Okay, we're in John chapter 20 this morning, look down at your Bibles at verse 25, it says
the other disciples therefore said unto him we have seen the Lord but he referring to
Thomas 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.
The title of my sermon this morning is reactions to the resurrection, reactions to the resurrection.
This morning we're going to look at different responses of the disciples, even people who
weren't necessarily Christians and what their reaction was when they heard the resurrection.
One thing you're going to notice this morning is that many of the reactions that we see
in the Bible from 2,000 years ago are the same reactions people give today when they
hear about Jesus Christ and the fact that he resurrected from the grave.
We're going to start off with Thomas first but by way of introduction let me just start
off by saying that or talk about the importance of the resurrection.
We're here this morning because we're essentially gathering together recognizing Easter as being
the day that we honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fact that it took place
a little over 2,000 years ago.
And why is this an important doctrine?
Well as I mentioned in the beginning of the service if we have no resurrection we basically
have no Christianity.
You know the fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ did not resurrect from the grave.
His death, the fact that he took the sins upon the whole world upon his own body, the
fact that he was buried, all the miracles that he did, all the preaching that he did
in his three and a half year ministry would be completely meaningless if he did not resurrect
from the grave.
The fact that he resurrected essentially is confirmation that he has power over death.
You know he conquered death, the Bible says that he has the keys of hell and of death
and the reality is this you know his resurrection essentially confirms or solidifies that we
will one day resurrect again.
If Jesus Christ did not resurrect that means that we have no resurrection, when we die
we either go to hell, we cease to exist or whatever it is that people believe out there
outside of the Bible.
But the truth of the matter is that he did resurrect from the grave and because of that
we will live eternally and the reality is this is that the resurrection is tied into
our salvation.
When the Bible says that we have eternal life it's referring to the fact that even though
we will physically die one day here on this earth if the Lord tarries, that one day he
will resurrect our bodies and we will live forevermore with the Lord for all of eternity.
And so the resurrection is definitely an important aspect of our beliefs and it's vital to Christianity.
Now when you think of the resurrection a lot of people have a tendency to stray away from
the term Easter because they say oh it's pagan and ishtar or whatever and they say all these
manner of foolish things about Easter and it's a term that we use synonymously with
Easter, resurrection, Easter and the truth is that the term Easter is in the Bible.
You actually find it in Acts chapter 12 verse number 4 talks about Easter and it's a word
that's actually synonymous with the term Passover.
In the Old Testament God instituted the Passover for God's people to essentially observe when
the children of Israel were delivered out of Egypt and were released from the bondage
of slavery of Egypt and essentially commemorates the day when the judgment of God passed over
them when they sacrificed the lamb and they put the blood on the post of the doors and
when the plague of God came through if they saw the blood on the post it essentially passed
over them and they didn't suffer the consequences of essentially not accepting that sacrifice.
And obviously we know that that pictures Jesus, right?
Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God who should take away the sins of the world and when we
believe on Jesus Christ for salvation the plague of sin and the ramifications which
is hell passes over us.
We don't suffer the consequences of sin known as hell because we have essentially the blood
of Christ upon our souls that gives us that redemption, that forgiveness and in turn that
eternal life.
And so Christ is our Passover and the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 that Christ,
our Passover is sacrificed for us and then it goes on to say therefore let us keep the
feasts.
This isn't referring to any of the Old Testament feasts, it's essentially saying let us keep
this observance of the resurrection of Christ.
He says not with old leaven or neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness but rather
with the unleavened bread of truth and sincerity.
So he says we should keep the Passover which is Christ recognized that Jesus Christ is
that Lamb of God who was sacrificed for us.
We should observe that with sincerity and truth.
This is very much similar to what he says in John chapter 4 when he's speaking to the
woman at the well he says they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
So it's very much a biblical thing to observe Easter, okay?
And thank God we live in a country that you know on this day many people are in church,
many people are honoring the resurrection of Jesus Christ, it's a great thing.
1 Corinthians 15 verse 16 says this for if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.
And if Christ be not raised, listen to this, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins.
So if there is no resurrection from the grave that means Christ didn't resurrect and if
Christ didn't resurrect our faith is meaningless, we're still on our sins, we're still going
to split hell wide open, that's basically what the Bible is saying.
Then they which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
So you see how the faith of Christianity hinges upon the resurrection, the importance of the
resurrection.
Let me read to you one more verse before we get into the sermon.
Revelation 1 18 says I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore.
Amen.
And have the keys of hell and of death and so we are observing that today this morning
celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ by being in church and hearing the preaching
of God's Word.
Now let me say this is that not everyone shares the same joy and excitement about the resurrection
in this world, right?
In fact, a lot of people out there hate Christianity, they mock Christianity, but there's no new
thing under the sun.
Even when Jesus Christ resurrected 2,000 years ago, there were a group of people known as
the Jews that essentially were denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
To the point that they were willing to pay the Roman soldiers money to change the story
and the narrative.
