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and then then then then You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You You Good morning and welcome to Verity Baptist Church's finder seatsaker song books turn to song number 31 Song number 31 Let's go ahead and sing it out together on the first I serve a risen Savior Whatever He walks with me and talks with me He lives, he lives, salvation to impart You ask me how I know he lives He lives within my heart Song number 31 on the second In all the world around me I see his loving care And now my heart grows weary I never will despair I know that he is leading Through all the stormy past The day of his appearing Will come at last He lives, he lives Christ Jesus lives today He walks with me and talks with me A long life's hair away He lives, he lives, salvation to impart You ask me how I know he lives He lives within my heart You're singing well, sing it out on the last Rejoice, rejoice, oh Christian Lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujah To Jesus Christ the King The hope of all who seek him A help of all who find Not the other is so loving, so good and kind He lives, he lives, Christ Jesus lives today He walks with me and talks with me A long life's hair away He lives, he lives, salvation to impart You ask me how I know he lives He lives within my heart Amen, we want to welcome you to this Easter service and the grand opening service of our new building here at Verity Baptist Church We are so glad that you are with us The angel on the first resurrection Sunday said he's not here for he has risen as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay We're so glad that you're with us this morning We have many special things going on of course today We'd like to begin the service with a word of prayer Let's pray together, may we? Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you and we thank you for allowing us to gather together today, Lord and like we do every Sunday but especially this Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ Lord, we pray that you would bless the service today We ask that everything that is done today the singing, the preaching, the fellowship would bring honor and glory to your name Lord, we ask that you would bless us and help us Lord, we thank you for sending your son to die on the cross for our sins and for proving that he was who he said he was by the resurrection We love you In Jesus' name we pray Amen 36 on the first He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark Jesus, my Savior daily They seal My head Jesus, My Lord Jesus, My Lord From the grave He arose He arose with the mighty triumph for His foes He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose a victor from the dark He arose, he arose, hallelujah. Sing it well on the last. Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior. Good. He tore the bars away, Jesus. And it's strong up from the grave. He arose with the mighty triumph o'er his walls. He arose a victor from the dark domain. And he lives forever with his saints to reign. He arose, he arose, hallelujah Christ arose. Good singing. Amen. All right. Well, let's take our bulletins this morning. We'll look at some announcements real quickly. If you do not have a bulletin, just raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you. If you need a bulletin, just put your hand up and we will get one for you. We're working on getting seating for everybody. And if you would just be patient with us, I think the ushers are trying to find seats. If you are sitting next to your spouse or family member, maybe you can squeeze in and help create some seating. We'd appreciate your help with that. And of course the verse this week, Romans 14, 9, there in your bulletin, for to this end Christ both died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. And that's a good verse there. We like that. You open up your bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning, service 10 30 a.m. And we are glad that you're with us here on Sunday morning on the Lord's day for church. Of course, today is Easter. It's also the grand opening of our new church building, and we've been working away at it, trying to get it ready. It's still not 100 percent ready, but we are going to continue to work on it, make it better. But we are glad that you are here. We do want you to be aware of our weekly church time, Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m. We also have a Sunday evening service at 6 p.m. The evening service is different from the morning service, different songs that are sung, different sermon that's preached. Just one more opportunity to be in God's house with God's people under the preaching of the word of God. And then, of course, we have our Wednesday evening Bible study at 7 p.m., the midweek service. We call it the most encouraging service of the week. We want to encourage you to be with us for that, of course, as we study the Bible together. It's a normal service, just like we are having today, but we go through a book of the Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter. If you look at our soul winning times, of course, our main soul winning time is at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning. Soul winning is when we go out in the community. We knock doors. We invite people to church. And we preach the gospel to anyone who's interested. If you'd like to join us for soul winning, we have our main soul winning time at 10 a.m. We have additional soul winning times as well. For right now, Thursday and Friday are postponed due to a lot of the work that's being done here at the church building, but we do have a Sunday afternoon soul winning. Today being Easter, we're going to have a little bit of a different schedule. I'll give you more information in regards to that for those of you that are interested in soul winning here in a minute. First of all, we'd like to begin by greeting all of our guests. If you are a first time guest here at Verity Baptist Church, maybe it's your first time or maybe it's your first time in a long time. We appreciate you being with us this morning. And we have a gift we'd like to give you. As you walk out of the church building this morning, if you go out our main foyer, you'll see a little table set up. And on that table, you'll see these little gift bags. Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest this morning. There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have. But the one I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made. It's called Being Baptist. And it's very interesting. I tell people this is educational. It's entertaining. It will take you through the history of Christian people from the Lord Jesus Christ to modern days and specifically the history of the Baptist people. And we think you'll find this interesting. We want to give this to you as a gift. So please make sure you don't leave here this morning without grabbing one of these gift bags on your way out. And if you are a guest, we'd ask that you'd please take a moment to fill out the communication card, which is inserted in your bulletin. If you need a pen, just raise your hand, and one of our ushers can bring you by a Verity Baptist Church pen. And you're welcome to keep the pen as a gift from us as well. We're not going to do anything odd with your info. We're not going to sell it to anyone or anything like that. We would just like to have a record of your attendance. We actually would like to send you a little gift, but we need your information to do that. So please take a moment to fill the card out. When we're done with the announcements, we're going to sing a song. When we're done singing, we're going to receive the offering. And as the offering plate goes by, you can drop this card in the offering plate, or you can hand it to me after the service. I'll be standing in the back door greeting people on the way out. I'd love to get to know you. I hope you'll come by and say hello. You can hand me the card at that time if you'd like as well. But we'd love for you, if you're a first-time guest, to take a moment to fill out the communication card. If you look at the announcements there, we of course are a family-integrated church. What that means is that children and infants are always welcomed in the service. We do not separate children from their parents for any reason. We do have mother-baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience. All of the rooms have comfortable seating. They have monitors set up so you can watch the service and listen to it. Or our two back mother-baby rooms have windows set up so you can see into the auditorium. And if you have a child that's been distracting during the service or if you need some privacy, we'd encourage you to use those rooms as needed. You can get up during the service if you need to and head to one of those rooms whenever you need it. If you're not sure where they're at, you can look at the back of the bulletin and you'll see a layout of our church building. It'll show you where the restrooms are. It'll show you where the mother-baby rooms are. It'll show you where the daddy room is. So please make sure you use those. If you need directions anywhere, of course you can ask one of our ushers. They're the men in the burgundy coats and they would be happy to assist you and show you where to go if needed. If you need to be baptized, please let us know. We'd love to baptize you. And the baptistry's filled. The water's warm. We've got everything you need to be baptized. We've got the baptistry gowns for the ladies and shirts and shorts for the guys. And if you need to be baptized, you can go about it a couple of ways. On