I turned if you went to Acts chapter 12 this morning, we'll come back to Matthew 28, go
to Acts chapter number 12, and in Acts chapter 12 I want to point out where the Bible actually
uses the term Easter, because today is Easter Sunday, and there are a lot of people out
there who I've heard, they're against celebrating Easter, and I've heard people say to me, and
in fact even just a few days ago somebody said to me, you know, did you know that Easter
is a horrible pagan holiday, and that Easter is a wicked word, and it comes from this and
that, but lo and behold that word is actually used in the Bible, and I want to point that
out to you and explain to you why it's used before I get into my sermon. It says in Acts
chapter 12 verse 3, we'll start reading in verse 3, the Bible reads, and because he saw
it pleased the Jews, this is talking about King Herod, he just arrested and killed James,
the brother of John, and because he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further
to take Peter also. Then were the days of unleavened bread, verse 4, and when he had
apprehended him, put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep
him, intending after, what? Easter, to bring him forth to the people. So there you see
Easter being equivalent to the days of unleavened bread, mentioned in verse 3, it says then
were the days of unleavened bread, and then in verse 4, it said that he put Peter in prison,
he was going to put him to death, but he wanted to wait until after Easter. Now a lot of people
have said, no, that Easter mentioned in the Bible there, that's some pagan holiday that
Herod was celebrating. That's just simply not true, you see, the word Easter was the
original word for the Passover in the English language, and if you go back and look at the
first Bible that was translated into modern English, was William Tyndale's New Testament,
and for example, in the 1534 edition of William Tyndale's New Testament, the word Easter
is used 26 times in reference to the Passover. And then the next English Bible translation,
the Matthew Bible, did the same thing. And then the Great Bible, which followed that,
used Easter 15 times, and then the Bishop's Bible, right before the King James, used Easter
two times, and then the King James Bible uses Easter one time, and the reason for that
simply is this, that when William Tyndale translated the Bible into English in the early
1500s, he invented the word Passover, because there was no such word in the English language.
He made up the word Passover to help translate the Bible accurately into English. Well, when
you make up a new word, it takes a while for people to learn that word and for that word
to catch on. So initially, he used the word Passover in the Old Testament, but he stuck
with the word that people knew, Easter, in the New Testament. And then over time, the
Bible translations more and more started incorporating his word Passover, and by the time you got
to the King James Bible, it uses Passover every time except this once. And the reason
it uses the word Easter this once is because it's not just talking about the day of the
Passover, it's talking about the whole week-long feast, and calling that whole week-long feast
Easter. But to say that it's a pagan word about a pagan festival, when every English
Bible before it, in modern English, all used the word Easter a ton of times about the Passover,
and that's what it's referring to here, the Bible says every word of God is pure. He's
a shield unto them that put their trust in him. So you can't take a word from God's word,
the King James Bible, and say, that's a bad word. That's a pagan word. If it were a pagan
word, then God wouldn't be using it in Acts 12-4 in your King James Bible. So I just wanted
to throw that out there to you, and explain that to you, but go to 1 Corinthians 5. Why
do we celebrate Easter? Well, go to 1 Corinthians chapter 5, of course in Luke 22-1 the Bible
reads, Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. And then
if you go to 1 Corinthians 5-7, the Bible reads, Perch out therefore the old leaven
that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened, watch this, for even Christ our Passover is
sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the
leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
So what we're celebrating, what we do as far as a feast on this day as Christians, is we're
basically celebrating Christ our Passover, whose death, burial, and resurrection is what
brings us salvation. That's what we're celebrating. What in the world could be wrong with that?
I have no idea. But I just want to point that out, because it seems like more and more people
today with the internet get caught up in some article on the internet, or something that
they've read somewhere, saying Easter is a paganistic thing. And really, they haven't
really studied things for themselves, they're just going by some article that they read
somewhere. Instead, they would just look up that every Bible, every English Bible,
every German Bible even, used the word Easter instead of Passover. That's what the word
denotes. But anyway, let's get into the sermon. Go to Acts 2, because I want to preach about
the resurrection of Christ this morning, because that's what we celebrate on Easter, that's
what we emphasize as far as this Sunday morning in reference to Easter. And I want to show
you just how many references just in Acts alone there are to the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. Let's blow through some of these. Look at Acts 2, verse 24. The Bible reads,
whom God hath raised up, having loose chains of death, because it was not possible that
he should be holding up. Jump down to verse 32. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof
we all are witnesses. Go to chapter 3, verse 15. And kill the prince of life whom God hath
raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. Verse 26. Unto you first God, having raised
up his son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Chapter 4, verse 10. The Bible reads, Be it known unto you all, and to all the people
of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you hope. Go to chapter 5, verse
30. The Bible reads, The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew, and hanged
on a tree. Jump to chapter 13. While you're going to chapter 13, verse 30, I'll read you
chapter 10, verse 40. Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly. Go to Acts
13, 30. The Bible reads, But God raised him from the dead. Go to verse 33. God hath fulfilled
the same unto us their children, and that he hath raised up Jesus again, as it is also
written in the second Psalm, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And it is concerning
that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption. He said on this
wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. And on and on. There are other scriptures.
