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Men, Matthew chapter 28 is one of the four Gospels accounts of the witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. This is contained in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, after Jesus Christ rises from the dead. There are many witnesses that see that and testify of that. And the title of my sermon this morning is Witnesses of the Resurrection. Witnesses of the Resurrection. The Bible says there in verse number one, 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 the 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. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear ye not, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He's not here for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead. And behold he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall you see him. Lo I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy and had run to bring his disciples word. And so we see that when Jesus Christ rose from the dead, right away these witnesses are at the empty tomb and they're told immediately that he rose from the dead as he said. Jesus Christ had already told them repeatedly. You know if you're reading, for example, in the Gospel of Mark, you see him tell them this, you know, chapter after chapter. It's like I believe he first tells them in chapter 8 and then in chapter 9, chapter 10. It's like three chapters in a row. He says, look, the Son of Man is going to be delivered to be crucified and three days later he's going to rise again from the dead. And he tells them that and they don't understand it. They don't know what he's talking about and he keeps telling them, keeps telling them. And then it happens and they're still a little bit perplexed. You know they're still a little bit surprised by this. It says in verse number 16, then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them and when they saw him they worshiped him but some doubted. So you can see how at the time these people had a really hard time grasping the fact that Jesus had risen from the dead. Now obviously as Bible-believing Christians, this is the cornerstone of our entire faith. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our entire faith. The fact that Jesus died and was buried and that he rose again, that is the Gospel and that is the most important doctrine that we have as Christians is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But for them they saw through a glass darkly. They didn't really understand fully as they were in these events, as they were happening and they watched Jesus die. And so this is shocking to them to see Jesus Christ come back from the dead or to see the empty tomb or to hear that he's back from the dead, to see him. They are shocked by this and they're in disbelief. Go if you would to Mark chapter number 16, Mark chapter number 16. And by the way, this is one of the key things that make Jehovah's Witnesses not Christians. Okay, they are a cult, they are not Christian because of the fact that they deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And what's ironic about that is that Easter is their biggest holiday at their church. You know, and you may have been visited by the Jehovah's Witnesses over the last couple of weeks because that's when they do their biggest push where they go out and really knock the most doors is to promote their big Easter service where they can celebrate how Jesus didn't rise from the dead. Now if you ask a Jehovah's Witness, did Jesus rise from the dead? Yeah, of course, except here's what their definition of the resurrection is. Their definition of the resurrection is that his spirit left his body and his body sort of disintegrated like it was being beamed up or something. That's the resurrection to them. What they don't believe in is a bodily resurrection and let me tell you something, if it's not a bodily resurrection, it's no resurrection at all. Not bodily, then it's not a resurrection because I've got another word for a spirit leaving a body. It's called dying. All throughout the Bible when people die, it says that they gave up the ghost. They gave up the ghost. That's called death. That's not resurrection, okay? And Jesus cries, oh, his spirit left his body. That's not a resurrection. Jesus in John chapter 2 said, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. And the Bible tells in verse 21, he spake of the temple of his body. Destroy this temple, this body, and in three days I will raise it up. It was about his body. I've showed that to countless Jehovah's Witnesses and last time I showed it to a Jehovah's Witness, he said, well, why does that even matter? Who cares if it was bodily resurrection? What's the big deal? What does it matter? Well, just the fact that it's the cornerstone of our entire faith, just the fact that it's the most important doctrine that we believe as Bible-believing Christians, just the fact that it is the Gospel and that in order to be saved, we have to confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead in order to be saved. That sounds pretty important to me. It's critical. It's heaven and hell. Well, that's right. The Jehovah's Witnesses don't believe in heaven and hell either. But so I guess it's not heaven and hell for them. But guess what? It's just hell for them because if you don't believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ you're doomed. You've got to believe in the resurrection to be saved according to Romans chapter 10 verse 9. We talk a lot about salvation being by faith, but what is it that you have to put your faith in? What is it that you have to believe in? You've got to believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ as the payment for our salvation, as our only way to heaven. You've got to trust in what Jesus did on the cross, but it's not enough that he just died on the cross, folks. He also had to rise again from the dead. That is the key thing. Virtually everyone would admit that Jesus died on the cross. The Romans would freely admit that. Jews would admit that. Historians would admit that. Atheists would admit that. But what they're not going to confess is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he rose again from the dead. That's the critical component. So in Mark chapter 16 we get another view of these resurrection witnesses, right? So in chapter 28 we had some witnesses to the resurrection. We had Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and then of course eventually we have the apostles themselves seeing Jesus having risen from the