← ArchiveSunday, April 16, 2017DateApril 16, 2017SpeakerDr Josh BurnhamTextJohn 20Passages in this sermonJohn 200:331 Corinthians 159:38John 112:17John 312:21Ezekiel 3722:13TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00I know what some of you are wondering in your minds, is church this awesome every week? And the answer is yes, it is, but not because of anything you saw here. Because if you were to go to the grave of Christ, you would find it empty, because our Savior is risen. And because of that, we can worship the way we do. If you have your Bibles, I hope you do, and I invite you to join me in the book of John, the gospel of John in the New Testament.0:24John chapter 20, fourth book, New Testament, John 20, verse 1, this morning. This is what the gospel writers want us to do. Come and see. Mary, come look inside the tomb. Peter, walk inside. Josh, look in and you will find nothing. Because he is risen. He is risen indeed.0:54As we look at the scriptures this morning, do not think only of the cross. And do not think only of Saturday, the day of silence or the day of separation. Because we are here today at Easter, the day of reconciliation, the day of reconciliation, the day of resurrection, and the day of restoration in our lives. I pray as we read God's word that he would water you, that it would hit your heart, and it would change your life, as it has done mine.1:23So with that, let's read verse 1, John chapter 20. I'm going to read through verse 18, so stay with me. It's a very lengthy passage, but we will be better because we have searched God's ancient scriptures. Verse 1, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb.1:51She ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, that's John, whom Jesus loved. And she said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter, therefore, went out and the other disciple and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together.2:19And the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, that's John, stooping down, looking in, saw the linen clothes lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came and, following him, went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself.2:42Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed. Circle that, underline that, saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their homes. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stood down and looked into the tomb.3:07She saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? And she said to them, Because they have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus.3:34Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? And whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, Sir, if you had carried him away, please tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. And Jesus said to her, Mary, and she turned around to him and said, Rabboni, which is to say, Teacher.3:59Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. And so Mary came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things to her. Let's pray, Father. What an awesome God we serve.4:31The angels are at your service. The heavens and the earth declare your glory. And, Lord, who are we that we could even come and mention how awesome a God you are? Lord, this morning I pray that we would see with new eyes the empty tomb. That our minds would be filled with your glory.5:01That our hearts would overflow with your joy. And that our hands would be strengthened to serve you. Lord, so we ask that you open blind eyes. That you change stubborn hearts. And that we would live a life on mission for the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.5:31And amen. I want to give you two points this morning. Don't worry, they're lengthy points. But two points nonetheless. One is this. The empty tomb bids us come and see. Come and see. Look at verse 1. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark. We see this about the gospel. We see this about Jesus Christ. Christianity is not a spectator sport.5:59Christianity is not a spectator sport. Instead, Jesus bids us not stay or sit and watch, but come and see. So we have it all wrong. We think if we just come and watch from a distance that that's what God desires in our life. That's not what the gospel calls us to do. The empty tomb says, run, come see, come look. It is empty.6:28And now live within the power of Jesus Christ in our life. We are not called to be spectators this morning. Some of you are thinking, well, pastor, you have it easy. We're sitting and you're standing. We are watching. But when we say amen and leave here, God has called all of us to live for the glory of Christ in our life. And may we do so with unashamed abandon for our resurrected Lord. Verse 1 again.6:58Come and see the very first day of the week. It's interesting that every single gospel mentions this phrase. On the first day of the week. Why would the gospel writers mention that this is the first day of the week? Why would they not count back from the cross? Why would the gospel writers not say it was the third day after the crucifixion? Because for the believer, everything begins with the resurrection.7:25We mark our time. We mark our calendars. We mark our days by the resurrection, not the crucifixion. That is the power of Christ in us. This is the Easter story. This is the power of the gospel. It is not secondary or tertiary. The resurrection is our beginning. The resurrection is our start.7:53It is our power and it is the glory of Jesus Christ. So if we're sitting here today and saying, yeah, I know he rose, but don't forget the cross. Don't forget Good