Go to chapter 17 is the last one I want to show you. You know, this is just one book
of the Bible alone. I mean, the book of Matthew talks about the resurrection. Mark talks about
it. Luke, John, we just saw a ton of references in the book of Acts where preaching is being
done about the resurrection of Christ. We can go to Romans, 1 Corinthians, and on and
on. So many references. This is the central, important theme of the Bible. The death, burial,
and resurrection of Jesus Christ is something that we ought to emphasize. Look at Acts 17,
31, and I'll show you why. Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the
world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men in that he hath raised him from the dead. And when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some mocked and others said, we will hear thee again of this matter. You
see, the resurrection of Christ is what separates those who believe that Jesus Christ is the
savior of the world, who believe that he was really God in the flesh from those who simply
believe in Jesus in the sense that they believe in the teachings of Jesus. You know, some
people would say, yeah, I believe in Jesus. What they mean is they believe in his teachings.
And what they mean is about 10% of his teachings, the one that they like. You know, the positive
things that he said about loving your neighbor and, you know, doing good unto others and
therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, do ye even so
to them. The golden rule, loving your neighbor as yourself. And they say, yeah, I believe
in Jesus. But you see, when you believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, you have to believe
that he died for you, was buried, and rose again. Because that's what separates him from
just being a good teacher, just a godly man, and being God in the flesh who is the savior
of the world, who is the only way to heaven. Now, go to John chapter 2. How many times
did we just read in the book of Acts? Over and over again. Did you notice how over and
over again it said God raised him up, God raised from the dead, God raised him up, whom
God has raised up? Over and over again. It said that almost every time we read it in
the book of Acts. But look at John chapter 2 verse 19, Jesus answered and said unto them,
Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up, he said. Then said the Jews,
Forty and six years was this temple of Billy, this is John 2.20, 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 unto them, this unto them, and they
believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. So here Jesus says, Destroy
this temple, and he's talking about his body. He said, Destroy this temple, and in three
days I will raise it up. You see, the resurrection proves that Jesus Christ is God. Go to John
chapter 20. Not just a good teacher, not just a good man, not just an enlightened person,
but actually God made flesh as the Bible tells us. It says in John chapter 20 verse 24, But
Thomas, one of the twelve, this is after Jesus has risen from the dead, he appears unto his
disciples in bodily form. He shows them the holes in his hands. He shows them the hole
in his side, and they actually physically handled him. He wanted to make sure that they
knew he wasn't just a spirit, that it wasn't just a ghost. He said, Look, come and handle
me. And the Bible says that they handled him. They felt the holes in his hands somewhere.
Then he asked them to eat. He said, Can I have something to eat? They gave him fish,
they gave him honey, because he wanted to prove that a spirit, he said, doesn't have
flesh and bone as you see me to have. He was showing them that he bodily, physically, in
the flesh, rose from the dead. And he proved that to them. Watch what happens when Thomas
sees this, because Thomas wasn't there when he initially appeared to the other disciples.
It says in verse 24, But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them
when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We see the Lord. But he said
unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger
into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And
after eight days again his disciples were with them, and Thomas with them. Then came
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then
say unto you 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. Watch Thomas' reaction to that
when he sees Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, and he's offered, Okay, go ahead,
put your finger in the holes in my hand, thrust your hand into my side. Look at Thomas'
reaction. Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Now look, what could be
clearer? He instantly knew. This is the Lord. This is God. And Jesus saith unto him in verse
29, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have
not seen and yet have believed. So did Jesus correct him and tell him, No, no, I'm not
the Lord. I'm not God. I'm just a good teacher. I'm just the Son of God, just like you are.