Let me read you a couple verses here, Matthew 28 verse 11 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.
These Roman soldiers they were there when Christ resurrected and they go to their bosses
and they're just like I don't know what to say he resurrected I mean this is what happened.
Verse 12 says and when they were assembled with the elders and had taken counsel they
gave large money unto the soldiers saying say ye his disciples came by night and stole
him away while we slept.
Basically saying look we're going to pay you guys off to change the narrative.
Make sure you tell everyone whoever asks you that some grave robbers came by and stole
the corpse okay and if this comes to the governor's ears we will persuade him and secure you.
So they took the money and did as they were taught and this saying is commonly reported
among the Jews until this day.
What's the problem here?
The problem is they were denying the resurrection even though they had clear evidence of the
fact that he came back from the grave many eyewitnesses thereafter saw this it was as
clear as day that it took place but they just refused to believe that Jesus Christ
resurrected because they were refusing him as the son of God.
You know what there's nothing new under the sun today in 2023 there's people that deny
the resurrection.
They say well no Jesus didn't resurrect and you know that's a fable that book is a fable
it's all fairy tales you guys you know it's all about evolution or you know it's all about
whatever Christianity just started 2,000 years ago Hinduism is a lot older Buddhism
is a lot older Jesus Christ didn't resurrect that's just a book that was made by a bunch
of desert Jews you know and it holds no credibility no water false okay you know this is a commonly
reported thing even in today's world where people deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ
but none of that you know there's some people who aren't necessarily antagonistic towards
Christianity but they doubt the resurrection or they doubt the things of the Bible and
I think a good example of this is Thomas now Thomas as we read in John chapter 20 he's
a man who simply doubts and in fact he's known as Thomas the doubter okay and he's taught
him Thomas also called Didymus but he's constantly doubting you know the things that are taking
place and in particular the resurrection he says in verse 25 the other disciples therefore
said unto him we have seen the Lord but he said unto them except I saw what see in his
hands the print of nails and put my finger into the print of his nails and thrust my
hand into his side I will not believe so he has some some pretty high standards there
he's like well first of all not only do I want to see the wounds in his hands I want
to put my finger in it it's kind of weird okay so what does that tell us it tells us
that Thomas doesn't even really truly believe even what he sees a lot of people will say
well if I see it then I'll believe it that's not true because he's saying here if I see
it I'll believe it but also I need to put my finger and touch it to make sure that it's
true okay kind of weird verse 26 after eight days again his disciples were within and Thomas
with them then Jesus came the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said peace
be unto you now this is where people get the theory that when you resurrect and you're
glorified state you can like walk through walls and I can see where people come up with
that theory because it says right there the doors were shut and he just automatically
appears I don't know if it's true or not but I hope it is though okay because it'd be good
I'm tired of opening doors trying to go in verse 27 says then sayeth 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 so he actually answered Thomas's request Thomas
said I'm not going to believe and by the way I believe that Thomas was saved and I believe
he believed in the resurrection because he was there in John chapter 11 when Jesus Christ
taught the resurrection when he resurrected a man by the name of Lazarus he talked about
the fact that he was the resurrection and throughout his ministry he talked about the
resurrection so Thomas was there I believe he believed on Jesus Christ he was saved I
think it was just a matter of when he was going to resurrect that he was confused about
and he wasn't sure if it was Christ Jesus who resurrected from the grave at this moment
but Jesus comes and he says feel my my hands thrust your finger to my side don't be faithless
but believing and you know a lot of people today want what Thomas wants you know I'll
believe in God if he just shows himself to me right if he just appears to me and he shows
me that he's real I will believe and let me just say this okay that's one of the most
dangerous requests you could ever ask for this side of eternity and let me say this
it'll never happen okay but let's say it could happen let's say someone prayed and said God
show me that you're real show me that you exist appear to me as soon as he did they
would just completely discombobulate disintegrate just die because the Bible says no man has
seen my face and lived so no one can look at the face of God and just be like oh okay
I believe well that's what you look like okay well was that so hard you know it doesn't
work that way he's the God of heaven he is the eternal God and he's holy and if he were
to appear to any single human being in this world they would just completely disintegrate
they would just die right on the spot because of his holiness okay but here's the thing
here's the proof though that even if he were to show up it wouldn't make the difference
they still wouldn't believe so how do you know I think if he showed up and he showed
himself and he and we saw Jesus and we saw him today people would believe in multitudes
of numbers well let me ask you this the first time he came did a lot of people believe on
him there's still people that rejected him the Bible says he came into his own and his
own received him not so even though they saw Jesus Christ in the flesh the Word of God
was made flesh dwelt among us we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of
the Father full of grace and truth there are still people that didn't believe and so it's
not enough that you have to oh you know I want to see him face to face to actually believe
that he's real to actually believe the Bible it doesn't work that way my friends and in
fact look what it goes on to say in verse 28 Thomas answered and said to him my Lord
and my God verse 29 Jesus saith unto him Thomas because thou has seen me thou has believed