dead. In Mark chapter 16 we get another angle on this. It says in verse 1, and when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome had brought sweet spices that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. And they said among themselves, who shall roll away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? And when they looked they saw that the stone was rolled away for it was very great. And entering into the sepulcher they saw a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long white garment and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, be not affrighted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth which was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go your way. Tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see him as he said unto you. So notice again the emphasis on the word of God. What did he tell you? What did Jesus say? He said he would rise again. And again we have a similar reaction. People being frightened. People being confused. People being perplexed by this because of the fact that they see that the stone's rolled away. Jesus isn't there. Look what the Bible says in verse 8. It says, and they went out quickly and fled from the sepulcher for they trembled and were amazed. Neither said they anything to any man for they were afraid. Now at this point I want to point out to you as you know as we talk about these resurrection witnesses that at this point the people in the story haven't actually seen the resurrected Jesus here. They showed up. They found the empty tomb. And they basically get this message from an angel telling them that Jesus is risen. And in verse 8 they trembled. They're amazed. They say nothing to no man because they're afraid. Now what I want you to know is one of the big reasons why we are King James only. And by the way we make no bones about being King James only. We're not ashamed to be called King James only. In fact it's stenciled on the window right there, okay, that we are KJV only. One of the reasons why we are KJV only is that the modern versions corrupt scripture in so many places. And this is one of those places where they have corrupted scripture to the point of absurdity, to the point of ridiculousness by omitting verses 9 through 20 of Mark 16. You know just this little portion of 12 verses that are just on the cornerstone of our faith, the resurrection of Christ. No big deal. Now here's what's interesting about this is that virtually every Bible on the planet prints verses 9 through 20 in their Bibles because if they didn't, people wouldn't buy them. The only Bible I've ever seen that actually just deletes 9 through 20 is the Jehovah's Witness Bible, the New World Translation. But if you have any of these modern versions, the NIV, the New American Standard, the ESV, they'll take verses 9 through 20 and put them in brackets and say these are not part of the original text. These are a later edition. These have no authority. The oldest and best manuscripts don't have Mark chapter 16, 9 through 20. And of course the oldest and best texts, they're basically talking about Sinaiticus and Vaticanus and that's it. The most anybody will ever tell you is that three manuscripts are missing this. Out of all the thousands and thousands and thousands of manuscripts of the Book of Mark, not just in Greek but tons in Greek, Latin, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian, you name it, it's missing in three Greek texts that are unreliable, corrupt pieces of garbage, Sinaiticus and Vaticanus and one other. And it's debatable whether the third one is even missing it at all. But here's what you have to understand. Just because the NIV prints this in their Bible or the New American Standard prints this in their Bible, they put a note right there saying we don't believe this belongs here. We don't believe it's here. So you have to ask the question, you know, why do you print it if you don't believe in it? And the answer is to sell the Bible to you because you who actually do believe in it, you won't buy it unless it has that. So they want to sell all their NIVs and New American Standards so they have to print it. But ask yourself this question. If the people that are putting together the NIV and the New American Standard reject Mark 16, 9 through 20, don't you think there's a whole bunch of other stuff they reject as well or you think this is the only place? In fact, they reject hundreds of little words and phrases and verses that they do delete. Now they're afraid to delete this one because it's 12 verses long and people would kind of freak out if verse 15 is missing in their Bible, go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. That's a pretty famous verse and so if they were to delete this, people would flip out and they'd just be driving people away. But guess what? They were not shy about deleting a word here, a phrase there, a verse here where they could get away with it without people noticing. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? So here's the thing. If the editors of the NIV reject this giant portion of scripture and only print it because they don't want to freak you out, what about all the stuff that they deleted because they know you won't notice? The little things, little verse here, word here, phrase here. You cannot trust these people. Now let me show you how absurd it is to delete verses 9-20 if you actually believe the Bible at all. Okay, number one, this would be a bizarre ending for the book of Mark. Very strange ending if the book of Mark ends with, they trembled and were afraid, neither said they anything to any man for they were afraid, amen. What a great ending. Folks that's a garbage ending. Well I mean let's just think about how the rest of the other books in the New Testament end. Matthew 28-20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you and lo I'm with you all way even unto the end of the world, amen. Everybody like that ending? Sounds good, right? Okay how about Luke 24, let's see how it ends. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God, amen. You guys like that ending? Alright how about John 21 verse 25, and there were also many other things which Jesus did to which if they should be written everyone, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written, amen. Does that ending sound good? How about Acts? Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him, amen. Sounds like a great ending to me. Let's see Romans 16, I mean we could do, we could look at all the endings if you want I mean, but now is made manifest and by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment of the everlasting God made known to all nations for obedience of the faith to God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever, amen. I mean we could keep going. That's how books in the Bible end. Here's how Mark ends according to James White and according to popular Bible teachers like John Piper, John MacArthur, right, these, these, these televangelist types that reject the King James version of the Bible, that reject the traditional text, they think it ends with they didn't say anything to anybody because they were scared. But let me just prove not only is that a weird ending. It's not just a weird ending, it's, it's an absurd ending, it's a dumb ending, but I'm going to prove to you that it is a bogus ending because of the fact that it would contradict what was just said a couple verses ago in Mark 16 and it would contradict what we just read in Matthew 28. Let me show you what I'm talking about, okay. Jesus tells them, are you there in Mark 16 with me? Jesus tells them, I'm sorry, excuse me, the angel tells them in verse 6, be not affrighted, ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified, he's risen, he's not here, behold the place where they laid him, but go your way. What are they told to do? Tell his disciples. What are they supposed to do? Go tell his disciples. Tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee, there shall ye see him as he said unto you. So does everybody get the picture? The angel tells these women, go tell the disciples that Jesus rose from the dead. So they went and didn't tell anybody anything because they were scared. The end. Now that's not true, that's not what actually happened. Now some people say, you know, I like to say it's a clever ending because it kind of puts the, you know, the responsibility on you as the reader. Like they didn't tell anybody, so now you got to go tell people. That's what James White said. That's what, I just had a Greek scholar tell me that this week, that that's why it's a cool ending. But first of all, that's not, you know, this isn't a postmodern book with these, you know like nowadays a lot of books or films would kind of end in these real weird ways. That would, you know, that's anachronistic to try to like push that back on, you know, a book that was written 2,000 years ago, okay. And the Bible's timeless. The rest of the Bible is written a certain way. It's not just going to be this bizarre departure from that. But hold on, let me just prove that that's wrong because if you read, if you read this this way, if it ends at verse 8, did they tell the disciples? He said, go tell the disciples. Did they tell them, according to verse 8, if you're going to end it there? No. Okay, well what did Matthew 28 tell you? You don't have to turn back there, but I'll read it for you, okay. In Matthew 28 verse 8 it says, and it's the same people, same ladies, they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear, is that consistent with Mark 16? With fear and great joy and did run to bring his disciples word. So according to Matthew 28, 8, are they scared? Yeah. But they go to do what? To tell the disciples. What did the angel tell them to do in Mark 16? Go tell the disciples. What do they do in Matthew 28? They go tell the disciples. Everybody understand? Okay, now let's read Mark chapter 16 verse 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven devils. Because remember in verses 1 through 8, did Mary Magdalene actually see Jesus or did she just see an empty tomb and an angel spoke to her? But then Mary Magdalene actually sees Jesus in verse 9, right? Verse 10, and she went and told them that had been with him as they mourned and wept and they, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen of her, believed not. And after that he appeared in another form unto two of them as they walked and went into the country and they went and told it unto the residue, neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat and abraded them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. Now I'm trying not to make this complicated. I hope you can follow what's going on here, okay? But basically these women, they go to the tomb, they find the empty tomb, the angel tells them that he's risen, they're terrified, they're amazed, they're in shock. It's easy for us to sit back and just kind of feel like everyone in the story is an idiot. You know, it's like Jesus already told you this, the angel's telling you, it's an empty tomb, like hello, is anybody home? But you know, when you're in the situation, when you're in the moment, you know, you got to sympathize with it. We probably would have been dumb too, okay? Because it's easy for us, we're looking back on it, we understand the whole picture. They were confused at the time. So they're confused. But stop and think about this. They're scared and when the Bible says in verse 8, the only way this can be consistent and actually make sense is that in verse 8 when it says, neither said they anything to any man for they were afraid, that's talking about on the way to going to tell his disciples, they're not saying anything to anybody along the way because they're scared. When you actually put it in context, it makes sense like, hey, we're going to go tell the disciples like we're told, but they're not stopping and going, he's risen, he's risen, he rose again, hey, you, he rose again, hey, Jesus rose again, hey, you know. They're just, they're still kind of processing it. They're in shock. So they're not speaking to any man. But if you end this Gospel at verse 8, you end up with the absurd claim that these people, they saw the empty tomb, they were told by an angel and they just kind of just never said anything about it and that's it. Do you see how the ending becomes false? You know, if you take things out of context, they can become false. In context, verse 8 is telling the truth because truly, as they went on their way to go tell the disciples, they didn't speak to anybody because they were terrified. But when you isolate verse 8 from the rest of the passage and just end it there, now it becomes a lie. Now it becomes false because is it true that they didn't speak to anybody? No, because they did tell the disciples. It's only true in this context. Without verses 9 through 20, verse 8 becomes absurd. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? You know, it's like those memes where like the first half of the meme leads you to believe one thing but then you read the rest of the meme and it's something totally different. You know, like, hey, I'm going to put you in touch with my dealer. He's going to get you a great deal on a Toyota Camry. You know, and then it's like, hey, not going to lie, they had us in the first half, right? Those of you who know a little meme culture, all right? The point is that if you take something out of context, it becomes false in many cases when it's not in its proper context. So that right there should be proof enough just from reading this passage that if you end at verse 8, Mark is now not telling the truth. Whereas if you include verses 9, 10, 11, 12, then it all makes sense. It's all true. It's all right. And verse 8 is correct. So this is very important that we are King James only because we don't want to have a Bible that's been chopped up and made into Swiss cheese by people who think that Mark ends in verse 8. And I, you know, if an unbelieving scholar, if an unsaved academic wants to say like, oh, well, it should end in verse 8. Well, here's the thing. You know, I wouldn't trust his opinion if he doesn't believe the Bible to tell me where this should end because for him, Mark contradicting Matthew or Luke is probably not an issue to him because, you know, people who are secular and not religious, they're just going to say, oh, the Bible's filled with contradictions. Is that what we believe though? No. No. We believe the Bible is God's word. We believe everything in Matthew is true. Everything in Mark is true. Everything in Luke is true. And if they seem like they're contradicting one another, it's just different people's perspectives but Mark's telling the truth and Matthew's telling the truth. And if you actually just think a little bit and read both, you can understand like, okay, I get the picture. You know, they didn't stop to smell the roses and talk to people on their way to their destination of talking to the disciples. So you've got to get things in context. Now here's the thing. You know, some people will say, well, I don't know because there's kind of a gear change there between verses 8 and 9. You know, it seems like kind of a gear change because it basically kind of starts over in verse 9 by saying, now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven devils. And they'll say, well, see, that's proof, you know, that this is added on later. This was added later because of that gear change. Okay. Well, what if I told you that chapter 2 was added after chapter 1? What if I told you that chapter 15 is a later edition after 14? Like does anybody really think that this whole book was written in one sitting? Does anybody think that any book of the Bible besides little short epistles were written in one sitting? So you know, what if I told you that verse, you know, chapter 21 in every book was probably written after chapter 20? So it represents a later edition to the text. Another thing that you hear these Bible critics say is that, you know, well, certain things in Mark chapter 16 just don't seem very Markan, you know, they just, they don't really sound that Markan, you know, it's just not Mark's style, which, you know, I disagree with that. I think that the end of the book of Mark fits in fine with the rest of the book of Mark. But let's just say for a second, let's just pretend for a second, let's just indulge them and say that Mark didn't write verses 9 through 20. Guess what? I don't care because I don't even know who Mark is, right? I mean, it's like, is Mark John Mark from the book of Acts? Probably you really know that for sure beyond any shadow of a doubt who Mark even is. I mean, is Mark one of the 12 disciples? Who's Mark? But you know, James White says, well, I want to know what Mark wrote. I want to know what Mark wrote. I don't care what Mark wrote. I care what the Holy Ghost inspired. I care what God wrote. And so to me, I don't care if this was Mark Johnson or Mark Jones or Mark Smith or John Mark or Mark the tanner or Mark the blacksmith. I don't care who this was. Who wrote the book of Judges? Who wrote the book of 1 Samuel? Who wrote the book of 2 Samuel? Who wrote the books of 1 and 2 Kings? Who wrote a lot of the Psalms? Who in the world is Agor, you know, who in the world is Lemuel, who wrote a couple of the Proverbs? The words of Agor, the son of Jakey, oh, well, if it's coming from him. Folks, that's not even the point, okay? Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. You know, when you're reading Deuteronomy, you know, you say, oh, Moses is the author of Deuteronomy. That's right because Moses dies at the end of Deuteronomy. And I've heard people say, well, he's just, he writes about his death and he's like, as he's writing it, he's like, oh, stink, it's about to happen. And look, you know what, a lot of the books of the Old Testament, they're probably started by one person and finished by somebody else when they're covering events that take place over hundreds of years. Who cares? If it mattered, then God would have made a big deal in the Bible about who Mark is and why it's important that this be coming from Mark and all these things. I mean, this is Mark's contribution is, it's called the gospel according to Mark. That's pretty much where Mark stops being significant in this book. Does everybody understand what I'm saying? So to sit there and worry about who wrote this, you say, well, how do you even know it's the word of God? Well, is anybody really going to make the case that we know it's the word of God because Mark wrote it and we all trust Mark? How do we trust Mark? Mark wasn't even there. If it's the guy from Acts, how do we just trust Mark? Folks, we don't trust Mark, we trust God. And let me tell you something, the reason that we know that the book of Mark is the word of God is because the book of Mark is awesomeness on every page. The book of Matthew, the book of Mark, the book of Luke, the book of John, every page is just power, power, power. It's the greatest book written in the history of mankind, the Bible. How do you know it's authentic? Because when I read the book of Thomas, it's junk. When I read the infancy gospels, they're junk. Folks, they're cheap imitations. The word of God authenticates itself. The word of God validates itself. How do I know the book of Mark is the word of God? Because no one could write the book of Mark without divine inspiration. Because many people have tried to write their own gospels, their own narratives of Christ's story, their own scriptures, the book of Mormon, doctrines of covenants, it's all junk. It's no good. It's not like we have to stress out and try to figure out which four gospels are legit. Show me the fifth gospel that's