No. He didn't correct him at all. And you see, I've shown this to a lot of people who
don't believe that Jesus is God. He's shown the part where he says, I'll raise this temple
up unto the Jehovah's false witnesses who don't even believe that Jesus physically rose
from the dead. They deny the resurrection of Christ. They believe that his Spirit left
his body. They don't believe that he fleshed his bone, walked up to his disciples and said,
This is where they put the nail through my hand. This is where they thrust the Spirit
into my side. That's the resurrection, my friend. The death, the burial and the resurrection.
They buried his body and his body physically rose again. But I showed him this verse and
you know what they said? They said Thomas was just cussing there. You know how people
take God's name in vain as a cuss word? Like they'll say like, Oh my God. Oh my Lord. Now
first of all, you shouldn't do that because you should never use God's name unless you're
talking about God or talking to God. You should not say, Oh my God. And that's what people
say today. It's really popular and I wouldn't even, don't even abbreviate your little OMG.
When I see that, I say, Hey, you know, that's taking God's name in vain. We should not just
throw God's name around and use it. We should treat it with reverence and respect. Hallowed
be his name. And Thomas here wasn't saying, Oh my God, or cussing or something like that,
cussing in the name of Jesus. No, he acknowledged it. He said, Look, put your finger in this
hole in my hand. He said, My Lord. He got down on his knees before him and bowed to
him and said, My Lord and my God. And he said, Blessed art thou, Thomas, because you believe.
But you know who's even more blessed. He says in verse 29, Thomas, because thou has
seen me, thou has believed. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed.
That's us. We didn't see Jesus rise from the dead. We haven't put our finger in those nail
prints or into his side, but we believe that Jesus died and rose again. We are more blessed
than Thomas. He says in the next verse, many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence
of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written that you
might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God. And by doing a lot of good works,
you'll have life through his name. Is that what it says? No, he said, and that believing
you might have life through his name. Because the Bible says he that believeth on me has
everlasting life. The Bible says that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but ever
turn on. Salvation is by faith and by believing, not of works, says any man should boast. But
one of the main key things that you have to believe in order to be saved is you have
to believe in the resurrection of Christ. Go to Romans chapter 10. Romans 10, you see
the resurrection of Christ is necessary for salvation. You must believe on the resurrection
of Christ. The gospel is the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. That's why no
Jehovah's Witness is saved. You say that's awfully judgmental of you. Well, okay. Your
point? The Bible says that you have to believe on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And if
they're going to sit there and deny, it says you have to believe the death, burial, and
resurrection, they don't believe that. They don't believe Jesus died on the cross. They
think he hung on a stick. They think he didn't rise again. They don't believe he's God. Hey,
you've got to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Not just Jesus who's
not the Lord, Jesus who's not God in the flesh. Hebrews 1a says, but unto the son he saith,
Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever a scepter of righteousness, the scepter of thy
kingdom. Look at Romans 10, 9. Look how important the resurrection is. That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from
the dead, thou shalt be saved. Jump back to chapter 4 of Romans. Romans chapter 4. The
Bible says in verse 24, but for us also, Romans 4. 24, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe
on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, who was delivered for our advances
and was raised again for our justification. See, he was raised for our salvation. We have
to believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead. We have to believe in
the resurrection of Christ to be saved. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, next book in
the Bible right after Romans is 1 Corinthians. We'll go over to 1 Corinthians. While you're
turning there I'll read to you Romans 5, 9. Much more than being now justified by
his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled
to God by the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be saved by his
life. You see, we will be saved from the wrath to come, according to the Bible, by his life,
by his resurrection. He said we're justified by his blood, and we're saved from the wrath
to come, by his resurrection, by his endless life. The Bible says ever liveth to make intercession
for us. The Bible says my little children, these things right out here that just sin
not, and if you sin, we have an advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the righteous. He
is in heaven making intercession for us, the Bible says. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. The Bible says and to wait for his son from heaven and be raised from the dead,
even Jesus which delivered us from the wrath to come. Again, him raising from the dead
is tied in with delivering us from the wrath to come. Jesus Christ's resurrection is necessary
for salvation. It's the key ingredient of the Gospel. Go to 1 Corinthians 15 verse 1.
Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the Gospel which I preached unto you, which also
ye have received, and wherein ye stand, by which also ye are saved. So what is it that
saves us? The Gospel. He said the Gospel is what it is by which you're saved. That's why
the Bible says I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. But look
what he says here. By which also you're saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto
you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received,
how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture, and that he was buried,
and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scripture. And if you don't believe
that, you believed in vain. I mean, these Jehovah's Witnesses, they believe something,
but they believed in vain. Because they don't believe that Jesus was buried and rose again.