your communication card on the back, you can check off that you'd like information about baptism and we'll follow up with you and talk with you about that. If you've already spoken to somebody, then all you need to do is at the end of the service, after the preaching, while we're singing the last song, if you step out the back door, one of our staff guys will meet you there and we will get you situated for baptism. If you look at the announcements and upcoming events, of course today's Easter. I want to wish everybody a happy Easter. And it's the grand opening of our church building. We have special music today from the VBC Choir and Orchestra. We also have a special treat for the kids. We have Cadbury eggs. I think there's one in here somewhere. And at the end of the service, after the preaching, while we're singing the last song, we're going to have the ushers go through and every kid will get a little treat at the end of the service. Children, so if you behave yourself during the service, you pay attention, you'll be able to get one of these at the end as well. Just the kids, not the adults, all right? But we have the Cadbury eggs for the children. Of course, we'll get those out at the end of the service. And in your bulletin, you should have, I want to just draw your attention to you, you should have one of these emotional intelligence cards in the bulletin. We want you to be, just be aware of this. Of course, today's Easter. I'll be preaching on the subject of the resurrection. But next Sunday morning, we're going to begin a brand new sermon series entitled Emotional Intelligence, Biblically Raising Your EQ in All Areas of Life. This is something that people talk a lot about today, emotional intelligence. We're going to look at it through the lens of the Bible, and we're going to be studying this concept of emotional intelligence through the Word of God. I would say that the Lord Jesus Christ was the first person to ever teach on the concept of emotional intelligence. I think you'll find this sermon series interesting, and we want to encourage you. You say, do I need this sermon series? If you have a spouse that sometimes says things they shouldn't say, maybe they're rude and they don't know they're rude or something like that, or maybe that's you, then this sermon series is for you. I want to encourage you to be here with us next Sunday morning as we begin this brand new sermon series, Emotional Intelligence. I want to give you this card so you remember, and you can also use this card to invite somebody, bring somebody with you next week as we begin this brand new sermon series. I always tell people the best time to be in church is at the beginning of a brand new sermon series, and you can commit to be with us all of the weeks as we study this series together. If you look at the announcements there, of course we have our Next Generation Youth Rally coming up on April 9th and 10th. That's just a couple of weeks away, and this is a big conference that we have for young people, for teenagers. We've got teenagers coming from all over the country, and we even have a teenager coming from the UK, and so we're going to have a good time, a couple of teenagers coming from the UK, and if you have a teenager, you can register them for the Next Generation Youth Rally on our website, veritybaptist.com. You can also learn more about the rally on our website if you'd like. We also want you to just save the date. Mother's Day is a big deal around here, and it's several weeks away. We just want you to be aware that we'll have our annual Ladies' Tea. The Ladies' Tea is open to all the ladies, not just mothers, all the ladies, and we also have our special Mother's Day service that'll be on the weekend of May 11th and May 12th. We'll have a gift for the ladies, special music from the children's choir, and it'll be a great time. So I want you to save that date and plan to be with us for Mother's Day. Also, with regards to that, the children's choir is going to begin practicing on Sunday, April 14th. That'll be at 515 p.m. So that's before the evening service, and they're going to be practicing in the playroom. If you know where the big room is on this side of the building, there's a big playroom. That's where the children's choir is going to be practicing on Sunday, April 14th. So if you have a child that's 4 to 12 years old, you'd like them to be part of the children's choir, make sure they're there on Sunday, April 14th, 515. They're going to be practicing. They'll be singing for us on Mother's Day, and it's always special when the children sing, of course. There's other things there for you to look at. Our homeschool group, we've got a homeschool group with, I don't know, about 90 kids in it, and they are having P.E. this Thursday, April 4th at 10 a.m. So please make a note of that. You're part of our homeschool group. There's a ladies' weight loss accountability group that my wife leads on Wednesdays at 615. They meet in my wife's office. If you're interested in that, then you're welcome to be a part of that. There's other things there for you to look at. Don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service so that they're not a distraction to anybody. If you look at the back of the bulletin, birthdays and anniversaries for the month of March. This week today is Valor Roldan's birthday, March 31st. We've been praying for Valor, and happy birthday to him. And then we've got several birthdays and anniversaries this week. Anna Puris has a birthday on April 1st. Brother Johnny Cervantes III has a birthday on April 2nd. Brother Anthony Coffney, also April 2nd. Brother Joshua Gastelum, Sr., also April 2nd. Brother Warren and Ms. Brittany Lauterman have an anniversary on April 6th. And Brittany Lauterman also has a birthday on April 6th. So happy birthday, happy anniversary to all of those. Praise report, money matters, all those things are there for you to look at. I just want to make a real quick announcement. If you'd like to go soul winning this morning for one of our soul winners that goes out on Sundays, we're not going to have a 2 p.m. soul winning time. And also, if you serve in our cleaning crew and you help clean during the service, we usually have that in the afternoon, we're going to push those up. And what we want to do is we want to free up the afternoon for everyone to be able to enjoy it with their families, especially also the staff. So what we're going to do is the staff is going to begin cleaning for the evening service immediately after the morning service. And if you are part of the cleaning crew and you'd like to help them with that after the service, you know, after everybody kind of clears out a little bit, then we appreciate your help. You can see Brother David or Brother Oliver regarding that. They'll be in the foyer. And if you'd like to go soul winning, we'll have a map for you. You can see Brother David for that as well. They'll hand you the map right after the service. There'll be no soul winning meeting after the service. We want to free up the afternoon for people if they want to go out to a special lunch or something like that. So please make sure you make a note of that. I think that's it for all of the announcements. So we're going to go ahead and sing the chorus of the week, which is the insert in your bulletin. And we're going to sing it beyond the cross. This is a beautiful song. You've got to sing it with passion. If you know the parts, sing the parts. And let's sing it together on the first. Beyond the cross is a tomb that is empty. You won't find me there anymore. And beyond the tomb is life everlasting and hope forevermore. Good. We'll go ahead and sing it out on the second as we prepare to receive the offering. We'll sing it out on the second. And I saw the cross where Jesus once died. Sing it out like a choir. Amen. Good singing. We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time. And after the offering, we'll have a special music from our choir and orchestra. Let's bow our heads together. Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you. And we pray that you bless the offering, the gift, and the giver this morning. Lord, we ask that you would meet us and help us be with the preaching as well, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. At this time, we're going to have our choir sing for us. We are the church that chose it all. We are the church that chose it all. We are the church that chose it all. We are the church that chose it all. We are the church that chose it bright and bright. We have the imprint of this cross upon our lives. The highest price was paid when the Lamb of God was made. The perfect price was paid when the Lamb of God was made. The perfect price was paid when the Lamb of God was made. When the Lamb of God was made, the perfect and most holy sacrifice. We have one purpose, one mission, one reason to remain. To raise the cross of Jesus and magnify His name. We preach Christ who was crucified and risen from the grave. We preach Christ, the only one who has the strength to say. The message we proclaim is the power of His name. We preach Christ. We are the voice that cries the truth today. And of this truth, we will never be ashamed. So many doubters rise and reject the claims of Christ. God's unchanging Word will still remain. We have this moment, this hour to seek and save the lost. To speak the name of Jesus and point them to the cross. We preach Christ who was crucified and risen from the grave. We preach Christ, the only one who has the strength to say. The message we proclaim is the power of His name. We preach Christ. So we lift the name of Jesus for all the world to see. The message of salvation to all who will believe. We preach Christ who was crucified and risen from the grave. We preach Christ, the only one who has the strength to say. The message we proclaim is the power of His name. We preach Christ who was crucified and risen from the grave. We preach Christ, the only one who has the strength to say. The message we proclaim is the power of His name. We preach Christ. Thank you. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand and an usher will bring you one. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. We will read verses 1 through 20 this morning. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Keep your hands up and an usher will bring you a Bible. 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. Beginning at verse 1, the Bible reads, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand, but which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures, and that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve. After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles, and last of all he was seen of me also, as one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, that I am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. Therefore, whether it were I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how some say among you that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain. Ye are yet in your sins. Then they also 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. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. Let's pray. Father God, thank you for this day. Thank you for this opportunity to come together. Please bless Pastor in the message. Please let it bring glory and honor to you. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen. Amen. Alright, well we're there in 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. And of course today we are celebrating a couple of things. First and foremost, we are celebrating the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Of course today being Easter. And secondly along with that, today of course is the grand opening of our new church building. And we're so glad that you are with us this morning, that you chose to be with us for this Easter service. And of course we're there in 1 Corinthians 15. And 1 Corinthians 15 is often referred to as the resurrection chapter. It is a chapter that talks a lot about the resurrection, deals with the resurrection. It sounds a little echoey to me. If you could help me with that, I'd appreciate it. In verse number 1 there, we see the Bible says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel. This is the apostle Paul, of course, writing to the church at Corinth, which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand. By which, and he's referring to the gospel, he says, also ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preach unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received. How that. I'd like you to notice what the apostle Paul is going to break down here for us. Because what we need to understand in regards to the resurrection, is that the resurrection of Christ, the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ, is the major tenet of the Christian faith. There are obviously very important doctrines and principles and philosophies in regards to the Christian faith, but all of them are laid upon the foundation of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what we mean by that is that without the resurrection, nothing else would matter. Without the resurrection, nothing that Jesus taught, nothing that Jesus said would make a difference. And this is the major tenet, this is the major doctrine, this is the major foundation of the Christian faith, which is why Easter is such a big deal for Christians. And notice here, Paul says to the church at Corinth, he says, For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received. How that, notice number one, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Then in verse four, he says, and that, number two, he was buried, and that, number three, he rose again the third day according to the scriptures. And then he goes on for the rest of the chapter to talk about this idea of the resurrection. And I'd like to begin by just saying this, you're there in 1 Corinthians 15, please keep your place there, put a ribbon or a bookmark there, because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it. And turn back with me to Romans chapter number 10, Romans chapter number 10. If you can just help me with the speakers, if you just, whatever, stay on it. It sounds a little ringy to me, so just stay on it if you don't mind. Romans chapter 10 in verse number 9, if you're there in 1 Corinthians 15, keep your place there, 1 Corinthians 15, head back to Romans chapter 10. Let me just begin by saying this, the teaching of the resurrection, of course, must be received like anything in the Christian life, by faith. The Bible says that the just shall live by faith. And we believe here, of course, in the resurrection, and we accept that by faith. Romans chapter 10 in verse 9, one of the most famous verses in the Bible says this, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe, that's faith, in thine heart. Notice that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. We understand and we know that the teaching of the resurrection is believed by faith, accepted by faith, you must believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead. However, with that said, and let me just say this, you don't have to turn here, you're there in Romans 10, let me read to you from Hebrews 11 chapter 6, excuse me, Hebrews chapter 11 in verse 6, the Bible says this, but without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. We understand that we must come to God in faith, but without faith it is impossible to please him. He that cometh to God must believe that he is. We understand that the just shall live by faith, we're saved by faith, and the resurrection must be accepted by faith. However, with that said, let me say this as well, there is veracity to the account of the resurrection. The word veracity is a word that I'm using specifically. Let me give you a definition. The word veracity is defined as an observance of truth, truthfulness, conformity to truth, or a fact, accurate, or accuracy. And there is veracity to this idea of the resurrection, and the Bible teaches that we should not be afraid of looking at the Bible through the eyes of reason or even logic. In Isaiah chapter 1 in verse 18, you don't have to turn here, I'll just read this for you, the Bible says, Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. The Bible says, God invites us, we have to come to God by faith, but He invites us to reason together with Him. Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. And that verse, Isaiah 118, is in the context of salvation. He talks about, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. But He says in that context, come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord. And though coming to God and coming to Christ requires faith, it is a faith that will and can stand up to reason and stand up to logic. And what I'd like to do this morning is spend a little bit of time showing you from the Bible the veracity of the resurrection. Now we accept it by faith, but that faith will stand up to logic. It will stand up to reason. Just by way of introduction, you're there in Romans, go to the book of Acts if you would. If you go backwards, just one book, you'll go from Romans to Acts. And then do me a favor, keep your place in the book of Acts. I ask you to keep your place in 1 Corinthians. I'd also like you to keep your place in the book of Acts. Put a ribbon or a bookmark or your finger there or something. And we're going to go back and forth between 1 Corinthians and the book of Acts throughout the sermon. I'd like you to be able to get to those quickly. And while you turn there, let me just give you this. There are some techniques that are used whenever a historian or a researcher is trying to determine the veracity or accuracy of a historical account. There are certain techniques or principles that they use that they follow in order to be able to determine the accuracy, the truthfulness, the factualness of something. And three techniques that are commonly used by historians and by researchers are, they will ask these questions. Number one, is there early eyewitness testimony to the account that they are researching? Is there early eyewitness testimony? The second thing they'll ask is, is the story corroborated by multiple sources? Is the story corroborated by multiple sources? And number three, is the story plausible? Is the story plausible? These are techniques used by historians, used by researchers when they're looking at an account to try to determine how accurate, how truthful the veracity of an account. They'll ask the questions, are there early eyewitness testimony? Is the story corroborated by multiple sources? And is the story plausible? And I'd like to show you this morning that the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is, in fact, an accurate account of the events that we're told about in the Word of God. So let's just look at these different arguments that they use, and we'll use these as points this morning. If you'd like to take notes on the back of your course this week, of course, there's a place for you to write down some notes. And if you'd like, you can jot these down. For the resurrection of Christ, is there early eyewitness testimony? Is there early eyewitness testimony? Were you there in Acts chapter one? I'd like you to look down at verse number one. The book of Acts was written