listen to this blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed now who is
he talking about us because here we are two thousand years later meeting together on
a Sunday honoring the Lord Jesus Christ and not a single one of us has ever seen him with
our own eyes we've never seen him we've never audibly heard his voice all we know our belief
is based upon the Bible the testimony of God's Word is that which has testified to us that
Jesus Christ is real that he died and he resurrected to save us and we believe it we
don't need some sort of physical app or you know appearance of him we don't need Jesus
Christ to talk to us audibly and here's here's a good here's a good rule if you want to hear
Jesus Christ talk to you audibly just read the Bible out loud amen if you want to look
upon Jesus Christ with your own eyes just look at the Bible because he's the Word of
God but we see here that he doubted until he saw but Jesus said you're blessed but the people
who haven't seen me are even more blessed why because it takes faith and the Bible says he
that cometh to God must believe that he is and he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
we walk by faith and not by sight Thomas so you know there's people out there to just doubt the
Word of God they doubt the resurrection they want concrete evidence concrete proof that Jesus is
real here's the proof my friends you know what God is not gonna provide some archaeological
discovery for you he's not gonna provide some miraculous vision for you to prove that God
exists he's given you the Bible and the Bible is his record it's his testimony and you know what
if you don't believe the testimony of God you're basically calling God a liar you know if I
tell you something and I say hey this is true and you're like I don't believe you you're basically
calling me a liar and the Bible is the testimony of God regarding Jesus Christ and if someone
doesn't believe it they're essentially stating that that God is bearing false witness regarding
his son he doubted he's doubting go to Luke chapter 24 if you would Luke chapter 24 Luke
chapter 24 we live in a day and age where people want signs and wonders to prove and to believe the
Bible they want some sort of vision they want a miracle they want a sign but you know what Jesus
said that a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign and there shall no sign be
given into but the sign of Jonas the Prophet for as Jonas is three days and three nights in the
heart of the in the Wells belly so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart
of the earth he says I'm not gonna give you a sign the only thing you're gonna get is the fact
that I'm resurrecting from the grave that's the sign you're gonna get and you know what there's
plenty of people in the Bible there's plenty of prophets Jesus Christ included that performed many
miracles and people still deny Jesus Christ even though they saw with their own eyes because faith
is the evidence of things hope for the evidence of things not seen the substance of things hope
for the evidence of things not seen we have to have faith that what the Bible is saying is true
but he's not the only one that doubted look at Luke 24 verse number 10 it says it was Mary
Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and other women that were with him which told
these things unto the Apostles and their words seemed to them as idle tales and they believed
them not so they came and they testified of the resurrected Christ the disciples are like I don't
know it sounds like a fairy tale I don't know if this is really true that he resurrected from the
grave look at verse 23 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 woman had said but him they saw not then he said unto them
this is Jesus speaking to the disciples on the road to Emmaus Oh fools and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken now notice he he doesn't point them to the visions
he doesn't point them to the angels he doesn't point them to anything physical that they've
seen with their eyes he says all that the prophets have spoken he points him to the Bible he says
ought not Christ have suffered these things and to enter into his glory and beginning at Moses
and all the prophets he expounded unto them and all the scriptures the things concerning himself
he points to the Bible for proof of his resurrection and you know what this is what we need to do today
in 2023 is anytime we need biblical proof of anything we go to the Bible right if you need
biblical proof of God then go to the Bible you don't need to go to science I'm not against science
and I think the Bible coincides with science and vice versa but we don't need science we don't need
our archaeology we don't need apologetics we just need the Bible because God owes no man an apology
he's not trying to prove himself to anybody it's your choice whether you believe or not we have to
make the decision to believe on the Bible believe on the Word of God and you know what if you choose
not to it's your loss not his look at verse 36 he says as they as they thus spake Jesus himself
stood in the midst of them and saith unto them peace be unto you and they were terrified and
affrighted suppose that they had seen a spirit and he said unto them why are you troubled why
do thoughts arise in your hearts behold my hands and my feet that it is I myself handle me and see
for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you see me to have by the way what does that show us it
shows us that the resurrection was a bodily resurrection a lot of religions out there that
will tell you that Jesus Christ resurrected in spirit only like some Casper came out of the
grave or something like that and you know he's just a spirit he is an apparition or something
like that where the Bible actually says that a physical body came out of the grave which is why
they were able to handle him okay and here's further proof that he physically came out of
the grave look what it goes on to say in verse number 40 when he had thus spoken he showed him
his hands and his feet and while they're yet and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered
he said unto them have ye here any meat and they gave him a piece of broiled fish and of a honey
comb what does he do he begins to eat spirits don't eat you can make an altar to a false god
all you want you go there the next morning it's still gonna be there unless some animal came and
eat it up or something you can offer something in Buddhism and Hinduism to any false god that exists