They say, oh, the spirit rose. Did they bury a spirit? No. His spirit, they don't pick
up a spirit and bury it. His spirit descended into hell for three days and three nights,
and the body was buried, and the body rose again. It's a bodily resurrection. That's
a key doctrine. He says if you don't believe it, you're not saved. It's the Gospel. It's
what saves you. You don't believe that, you believed in vain, whatever you believe. Look
what he says, he was buried and he rose again the third day, according to the Scripture,
verse 5, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that he was seen
of above five hundred brethren at once, that's about five hundred believers, five hundred
of the same, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. There's no doubt, my friend,
that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. It's a key doctrine in the Bible. Go to Matthew
28. I want to show you in Matthew 28 the fact that not everybody believes in the resurrection
of Christ. Many people don't believe in it, and there's no salvation outside of believing
in the resurrection of Christ. Look at Matthew 28 and verse number 1. Here's a story that
we started out the service by reading. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn
toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.
And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven
and came and rolled back to stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was
like lightning and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake
and became as dead men. Now you say, who are these keepers that shaped and became as dead
men? Now if you read the whole story, you read chapter 27 and 28, and then you compare
it with Mark and Luke and John, you get the whole picture when you put it all together,
all the different angles that they give. What happened was, in chapter 27, the Jews came
unto Pilate and they said, look, we remember that this deceiver, talking about Jesus calling
him a deceiver, they said when he was yet alive, he said after three days I'll rise
again. And they said, let's guard the tomb and make sure his disciples don't steal the
body and say he rose again. So he says, okay, you have a watch, go make it as sure as you
can. And so they took a bunch of soldiers and they basically put soldiers all around
the tomb, guarding the tomb. And what happened is this angel descended from heaven, and if
you compare all four gospels, you can see that by the time the ladies got there, this
thing with the soldiers had already come and gone and been done and over with. So during
the night, in the early morning hours, some point before dawn, it's very clear, sometime
while it's dark and in the middle of the night, whatever, maybe early morning, middle
of the night, whatever, the angel descends, there's an earthquake, he rolls back the stone
and the keepers, meaning those soldiers who were keeping the body and guarding it, they
fall over like dead men. I mean, they're just knocked back and blown away by the whole thing,
by this angel descending and rolling back the stone from the door. And then when the
ladies show up, they're wondering how are we going to get into the tomb in order to
anoint the body, who's going to roll away the stone for us? They get there, the stones
are already rolled away, they waltz in and the angel is there to tell them that he's
risen from the dead and so forth. Now these soldiers are there, guarding it. An earthquake
happens, an angel descends, they're scared to death, they fall over, you know, I mean
think about it, if you're there and there's an earthquake and an angel descending from
heaven, you know, you're probably going to fall over as a dead man too. You'll be scared
to death, it's going to knock you off your feet as it were. That's what happened. But
look at verse 11. It says, Now when they were going, behold, some of the watch came into
the city and showed unto the chief priests all the things that were done. So what did
they show? Some of the watch, some of the soldiers, they went to the chief priests and
what did they show them? Everything that had been done. They said, look, there was an earthquake,
you know, this angel descended from heaven, you know. I mean, they don't know what to
make of it. They tell the story as it happened. And when they were assembled with the elders
and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers saying, Sagie, his disciples
came by night and stole him away while he slept. So they tell them to lie and say that
the disciples came and stole the body. And if this come to the governor's ears, we will
persuade him and secure you. Basically, you're not going to get in trouble. We'll make sure
you don't get in trouble. Just lie. We're going to give you a ton of money. It says
they gave them large money. Now this was just a little lie that they had to tell. Like if
they just had to stretch the truth a little bit, well, we were kind of asleep, you know.
They wouldn't have needed a whole lot of money. They gave them large money because they got
to tell a big lie. Yup, his disciples came and stole him away while he slept. And it
says, so they took the money and did as they were taught. And this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews until this day. Now isn't that kind of shocking that basically people
who actually saw the earthquake and they saw the stone roll away? Now the Bible doesn't
say that they saw Jesus rise. I believe Jesus was already risen because the stone was just
rolled away so that people could see inside. Because think about it. If Jesus rose from
the dead and the stone never rolled away, no way to know about it. They would just think,
oh, his body's still in there. So the purpose of the angel coming down and rolling away
the stone and telling the people he's risen was so that people would know about it. Jesus
didn't need the stone to roll away because if you remember when he showed himself to
Thomas, they had all the doors shut and he just walked into the room. But he was still
flesh and bone. You say, explain that. I don't have to. That's what the Bible says happened.