by one of the writers of scripture known as Luke. He also wrote, of course, the gospel according to Luke, but he's the author, the human author of the book of Acts. Acts chapter one. I'd like you to notice what he says in verse number one in the introduction to his book. He says this, The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus. This is Luke, who was also a doctor, a physician, and he's writing to this disciple named Theophilus. He actually wrote the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts as a letter to this individual to explain to him the life and ministry, the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's what he says. He says, The former treaties have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. Look at verse three. To whom also, this is what Luke is writing in the book of Acts, to whom also he, referring to Jesus, showed himself alive. The Bible says that he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs. The word infallible means incapable of being mistaken, incapable of being wrong. He says, being seen of them 40 days after the resurrection of Christ before the ascension, there was a 40-day period in which the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us, showed himself alive to many of his disciples. It says here, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. I want you to notice that here Luke is telling us that Jesus, and he's going to testify to this, that he showed himself alive after his passion. You're there in Acts chapter one. Keep your place there in Acts if you would and go backwards. Continue to go backwards into the book of Luke. You'll go past the Gospel of John into the book of Luke. The other book written, of course, by the physician Luke, Luke chapter one. Look at what he says in verse number one. Luke chapter one and verse one. And see, what we need to understand about scripture is this. Today, we, of course, the Bible is the word of God. We understand that. And we stand on the word of God. We believe it's the word of God. We believe that it's inspired and it's inerrant and it is preserved. What Christians will often do is we'll mysticize the Bible. And I understand it's a spiritual book. The Bible teaches that holy men of God speak as they were removed by the Holy Ghost. But what we also need to understand that these documents, especially the New Testament, were written by eyewitness testimony, eyewitness account of the individuals that saw these things. In fact, Luke tells us that the Gospel of Luke is a document that he gathered together where he brought all the eyewitnesses to be able to document the events that took place in the first century in Judea. Luke chapter one, look at verse one. For as much as many have taken in hand to set forth in order, notice what he says, to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. He says, I'm going to write this Gospel to document in orderly account, to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us. Verse two, even as they delivered them unto us, notice the words, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. Look at verse four. That thou mightest know the certainty of those things wherein thou hast been instructed. And what I'd like you to understand is this. If we ask the question about the resurrection, were there early, was there early eyewitness testimony to the event? The answer is yes. And what we need to understand is when we look at the New Testament, we look at it as the testament of the new covenant, as the word of God, as a spiritual book, and it is all those things. But what we need to understand that it is also the writings of a man named Matthew, the writings of a man named Mark, the writings of a man named John, the writings of a man named Peter, the writings of a man named Apostle, and when they wrote these documents, they were writing scripture, they were being inspired by the Holy Ghost, but they were also themselves eyewitnesses and they are documenting for us what they saw. See, the Bible is not just a spiritual book, although it is a spiritual book and that's the main thing it is, it is also a historical documentation. And if we just look at, if we just look at the resurrection and ask ourselves, should we believe and do we believe in the event of the resurrection in a historical sense like any other event, like Gettysburg, like the life of Alexander the Great, we would ask the question, are there early eyewitness testimony, and the answer to that question is yes. The Bible was written, the New Testament specifically was documented by people who physically, literally saw the resurrected Christ. You see, faith, the Bible tells us, is the evidence of things not seen, but it's not blind faith, though faith is the evidence of things not seen, we don't just blindly believe it because we just believe in faith, we don't have to have a faith that is illogical, we can have faith in Christ because his life, his ministry, his death, and his resurrection were confirmed by witnesses. Now I want you to understand this, there were eyewitnesses of the event, they saw the resurrected Christ, but this is also important that there were early eyewitness testimony, there was early eyewitnesses in relation to the event. Now keep your place there in Acts, we're going to come back that way, and go with me if you would back to the book of 1 Corinthians chapter 15, 1 Corinthians 15. And we're going to look at this passage here in depth in a minute, but I'd like you to just start at verse number 5, and notice what the apostle Paul says, he says, And he was seen of, this is the apostle Paul writing about the resurrection of Christ, he says, And he was seen of, and Paul is going to begin a list of eyewitnesses who saw the resurrected Christ, he says, He was seen of Cephas, this is Simon Peter, then of the 12, this is of course the 12 apostles, verse 6, after that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once, and then he says this, Of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. Now the apostle Paul is going to give us a list of individuals who go down on record in history saying, I saw the resurrected Christ, I saw the Lord Jesus Christ die on a cross, be buried, and then I had breakfast with him on a beach, and then I saw him in an upper room, and then I saw him alive afterwards, and I saw the prince in his hands and the prince in his feet, and they said, I stand up as a witness to say that I saw the resurrected Christ. What I want to point out to you in verse 6 is that Paul, at the writing of the book of 1 Corinthians, the epistle of 1 Corinthians, which was a letter that he wrote to the church at Corinth, at that time he's giving the list of eyewitnesses and he says, Of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. What does that mean? He says, The list that I'm going to give you, most of these people are still alive. He says that the writing of 1 Corinthians, these people, the majority of these people are still alive, he says some are fallen asleep, that means that some have died, some have passed, because obviously the book of 1 Corinthians was written several decades after the resurrection, but when he's writing this he's saying, The people that I'm telling you saw Jesus, they're still alive today. And what that means is that this was early, it was early in relation to the event. The eyewitness testimony of the resurrection was not only eyewitness, but it was early. And I want you to understand that this matters when it comes to researchers and historians, whether the testimony, the account given of an event, whether it's eyewitness, meaning they saw it, or whether they were told of it, lends to the credibility, lends to the weight. If it's something that someone is saying, Someone told me they saw this, that is less valuable than someone who says, I saw this. But along with that, the amount of time that goes by. If somebody says, I'm an eyewitness of something, but they document it 60 years later, that has less weight than someone who says, I am an eyewitness of something and I saw it just a few months ago. Even today in our criminal justice system, whenever a crime is committed, it's very important for investigators and police officers to, if there is an eyewitness, to try to get that testimony as quickly as possible. Because when time goes by, details can be missed, people forget things, they start to remember things differently. So it's not only important that there's an eyewitness account, but that it's an early eyewitness account. And I say that to say this, because today people want to make these claims and say, well the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, he was just a good man, and he was just a good preacher, and he just evolved through the centuries. After hundreds of years, the story changed to where he was born of a virgin, to where he died, and then he was resurrected. But that happened, and they'll call it, this is what happens with legends, and this is what happens with myths. And there's some truth to that. There is a myth and legend aspect of history that after a time, after a story has been told and retold and retold and retold for centuries, it can be expounded and it can be aggrandized, it can be changed, legends are created that way, myths are created that way. The problem with saying that about the Lord Jesus Christ is that when these individuals documented what they saw, they were still alive. These were not stories that were told over centuries, and sometime in the 4th century, in the 5th century, in the 6th century, Jesus evolved into being the Son of God. No, these individuals are documenting this within 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, there's