Friday. Don't forget Maundy Thursday. The gospel says, no, we count our time. It begins with the resurrection. If there was not a resurrection, we would be foolish. And so I ask you, do you believe in the resurrection? Because if you do not believe in the resurrection, we cannot believe in Jesus Christ.8:24It's a simple, that's what 1 Corinthians tells us. And before we, we say, well, everyone believes in the resurrection. Do you? I mean, do we really believe that dead people can get up out of the grave? I preached two funerals this week. And in neither of those funerals, one was for a 90-year-old man, one was for a 40-year-old lady. And both of those remind me that my days are numbered.8:52And every breath that I have is a gift from God. But do you know what those funerals reminded me of? I did not preach a single funeral this week and expect, as I was preaching over the grave, for someone to come forth. Because if they did, I was out of there. Right? Pastors, minister time is over. So we don't necessarily expect that. When we walk through graveyards, as we have out front, we don't expect the graves to open and people to rise again.9:18And so sometimes we believe intellectually that Jesus rose, but we deny the resurrection of the dead. And so I ask you, do you believe in the resurrection? Why does it matter? 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says, If Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, this is to the church at Corinth, there is no resurrection of the dead.9:49If there is no resurrection, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation. And so it is your faith. For if dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our faith is worthless. You are still in your sins. But I would not be here if I did not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.10:15C.S. Lewis said, If the thing happened, the resurrection, it is the central event in the history of the earth. If this happened, if what we read in scripture is true, it is the central event in the history of the world. And you say, well, I don't know about that. But what year are we living in? 2017, what?10:442017, what? A.D., what? After the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So we count our time. It is crucial. It is central in history. So I ask you this morning, Do you know the power of the resurrection? If I believe in the resurrection, it will change my life. But if my life is not changed, I do not believe. So I ask you, has the power of Jesus Christ changed you?11:15If not, the Bible asks you and bids you come and see. Come to the empty tomb this morning. Open your heart. Open your mind. Run to the, if you don't believe, run to the grave. Because you will find, if you seek with an open heart and an open mind, that is empty. And there is resurrection power offered to us. Come and see this morning. The empty tomb also bids us this way.11:45Look at verse 1 again. On the first day of the week, it is central. It is crucial. It is of first importance. Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark. I believe that darkness was not just a picture of the time of day, but it was a picture of Mary's understanding. She came in darkness. Darkness is a clear motif in the Gospel of John. Jesus says that he is the light.12:14John 1, 5, light shines in darkness. John chapter 3, men love darkness. That's us. Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. Jesus said, he who loves me shall not walk in darkness. Jesus says that he who believes in me should not abide in darkness. There's a very clear and powerful message in Scripture. Men love darkness.12:42That's why my parents told me, son, nothing good happens after 10. And I thought they were just old then. And sometimes I still think that. And so now we tell our kids, my wife and I, we tell our kids, hey, kids, nothing good happens after 7. Right? As soon as the sun goes down, you guys go to bed, nothing good happens. But that truth has a kernel of Gospel penetration in it.13:09But that truth has a kernel of Gospel penetration in it. We love darkness. And Mary is coming in darkness. And I believe today there are people that are sitting here listening to this and you've come not really knowing why you're here. You're here because it's Easter and you feel that's what, you know, culture says you should do. Or your mom or your boyfriend or girlfriend drags you here and you say, okay, I'll give you one shot. But you didn't know that you came not because you wanted to, but because the Holy Spirit is drawing you and opening up your dark mind.13:35So I believe there are people that are sitting here right now in darkness. You are Mary Magdalene. You are the person that Jesus has seen you face to face and you didn't recognize him. And I pray as God's word is preached that your heart will be broken over your sin. And that you will be convicted to sorrow and that you will be so uncomfortable in your seat that you will rip the pew from its anchors.14:01And when Christ calls you to respond and gives you freedom from your sin, you cannot help but leave the darkness and walk in the light. That is my prayer for you who sit in darkness right now. But there are some right now that sit in darkness, not because of your sins, not because of the hardness of your heart, but because of other people around you.14:23I believe that we have people here this morning that are in abusive situations and you feel like you cannot get out. And you're in that situation by no fault of your own because there is ugliness and we live in a broken world. If that is you this morning, Jesus is offering you light in your darkness. I believe there