You know, Jesus' glorified body was able to do that just like he was able to walk on water.
You know, there's nothing more to it than that. But you see, these people would not
believe in the resurrection. Because wouldn't you think these soldiers would have said,
hey, maybe we should believe on Jesus Christ. Maybe he really was who he said he was. Maybe
he really was the son of God. Maybe he was the savior of the world. Maybe he really was
the Lord in the flesh. Maybe we should just believe that. But they didn't believe. And
you say, come on, that's crazy. Anybody would believe that. Okay, go to John 11. John
11. These guys, they didn't see Jesus, but they did see an earthquake. They did see the
stone roll away from the door. Look at John 11. You see, in John 11, Jesus did a miracle
where he grows another man from the dead. Lazarus has been dead for four days. And in
John 11, Jesus raised him from the dead. Look at John 11. In John 11, it says, these
things said he, and after that he saith unto them, this is Jesus speaking to his disciples,
our friend Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I may awaken out of sleep. Now his disciples
don't understand. It says in verse 12, then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he
shall do well, because they heard that he had been sick. So they thought, well, that's
good if he's sleeping. Let's not wake him up. I mean, that's the best thing you can
do when you're sick is sleep. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that
he had spoken of taking up rest and sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus
is dead. Now, the reason that Jesus said Lazarus sleepeth is because the believer in Christ
never really truly dies. Jesus said whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
If you're saved, you have eternal life. Only the body dies, but you never really die. That's
why the Bible often calls believers who die, it says those that are asleep in Jesus, those
that sleep, like in 1 Thessalonians 4. So when he said Lazarus sleepeth, it's because
basically he's dead, but he's a believer, so he's not really dead. It's just his body
that's dead. He's just sleeping. But then they didn't understand him, that's why
he had to frankly come out and tell them, look, Lazarus is dead, and I'm going to
go raise him from the dead. Now jump down, if you would, in the story to verse 43. This
is when Jesus actually resurrects Lazarus from the dead. He's been dead for four days.
He's been buried. And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come
forth! And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with brave clothes, and his
face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, loose him and let him go.
Now can you imagine? Jesus shows up. Everybody's crying. Everybody's weeping. They love this
guy Lazarus. And they're all upset, and the people are saying, Jesus, if you would have
been here, you could have healed him, and that's what Mary and Martha are saying, and
they wish he would have been there because they loved their brother, and he had died.
Everybody's crying. Everybody's weeping. And he goes and says, you know, roll away
the stone from the door. And they say, look, it's been four days by now, he's stinking.
They said, we can't open the grave. And he tells them, open the grave. Go ahead and
open it. And when they open it, he cries out with a loud voice that says, Lazarus, come
forth. And he walks out in the grave clothes. Can you imagine being there? I mean, is that
amazing? He walks out bound hand and foot in the grave. I mean, that would have been
scary. They're probably, I venture to guess that there were some kids there that probably
when everybody else was weeping, they weren't weeping. But when that happened, they probably
started weeping. You know, I could see, I could picture a little kid like, ahhh. I mean,
that's an amazing sight. Watching a man who had been dead and buried and everybody
wept over him for four days just walk out of the grave, and he basically can't even
see where he's going. He's bound hand and foot in grave clothes and has a thing over
his face. So of course they loosed it from him. It says in verse number 44, he that was
dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was bound about
with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go. Then many of the Jews
which came to marry, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on it. A lot of
people believed on Jesus. But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees and told
them what things Jesus had done. Now isn't that amazing? Some of the people who were
even there present, as he resurrected Lazarus from the dead, still walked away not believing
in him. And they went to go tattle unto the Pharisees. And it says in verse 47, Then gathered
the chief priests and the Pharisees and council and said, What do we for this man do with
many miracles? Maybe you should believe on him. Maybe he's telling the truth. Look at
verse 48, If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him, and the Romans shall
come and take away both our place and our nation. So what? What are you talking about,
you're talking about your place and your nation. This is about heaven and hell, it's
about salvation. And so even people who were there present, to see Lazarus rise from the
dead, many of them believed, but a lot of them walked away and went and told the Pharisees,
What do we do? And later on, the Bible reports in the book of John, that the Jews actually
wanted to kill Lazarus. Because he was just a walking testament of the power of Jesus
Christ to heal and to raise him from the dead to do miracles. They wanted Lazarus dead.