no time for myths to be born in that amount of time. Legends cannot be spurned in that amount of time. The testimony of the veracity of the resurrection carries weight because of the fact that it's early eyewitness testimony. It's individuals that are saying, I saw this, and by the way, there's another term that is used in this type of research, it's called falsibility. And having eyewitnesses stand up and say, I saw it, allows them to be questioned, allows people to be able to question whether it's false or not. So when we look at this first question regarding the veracity of the resurrection, we ask the question, is there early eyewitness testimony to the resurrection of Christ? And the answer is yes, the New Testament is filled, it was written by individuals who say, I saw the eyewitness testimony, I saw the Lord Jesus Christ, I saw him die, and I saw him resurrect. The next question that is asked is this, is the story corroborated by multiple sources? This is another way that the veracity of a story can be documented. By the way, let me just say this, because you might think, well, here's what we know about the New Testament. The New Testament was completed by 70 AD, that would be about 35 years after the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. After 35 years of his life, we have the documents that are telling us, the eyewitness testimony telling us, I saw the resurrected Christ. You might think, 35 years, that sounds like a long time. Consider the fact that when we're talking about ancient documents, and the Bible is an ancient document, it's a document that was written 2,000 years ago. Consider the fact that the earliest writings of the life of Alexander the Great were 300 years after his life. 300 years after the life and the military adventures of Alexander the Great, 300 years we have an account of the things he did. And nobody says, well, Alexander the Great, maybe he lived, maybe he didn't. Everybody knows he lived. Just to give you some context, 300 years after the life of Alexander the Great, we have people documenting the things, obviously people talked about it, and it was orally passed down, but it was documented, that's the earliest we have. With the Bible, 30 years. 30 years after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, we have eyewitness testimony saying, I saw the resurrected Christ. Then the next question we will, is the story corroborated? Because obviously if one eyewitness sees something, biblically that's not even enough to do anything. The Bible actually teaches that before an investigation can be opened on anything, there must be at least two or three eyewitnesses. So if one person saw something, great, but that's not enough. If two people saw something, now the Bible says we can open an investigation. If three, the more witnesses there are of an event, the more that the story is corroborated, the more veracity that the story has. So we begin by asking the question. When we're considering the veracity of the resurrection, we ask the question, are there any early eyewitness testimony, and the answer is yes. Then the next question is this, is the story corroborated by multiple sources? We'll notice there in 1 Corinthians 15 and look at verse 5. The apostle Paul is going to give us a list of people who go on record. I mean sometimes individuals will be interviewed regarding some sort of event that's going to court, and people will say something like this, well I'll tell you this but off the record. And what people often mean by that when they say I'm going to tell you something but I want it off the record, they say I don't want you to quote me on that. I don't want you to hold me to that. I don't want to have to testify that I'm going to tell you this but I'm not on the record. Well these individuals went on record. They said I want to testify to the fact that I saw the risen Savior. Now to you it might not be a big deal that they went on record to say it, but for a first century Christian who could be in prison, who could have all their material goods taken from them, and could be put to death for stating I saw the resurrected Christ, it's a big deal. It's a big deal that people would raise their hands and say on record, on record, I'd like you to know that I saw the resurrected. Do you understand that you could be in prison for saying this? On record, do you understand that you could be martyred for this? On record, do you understand that you could be persecuted for this? I don't care. I want to go on record that I saw the resurrected Christ. How many individuals rose their hands for something like that? Well notice the apostle Paul documented it for us. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 5. And that he's going to give us a list of how many people saw the resurrected Christ. How many people go on record. And that he was seen of Cephas. That's another name for the apostle who we know as Peter, Simon Peter. And that he was seen of Cephas. So how many eyewitnesses do we have up to this point? One. One eyewitness documented. Cephas said I'll raise my hand. It might cost him my life, but I don't care. I saw the resurrected Christ. And that he was seen of Cephas. One. That's not it. Then of the 12. The 12 is a reference to the group of apostles, the apostles known as the 12, the original apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was seen of the 12. That would also include Cephas. So that gives us a total, that's plus 11 more. That would give us a total of 12 eyewitnesses. But that's not it. Look at verse 6. After that he was seen of above 500 brethren at once. Of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are falling asleep. People say, oh no, no, what happened was that these people, they just imagined it. They wanted it so badly to happen that they just thought they saw it. But wait a minute, 500 people all at the same time? Had a vision, 500 people all at the same time? Happened to see something that they assumed was Jesus? The Bible says that there was 5, Paul's saying, look, and again, we look at this as scripture, but Paul is writing this as evidence. He says there are 500 people who are willing to go on record right now and say, most of these, some of them have fallen asleep, some of them have died, but the greater number of them is still alive and they're willing to say, I saw the resurrected Christ. So we have 1 Peter plus the 12, which Peter is a part of, that's plus 11, that gives us 12. Then we have plus 500. That gives us 512. Then in verse 7 we have another eyewitness. After that he was seen of James. James was not one of the original 12, we'll talk about that in a minute, he was the half brother of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he went on record and said, I saw, I saw my brother die. And then I saw him resurrect from the dead. He went on record, James, that puts us at 513. Then in verse 7, it says after that he was seen of James, then of all the apostles. And I don't have time to develop this for you. Most people assume that there are only 12 apostles, but the Bible actually teaches that there was more than 12. There was the original 12, and then there was another number above the 12 of apostles that the Bible documents. In another passage of scripture, the Bible documents for us that there were 70 other apostles. So here when the apostle Paul talks about then of all the apostles, he's talking about that additional 70 group. So we have Paul plus the 12, which Paul is a part of, that's a total of 12, plus the 500, that's 512, plus James, that's 513, plus the 70, that puts us at 583. Then the apostle Paul says this in verse 8, and last of all he was seen of me. Paul says, I'm an eyewitness of the testimony of Christ, also as of one born out of due time. This puts us at right around 584, 585 people that saw, depending on how you take that number 70 and also how you take the number 12. The point is this, there's 580 some odd people who within 30 years of the event said, even though it'll cost me, even though I'll be punished for it, even though I'll be persecuted, even though it might cost my life, I would like to go on record that I saw the resurrected Christ. Now I'm not telling you this to try to create faith in you because like we began this morning, but without faith it is impossible to please Him. You have to come to God and you have to come to Christ in faith. What I do want you to know is this, that we're not asking you to have blind faith and we're not asking you to have faith in faith. We're not asking you to have illogical faith. The resurrection of Christ is something that must be accepted by faith, but there is veracity to the resurrection. When we look at, when secular researchers look at an event in history and they ask themselves, did this really happen? They ask the question, is there early eyewitness testimony? And if we ask the question, is there early eyewitness testimony of the resurrection of Christ, the answer is yes. They ask the question, is the story corroborated by multiple sources? And when we ask the question, is the story of the resurrected Christ corroborated by multiple sources? Is there one guy that said he saw Him one time and then we created this whole faith around it? Or were there multiple people, hundreds of people who rose their hand during their own lifetimes and said, on record, I saw the resurrection of Christ? The answer is yes. And the third technique or argument that's used to look at the veracity of a story, keep your place in Acts if you would and keep your place in 1 Corinthians and go with me to the Gospel of Matthew, the first book in the New Testament should be fairly easy to find, Matthew chapter 26. Here's