingdom Hall
when I was a kid.
I've sat there and heard them preach
on this very subject.
First thing they go into
in their statement of faith
on this subject, it says,
after Jesus's resurrection
was his body, flesh, or spirit.
The Bible says that Jesus
was put to death in the flesh
but made alive or resurrected
and the Bible quotes 1 Peter 3 verse 18.
Now it's funny,
in researching this subject
I thought it was only them.
The New World Translation,
the Jehovah's Witness Bible
is a bastardization of the Bible.
Every serious scholar
looks to that as an illegitimate
translation of the Bible.
No one adheres to the New World Translation
as preserved, inerrant, inaccurate.
But did you know that
they're deriving their text
from Westcott and Hort,
the new discoveries
of the manuscripts found
in the late 1900s or 1800s.
So they're deriving
their Greek manuscripts
from the same sources
that modern Bible translations
are translated from.
And where they misquote 1 Peter 3.18
it says he was put to death
in the flesh,
but their translation says
but quickened in the spirit.
Now the Bible, the original Greek
and all translations says
but the Bible says he was
quickened by the spirit.
And that's a doctrinal difference
because that's where
they're getting their reasoning
of how he is not physically there.
He was quickened in the spirit.
He was given a spiritual body.
Now we did see in 1 Corinthians 13
it did say you will be
sown in corruption
and raised in corruption.
You are sown a natural body
and raised a spiritual body.
But that does not mean
that the Holy Spirit
by the spirit is what rose
Jesus from the dead.
Jesus himself rose himself
from the dead and so did the Father
because all members of the Trinity
are involved in the rising
of the physical body of Jesus.
But it goes on to say
Jesus's own words show
that he would not be resurrected
with his flesh and blood body.
In 1 Corinthians 15
where we read earlier
it did say flesh and blood
and this is their tricky subtlety
to sway the masses
on this subject of
well Jesus said flesh and blood
shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
It does say that in 1 Corinthians 15
but what you don't know
is that the Bible does teach
flesh and bone will inherit
the kingdom of God.
Jesus had to spill his blood
on the cross.
He had to take his blood
into the mercy seat in heaven
and sprinkle it on the mercy seat
and affirm the New Testament
and he is our daily intercessor
to the Father.
Every day as a believer
your sins are being presented
to the Father from the adversary
or Satan. Every day I sin
every day we sin
and every day we have sins
Satan is up in heaven trying
to whisper in the ear of the Father
look at what David is doing
he's screwing up what's going on
how is this good?
But Jesus is our intercessor
to the Father.
No, I died for David
I died for the world
and for those who believe on me.
But it goes on to read
He said that he would give
his flesh on behalf
of the life of the world
as a ransom for mankind.
If he had taken back his flesh
when he was resurrected
he would have canceled
that ransom.
Where do they get this logic
I can't explain it to you
I understand why they're saying this
it's not in the Bible
they just wanted to put their
spin on it ultimately
and I'm not going to get into that
for the sake of time
because I'd have to go back
into the origins of their
what they believe
but it ends on this
after his resurrection
Jesus also assumed human form
temporarily
just as angels had done previously
and right now in John chapter 20
that this event
was Jesus
fooling the disciples
and utilizing a fake body
with holes in the hand
and a hole in its side
to temporarily help
Thomas's doubt
and then inevitably left that body
and went up into heaven
and once again that's blasphemous
to say that Jesus wanted
to borrow a body
just to show people that he rose
so we're going to discard the body
and go back into heaven in the spirit
once again that's ridiculous
now look at the Bible if you would
at verse 24
this is the story of doubting Thomas
but Thomas one of the twelve
called Dinamis
was not with them when Jesus came
the other disciples therefore said unto him
we have seen the Lord
but he said unto them
except I shall see the hands
in the print of the nails
and thrust my hand into his side
I will not believe
now pause really quickly
Thomas is saved
just so you know
like I mentioned earlier
he has doubt
and doubt is inevitable
in the life of a Christian
doubt is normal
but he had already believed
that Jesus Christ was the son of God
he didn't know what it meant
to rise from the dead
he's thinking like a Jehovah's Witness
but they're like no we saw him
physically come here
and they're like well unless
I put my hands in the holes
I'm not going to believe that
and then it goes on to read
and Thomas answered and said
oh I'm sorry verse 26
and after eight days
again his disciples were within
and Thomas with them
then came Jesus
the door being shut
and stood in the midst
then saith he to Thomas
reach hither thy finger
and behold my hands
and reach hither thy hand
and thrust it into my side
and be not faithless
but believing and Thomas
answered and said unto him
my Lord and my God
and Jesus said unto him Thomas
because thou hast seen me
thou hast believed
blessed are they that have not seen
and yet have believed
and many other signs
of the culminating concept
of the whole entire book of John
the book of John is the book
claimed to show people how to be saved
and if you want to sum up the book of John
in one verse this is what
the book of John is teaching
but these are written that ye might believe
that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God
and that believing ye might have life
through his name
so the whole entire premise
of what we're celebrating today
is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ
that's what makes us Christian you guys
the rest of the world believe Jesus
was a real person
they believe he died
they believe he was buried
do they believe he rose from the dead physically
Jehovah's Witnesses say no
he rose metaphorically
or spiritually
Jews do not believe he's the Messiah
Muslims don't even think he necessarily died
Gnostics accept that
he was never dead
but rather he was under a coma
so he never physically was dead
that's not what the Bible teaches
ultimately at the end of the day
this is the final conclusion
I went a little longer than I anticipated
but ultimately this is the conclusion of the matter
Jesus Christ's resurrection is a symbol for us
we are all going to die one day physically
inevitably
unless the second coming happens in our lifetime
which is possible
well let's not hold our breath
let's serve the Lord Jesus Christ every day
as if it's our last
and ultimately
Jesus Christ rising from the dead
was a promise to all of mankind
as Jesus rose from the dead
at the second coming
you will also rise from the dead
the Bible teaches that
the dead in Christ or those who are asleep
will rise and their spirit
which is in heaven
will meet their body in the air
and those who have not died during the second coming
their bodies will be changed and quickened
and fashioned into an incorruptible body
and our sinful flesh will be stripped away
like a seed is sown in the ground
it is sown in corruption
and it will be raised in incorruption
and our bodies will be made perfect
as Jesus' body is perfect and glorified
now obviously no flesh will glory in his presence
we're not going to sit there
and glory in our infirmities
but ultimately the promises made to us as Christians
so many years ago during his resurrection
was that if you put your faith alone
in this event and who Jesus is
you will also one day rise from the dead
physically out of the grave
and will be with the Lord forever
the title of this sermon this morning
is the Bodily Resurrection
smile your heads and have a word of prayer
Dear Holy Father thank you so much for today
thank you so much for
sending Jesus Christ to
take our sins upon himself
to die, to be buried and to rise again
thank you for showing us salvation
by faith alone in Jesus Christ
not in works of righteousness
which we have done
but according to your mercy
are we saved
help us to remember the importance
of sharing this message with the lost
because at the end of the day
if our gospel is hid
it is hid to them that are lost
and you're not willing that any would perish
but that all would come to repentance
and it starts a burning desire
to go out and share this
with the rest of the world
please be with us the rest of this day
to just bring you honor and glory
to keep us safe along our road
and to just bring you honor and glory
in Jesus Christ's name we pray
Amen
you