out there you go there the next day it's still gonna be there you go there the following day
it's still gonna be there you go there seven days after it'll be rotten but it'll still be there
Jesus Christ actually resurrected and he began to eat now what does this tell us it tells us that
in our glorified state we're gonna eat it says in verse 43 he took it indeed eat before them and he
said unto them these are the words which I spake unto you while I was with you yet with you that
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in
the Psalms concerning me so again he takes him to the Bible and he says in verse 45 then open
he their understanding that they might understand the scriptures and said unto them thus it is
written and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day what's
your point pastor here the point that I'm trying to make here is that we need to come back as
Christians to just going to the Bible for the answers and stop looking at external evidences
of spiritual truths when you look at the internal evidence of the Word of God and just believe it
faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God that's what the Bible says Thomas knew
about the resurrection he knew that it was going to take place and you know some people they still
even in spite of the fact that the Bible says all these things they think well you know I just if
someone just came from heaven though someone just came from heaven and just appeared to me then I
would believe go to Luke chapter 16 Luke chapter 16 if you would if someone just came from heaven
someone came from the afterlife and just explained what awaits us then I would for sure believe for
sure that's all I need right you know it's funny because all these arguments and all these requests
that people make today it's like God covered all of those things in the Bible because the sinful
nature of man has never changed it's always been the same Luke 16 the latter end of Luke 16 is a
story about a man who died and went to heaven by the name of Lazarus he was poor and he died and
along with a rich man who also died and was not saved and he went to hell and this is the only
time in history where God actually permits an open mic in hell think about that no other time
in history does God allow someone to speak from the depths of hell to basically say like what's
going on like so what's it like down there so this is a person's one and only chance to say
his peace so to speak and for people to read for thousands of years later about hell and
it's not a it's not a parable by the way parables don't use names the way it uses in Luke 16 these
are real people this actually took place and so you know Abraham who's in heaven is conversing
with the rich man who's in hell and they're kind of going back and forth and he's saying that he's
lifting his he lifted up his eyes and torment you know that he would like for Lazarus to dip
his finger in water and cool his tongue because he's tormented in the flame he's describing his
suffering in hell he's describing his agony that he's experiencing and of course Abraham
explains to him why he's there and this is one of the things that he requests aside from the
cup of cold water so what it says in verse 27 then he said I prayed thee therefore father
referring to Abraham that that would ascend him to my father's house so he basically says can you
have Lazarus rise from the grave and go to my father's house and basically preach to them says
in verse 28 for I have five brethren that he may testify unto them lest they also come into this
place of torment so he says look one last request can you just allow Lazarus to come back from the
grave go to my father's house because I have five brothers if he can preach to them so they can get
saved and they don't go to hell because he cares for his family and you know what people who are
in hell today are probably thinking the same thing you might have some family members that
are in hell today I know I do there's people in hell today my friends and you know probably the
greatest request that they have if someone can just send a soul winner a preacher to my father's
house lest they come to this place of torment but remember what is the request can you resurrect
Lazarus from the grave to go preach to them verse 29 Abraham said saith unto him they have Moses and
prophets let them hear them now Moses was not alive during this time so what does he mean
he means they have the bible let them hear that you say well that's kind of cold not really because
God has invested thousands of years and prophets and work to compile the word of God for people to
be saved so he says I'm not going to resurrect anybody from the great God's not going to
resurrect Lazarus Lazarus is staying in heaven he ain't going nowhere okay he's staying in heaven
they have Moses and the prophets let them hear them verse 30 and he said nay father Abraham no
but if one went up from unto them from the dead they will repent he said no no you don't understand
if someone actually came back from the grave and actually went to go preach to them for sure they
would just believe they would like get saved they would believe they they would buy it for sure
especially Lazarus verse 31 and he said unto them if they hear not Moses and the prophets
neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead
and the interesting thing here is that Jesus Christ is talking about this but really he's
referring to himself because Jesus Christ would be the one resurrecting from the dead
and you know what people were they still weren't persuaded even though they had
Moses and the prophets and Jesus resurrected from the grave they still didn't believe
so stop looking for signs stop looking for wonders stop looking for miracles to prove
the existence and and and to confirm that the bible is true you have it right here
just believe it don't be a doubting thomas first john chapter 5 verse number 9 says this
if we receive the witness of men the witness of god is greater you believe people all the time
you trust people all the time anytime someone drives on the freeway they're
trusting all the other drivers know how to drive to a certain extent
most of you if you've flown an airplane never met the pilot never saw the pilot
yet you trusted him to get you from point a to point b without seeing him so don't say
i just don't have enough faith no you have a lot of faith you have plenty of faith
to drive on the freeway to fly an airplane to go i mean you're when you step outside the
doors of your house you're just assuming that there's no axe murder right outside your door