the third technique, the third question that would be asked and it is this. Is the story plausible? Is the story plausible? The plausibility of the story. I'd like to define that word for you because I need you to understand it and I'd like you to understand it. The word plausible means this, appearing like truth or reason, seemingly credible or believable, making sense. When we ask the question, is something plausible? Is something plausible? What we're asking is, what is the likelihood? Assuming that they're telling us the truth, whether we believe them or not, what is the likelihood that that story was possible? What plausible has to do with possible, possibility? When you look at a story in history, you ask yourself, what is the possibility, the plausibility of this event actually taking place? And this is a valid thing, especially in religious context. There's a story in the Quran about Muhammad who lived hundreds of years after Christ splitting the moon. Well, people believe that, it's in the Quran and there's Islamic people who believe that, but if you look at it logically, you ask yourself, what is the possibility? Is it plausible that Muhammad actually split the moon or did something on the moon? And the answer is, eh. I mean, some people don't even believe that we went to the moon. When you look at a story, you ask yourself, what is the possibility? What is the possibility? And you do this with your kids, right? They'll tell you a story and they'll say, what happened? Who broke this lamp? And they're like, well, mom, we were all sitting here quietly. And an alien showed up and started playing baseball in the house. Not us, the alien. And they broke the lamp. And you ask yourself, hmm, what is the likelihood that an alien showed up and started playing baseball in the house? What is the likelihood that you were sitting quietly? We ask these questions and ask ourselves, what's the possibility of the story? Well, when we look at the story of the resurrection of Christ, we have to ask the question, what is the possibility? Is it plausible? Is it possible that this story actually took place? And I'd like you to consider some things. And I'd like you to consider this, if the resurrection didn't happen, some of these things wouldn't make sense. So what do you mean? Well, look at Matthew 26. Matthew 26. There's a lot to cover, so I'm not going to go through and develop all of these stories for you. You can look them up later and study them out in context if you'd like. In Matthew 26 and verse 56, the Bible says this. Matthew 26, 56. But all this was done that the scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled. Now, what we're reading is about the arrest of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane, and he's about to be put into judgment and crucified and all of those things. And here's what the Bible tells us about the disciples. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. The Bible documents the fact that all 12, because I'd like you to look at the argument from his friends, right? The Lord Jesus Christ had these friends, these 12 apostles. They were the individuals that were closest to him during his lifetime. And the Bible documents this, and this is not the only place, but I'm just showing this to you to give you a proof. The Bible documents that during the trial, crucifixion, the arrest of the Lord Jesus Christ, the disciples forsook, fled, and feared. None of them stood with them except for one, John. Think about this. Jesus spent three and a half years with 12 grown men who are following him, claiming that he's the Messiah, and when he's crucified, one of those men has enough guts to actually be at the crucifixion. Where are the rest? Where are the 11? They fled. They forsook. They got afraid. They feared. The Bible even tells us about Peter, who was the leader of the 12, that he not only fled and forsook and feared, he actually denied the Lord Jesus Christ. He denied even knowing him. After the death of Christ, the disciples forsook. They fled, and they feared. Now you might say, well, they're cowardly, and they were cowardly, but before we come down too hard on the disciples, understand this. That the movement of Jesus Christ was different than any other movement that we've seen in the world, obviously. I mean, here we are 2,000 plus years later celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Oftentimes when an individual creates a new movement or leads a movement, when they are then martyred, if they happen to be martyred, oftentimes that fuels that movement. The individual who creates the movement, whether it's a political movement or religious movement, the individual that creates the movement, when they die, that fuels the movement. And the reason that that happens is because when they are martyred, then there are other people who stand up and say, let's not let the dream die. Let's not let the movement die. Let's keep it going, especially for so-and-so who is martyred. That's a common thing. That was not the reality of the movement of the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, why was it different for Christ? The problem with the movement of the Lord Jesus Christ is that he was the movement. He did not come to say, I'm here to start a new movement. He said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He said, I am the movement. He said, I am the way, the truth and life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. He said, I am the resurrection and life. He that believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Now the problem with believing in someone who says, I am life and I am the resurrection of life, when he dies, the movement dies with him. Do you understand that? There's no keeping that alive. When the message was, this man is life and he dies, there's nothing to keep going. So before we get a little too down on the disciples for being cowardly and fleeing and running away, let's realize that there was nothing for them to really keep alive. You can't keep the dream alive when your whole message was, Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is God. Jesus is the Savior. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. And then he died. So at the death of Christ, what do we see? The disciples disperse. What do we see? The disciples flee. What do we see? The disciples curse Christ. They deny Christ. They fear. They're hiding. They're in hiding. But, but, not years later, go to the book of Acts, Acts chapter 4. Not years later. Not decades later. We're talking about weeks later. Less than a couple of months later. The disciples emerge on the streets of Jerusalem as bold, full of faith, fearless individuals. You say, what happened? Now there's lots of examples of this. I won't take the time to go through all of them, but let me give you one. Acts chapter 4. Look at verse 1. Acts chapter 4, verse 1. The Bible says this, As they spake unto the people, this is talking about them preaching, the priests and the captains of the temple and the Sadducees. Keep in mind, these are the same people who not years earlier, weeks earlier, killed Christ. Just weeks before this event. These same people, the priests, the captains of the temple and the Sadducees, crucified the Lord Jesus Christ and they came upon them, look at verse 2, being grieved that they, the disciples, taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Get the context. These people are the politicians, the religious authority. They're the ones with power. They crucified Christ. Not years later, weeks later, these disciples take to the streets of Jerusalem and begin to preach this message that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. The Bible says in verse 2, being grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead and they laid hands on them. When the Bible says they laid hands on them, that means they laid the smack down on them. That's a biblical term for saying they beat them up. It's not like, hey buddy, it's like, hey, what are you doing? And they laid hands on them and put them in a hole, that's prison, until the next day, for it was now eventide, look at verse 8, and then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, look at verse 10, be it known unto you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified. He's talking to the people that killed Jesus just a few weeks ago. Whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him did this man stand here before you whole, look at verse 13, now when they, who's the they? The priests, the captains, the temple, the side disease, the political and religious leaders, when they saw, look at the words, the boldness of Peter and John. Please understand the context. Just a few weeks ago, Jesus was being crucified, and the Bible says that a little maid, a middle school girl walks up to Peter and says, Peter, I think you were with Jesus, and he says, I know not the man. He's denying, he's afraid, let's not blame him too hard, they believe that Jesus was the life and the life died. They believe that Jesus was the resurrection and the resurrection died. They believe that Jesus was God and God died, so they fled, so they were fearful, so they were afraid. But just a few weeks later, they emerged from the darkness on the streets of Jerusalem, they're preaching with boldness, and the enemies of Christ say this, verse 13, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled and they took knowledge of them, notice these words, that they had been with Jesus. And please understand this, when the Bible says here that they had been with Jesus, it's not like, oh, they had been with Jesus at some time, no, that they had been with Jesus recently, after