are people here this morning that are in tremendous pain or emotional torment or that you feel that you are in a overwhelming spiritual cloud.14:54And maybe you feel like you have had generations of spiritual darkness in your family. And you look around and you say, God, how will this darkness end? Because it was in my grandparents and it was passed down to my parents. And God, they have given it to me. And God says to you this morning, if you would come to me through your darkness, you would find that the tomb is empty and that the light of Christ shines in the darkest of night.15:25This is the power of the resurrection. Come and see the power this morning. Come and see the light of Christ. Verse 1, while it was still dark, she walked to the empty tomb. She didn't know what to think of the empty tomb, so she called her friends. Those friends happened to be Simon and John, two men that had spent most of their life with Jesus.15:51By most, I mean the last three years of his ministry. And you would think that anyone in Jesus' life, if someone comes to them and says, he has risen, that they would say, yes, we've been waiting for this day. And in verse 6, we see their reaction. Verse 5, John gets there first and saw the linen cloth lying there.16:17He did not go in. And verse 6, Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. And he saw the linen cloth lying there. And the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloth, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also, and he saw and believed.16:43See, this is why Jesus invites us all to come and see the empty tomb. Because many of us are hard-headed and hard-hearted. My parents always told me that I was hard-headed. And I didn't believe them until I had a son who's almost five. And now I understand the difficulty that they went through.17:09Because everything that I was as a child is magnified in my son. And he gets it honest. Sometimes I just can't get mad at him because when he runs through the wall, that's me. And so I had to spank myself before I could discipline him. But some of us are that way spiritually, are we not? That God is watering us constantly. He has sent you people to share the word with.17:37He has sent you to a church that loves you and cares for you. And he sends you people that serves you. And he has sent us his word that we would see. And some of us say this, Lord, until I see the empty tomb, I will not believe. And God says, come see. Some of us say, you know what, Jesus, unless I can put my finger in the emptiness of your hands where the nails pierced. God, unless I can touch your feet and see where the spear went in your side, then I would believe.18:06And to you, Jesus says, come and see. Because God is not scared of your doubts. He is bigger than our questions. He is bigger than our doubts. The empty tomb is greater than anything that we could ever struggle with. There is no greater struggle than death. And Jesus Christ has defeated that. Compare this resurrection with a man named Lazarus.18:35Listen to the book of John when I read this. Lazarus has died because Jesus didn't make a house call on time. They told him that his brother was sick and Jesus delayed. And he died. So Jesus comes to the tomb and he tells him to remove the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Now, before we jump to conclusions, if you go to a grave and someone says, remove the tomb, that's not going to be necessarily a nice situation.19:04You following me there? That's not something that we say, wow, this is awesome, a tomb. This is someone that's buried their brother two days prior. Actually, more than that. And they're grieving. And so this is bringing back memories of grief and not wanting to see this. Jesus looks into the tomb and says, Father, I know that you always hear me.19:33But because of the crowd standing here, I said this, so that they may believe you sent me. Now, to this point, nothing's happened. So can you imagine being in the crowd? Jesus is praying, but he's praying about you. Lord, I know that you hear me, but because of these hard-headed people, I'm going to pray loud. Have you ever had someone pray and you could tell it wasn't really a prayer. It was a prayer that you would listen to?20:02I don't like it when that happens. Dear Lord, I pray that Josh is listening to this, really listening. And God, I just want him to know that you're listening to me and that he would listen to me. Jesus is doing that that the people would hear. And this is what Christ says. After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out, bound hand and foot with linen strips. And with his face wrapped in a cloth.20:31And Jesus said to them, loose him and let him go. You see, in the ancient world, the purpose of grave clothes were to keep the dead body together. The reason they would wrap the face of a man with a handkerchief, it would be vertical, were to keep his jawbone in place. To hold the body together when it was decomposing. So do not miss this point. When Jesus comes forth, he does not come out.20:59He is not raised to life like Lazarus. Lazarus is raised to life in Jesus Christ and he comes out wearing his grave clothes. Jesus is no longer in the tomb. And what do we see in verse 7? The handkerchief that had been around his head, the same way that it is wrapped around Lazarus, was not lying with the other cloths, but is folded together in a place by itself. Now, why would this napkin be folded?21:28Because God's word wants us to know that it was whoever was wearing this had no more use for these clothes. That the person in this tomb was not coming back. And he did not need the grave