or something you just live life trusting and exercising your faith without even knowing it
so it's not about putting you having a great amount of faith to believe the bible
having a great amount of faith to believe on jesus christ for salvation just whatever faith
you have just put it on him for salvation i'll get into that in just a little bit because you
receive the witness of men but just remember this the witness of god is greater because men lie
men bear false witness men are uh they're fallible they are they make errors but god never
lies god is not a man that he should lie it says for this is the witness of god which he had
testified of his son he that believeth on the son of god hath the witness in himself he that
believeth not god hath made him a liar because he believeth not the record that god gave of his son
and this is the record that god has given to us eternal life and this life is in his son he that
hath the son hath life he that hath not the son of god hath not life these things have i written
unto you that believe on the name of the son of god that you may know that you have eternal life
and that you may believe on the name of the son of god stop doubting the bible stop doubting
well i don't know if it's just by believing on jesus christ for salvation that's what the bible
says well you know it just seems a little too easy are you really going to look at the suffering
of christ and all the work that he did and the fact that he died was buried and resurrected and
said that that was easy you think that was easy for him you see the truth of the matter is jesus
christ did the hard part he did all the work for you this is why the bible says for by grace are
you saved through faith in that not of yourselves emphasis not of yourselves it is the gift of god
not of works lest any man should boast why does it say lest any man should boast because if you
got into heaven based upon your good deeds and merit you can like go into heaven and be like
yeah i'm here i mean i got myself here but lest any man should boast it's not of works
yeah because when we get to heaven we have the only credit we can get to anybody is to jesus
christ i'm here because he gave me eternal life it was a gift go to john chapter 21 if you would
john chapter 21 so there's some people that deny the resurrection there are individuals that will
doubt the resurrection and obviously there's a lot of even secular evidence to prove that jesus
christ resurrected but we don't base our faith on that we base our faith on the bible
because the witness of god is always greater but there's also others who react with apathy
what i mean by that you know there's christians who are saved they believed on jesus christ for
salvation but they're apathetic towards the resurrection what the resurrection represents
and what they should do with the information of the resurrection look at verse number one of john
chapter 21 and after these things jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the sea of
tiberius and on this wise he showed himself there were together simon peter and thomas called didymus
and nathaniel of cana and galilee and the sons of zebedee and two other of his disciples at this
point jesus christ has already revealed himself in his resurrected form to his disciples it's already
happened and you would think after they saw that they're just like all right let's get back to work
let's start preaching the word of god let's get down to business here let's do what we're supposed
to do especially these guys i mean this is simon peter thomas these guys were serving with alongside
jesus christ for three and a half years so as soon as he reveals himself again you would think peter
would be like all right let's let's let's let's get to work and start serving god again because
you know prior to this peter denied the lord right he denied him thrice when he was being
arrested and persecuted peter tucked his tail between his legs became afraid and he denied
jesus christ so you would think after this it's just like you know what i messed up let's get down
to business i want to get right with god once again and start serving him well let's see if he
does that look at verse three simon peter saved them to them i go a-fishing
now he doesn't mean fishing for men
because originally peter obviously he's a fisher that was his trade
that's that was his job he was already saved at the time when jesus christ came on the scene
and when jesus saw him he basically said to lay down his nets you know and to follow him
he'll make him a fisher of men and then thereafter peter followed the lord he
became a mighty preacher of the gospel getting people saved serving god but now after the death
and even after the resurrection he's not going back to being a fisher of men he's just going
back to fishing so he sees jesus resurrected he's just like i'm gonna go fish and he's not the only
one simon peter saved them to him i go fishing they say to him we also go with thee they're
like that sounds like a really good idea so what does this what does this show it shows us that
having physical proof of the resurrection having jesus there doesn't necessarily motivate anyone
to start serving him they have to do it on their own they went forth and entered into a ship
immediately and that night they caught a bunch of fish nope that night they caught
nothing now what does it show us well it shows us that obviously god can't prosper
a backslidden christian right because he you know it's not like they don't know what they're doing
like me if i went fishing whether i'm right with god or not i'm not gonna catch anything
because i i'm not a good fisher i can't catch anything okay i went fishing a couple years
ago with my father-in-law and i remember we're at this i think it was a it was a lake
he was a few feet away from me he was my pastor at the time he was a few feet away from me and
and he was just like reeling them in and he's catching one after another and i just i'm like
peter average is nothing and he kind of felt bad for me you know he just kind of felt embarrassed
for me so then he said he goes he said let's switch because i think the fish are biting over
here so and i'm thinking but you're only a couple feet away though like so he's like let's just
switch and the fish are biting here you'll catch something here and at this point i had never caught
a fish ever in my life it's sad huh this is like it just never happened so then we switch
i still don't catch anything you say well what about your father-in-law
he's still catching them in the area where i wasn't catching anything