Now what this should teach you is that people oftentimes, they're going to believe what
they want to believe. They believe what they want to believe. And you see, many people
today, they don't want to believe in Jesus. They don't want to believe in the resurrection
of Christ. And therefore, they're not going to believe it. You can't prove it to them.
Actually, we do have evidence. It's right here in my hand, the Bible. Because the Bible
says, Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The
only evidence we have of God and his power and of salvation is the Bible itself, the
Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We believe the Word of
God. And you see, there are people out there today who say, Well, I don't want to believe,
you know, or I need to see evidence. And of course, they know they're never going to see
the evidence. And so they're just never going to believe it. And the bottom line is they
don't believe it because they don't want to believe it. Because even when people were
confronted with Lazarus arising in front of their eyes, they still didn't believe it.
Even the soldiers who saw an earthquake and the angel descend and the stone rolled away,
they still wouldn't believe it. They just come up with some other explanation or I don't
know what they tell themselves, but they just will not believe the truth because they
don't want to believe the truth. Go to Luke chapter 16. Luke chapter 16. You see, the
resurrection of Christ is the Gospel. The Gospel is, according to 1 Corinthians 15,
the death, burial, and resurrection. And the Gospel is the power of God and his salvation.
The death, burial, and resurrection is why we're saved, because Jesus died for our sins.
Because he shed his blood on the cross as the payment for the punishment that we deserve
and he was buried and rose again. People either believe that message and put their trust in
that or they don't. Now how many times have you talked to people who claim that they believe
the Bible and then you show them point blank what the Bible says, yet they won't believe
it because they don't want to believe it. You know, if somebody doesn't want to believe
something, are you listening to me? If somebody doesn't want to believe something, you can
show it to them until they're blue in the face and they're not going to believe it.
You can show them all the evidence all day long and if they don't want to believe it,
they're not going to believe it. No matter what we're talking about. Even if we're talking
about something that has nothing to do with the Bible. You try to tell people stuff that
they don't want to believe in, they won't listen to it. They believe what they want
to believe. And that's why so many people reject Christ and reject the Gospel. The Bible
talks about the fact that a lot of people, because they hate Jesus, and they have this
attitude that says, we will not have this man to rule over us in the book of Luke. It's
stated. We will not have this man to rule over us. We don't want him to be the savior.
We don't want to believe. And look, if we were to go down to the university today and
to be to ASU, you know, I guarantee you we could find thousands of people who do not
want to believe the Bible. They don't want to believe in God. They don't want to believe
in Jesus Christ. They don't want to. And you ask these atheists, well, is there a chance
that it might be true? And they say, well, if it is true, that would be horrible, that
would be terrible, because the God of the Bible is so mean. And the God of the Bible
is homophobic and racist and misogynistic. And they rage against the Bible. You know,
oh, the Bible is just so narrow-minded. And they hate the Bible. And it's evident that
they hate the Bible, because they say, oh, the God of the Bible did this in the Old Testament.
And it's funny, because people are constantly confronting me, like I have to apologize for
God or stuff that he did like thousands of years ago. I have to like smooth it over now
or something. Well, what about in the book of Numbers when God did this? You know, what
about when he killed all these people? I said he was right. What else can I say? Everything
he did is right. If he killed those people, they must need to be killed. If he said stone
the homeless with stones, you know, he must know what he's talking about. I'm not going
to sit there and apologize with my, oh, well, you know, I don't know. I don't know why he
did that, you know. Look, if he did it, it's right. And by the way, I like it. You know
when I read Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, I love it. I walk away saying,
oh, how great is thy law. Oh, how I love thy law. It's my meditation night and day. I love
it. But you know what? Some people don't love it. And you show it to them and they don't
like it. And because it conflicts with all their TV programming. It conflicts with all
their, you know, everything that they're along here at hippie, burned out hippie taught them
at the university. It conflicts with what they think and man's wisdom and man's understanding
and what's cool and hip with the time and what rock and roll and hip hop and Hollywood
told them. It conflicts with it. And God preaches purity and righteousness and holiness and
cleanliness in the Bible and they don't like it. So therefore, you could show them the
Word of God all day long. You could preach him the truth, even if they would have physically
been there at the cross and saw it become dark for three hours when the centurion was
shaking and saying, truly, this was the Son of God. Even if they were there to see Lazarus
rise from the dead, even if they were there to see Jesus turn the water into wine or multiply
the little fishes and feed the five thousand, even if they would have been there to see
him heal a lame man or heal a blind man and do all the miracles. They don't want to believe
therefore they're not going to believe. And it's the same thing today. People won't believe
if they don't want to believe. And it's people who hate the Bible and hate God and just reject
the truths of the Bible. Now look, God doesn't tell you that you have to clean up your life
to be saved. He doesn't tell you that you have to live by all his commandments to be
saved. And thank God, otherwise none of us will be saved because nobody's perfect. Nobody
keeps the law perfectly. But I'll tell you something. People just reject Christ because
they don't even want to acknowledge that those laws and commandments even exist. You
see, we look at it and say, you know what? God's commandments are all righteous, okay?