his death, during the resurrection, during the 40 days that he showed himself to the people. When they saw the boldness, they realized these people have been with Jesus. When we look at the plausibility of the story, we've got to ask the question, argument from the friends. Why would individuals who, just a few weeks earlier, forsook, fled, feared, denied, ran away, quit, quit the ministry, went back to their old lives, why would they, what could possibly have happened that these individuals would then emerge, not years later, weeks later, stand in the face of the people who crucified Jesus and said, you killed him, God resurrected him, we saw it. What could possibly be the explanation for that? And the answer to the question is this, that they saw the resurrected Christ. It's the only reason. They were beaten, they were in prison, the Bible tells us, the Bible documents that Stephen was the first martyr, happened during the time frame covered through the book of Acts, historically we're told that most of the disciples died a martyr's death because of the resurrection, because of the testimony of the resurrection, because they would not deny that they saw the resurrected Christ. What could possibly explain that? When we look at the plausibility of the story of Christ, we say what could change fearful, cowardly disciples a few weeks later to being full of faith and fearless, and the answer to the question is the only way it makes sense is the resurrection. Let me give you another example. We saw an argument from the friends, let's look at an argument from the indifferent. Go to John chapter 7, if you kept your place in Acts, if you go backwards to the book of John, John chapter 7, I just want you to see this verse, John 7 and verse 5, John 7 and verse 5 says this, For neither did his brethren, talking about Jesus, and the word brethren here is talking about his physical brothers, neither did his brethren believe in him. The Bible documents for us, you don't have to turn here, in Mark chapter 6 and verse 3, that Jesus had four half-brothers. The Bible gives us their names, James, Joseph, Judah, and Simon. The Bible also documents for us that during the life of the Lord Jesus Christ, none of his four brothers believed on him. None of them. Which is why we get the famous verse where Jesus says that a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own home. He says, other people believe on me, but my own family. And isn't it true that oftentimes the people closest to you are the ones that are least likely to believe you? And, you know, what would it take for you to believe that your brother was the son of God? So, the four brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ did not, did not believe on him. The Bible documents the fact that they did not believe on him during his ministry. And then he died. Now if your brother is Jesus, you did not believe on him the entire time. The whole time he's performing miracles, the entire time he's preaching sermons, the entire time thousands of people are coming to hear him preach, you reject it, you don't believe it, you say, I don't know, I don't think, I'm not going to become one of those followers, they reject it. Then he dies. Wouldn't the death of your brother only affirm and confirm what you already believed? That he wasn't the son of God? What's interesting is that after the resurrection of Christ, we see the brothers of Jesus, specifically James, emerge as one of the leaders in the early church. Let me show it to you. If you kept your place in 1 Corinthians, go to Galatians. You go past 1 Corinthians, into 2 Corinthians, then the book of Galatians. We already saw in 2 Corinthians that James, the half brother of Jesus, was one of the eyewitnesses who raised their hand and said, on record, I saw Jesus. In Galatians chapter 1 and verse 19, Paul is talking about when he first got saved and how he went to see some of the disciples, Galatians chapter 1 verse 19, Galatians 1, 19, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, then Galatians. Galatians 1, 19, here's what Paul says. He says, but other of the apostles saw I, none. He says, I didn't see any of the apostles, save. He says, except for these are the apostles I saw. James, the Lord's brother, and then he goes on to talk about how he saw Cephas as well, Peter. Go to Galatians chapter 2, look at verse 9. Galatians chapter 2, verse 9. Notice what Paul says about James. And when James, Cephas, and John, Cephas is Peter, John is the beloved apostle, who seem to be pillars, I just want you to notice that James, after the resurrection of Christ, emerges into the New Testament account as one of the leaders. In fact, Paul called him one of the pillars of the early New Testament church. If you go to Acts chapter 15, you'll find that James is actually the pastor of the church in Jerusalem. Now hold on a second. Jesus has an earthly ministry for three and a half years. For three and a half years, he's performing miracles. For three and a half years, he's teaching parables. For three and a half years, he's preaching the gospel. For three and a half years, thousands of people are following him, and his four brothers say, nah, I can't believe that my brother is God in the flesh. I just can't believe that he is the Christ. His four brothers, during the life of Christ, do not believe in him. Then he dies, which should do nothing but affirm and confirm for James what he already thought about his brother, that he was crazy. But then we see James emerge as one of the leaders, one of the pillars in the first century church. What could explain that? I'll tell you what explains that. He watched his brother die, and then he saw him resurrect. He saw the resurrected Christ. And though he didn't believe when he turned water into wine, and though he didn't believe when he broke the loaves and the fishes, and though he didn't believe in all those other resurrections, when you watch your brother die, and when you watch him go into the tomb, and then you watch him come out of that tomb resurrected alive, James said, I can't deny it. He was who he said he was. I'm just saying, when you look at the possibility of the resurrection, you gotta ask yourself, the only way this story makes sense, Jesus dying shouldn't change James. He already didn't believe in him. But after the resurrection, he not only believed, he became one of the pillars of the early church. So we have an argument from the friends, we have an argument from the indifferent. Let me give you one last one, and we'll finish up, all right? One last one. How about an argument from the foes? Go back to Acts. Have you kept your place in Acts? Look at chapter 8 and verse 3. Acts chapter 8 and verse 3. Here we have a man by the name of Saul, Saul of Tarsus. Acts chapter 8 and verse 3. As for Saul, notice what the Bible says about Saul. He made havoc out of the church. Before his conversion, Saul of Tarsus was the biggest enemy of Christianity. He made havoc of the church, entering into every house, and hailing men and women, committed them to prison. The Bible says that they laid the coats at the feet of a young man, Saul, when Stephen, the first martyr, was stoned to death. The Bible documents for us that Saul was well educated. Saul was prominent. Saul had a position of authority. Saul had a position of fame. Paul was at the climax of his career as a Jew, theologian, and specifically as a Pharisee. In fact, he was so prominent that he took it upon himself to bring persecution upon Christianity, and he was really the sole push behind the persecution of the church there in Jerusalem and early Christianity in the first century. And then, if you're familiar with the story, he becomes a Christian and writes most of the New Testament, and becomes the greatest evangelist, the greatest missionary, the greatest church planner. He goes from being the worst enemy of the Christian church to the biggest advocate and proponent of Christianity. Saul of Tarsus becomes the beloved Paul, the apostle. Let me just give you one example. Acts 19. Here's what they said about Paul on one of his missionary journeys. Acts 19, verse 26. Acts 19, verse 26. Moreover, ye see and hear that not alone at Ephesus, this is the enemies of Paul saying, not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that there be no gods which are made with hands. When Paul came into town, they said these that have turned the world upside down are come hither also. Paul became one of the biggest shakers for Christianity. I mean, obviously, aside from the Lord Jesus Christ, probably aside from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, the most important figure in Christianity is the apostle Paul, who was also Saul of Tarsus, who also had accolades and prominence and fame and was respected and he was persecuting the church, but then he gives it all up. He says, I count it all but done. And by the way, Paul did not live the rest of his life in comfort. He did not live the rest of his life as a theologian. He lived the rest of his life with beatings and in prison and being persecuted. And history tells us eventually he lost his life. For what? For the testimony that he saw the resurrected Christ. And you've got to ask the question, why would Saul, who was the self-appointed enemy of Christianity, leave his position of prominence to be persecuted, beaten and imprisoned as the greatest proponent of Christianity? And the only answer to the question is this. He saw the resurrected Christ. You've got to ask the question, why would Jesus have brother James who did not believe on his own brother during the early ministry and performing of miracles and preaching to thousands? Why would he then, after the crucifixion, when the crucifixion would only affirm and confirm what he already believed all along, why would he then emerge out of the New Testament as one of the pillars of New Testament Christianity, the New Testament first century church? Why? There's only one answer to that question. Because he saw his brother die and resurrect. Why would the disciples and apostles who fled and forsook, who denied and who quit on Jesus, just weeks later look in the eyes of the men that crucified him and say, you killed him, God resurrected him, and we don't care what you do to us. Why would they do that? Why would they lose their lives? Why would they be persecuted? I'm just asking you, when you consider the possibility of the story, because what historians do, go to 2 Peter chapter 1, that will be the last place we look at this morning, we'll be done. 2 Peter chapter 1, towards the end of the New Testament, if you go backwards from Revelation, you have Jude, 3 and 1 John, 2 and 1 Peter, James, Revelation, Jude, 3 and 1 John, 2 and 1 Peter. 