Risen... Believe It or Not!
by Greg Hanson
Sunrise Wesleyan Church
April 20, 2003
Main
Passage: Matthew 28:1-10, 16-20
Let me give you a quiz. Take your pen and look at the notes you would
have found in your Sunrise Update this morning. At the top you’ll see a
series of dates. Each one is a specific date in history when something
significant happened. Some are easier than others. Just take a few
seconds, scan the dates, and if you think you know what happened on
those dates you can write it down in the blank. Then we’ll see how you
did. Okay, go.
October
14, 1492 - Christopher Columbus landed in the Americas
September 28, 1972 - Paul Henderson scored the goal of the century
allowing Canada to win the Summit Series over the Soviets.
December 7, 1941 - Pearl Harbour was attacked which ushered the U.S.
into the Second World War
July 1, 1867 - Canadian Confederation
October 10, 1998 - Greg and Shera Hanson were married (Hey, I made up
the quiz and as far as I’m concerned that was pretty significant.)
October 31, 1517 - Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the Wittenberg
Door, which essentially started the Protestant Reformation
January 28, 1986 - The Challenger Explosion (I still remember where I
was when I heard… in High School on my way to History class.)
July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon
April 15, 1912 - The Sinking of The Titanic
December 19, 1997 - The Releasing of The Titanic
Those
were all significant dates in history. But the reason we’re here this
morning is to recognize the most important day of all. Easter. Easter
is the single most important day of the year, and the first Easter was
the pivotal point of history. Why?
Why is Easter important?
Because it’s the day that God conquered death and offered life to
humankind.
But what does Easter mean to me today, and what does it mean to you
today? Well, those are the questions I want to spend the next little
while answering, and then I’m going to give you an opportunity to do
something about it. I’m going to ask you two questions: Do you believe,
and do you receive? Do you believe in Jesus, the Son of God who
conquered death and rose from the grave? And do you receive what He is
offering to you today?
Before we get to that, though, let me give you the four “I Cans” of
Easter.
The Four “I Cans” of Easter
The first one is this:
1. I can have confidence in Jesus.
Because if the resurrection is true, it proves one thing: Jesus was who
he said he was.
Who did Jesus claim to be? He claimed to be God. And if the
resurrection is true it proves it. That’s a big “if”, though. How do I
know that the resurrection is true? What proof is there? That’s a big
question and it’s a good question. I don’t know all the answers and if
I did we certainly wouldn’t have time to cover them all this morning.
But let me give you just 5 of the proofs that Jesus rose from the dead.
Proofs Jesus Rose From The Dead:
A. The change in the disciples.
John Stott is a best-selling author, a professor, and one of the
leading theologians in the world today. And he says;
“Perhaps the transformation of the disciples is the greatest evidence
of all for the resurrection… When Jesus died, they were heartbroken,
confused and frightened. But within less than two months they came out
of hiding, full of joy, confidence and courage. What can account for
this dramatic transformation? Only the resurrection, together with
Pentecost which followed soon afterwards.”
~ John Stott
(Second part taken from “The Contemporary Christian” p. 80)
And this bizarre group of mostly uneducated men went on to change the
world.
B. Eyewitness accounts.
Do you know that there are eleven times recorded in the Bible that
Jesus appeared to people after his death. He appeared to individuals,
to the disciples, and one time appeared to a group of over 500 people.
When the Biblical accounts were being written most of these people were
still alive and could have denied that it ever happened. But they
didn’t. Some people today claim that these were all hallucinations. And
I could understand that if Jesus only appeared to individuals. It could
have simply been wish fulfillment. But he didn’t just appear to
individuals. He appeared to groups of people, too. And hallucinations
are not group events, at least not outside of the 1960’s. And the truth
is that having 500 different people experience the same hallucination
at the same time would be a greater miracle than the resurrection
itself!
C. Modern-day accounts.
We’ve already talked about the change that happened in the lives of the
disciples. But do you realize that Jesus is still changing lives today?
Many of us here know that to be true by personal experience. We have a
relationship with Him today. Our lives have been transformed. And that
power To change is only a reality because Jesus rose from the dead and
is alive today.
D. The Roman and Jewish leaders couldn’t
disprove it.
They tried to, they desperately wanted to, but they couldn’t. They
couldn’t produce the body, they couldn’t show that the body was stolen,
they couldn’t say that he was in a different grave, they couldn’t
explain why the highly-trained guards failed, and they couldn’t explain
away the appearances. They had all the motivation and power in the
world to squash this new religion, but they simply weren’t able to do
it because they couldn’t disprove it.