And we look at it and our response is, look, yeah, I know I'm not perfect. I'm a sinner.
I'm a sinful person. But you know what? That takes being humble to admit that. You got
to be humble enough to say, look, I'm a sinner. I've broken God's laws. I'm not good enough
to go to heaven. I need Jesus Christ as my savior. But people don't want to be humble.
They want to be prideful. And so they want to say, it's not wrong. My lifestyle isn't
wrong. It's okay for me to commit adultery because you don't know my situation. And it's
okay to drink. And it's okay to take drugs. There's nothing wrong with nudity. There's
nothing wrong with watching these movies and TV shows. And there's nothing wrong with stealing
and blah, blah, blah. They want to just, whatever it is in their life, and maybe it's just different
things for different people, they want to justify their sins and think that it's okay.
You see, I've known people who drink that are saved. And here's what they said. They
said, you know what? I drink. I shouldn't be drinking, but I drink anyway. It's a sin.
But I'm still saved. I still believe on Jesus Christ. You know what I mean? But they had
to be humble enough to admit, hey, there's something in my life that's wrong. I'm saved.
I'm going to heaven. I'm a believer. But you know what? I'm not perfect. And you know what?
This is something in my life that isn't right. But see, other people just, nobody's going
to tell me what to do. Don't tell me it's wrong for me to go out and get drunk and sleep
around and do all this stuff. I can do whatever I want. There is no God. There are no rules.
We're all a bunch of animals. We're a bunch of, you know, we all came from a big bang,
you know. We're going to live a meaningful life of beer pong and vacation and sleeping
around and partying and, you know, and all that. And look, they don't want the truth.
They don't want to acknowledge, hey, there's somebody else that's a higher authority that
makes the rules and calls the shots. And we don't make our own rules. You know, they want
to accept homos. They want to accept every bit of filth that's on TV. And they don't
want to accept the fact that they ought to be in church on Sunday and sit out doing whatever
with their time. And so they reject the truth because they don't want to believe it.
Now let's go to Luke 16 quickly. We'll close with this. Luke 16 is a famous passage. In
verse 19, Jesus is speaking. And Jesus said in verse 19, there was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there
was a certain beggar named Lazarus, this is a different Lazarus, totally unrelated to
the other Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with
the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked
his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's
bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, he lived up his eyes being in
torments. And see if Abraham were far off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and
said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said,
son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil
things, but now he is comforted and now are tormented. And beside all this, between us
and you there is a great goal to fix, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot,
neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore,
Father, that thou wouldst send them to my father's house, for I have five brethren,
that he may testify unto them that they also come, lest they also come into this place
of torment. Abraham saith that they have most in the prophets, let them hear them. So
here's a man in hell begging for a drop of water and of course Abraham tells him that
that is simply not possible. And so he says, okay, then will you please send Lazarus, my
old friend, you know, the guy who used to beg for crumbs at the gate of my house, will
you please send Lazarus to go and speak to my five brothers that are still alive because
I don't want them to come to this place of torment. And by the way, you run into people
who say, I want to go to hell so I can be where all my friends are. Who's ever heard
somebody say that before? Go to hell and be where all my friends are. Well, you know what,
your friends don't want you there because this guy, the people he loved, he doesn't
want them to come. He's saying, warn them, tell them not to come here. And he says, go
and warn them that they come, not come into this place of torment. But what's Abraham's
response? They have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. He's saying they've got
the word of God and the preaching of God's word, that's what they need to hear. That's
what's going to cause them to be saved. What's the rich man's response to that? No! He says
in his name, in our language that means no! No! Father Abraham, but if one went out of
them from the dead, they will repent. He's saying, look, they're going to change their
mind when they see somebody come from the dead. They don't believe now. But if somebody
actually came back from the dead, because they know Lazarus died, and if they see Lazarus
back from the dead saying, hey, I hear back from the dead warning you not to go to hell,
you need to believe the Bible? You need to trust the Lord? He says, they'll repent. Then
that will cause them to rethink it. They'll change on that. And he said unto them, if
they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from
the dead. Now that's a very profound verse. Verse 31, let that verse sink down into your
ears. It's a hard truth, but it's true. And he said unto them, if they hear not Moses
and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Who believes
that that's true? It's got to be true. But a lot of people, they don't think that's true,
but it's got to be true. It's in the Bible. It's what Jesus said. Who are you going to
trust? Abraham from heaven's shore saying, if they don't hear Moses and the prophets,
they won't be persuaded if one rose from the dead? Or are you going to trust your opinion
on this? I'm going to go with what Abraham said. He said, look, if they don't believe
God's word, if they don't believe the preaching of God's word, they won't be persuaded if
one rose from the dead. Because the Bible's clear, my friend. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God. Hearing is the same as seeing is believing? Nope. Hearing
is what leads to believing. Hearing God's word. It's not faith because you saw something.