you know he's he's the anointed one obviously and god's blessing him for his efforts
but me i'm just not catching anything and i'm just like i'd rather go sewing you know that's easier
than this i'm not a good fisher whether i'm right with god or not i'm just not going to catch
anything but you know peter this was his trade he knows all the ins and outs he probably knows what
bait to use the perfect net whatever it is that they use and so and he's got a bunch of helpers
with him but yet he catches nothing why because when you're backslidden away from god and apathetic
towards the things of god you don't prosper you don't succeed outside of god
there's a lot of christians who they get away from the lord they don't lose their salvation
because you can't lose your salvation jesus said i give them to them eternal life and they shall
never perish neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand eternal life is never revoked
but hold on a second you will not succeed and prosper in this world outside of god's will peter
so they catch nothing so what do we see peter's response to the resurrection to the resurrected
christ he's just that pathetic he's just kind of whatever about it and you know what his apathy
does nothing for him because he doesn't succeed he can't even enjoy what he typically would enjoy
which is fishing okay verse four says but when the morning was now come jesus stood on the shore
but the disciples knew not that it was jesus then jesus said unto them children have ye any
meat they answered him no by the way when people are back to them sometimes they get a little
short with you it's like no you know it's kind of it's kind of slow right now you're just like
no and he said unto them cast the net on the right side of the ship and he shall find
they cast therefore and now they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes what is this
showing us we could only succeed when we're right with god and in fact you can succeed doubly
when you're actually right with god actually we have a fisher in our church brother jacob
and jacob he's constantly serving he's serving the lord he's
fish his stories are nothing but him catching fish i don't think i've even seen a picture of
his face it's just fish fish fish fish but you know what when you're right with god you just
kind of prosper whatsoever you do shall prosper i'm sure that's god's hand on him just kind of
letting him enjoy that hobby because he's serving the lord he doesn't eat him he just kind of throws
him back or whatever i don't know i don't know the point of that but hey to each his own
but they can't they caught so many fish they weren't able to draw from multitude
verse 7 says therefore the disciples whom jesus love saith them to peter it is the lord now when
simon peter heard that it was of the lord he gird his fisher's coat unto him for he was naked and
did cast himself into the sea so we see that initially peter's response wasn't good he was
apathetic he went fishing he was just kind of indifferent towards the resurrection and what
it meant and it was almost as if he needed that reminder that when you're right with god you can
succeed you can prosper you can be blessed to the lord and what did he do he jumped in head first
after that you know maybe some of you need to start jumping in head first into the sea of god's
will you don't have to do anything crazy but maybe just start serving god again and stop being
apathetic towards the resurrection and what it means to us as christians and we criticize peter
because sometimes he's just you know he's peter but he had the right response later he swam to
shore he got right with god he began serving the lord once again he was used greatly thereafter
that was his response go to act chapter 17 if you would act chapter 17 some people deny
the resurrection some people doubt the resurrection some people are apathetic
towards the resurrection even christians can become apathetic not realizing that it changes
our lives the papa refers to it as the power of the resurrection paul the apostle said that i
may know him and the power of his resurrection the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable
unto his death some people actually scoff at the resurrection what does that mean they make fun of
us for believing it you know they believe in aliens and stuff they believe we came from a rock
and that there's aliens and they believe in and sasquatch and all kinds of crazy stuff oh but the
resurrection is just such a ridiculous notion that that would actually happen you know they believe
in gnomes they believe in monsters they believe in all kinds of crazy nonsense
but we come with the resurrection and they're just like that's so stupid
you know it's just like they believe in evolution but they criticize us for believing that god
created everything and they look at us and they think we were just dumb and stupid for believing
that god created all things but then you look at what they believe about evolution it's just like
i don't you look in the mirror look what the stuff that you believe but people scoff at
the resurrection but let me say this is that when buddha went into the grave he stayed in the grave
yeah when muhammad went into the grave he stayed in the grave
any religious leader of a false religion who died stayed in the grave they never came out
jesus christ is the only one who has power over death he conquered death
look at act 17 verse 16 now while paul waited for them at athens his spirit was stirred in him
when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry therefore disputed he in the
synagogues with the jews and with the devout persons in the market daily with them that met
with him then certain philosophers of the epicureans and of the stoics encountered him
and said and some said what will this babbler say maybe some of you are thinking that right now
what will this babbler say other some he seemed to be a setter forth of strange gods
because he preached unto them jesus and the resurrection skip down to verse 31
because he had the point of the day into which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained where of he hath given assurance unto all men and that he
hath raised him from the dead and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked what
does it mean to mock it means they just laughed at him they laughed at him you know what christians
if the world mocks you and laughs at you for the things that you believe let them laugh let them
mock because here's the thing god is not mocked for what's over a man so at that shall he also