anywhere close in quality to these. No one can present one. The Gospel of Thomas is some super short book. It's nothing like the other gospels. It contains a bunch of wild and crazy statements and it contains no story. Doesn't give the story of the death, the burial, the resurrection. It's just the sayings of Jesus and it's all these weird like Confucius, Buddha, Hindu kind of sayings mixed in with actual stuff Jesus said. It's junk. Okay. So we, and you say, well, why do you even make a big deal about that Pastor Anderson? Because you know what? I'm glad you believe the Bible and I want you to believe the Bible. I want you to believe it for the right reason. What is the right reason to believe? You know, the Apostle Paul said, he said, I don't want your faith to stand in the wisdom of men. I want it to stand in the power of God. Isn't that what he said in 1 Corinthians chapter 2? Now, you know, it's not about some kind of historical evidence and fossils and archeology. Look, the reason that we believe the Bible is because the Holy Spirit of God bears witness to the authenticity of the Bible because never man spake like this man because it's the power of God unto salvation. The Gospel is power. Matthew is just a tour de force. Mark is a tour de force. Every chapter you could quote all these awesome quotes from every chapter in Mark. Just it's just like you're just highlighting and the whole page is highlighted. That's how we know it's the word of God, my friend, because it's got the power of God dripping from it. Okay. And here's, here's why that's important. If there's some other reason that you believe the Bible outside of the Bible, then that's your authority at that point. You know what I mean? Like, well, I believe the Bible because of science. Then science is your authority. And then if science changes, then you're on a shifting sand at that point. Well, I believe the Bible because of history. Well, then history is your authority. And because history valid, it's like, thank you very much history for validating the Bible for me. Now I can believe the Bible because you, oh history, have told me that it's okay to believe the Bible. And you, oh science man, has told me that the Bible is, you know. At the end of the day, what's the final authority? My, I know where I stand. The final authority for me is the word of God itself. You know why I believe the Bible? Because the Bible. He said, well, that's circular logic. Okay. Fine. Call it what you want. That's the logical, okay. Because you know what? I believe the Bible because the Bible. Because here's the thing. There's no higher authority than the Bible. You know, the Bible says God could not swear by anyone greater, so he swears by himself. That's a circular oath. That's a circular oath. You just swore by yourself. That's not logical. This does not compute, you know. Smoke coming out the ears of the robot that's telling you this. But folks, the bottom line is, I believe the Bible because the Bible, God, when he could swear by no greater, swear by himself. I can't prove the Bible by anything greater, so I'll prove it by the Bible itself. There's not some other thing that I believe more than the Bible that's going to authenticate the Bible for me because I don't believe anything more than the Bible, so the Bible authenticates everything else. Let history be authenticated by the Bible. Let science be authenticated by the Bible, but nothing can authenticate the Bible except the Bible itself. Self-authenticating right here. The Bible is the proof for the Bible. That's not going to win atheists. You're right, but neither will your logic and rationality win atheists to the Lord. The only thing that can save the atheist is the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ that will cut like a two-edged sword and he'll be cut to the heart and believe on Jesus Christ and nothing short of that will get him saved anyway. So you can have all your apologetics and your arguments. At the end of the day though, we must just go into it with the assumption, the presupposition that Jesus Christ is the Son of God because the Bible says so. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. That is where our faith stands. Now what does this have to do with the resurrection witnesses of Christ Jesus? Well if you would, go to 1 John chapter 5. I got to hurry for sake of time. There's so much to talk about with the big subject like the resurrection. I had in my notes to go through everything in Luke 24, John chapter 20. We could go to 1 Corinthians 15. I mean this could be like a year-long series or something, right? But I'm trying to make a few specific points this morning. That you've got these resurrection witnesses and we just saw them in Matthew 28 and Mark 16 and when they go to tell people, we saw the resurrected Jesus, what is typically the response in Matthew 28 and Mark 16 what we saw? What's typically the response when somebody says, I saw Jesus raised from the dead? What do they tell them? I don't know. I don't think you did. I don't believe you. You're mixed up. You're confused. It was a ghost. You're seeing things. Didn't we see that? Even the people who saw it themselves doubted what they saw. Is that what the Bible said? Folks, we just looked at it and we could, you know, don't make me go to Luke 24 and we're going to see the same thing there. We can see the same thing in John chapter 20. In Matthew 28 and Mark 16, the people who heard from eyewitnesses doubted what they said. Then they see it themselves and they're still going, I don't know. Even when Jesus is telling them, go into all the world and teach all nations, the Bible says they worshiped him, but some doubted. Jesus is upbraiding them for their unbelief. He's saying, what's wrong with you guys? I'm right here. In Luke chapter 24, he says, hey, you guys have anything to eat? They give Jesus fish and a honeycomb. He eats in their presence just to show them, hey, Jehovah's Witnesses, this is a bodily resurrection. He bites into his honeycomb and his fish and he's basically saying, look, I'm here. A spirit doesn't have flesh and bone as you see me. He tells them, come handle me. Come on, handle me. Put your hand in my side. Touch the print of the nails in my hands and be not faithless, but believing. And he tells them, come handle me here. Let me eat food with you. Let me show you that I am a flesh and bone bodily resurrected savior. But why is this significant? Go to 1 John chapter 5 because I'm going to show you a better witness to the resurrection, a better witness than Mary Magdalene. I mean, how would you