E. The disciples were willing to die for
their beliefs.
Do you realize the disciples had nothing to gain? They would be beaten,
imprisoned, persecuted, and killed for their beliefs. Now, I am aware
that there have been plenty of people throughout history who have died
for their faith, whether what they believed was true or not. We’ve seen
this in recent days with terrorists and suicide bombers. This is true:
People will die for their faith if they believe it’s true.
But this is equally true:
People will not die for their faith if they know it’s false.
Nobody knowingly dies for a lie.
John Singleton Copley, one of the greatest legal minds in history,
three times the High chancellor of England, declared:
“I know what evidence is, and evidence like that for the resurrection
has never broken down yet.”
~ John Singleton Copley
Lee Stobel has a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale and was an
award-winning journalist for thirteen years at the Chicago Tribune. And
when it came to Jesus he was a skeptic and an atheist. This is how he
described his position:
“I had read just enough philosophy and history to find support for my
scepticism—a fact here, a scientific theory there, a pithy quote, a
clever argument. Sure, I could see some gaps and inconsistencies, but I
had a strong motivation to ignore them: a self-serving and immoral
lifestyle that I would be compelled to abandon if I were ever to change
my views and become a follower of Jesus.”
~ Lee Strobel, The Case For Christ p. 12
But when he was forced to re-evaluate the evidence for Jesus, he had to
conclude that the resurrection did occur, that Jesus was who he said he
was. And in fact he’s put out an excellent book that you might want to
get a hold of. It’s called “The Case For Christ.” Just a great book
examining the evidence.
Easter means that I can have confidence in Jesus, because he is who He
says He is. The proof is there: He is risen! But you must decide: Do
you believe it or not?
2. I can have new life.
What kind of life?
A Life Of…
Christ gives meaning to your life, and
when he appears, you will also appear with him in glory.
~ Colossians 3:4 (CEV)
Passion can be defined as an “intense emotion compelling action. A
strong devotion to some object, activity, or concept.” It’s the longing
of your heart. It’s your vision, your dream. It’s your calling. And
it’s given to you by God. The apostle Paul wrote:
Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the
Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been
called by God.
~ Ephesians 4:1 (NLT)
Nothing will be impossible for you if you’re living the new life Jesus
offers.
For I can do everything with the help of
Christ who gives me the strength I need.
~ Philippians 4:13 (NLT)
He gave his life to free us from every
kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally
committed to doing what is right.
~ Titus 2:14 (NLT)
D. L. Moody lived during the 1800’s and was one of the most influential
men of his time. And as he was approaching his death this is what he
said:
“Some day you will read in the papers that D. L. Moody of East
Northfield is dead. Don't you believe a word of it. At that moment I
shall be more alive than I am now… I was born of the flesh in 1837. I
was born of the Spirit in 1856. That which is born of the flesh may
die. That which is born of the Spirit will live forever.”
~ D. L. Moody
D.L. Moody supposedly died one hundred and three years, four months,
and 28 days ago (Dec. 22, 1899)… at least, that’s what the death
certificate says. But in truth he is alive and well today and will
spend eternity in the presence of God because Jesus gave him a new life
of permanence.
God loved the people of this world so much
that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will
have eternal life and never really die.
~ John 3:16 (CEV)
The life is there. It’s on the table. But you must decide: will you
receive it, or not?
3. I can be forgiven.
One day Jesus was teaching a crowd of people when a group of men
brought a crippled friend to Jesus to be healed. Jesus looked at the
man and told him, “My friend, your sins are forgiven.” This made some
of the people who were there quite upset, and this is what they said:
“Why would he say such a thing? He must
think he is God! Only God can forgive sins.”
~ Mark 2:7 (CEV)
Well, we’ve already talked about how if the resurrection really
happened then Jesus is who He claimed to be. And that means that He
does in fact have the power to forgive. He can forgive me, He can
forgive you. It’s one of our basic human needs and one of God’s
greatest gifts.
During the last supper Jesus ate before he was arrested and killed, he
took a glass of wine and used it as a metaphor when he told his
followers:
This is my blood, and with it God makes his
agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will
have their sins forgiven.
~ Matthew 26:28 (CEV)
What was Jesus saying? He was saying that through his death the price
would be paid for our sins. We would be spared and forgiven.
But throughout the years many people have promised things only to be
incapable of delivering. Think about some of the promises that have
been made to you that haven’t been kept. Think about promises like…
“You car will be ready in an hour.”
“This won’t hurt a bit.”
“This won’t take long.”