read the bible says you know and it's time for christians to turn this around and say
you know instead of you guys laughing at us for what we believe i'm gonna start laughing at you
for what you believe what you believe is weird the things that you hold to are weird what we
believe is just normal it's biblical i don't believe in aliens
in aliens i don't believe in sasquatch i don't believe in uh nephilim's or
a lot of weird beliefs out there i can't even lit i don't can't name them all
i don't believe in the chupacabra
i don't believe in la llorona or the boogeyman or the tooth fairy or santa claus
i don't believe in the elf on the shelf i don't believe in any of that
what do you believe in in the resurrected christ that's what i believe in
so people can mock our beliefs all they want at least our our belief is stable it's founded upon
the word of god and no one has been able to refute it for thousands of years well didn't
they refute it there no they mocked it and often when someone can't refute what you say
they mock instead they resort to mockery they resort to railing they resort to whatever because
they can't refute what the bible actually you can do nothing against the truth before the truth
that's what the bible says some mock go to john chapter 20 some people deny it some people doubt
it some people are pathetic towards it some people mock it i'm sure there's people today
that refuse to recognize easter or the resurrection because they think it's a
stupid holiday why do we celebrate this day why are stores closing why this or why that
and it's just like well because there's people in this world that still believe
in the reasonable doctrine of the resurrection it's a reasonable doctrine it's not wild
look at luke 20 or john chapter 20 excuse me i'm going to read to you from luke chapter 24
actually i'm going to skip luke 24 go to john chapter 20 here's another reaction that people
have and this is a good reaction they tell others about it see it's good that we believe in the
resurrection it's great that you believe in the resurrection and in fact you can't get saved if
you don't believe in the resurrection the bible says that if thou shall confess with thy mouth
the lord jesus and believe in thine heart that god hath raised them from the dead thou shalt be
saved for what the heart man believeth unto righteousness and what the mouth confession
is made into salvation verse 13 says for whosoever shall call upon the name of the lord shall be
saved all based upon your beliefs if you believe that he died for you but you don't believe he
resurrected you can't be saved you have to believe that jesus christ the savior
rose again from the grave three days later bodily rose from the grave
amen but you know what after that what are you going to do with that information though
because after you're saved you're saved you know you have eternal life
you're saved you're going to heaven you'll never lose it you'll never experience the
torments of hell i mean salvation is with you forever the holy spirit resides within you
until the day of redemption i mean it's there forever so what are you going to do with that
information though look at verse number two or verse one i'm sorry yeah uh yeah verse one
the first day of the week cometh mary magdalene early when it was yet dark
unto the sepulcher and seeeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher
then she runneth and cometh to simon peter and to the other disciple whom jesus love and saith
unto them they have taken away the lord out of the sepulcher we know not where they have laid him
peter therefore went forth and that other disciple and came to the sepulcher so they
ran both together and the other disciple did outrun peter and came first to the sepulcher
and he stooping down looking in saw the linen clothes line yet went he not in then cometh simon
peter following him and went into the sepulcher and see if the linen clothes lie and the napkin
that was about his head not lying with the linen clothes but wrapped together in the place by itself
then when he went in also that other disciples which came first to the sepulcher
and he saw and believed so one thing that we see is that when they see that the resurrected
when christ was resurrected we see this in luke 21 they immediately start telling other people
about it you know what this is why our church is referred to as first works baptist church
because of the fact that we believe that christians should be telling others about
salvation telling others about the death burial and resurrection of jesus christ and you know what
you may believe in the resurrection you might be saved it's time for you to tell others about
other resurrection though it's time for you to start getting out and preaching the gospel
and telling others about christ you say yeah i don't really know how to do that though hey we
got you covered we'll train you here we'll show you how to do it and you know what if you air if
you go out with us and preach the gospel you don't even have to do any of the talking initially you
just kind of watch how everyone else does it and you can do that for as long as you need to
you see how it's done but let me say this after a while of doing that you're going to catch the
bug and you're going to be like i want to try this and once you're equipped to actually preach
the gospel not only are you going to be able to win strangers to christ but also your own family
members and friends because i'm sure all of us in here have an unsafe family member unsafe friend
someone who's not saved that we care about that we love and we fear that we'll go to hell one day
because they don't believe the bible they don't believe in salvation and you would love to tell
them how to get saved but you just don't know how there's a way you can do it it's simple tell
others about it and i hope that this service and this sermon would motivate you to start getting
equipped to go preach the gospel and get someone safe go out there and get people say go to acts
24. Acts chapter 24. Acts chapter 24. Here's the last reaction we're going to look at this morning
and this is probably the scariest one in my opinion you have those who deny it that's pretty
scary you have those who doubt it you have those who are apathetic towards it you have those who
mock it but then you have those who actually are intrigued by it they kind of understand it
but they wait for a more convenient time
what am i referring to they hear the message of salvation and what it means to be saved
and they say i want to be saved but i'm not going to do it today
maybe some other time let me say this that's dangerous