like to meet Mary Magdalene in the flesh and have her come up to you and tell you, I saw Jesus. I know Jesus rose from the dead. I saw him after he rose from the dead. Or how would you like to have actually been there and seen the empty tomb, seen the angel with the bright face and he's telling you he's risen as he said. We have something better than that. Look what the Bible says in 1 John chapter 5 verse 6. And of course you better have a King James for this passage because this is another one. But except the NIV doesn't just put a note about this one, they just completely get rid of verse 7 and the ESV and the rest of them. 1 John chapter 5 verse 6, This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the spirit that beareth witness because the spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree in one. Now what does this mean? You've got three heavenly witnesses up in heaven and what does it mean to be a witness or to give testimony, to testify or to witness? Basically you are saying, look, I know a fact and I'm going to tell you and verify that's what happened. I mean if this were a courtroom and you brought in people to give testimony, they swear to tell the truth or affirm to tell the truth, and then they get up and say, I saw xyz. May I remind you that you're under oath? Yes, that's what I saw and they're presenting evidence of their eyewitness account of what they know, what they saw, what the facts of the case are, right? Now later lawyers will argue about what the facts mean, the jury will decide what the facts mean, but what are the witnesses brought in to do to establish the facts, right? Because we weren't there, we didn't see what happened. So someone who actually was there, who actually saw what happened, comes in and tells us what they saw. Does everybody understand what it means to be a witness or to give testimony? So this is a courtroom kind of language. So the Bible says up in heaven you've got three that are testifying. You've got three that are bearing record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, these three are one, okay? What does that mean? Well, you've got three witnesses. And by the way, this proves that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are not all the same person because that wouldn't be three witnesses, that would be one witness. That's why Jesus said if I bear record of myself, my testimony's not true. The Father bears witness and I bear witness and it's written in your law the testimony of two men is true. The Father's testifying, I'm testifying. Now we believe in one God, but that one God exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. These three persons represent one God, but they are not one witness. Three witnesses. Three persons of the Godhead that witness to the truth of Jesus Christ. What are they witnessing to? The fact that Jesus Christ came in the flesh, that he died for our sins, and that he rose again. God in heaven is bearing witness to that and God isn't just one witness. God is actually three witnesses because there's the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Does everybody get that? So God's up in heaven bearing witness. But then we have three that bear witness in the earth. Three that bear witness in the earth, it says, the Spirit and the water and the blood. Now are these three one? No, the Spirit, the water, and the blood aren't one. But these three agree in one. So the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, they're in agreement because they are one. And the Spirit and the water and the blood are in agreement, you know, they agree in one. Now what does this mean when it talks about the three witnesses on earth of the Spirit and the water and the blood? Well if you go back to John chapter 19, because remember, who's writing the book of 1 John? Same guy. So we got the Apostle John saying we've got a witness on this earth, the Spirit and the water and the blood, right? What does that mean? Well if you want to keep your finger here, go back to John 19 and let's see the Spirit and the water and the blood back in John 19. While you're turning there, I'm going to start reading for sake of time. But in John 19, 30 it says, when Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished, and he bowed his head and gave up the ghost. Now another word for ghost is Spirit. Those words are used interchangeably in the Bible. Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, gave up the ghost, uh, breathed his last breath, that's what it's saying. So when Jesus bowed his head, he gave up the ghost. That's the Spirit right there, leaving Christ's body. This is not the resurrection, Jehovah's Witnesses, this is the death. Look at verse 31. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation that the body should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, for that Sabbath day was a high day, besought Pilate that their legs might be broken and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers and break the legs of the first and of the other which was crucified with them. But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was dead already, they break not his legs. They're breaking their legs to finish them off. And you know, many people have explained how when they're dying on the cross, they have trouble breathing, being hung the way that they are, and so they have to use the muscle in their legs every time they take a breath, and so if they break their legs, they suffocate and die immediately. They're trying to get these people off the cross, so they're breaking their legs. It's like a mercy killing, you know, giving the coup de grace, ending their life. But when they come to Jesus, Jesus is already dead. So they don't break Jesus' legs. What do they do instead? The Bible says, they saw he was dead already, they break not his legs, verse 34. But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side. And forthwith, forthwith means immediately, came there out blood and water. Blood and water came out. Now that's unusual, isn't it? You know, typically if someone were stabbed, you would expect blood to come out, and even if there were water involved, you know, let's say you have 90% blood and 10% water, it's just blood. Right? I mean, it's just going to look like blood. Somehow John sees this distinct flow coming from Christ's side of blood and water. Two different fluids coming out. This is significant because he says in the very next verse, verse 35, and he that saw it bear record. What did the Bible say in 1 John chapter 5 about the spirit and the water and the blood? That they bear