“True friends always.”
“Till death do us part.”
Did people mean to break those promises when they made them to us? No,
they were just incapable of keeping them. Jesus promised that he would
forgive me for the wrongs I have done… for my sins. How do I know that
he can keep that promise?
The Bible says…
Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith
is useless, and you are still living in your sins.
~ 1 Corinthians 15:17 (CEV)
Jesus promised that He would forgive us. But the only way we can have
any kind of assurance that He’s even remotely capable of delivery on
that promise is because He rose from the dead, proving that He is God
and has the power and position to forgive us.
His forgiveness is real. It’s freely offered to you. But you must
decide: will you receive it, or not?
4. I can have hope.
I heard this definition of hope one time and thought it was really
neat. It’s from that great philosopher Ano-ny-mous:
“Hope is enjoyment of the future in advance.”
~ Anonymous
With the resurrection of Jesus we who know him personally can have
hope. And what I mean by that is that we can live with a confidence and
an expectation that we are never alone and that once this life is over
we can spend forever in eternity with Him, and forever is a long, long
time.
Now we live with a wonderful expectation
because Jesus Christ rose again from the dead. For God has reserved a
priceless inheritance for his children. It is kept in heaven for you,
pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.
~ 1 Peter 1:3-4 (NLT)
That wonderful expectation is eternal. That hope is sure. But you must
decide: do you believe it, or not?
She wasn’t a very impressive woman. She was about five feet tall, in
her late 30’s, and wore cheap clothes. She couldn’t read, she couldn’t
write, and if she were to smile at you, you would see that her top two
front teeth were missing.
She lived alone. She had been married but left her husband when she was
29. She gave him no warning. One day he simply woke up and she was gone.
As for her employment, it varied. Most of the time she took domestic
jobs in small hotels: scrubbing floors, making up rooms, and cooking.
But a couple of times a year she would disappear for a while, the come
back broke looking for work again. When she was working she seemed to
work hard, but she was also known to fall asleep on occasion, even if
she was in the middle of a conversation. She claimed it was the result
of a blow to the head during a fight when she was a teenager.
The woman’s name: Harriett Tubman.
Harriett was born in Maryland in 1820 and started life as a slave. When
she was 13 she tried to stop a white overseer from beating another
slave, and she took a blow to her head that nearly killed her. Her
recovery took months.
When she was 24 she married a man named John Tubman, a free black man.
But whenever she talked about escaping to freedom in the north he
wouldn’t hear of it. In fact, he said that if she ever tried to leave
he would turn her in himself. So when she decided to take her chances
and head north, she did so alone, without a word to him. But as far as
she was concerned she had a right to one of two things: liberty or
death. If she couldn’t have one she’d take the other.
Harriett made her way to Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, by
use of the Underground Railroad… a secret network of free blacks, white
abolitionists, and Quakers who helped slaves on the run. The year was
1849.
But the next year, Harriett risked it all when she decided to go back.
You see, Harriett had vowed to go back and bring her family out, too.
So she started a new life as an Underground Railroad Conductor… someone
who would find and guide out slaves with the help of sympathizers along
the way.
So every summer and winter, she would work, trying to scrape together
the money she would need for her trips to the South. And every spring
and fall, she would risk her life by heading south and returning with
more people.
Over the course of the next ten years, Harriett guided out more than
300 people, including many of her own family. She made 19 trips south
in all, plus another 11 delievering slaves into Canada, earning the
nickname “Black Moses”, because of her ability to go into the land of
captivity and bring so many of her own people out of slavery’s bondage.
Jesus did the same thing for you.
The Bible tells us:
By his one sacrifice he has forever set free
from sin the people he brings to God.
~ Hebrews 10:14 (CEV)
Listen to me. Jesus Christ died to take your place and pay the penalty
for your sins, the times you rebelled and hurt God. And he rose from
the dead, proving that he had the power over life and death, and is now
offering you forgiveness and a new life with Him. Don’t let the
opportunity pass you by. Jesus loves you, and he went to great measures
to prove it. Now what are you going to do with Him?
Now, as I promised, here’s your chance to respond.
Response Time:
Do you believe? Do you believe in
the Jesus of the Bible... the God who became a man, summitted Himself
to execution on the cross, and who rose again and is alive and well
today?
Do you receive? Do you receive the
love, the hope, the forgiveness that he offers?
If you're
here this morning and you sense within yourself that God has been
speaking to you and that you need to respond, here's what I want you to
do: I'm not going to mention you by name or embarrass you in any way,
but I want you to raise your hand so I can pray for you.
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