look at acts 24 verse 22 when felix heard these things having more perfect knowledge of that way
he deferred them and said when lisius the chief captain shall come down i will know
the uttermost of your matter and he commanded centurion to keep paul and to let him have liberty
and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him and after certain
days when felix came with his wife jersilla which was a jewish he sent for paul and heard him
concerning the faith in christ and as he reasoned of righteousness temperance judgment to come
felix trembled now why did he tremble because he knew there's a hell he knew there was judgment
to come and answered go thy way for this time when i have convenient season i will call for thee
what is he doing he's like i don't want to get saved today but when i'm ready i'll call you
now you know the sad thing about this is we never knew we never found out if he if he was ever ready
we're just kind of left on this cliffhanger of not knowing if he ever got saved
but you know what would be really sad if he didn't get saved
because he had the apostle paul preaching the gospel to him and you know what
i guess the convenient time never came
let me say this is that today is your convenient day
and the truth is is that jesus christ died on the cross to bear the sins of the whole world yours
included mine included upon his own body on a tree every single sin that you've ever committed
in the past he paid for those every single single sin that you will do in the future
he paid for those the smallest of sins to the biggest of sins he paid for all those sins there's
not one single sin that he didn't pay for he died he was buried and he resurrected he conquered
death to save us and all you have to do to have eternal life you don't have to jump through loops
you don't have to repent of your sins you don't have to do good works let me say this you don't
even have to come to our church you don't have to be the best christian you don't have to do
any of those things all you have to do is believe on the lord jesus christ and thou shalt be saved
place your faith in jesus christ recognize that once you do so you'll never lose your salvation
accept the free gift of eternal life and the bible says you can have eternal life
at this moment you can have that gift right now forevermore and just settle it you know what i
know there's someone in here who's been struggling with this matter of salvation worried you don't
know if you're saved you think about it from time to time sometimes you make peace with
well maybe i'll find out when i die sometimes it bothers you because people are like that
you're like i just need a sign well here's your sign
get saved today and let me say this don't be like felix don't be someone who's trembling in your
seat and say uh i'll talk to you i'll talk to you about that later i'll wait for a more convenient
time maybe next time when i come and visit we'll talk about it maybe next week maybe another time
i don't want to think about that right now i don't want to i don't want to dwell on those things i
don't want i don't want well here's the thing who ever told you do you even promise tomorrow though
yeah did someone come to you and say hey you at least have tomorrow does anybody know that
no one knows that our life is but a vapor the bible says you're like yeah but i'm young young
people die too everyone dies at one point or another death comes knocking on people's doors
every single day and it's not it's not bias it'll take anybody at any given time
and there there will come a time when someone dies and they realize the convenient day is
no longer there you can no longer be saved and i hope if you're here this morning because we've
got a lot of visitors this morning there's someone who has not believed on jesus christ for salvation
put your pride aside put your preconceived ideas aside and just accept the gift
someone can come to you after the service and just kind of go over that with you you can call
upon the name of the lord and be saved but i would say this don't walk through those doors
and leave our church without knowing for sure that you're saved don't do it this is a crazy
world out there and you can lose your life just like that who knows what happened to felix you
know what i hope you don't have felix's reaction to the resurrection because felix's reaction to
the resurrection was i'll talk to you about it another time and we don't know if you have
another time believe on jesus christ today man we like to take advantage of easter sunday
to reinforce what we already believe and to take it as an opportunity to tell our loved ones
because if you're visiting our church for the first time today or you've been here maybe a
couple times because someone invited you whoever invited you really loves you like a lot they have
a lot of love in their heart for you and most of the time they invite you because they they want
you to be saved and they want you to hear the message of salvation and they want you to have
what they have and realize it's an effortless thing to do because jesus christ put in all the
effort so don't let their effort go to waste by bringing you here listen to the message of
salvation and get saved amen thank god for the resurrection i hope you respond well to it let's
pray father we thank you so much for your word we're so thankful lord for the resurrection of
jesus christ and the power it has that when we believe on it it gives us that promise that we
will be raised again in the last day sure we may physically die one day our spirit shall ascend
into heaven but you've even promised us that one day our physical bodies will resurrect to meet the
lord in the air and it's a wonderful promise i pray that you you would work in our hearts lord
that we as christians who believe on the resurrection would not be apathetic towards it
help us to get right with you if we're not help us to abandon the fishing help us to
begin serving you lord and if there's someone in this room that's not saved maybe they're
interested in the things of god they came because their family or friends invited them that they
that you touched their hearts lord and they would believe on jesus christ for salvation
and recognize it's not by doing works or repenting of their sin it's not by any of it it's not by
keeping the commandments because you've kept them all for us it's just by placing our faith in you
and i pray that they would receive it well may you be honored and glorified
and all that's accomplished we love you we thank you pray these things in jesus name amen