record in earth. There's three that bear record in heaven, there's three that bear record in earth. Well John is bearing record, and what does he say in verse 35? He that saw it bear record, and his record is true, and he knoweth that he saith true that ye might believe. Now that's kind of a strong statement. He's repeating a lot there, isn't he? He's like, look, he that saw it bear record. He's saying, I'm not getting this from someone else. But a lot of the things that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are writing in the Gospels, they did not actually see it themself. You know when Matthew writes about stuff that only James and John and Peter saw, was he there? No. But John specifically makes the point, he says, look, when blood and water came out of Christ's side, he says, I am the one who saw it and I'm the one who's writing it down. He that saw it bear record. This is not secondhand. And his record is true. And he knoweth that he saith true, he's saying, look, the guy who wrote this is the guy who saw it. This is not secondhand, thirdhand. I saw it myself and I'm writing it down. And my record's true. And by the way, I know that I'm telling the truth. Now doesn't that seem a little extreme or redundant to make these three radical statements of I saw it, I know I saw it, this is firsthand, I know what I saw, blood and water came out of Jesus's side, I saw that he gave up the ghost. I saw him give up the ghost. I saw the soldiers come and find him already dead. I saw them stab him and blood and water come out. I saw it. I saw, I mean, John, if you saw it, then case closed. But here's what we have to understand. Go back to 1 John chapter 5 with that in mind. 1 John chapter 5, with that in mind, it says there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, and there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree in one. So which of these is more important? The fact that John with his own eyes saw Jesus give up the ghost and blood and water issue from his side? Well the Bible says if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. Does everybody see that? Verse 9, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. 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, but he that believeth not God hath made him a liar because he did not believe the record, and it doesn't say he believeth not the record that John gave. Why don't you trust John? Why don't you trust Mary Magdalene? Why would Mary Magdalene lie about this? Why don't you listen to Mark? Why aren't you listening to these, no, what does the Bible say here? This is the witness of God which he had testified of his Son, and it says this is the record in verse 11 that God hath given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life and 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. Go to the last place, 2 Peter chapter 1, 2 Peter chapter 1. So were there eyewitnesses to the resurrection? Absolutely. Mary Magdalene, Apostle John can verify that he was actually dead because, you know, there's a theory that says, you know, maybe he just kind of passed out, he swooned on the cross, the swoon theory or, you know, uh, he was just, he went into a coma, right? I mean that's what unbelievers will try to make up, stuff like that. So John is providing the eyewitness testimony saying, look, I saw blood and water come out of his side. I saw him give up the ghost. I know for sure that he's dead because in order to have a resurrection, what do you got to have first? If he didn't actually die, then the resurrection is not a resurrection. It's just a resuscitation, right? It's not believe in thy heart that God has resuscitated him. It's thou shalt believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead. He's got to be dead and buried and risen again, not just swooned on the cross. And of course he's dead for three days and three nights. You know, people try to compress that also with Good Friday, you know, like one day and two nights or whatever. But it's, you know, it's three days and three nights that he was, that he was dead and he was quite dead, but he was already totally dead on the cross according to John. So we got Mary Magdalene. We got Peter. We got John. In fact, according to first Corinthians 15, we got 500 brethren at once that saw him risen from the dead. Is that enough evidence for you? Well, you know what? I'm here to tell you this morning that my faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ is not based on the testimony of Mary Magdalene. It's not based on the testimony of John because I never met either of them. It's not based on the testimony of those five. I didn't interview each of the 500 brethren because they were all long gone. I'll tell you what my faith in the resurrection of Christ is based on. It's based on the record that God gave of his son, the record that God gave of his son. Well, you know, I'd like to hear from some of the eyewitnesses. Well, you know, the witness of God is greater. If we received a witness of man, the witness of God is greater. And people are constantly searching for some scrap of paper from the first century A.D., you know, somebody who was actually there that wrote something down. Folks, someone was there and they wrote it down. His name's John and you don't believe it. You know what I mean? Like, why are you going to believe someone else? Do you ever get those things in your Facebook every once in a while where it's just like, new discovery, the Roman centurion wrote in his diary that way, dear diary, what a day it's been. Jesus is crucified and truly he was the son of God. You know, I'll write more tomorrow. I'm a little perplexed right now. I mean, if that were dug up tomorrow, would that make you believe the Bible more or believe in the resurrection more? Because well, I mean, I know John said, I know Matthew, Mark, Luke and John said it, but now the centurion's saying it. Who cares? Folks, let me tell you something. We received the witness of men, but the witness of God is greater. The word of God is the supreme authority, the final authority. It's God's word that is the rock of our salvation. This is the basis of my faith. Okay? And if we appeal to something else, we're downgrading this. This is it, friend. Now look what the Bible says in 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 16, in case you're not totally convinced of what I'm preaching to you this morning. Let me prove it to you from Peter. John already told you. He's like, I was there. I saw the spirit in the water and the blood come out of his body. I saw the spirit leave his body. I