clothes again. This is the power of the resurrection. This is the power of the empty tomb.21:55And in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, for those of us who believe, we have the same power of the gospel in the resurrection. We find the grave clothes tossed aside because Jesus is the life giver. It's the same power that we see in Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel, the prophet goes to this valley of dry bones and God says, speak to these bones. Now, as a preacher, I can kind of get what he's doing right here.22:23There are times where, you know, God calls you just to speak to people. You say, God, they're not going to listen. And God, I know they're not going to listen. God, you know they're not going to listen. And so you want me to speak anyway. So this is an exercise in futility. Have you ever had that with someone? This is the power of Christ. And I believe to some of you this morning, God is speaking life into dry bones.22:54And as sure as the word of God spoke, it happened. And I believe to some of you this morning, God is speaking life into dry bones. And you say, well, there's there's nothing that's going to give me refreshment.23:22And God says, you don't know the power of the cross and you don't know the power of the resurrection. And you don't know the power of the empty tomb. And if you doubt this morning, maybe you believe in Jesus, but you just doubt the power. God says, come and see, come and look at the empty tomb. Peter, run in. John, look and believe this is the power of Christ. The power that looks at Lazarus and says, loose him, let him go.23:50This is the power of Christ over our sins. When he gives us new life, we still are wrapped in our grave clothes. And Jesus looks at that and says, release him, let him go. And there are times in our life like Lazarus, we know that Christ gives us power. But, you know, some of us, there are times that we like our grave clothes. They're comfortable. But there are times that we look at the tomb, that we look at our sin that Christ has released us from.24:20And we say, Lord, I know you've loosed the grave clothes, but, Father, I really like the headband. It's really in. God, you don't know how long I've been drinking that. Or, God, you don't know how much money I make. God, I know you've released me from that, but I can't let it go. This is the power of Christ in your life. That he looks at us and says, let Lazarus go.24:50I have called him to life. And is God calling you to life? Is he calling you to release the chains that are sitting around your neck and around your ankles? This is the power of Christ. So what is gagging or binding you today? Are you wearing grave clothes? Come and see. Come and see the power of Jesus Christ. You say, well, Josh, why do you say over and over again, come and see?25:16Why would you say that? Why would God's word say, come and see? I'm glad you asked. Verse 8. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also. And he saw and he believed. This is the point of God's word here in the gospel. That John saw by seeing.25:44And when he saw, he believed. This is the power of Christ in us. It's a very powerful and vivid explanation. This cannot be dreamed up. Who would make a story up like this? The world, the Roman authorities were so worried that the disciples would make this story up that they situated guards, Roman guards outside of the tomb.26:05That if anyone tried to roll away the stone, that they would be killed on the spot. And we see that even in John and Peter did not believe when they went to the tomb. And this cannot be made up. And yet, what a beautiful, marvelous story it is. You see, we are called to look around.26:33To open our eyes to the reality of Jesus Christ. We know that in Romans, that from the beginning of the world, the invisible attributes of God are clearly displayed in this world. So that none of us can look around and say, God, I don't see you. We say, God, I see war and I see hurting and I see pestilence.26:59And God, I see young people dying. And God, I see churches in our area, people killed for their faith. And God, I see people in Egypt killed for their faith. God, I don't see you, but I see a lot of suffering. And God says, I have given you everything you need to believe. He says, come and see. You see, historically, in the early church, the rapid growth of the church is unexplainable unless you include the empty tomb.27:25John believing is unexplainable unless you include the empty tomb. And this is my prayer for those of us who sit here right now. I pray that my life would be unexplainable unless you add the empty tomb. I don't want the world to look at me and say, you know what? Josh was a really good person.27:55He did a lot of great things. I pray that people would see me one day and say, you know what? I don't know how he does it. I can't explain what's going on in his life unless, unless the empty tomb is real. So in your life, can you explain the way you live apart from the tomb? I pray that there is no other explanation. God says, come and see.28:24Open your eyes. For those of you who have been of faith for many, many years, God says, don't get comfortable. Don't go back to the tomb. Don't put back the old clothes. Live a life that is unexplainable unless you add in the resurrection. Oh, that we would have that power in our lives. John saw and believed, and his life was never the same. Peter saw and believed, and his life was never the same.28:54Josh saw and believed, and my life has never been the same. Come and see. Verse 11. Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down, and she looked into the tomb. For many of us, Easter doesn't bring back memories of joy and family, but it brings back tears. I want to speak to that reality in your life.29:25If you are here today, and today is a day of sadness, you know that God has died for you. You know that he has raised you again from the, he has raised Christ from the dead, and he will raise you from the dead. But maybe you're here, and you are here through tears. I want you to know that you are not alone. That Mary went to the tomb weeping. Verse 14, Jesus said to her in verse 13, Woman, why are you weeping?29:52Notice, he did not say, woman, quit crying. What's your problem? That's not what Jesus said. He just asked her, why are you weeping? And we see this with the empty tomb, that if you would look to Jesus through your tears, he didn't ask you to wipe your tears away. If you would look to the power of Christ through your tears, he would show you that your tears have purpose. And that in Jesus Christ, the purpose is that even in my pain, I can honor him.30:22I can move towards Christ, not away from him. A wise man once said that tears are the telescope through which men see far into heaven. I love that, that tears are the telescope that men can see far into heaven. But for many of us though, tears are not something that pushes us to Christ, but tears interfere.30:47So I want to speak to that very briefly. Verse 14. When she saw that he had said this, when she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and she did not know that it was Jesus. Why did Mary not know that it was Jesus? I don't know who you think Jesus is, but most of you have probably not assumed he was the Christ.31:15I believe that there are things in our life that we say, Lord, if you would do this, then I would believe. God, if you would take my pain away, or that you would say, God, if you had not let this happen, then I would have believed. For some of you, maybe that thing is church. Maybe you have grown up in church and the church is keeping you from seeing the freedom in Christ.31:42That way you're here and you say, well, Pastor, I've been here every year of my life for Easter. Of course I know Jesus. No, Mary sat with him face to face and missed who he was. So what is you, if you do not know him personally, what keeps you from seeing Christ and knowing him? Is that a pain? Is that tears?32:12Is that a hurt? Maybe the church has hurt you. And you say, well, I can't put my faith in Christ because these people, they are not living as Christ. Let me say, I know how you feel. I've probably been hurt in church more than most of you because I'm here daily. And if every hurt drove me away, I would be long gone. But I've learned when people curse me that because of Christ, I can bless them.32:36What is keeping you from leaning into Christ? If you are honest and if you would say, Lord, I will give that to you this morning, he will take it. I bid you come and see. And see that Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Hebrews says, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Would you look to him today?33:05There is power in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But not only does Jesus bid us come and see, but he also bids us this way. Come and listen to the empty tomb. Come and listen to the Savior. Look at verse 16. She didn't recognize Jesus and Jesus said to her. So he didn't sit her down and say, Mary, let me explain something to you. Let me explain all the prophecies that are leading up to this. Mary, don't you realize I told you that we're going to die and raise again.33:34Mary, you need to sit down and let's have a theological discussion. Here is God's sermon to Mary. Ready? Mary. Listen to the power of the gospel. Jesus said to her, right? Mary. Listen to this. There is no powerful sound in the world than to hear the Savior call your name.34:00There is nothing on earth like it. And Mary recognized the voice of her Savior. And we don't know what caused her blindness. We don't know why Mary couldn't recognize. She thought he was the gardener. We don't know why she couldn't recognize Christ. And maybe you're that person today. You don't know why you're struggling to recognize Jesus.34:29But God knows. And with one word, he can change your reality. And that word is this. Josh. That word is Brad. Or Larry. Or Bob. God is calling your name. And if you will listen, there is no more powerful sermon. There is no more powerful song. There is nothing greater than to hear the one who is in the tomb and no longer call your name.34:58Are you listening to that? And if you say, well, Pastor, I get it. I put my faith in Jesus. In 34 A.D., a year after he rose, I put my faith in him. Let me say this to you. When God continues to call my name, it never gets old. Because God knows when I'm weeping. And when I'm weeping, he can say, Josh. And I can wipe the tears away and say, God, I know you're still on your throne.35:26That I can stand at the grave of someone who's 46 and say, God, this shouldn't happen. And God says, we live in a broken world. Trust me. And I say, God, I don't know how, but I will. Are you listening to the voice of God? Not only, though, did Jesus call Mary's name, but we see this truth, and we will end here. But when Jesus calls Mary's name, what did she do?35:56She didn't say, who are you speaking? Where's Mary? Where is she? This is what the Bible says about those who seek Christ. That God knows his sheep, and the sheep know his voice. This is the truth of the power of the gospel in our lives. That we, as children of God, if you know Christ, you recognize his voice.36:24This is the power of Christ. She immediately