Look, a lot of people saw Jesus' miracles and they didn't believe it. But you know when
they believed in him, it says they heard his word and believed on him. It says they heard
his words and believed on him. Now look, they believed and they saw the miracle. A lot of
people who saw the miracles did believe. They heard his word preached as well. Other
people saw the miracles and walked away still not believing. Other people heard God's word,
never saw any miracle, and yet believed. That's me, that's you. We didn't see a bunch of miracles
to call it. I mean, look, when you got saved, did you see a miracle and you said, that's
it. No. You heard God's word. Now the people who were living in Jesus' day, they got both.
I mean, they were seeing the miracles and hearing God's word. And that's why the Bible
said that it would be more tolerable in the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than
for those people because he said these wonderful works were shown unto you. You saw the miracles
and you heard the word out of Jesus' mouth himself and didn't believe. He's saying you're
going to receive the worst combination because you had every opportunity to be saved. But
listen to me, my friend. It's the word of God that saves people. And if they don't hear
Moses in the prophets, they won't be persuaded that one rose from the dead. And look, one
did rise from the dead, Jesus. Jesus rose from the dead. And that is the message that
we preach. And they will either believe it or they won't. But that's the message. So
I encourage you, when you're giving people the gospel, when you're showing people how
to be saved, emphasize the death, funeral, and resurrection of Christ. That's the power
of God. That's the message we preach. That is the crux and the central focal point of
what we believe. It's the focal point of the Bible, the New Testament. It is the most
important doctrine. When I argued with one of these Jehovah's Witnesses one time, he
said, you know, why are you so hung up on that about the resurrection? He said, why
does that even matter if his body rose? I mean, it's the central thing. It's almost
every chapter of the book of Acts. He rose, he rose, he rose, he rose, he rose. The book
of Romans, he rose, he rose, he rose. First Corinthians, he rose. All the way through
the Bible. He emphasized it, we ought to emphasize it, and that's why Easter is a great day
just to remind us of that. And today, emphasize it. You know, give the gospel to someone today.
Today is a day to spread the message of the gospel. You know, we're going to be out
in the morning today, and you know, you might be getting together with family today. Maybe
there's some family that you could give the gospel to and say, hey, did you know Easter
is really bad? Did you know Easter is in the Bible? Did you know that it's about the
death, freedom, and resurrection of Christ? That could be an opportunity to explain to
them the gospel. Emphasize it, and today take some time to celebrate it as you're eating
your ham dinner. You know, and we're looking forward to a great ham today. My father-in-law
is in town, and he's from the old country, and so he knows how to do it, and it's all
smoked and salted. It's a homemade ham, and it's been getting ready. But you know what?
As we eat that ham, you know, we need to think about the fact that Jesus Christ rose from
the dead. I'd encourage you to go home and read Matthew at the end of Matthew, the end
of Mark, the end of Luke, the end of John. Read all the different accounts about the
resurrection. Read them to your children. Read them to your family. And take this day
and memory, one of the most important truths, the central truth in the Bible, that Jesus
Christ rose again from the dead. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father,
we thank you so much for your word, and we thank you so much for the resurrection of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Such an important doctrine, such an important truth.
Help us to understand it and to comprehend it, that it proved, it proved beyond a shadow
of a doubt that you were who you said you were. It proved that Jesus Christ was not
just a good teacher, but that he actually was the Lamb of God. He actually was God incarnate,
God in the flesh. Father, help us to emphasize and help us to preach that message unto others,
and to take this holiday as a day to commemorate that. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.