saw the blood and the water issue from his side. I mean, I was there. But he said, but there are three that are actually bearing record in heaven and the witness of God is greater than even the witness of men. 2 Peter 1 16, for we've not followed cunningly devised fables when we've made known unto you the power and cunning of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased and this voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with him in the holy mount. Yeah, Matthew wrote about it. Mark wrote about it. Luke wrote about it. But Peter says, I was there. I heard it. I was in the mountain. There were only three of us. It's Peter, James and John. There were three of us. I was there. I heard it. Verse 19. We have also a more sure word of prophecy. So let me ask you this. Is the fact that Peter was there and saw it with his own eyes, is that the most sure thing? Is that what we're going to take to the bank? We have a more sure word of prophecy where until you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shines at a dark place until the day dawn and the day star arise in your hearts knowing this first that no prophecy of the scripture. So what's the sure word of prophecy? It's the prophecy of the scripture. That's more sure than just Mary Magdalene or the other Mary or Salome or Cleopas or any of these other people telling us. It says the prophecy of scripture. It's not a private interpretation for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, verse 21, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Whether that's Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or just some anonymous author of all kinds of scriptures in the Old Testament that are anonymous, bearing witness to Christ. It doesn't matter because the point is the word of God is our foundation. It's the word. It's the scripture. It's the prophecy that God has given us in this book that's more powerful than a testimony. Here's the proof. We're all here because we believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ because somebody showed it to us in the Bible. Am I right? I mean, we saw it in the word of God and that's why we believe in it. I believe Jesus rose from the dead because that's what John says. That's what Mark says. That's what Matthew says. That's what Luke says. But yet in the Bible when you have eyewitnesses walking up to people, I was just asking. At the tomb, it's empty. No, no. You didn't. No. No. But yet we walk up to people 2,000 years later and do we knock on doors and say, hey, I'm just here from Faith Forward Baptist Church. I just want to tell you that I personally visited the empty tomb right after Jesus rose from the dead and an angel told me that he rose from the dead. And I saw a guy and I thought it was the gardener and I went and talked to him. Turned out it was Jesus. Is that what we say when we knock on somebody's door? What do we do? We pull out the Bible and does it work? Do we get people saved at our church? Does it work? I mean, you know, who here has ever won somebody to Christ before yourself with the Bible in hand? You've won somebody to Christ before. Okay. So you know what? It worked. So what worked better? What worked better? The Bible walking up to somebody with no evidence, right? No eyewitness account, just the Bible. Like you can't present your own unique evidence or your own unique. This is your only evidence, right? Just the Bible, just the Word of God. And you're just getting people saved, getting people saved, getting people saved. Our church just keeps getting people saved, getting people saved. I'm preaching from the pulpit. People get saved, knock doors. People get saved, get saved, get saved, get saved. And this is the only evidence. Just this. Just the Bible. Yet you've got people walking up to people in Matthew and Mark saying, I saw it! And they're just like, no you didn't. So which one's more powerful? Which one's more powerful? Which one's more effective? Folks, if we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. It's the power of God. You say, why would people just believe what it says in that book? Because this book contains the power of God. This is not an ordinary book. It's a spiritual book. It is the Holy Ghost that works through the words of this book that were inspired by the Holy Ghost himself that lead people to faith in Jesus Christ. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by Mary Magdalene frantically telling us what happened this morning. No. And I'm not down on Mary Magdalene. You know Mary, you know what? Obviously Mary Magdalene was somebody obviously pretty important to Christ because he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. So obviously she's important. Obviously she's significant. And you know we could preach whole sermons about Mary Magdalene in scripture. That's great. I'm not down on Mary Magdalene. I'm not down on Mark. Just because I acted like Mark who? I'm not down on Mark. Look Mark was given an amazing privilege to pen the book of Mark. He must be a pretty godly man you know to have that honor. I'm not down on Matthew, Mark, Luke, John or Mary Magdalene or anybody else. But all I'm saying is that God's word is the reason for our faith. It's the Bible. And don't let anybody tell you that's a circular argument because you know if that's just some made up idea of thou shalt not have a circular argument. I don't remember reading that in the scripture. Some things do come full circle. You're not allowed to have a circle. I can do whatever I want. I just did. Folks my faith has found a resting place not in device nor creed. I trust the ever living one. His wounds for me shall plead. This I know for the Bible tells me so. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins and to pay the payment for our sin so that we could be saved and go to heaven. That we could have eternal life. Thank you for forgiving us and giving us salvation and adopting us Lord. And help us to share that message of the gospel with a lost and dying world. And help us to preach your word and to understand that we don't have a harder time convincing people of the gospel than Peter and John and Mary Magdalene did. But that we actually have a more sure word of prophecy. We have everything we need in order to get someone saved and in order for people to be converted and believe. Lord help us to use the sword and preach your word to the lost that they might be saved. And help us today to reflect upon your death, burial and resurrection as the most crucial and important event in the history of mankind. And in Jesus name we pray, Amen.