1 Peter chapter 1. When historians and researchers look at historical events, and by the way, that's what the resurrection of Christ is, it's a historical event. Sometimes people say to me, I want you to prove to me scientifically that Jesus resurrected. Well, the life of Jesus is not a science problem, it's a life lived. We can't prove to you scientifically, it's a historical event. The question is, did Jesus live? No one disagrees with that. Everyone agrees that Jesus lived. Did he have a ministry? No one disagrees with that. Yes, he had a ministry. Did he die? No one disagrees with that. Everyone believes that. The question is, did he resurrect? Now for that, you must come to God in faith. But what I want you to understand is this, that it's not blind faith. There is veracity to the resurrection of Christ. When we look at it simply as a historical event and we ask the question, is there early eyewitness testimony? The answer is yes. When we ask, is the story corroborated by multiple sources? The answer is yes. And then when we look at the history of Christianity, when we look at the story of the movement that Jesus started, and then what happened after his death, and how people turned to Christianity, were murdered for Christianity, enemies became the greatest proponents for Christianity, the indifferent became involved in Christianity. When we look at the story, the only thing that makes sense is this. I serve a risen Savior. They saw the resurrected Christ. So though we must come to God in faith, no doubt about it, no doubt about it. For without faith it is impossible to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is the reward of them that diligently seek him. I want you to know that there is veracity to the resurrection of Christ. 2 Peter 1, look at verse 16. This is the apostle Peter. Here's what he said. We'll finish up. 2 Peter 1, verse 16. Here's his documentation. He says, For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. The word cunning means clever or deceitful. Devised means carefully thought through plans. He says we have not followed cunningly devised fables. He says this isn't just a story, this isn't just a myth, this isn't just a legend, this is not just a story that was made up. He says, for we have not followed cunningly devised fables when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice what he says, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. God says let us reason together. Let us reason together. And look, you have to come to Christ in faith. You must. But I do want you to know that there is veracity in the resurrection. There is reality in the resurrection. There is accuracy in the resurrection. You don't have to just believe in believing. You can believe in a faith that will stand up to logic. Jesus stood before his death at a funeral service for his friend Lazarus. And he looked at Lazarus' sister as she wept and he said, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. And then he asked her this question. I would say this is the question of the ages and it's the question that I'd like you to wrestle with this Easter Sunday. He asked her, believeth thou this? Believeth thou this? You've got to decide what you believe about the Lord Jesus Christ. Was he just a good man? Was he just a prophet? Or was he who he said he was? The son of God? The savior of the world? God in the flesh? Because the resurrection tells us that he was more than just a mere man. He really was who he said he was. The way, the truth, and the life. Lord we do love you and we thank you for this Easter service, this Easter celebration. Where we can take time to consider, we can take time to remember, and we can take time to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. Help us Lord always to remember this is not just a story we tell. It's not just a myth or a legend. We really do serve a risen savior. Lord we love you. In the matchless name of Christ we pray. Amen. I want to thank you for being with us this morning of course for our Easter service and the grand opening of our new church building. We're so glad that you are here. We're going to sing a final song as we're dismissed this morning, but I just want to give you just a few announcements. First of all, as we sing this last song we're going to have the ushers come through and we're going to give out the Cadbury eggs to all of the children. The kids did a great job today. Whoa. The kids did a great job today and we want to give them of course their little gifts. So make sure that kids wake up, pay attention, raise your hand, make sure the ushers don't go by you without making sure you get one of these Cadbury eggs on your way out. And then of course I want to remind you just a couple of things. First of all, if you're a cleaner or a soul winner we have a special schedule today. Just see the staff right after the service. If you want to go soul winning this afternoon they can give you a map for that. There will be no meeting at 2 p.m. Also cleaning will begin immediately after people clear out to give the afternoon to everybody so make sure you're aware of that. Also I want to encourage you to be back tonight at 6 p.m. for our evening service. Evening service is different than the morning service. Tonight I'm going to be preaching a sermon. We're studying the book of Numbers together. I'm going to preach a sermon called the prophetic symbols of the feast. And we're going to look at the Old Testament feast that have to do with the Passover and have to do with the first fruits. And we're going to see how they connect to the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Also our resurrection coming in the future. The prophetic symbols of the feast. I want to encourage you to be back tonight as we study that from Numbers 28 at the 6 p.m. service. And then of course I want to encourage you to be back with us next week. Next week we're going to begin this brand new sermon series called emotional intelligence. Biblically raising your EQ in all areas of life. This will be a very practical sermon series. It's going to help you with your relationships whether it's your spouse or your children or at work or your neighbors or church life. We want to encourage you to be with us as we begin this brand new sermon series next week, emotional intelligence. If there's anything that we can do for you, please let us know. If you're a first time guest, if you took the time to fill out that communication card, we hope you put it in the offering plate. If you didn't get a chance to do that, you can hand it to me after the service. I hope you'll come by and say hello or you can hand it to any one of these ushers or the men in the burgundy coats. I'd be happy to take that from you. Let me just say this. This was our grand opening today and we'd like to celebrate. We had 412 in church this morning. We appreciate all of you being here today. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We'll have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song. Turn to song 37. Song number 37. Sing it out on the first. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together is love once more. Together is love once more. Together is love once more. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together is love once more. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. There'll be no more sorrow when Jesus comes. Together is love once more. There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes. There'll be no more weeping when Jesus comes. What a blessing weeping when Jesus comes. Together is love once more. Together is love once more. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Sing it out on the last. There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes. There'll be songs of greeting when Jesus comes. And a joyful meeting when Jesus comes. Sing it out. Together is love one's home. Together is love one's home. There'll be no dark valley when Jesus comes. Together is love one's home. Amen. Good singing. If anybody has any questions about salvation and church membership or baptism, the pastor will be at the door. He'll love to talk to you or direct you to someone who's trained to talk to you about that. Let's go ahead and close in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this morning. We thank you for the great sermon that was preached to us, Lord. We pray that we would think about these things, meditate on them in our hearts as we go about our way. We pray that you'll be with the soul winners that go out today, and everyone else, bring us back to church safely this evening. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.