says, Rabboni. You see, the resurrection allows me to listen to Jesus. The resurrection allows me to listen. So if you are here this morning and you have never heard the voice of Jesus call you by name. Friend, it is not because he doesn't know your name.36:52He knows every hair on your head. Some of you, maybe not as many hairs on your head. But he knows them all. And before I had a single hair on my head, when I was born bald, he knew them. And before my parents found a name for me, God knew it. And before I listened to him call me by name, he was calling for many years prior.37:20So if you are here today and you say, well, I have never heard God call me by name. I'm just going to simply ask you this morning, will you listen? Will you come to the empty tomb and say, God, I've never heard you, but I'll give you one chance. Because if you come to the empty tomb and look, if you come to the empty tomb and listen, you will hear and you will see.37:49And you have no other option but to believe. Because I've been to a garden tomb. I've been to a tomb in Israel that they think might be the tomb. And when I walked in, that tomb is still empty. This is the power of Jesus Christ. I want to conclude with this story. A story near and dear to my heart. I have an aunt, Krista, who I love. And she has Down syndrome. So when I read this story recently, it captivated my heart.38:16The little boy named Philip that was born with Down syndrome. And he was eight years old and he grew up in church and he was in Sunday school. For this little boy, it's because kids are kids and seven, eight, nine year old, they knew that something was different about Philip. And so he struggled with that and they struggled with Philip because he was different. He wasn't like them.38:45He learned at a different pace and he thought differently. Let me say this about people with Down syndrome. They love differently than you and I. They love better, by the way. And so the teacher one day for Easter brought the old legs pantyhose containers. Remember, remember that? They look like eggs. Some of you are thinking, well, what's that? You can get on that interweb thing later and you can ask Siri to Google it or whatever you guys do. Right. I'll put one on Instagram when I get one for you.39:14And here was her message to the kids. She said, take this and we're going to find something outside of the church that represents life and life in Jesus Christ. So the kids ran, you know, they're seven years old, they ran and went crazy. Some of them picked flowers, some of them found dirt, some of them found bugs. And they went in and they had a show and tell. They would all tell what they had opened. So one by one, the kids are opening their little Easter egg and they're saying, man, this is a bug.39:42And God creates bugs. One said, this is a flower and the flowers are so beautiful and God sends rain and he gives them life. And then one little egg opened and the kids said, it's empty. Someone didn't do their assignment. They started ridiculing that child. And Philip speaks up and says, that's my egg. He said, there's no more greater life than the empty tomb.40:09And from that day on, they said that Philip became a full member of the class. The story doesn't end well, though. That year, Philip catches an infection and dies. It's an infection that most kids would survive, but he passes away. And at the funeral, I would imagine there are no dry eyes at that, that the seventh grade class, seven-year-old class marched in and they had Easter eggs.40:39seven-year-old class marched in and they had Easter eggs.40:50And they put them by the casket. As if to say Philip is right, there is no greater power in the world than the empty tomb. So I say that to let you know Philip is right. If you are here today and you do not believe, you have clearly heard the truth of Jesus Christ.41:16And it is real as I stand before you. So, Pastor, what do I need to know? You need to know this, that God so loves you. He so loved me that he sent his only son that whoever would believe in him would not perish but have eternal life. So, Pastor, I believe that. I got it.41:46Now what? Well, then it's not enough to believe. We must respond. So, Pastor, how do I respond? The Bible says this, if you would believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, and if you would confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved. Now let me caution you there. If you surrender your life to Christ, your life will never be the same. So, we are not asking you to come to this church and get cleaned up.42:14I'm saying that we live a life that is unexplainable compared to the riches of the power of Christ. And I cannot say Jesus is Lord with my chest out and my hands high. I can only say Jesus is Lord with head bowed and knees bent. And say, Lord, I was guilty and you died for me. And Lord, but you rose again to give me victory over my sins. He is calling you by name.42:43Come and listen. Come and see that he is good. His mercy endures forever. We're going to give you a time to respond to that right now. If you need to respond to the grace in your life, this is not a call to those who are lost and blind in their sin. Maybe you've been a believer for 40 years. Maybe God's calling you to respond in celebration today. Won't you do that? Won't you stand up and say, Lord, I love the resurrection.43:12I love the power. Would you respond to the grace that is offered to you this morning? Do not let this chance pass you by. Friends, come see. Come listen. Our Savior reigns. He is risen. He is risen indeed. Let's pray. Thank you.43:33Thank you.More sermons on John →
