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Jesus is Alive! (Matthew 27:62-28:15) | Louis Azuma

Published on: 3rd July, 2025

00:00 The Ignored Announcement

02:10 The Gospel's Big Announcement

03:03 Understanding the Resurrection

08:26 Opposition to the Resurrection

19:02 The Role of Heart in Belief

22:06 The Women at the Tomb

24:21 Jesus' Divinity and Worship

25:39 Emotions of Devotion, Fear, and Joy

28:30 True Worship Requires the Heart

37:04 The Joy of the Resurrection

39:21 Sharing the Joy of Jesus

47:08 Invitation to Everlasting Joy

Transcript
Speaker:

I wanna tell you guys about, uh, an announcement that

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most people probably ignore.

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You guys ever see this sign before?

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Yeah.

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No one really cares

about this sign, right?

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It comes on and people

are just like, cool.

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And then the flight tent has

their thing and you're just like,

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on your phone or you're talking.

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People got their headphones in like this.

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They, they put this thing on

and they, and they come up and

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it's like, all right, whatever.

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Or sometimes it comes on in

the flight and you're like.

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Do I really need, like I'm sitting down,

do I really need to put my seatbelt on?

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I'm not gonna get up, right?

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This happens a lot.

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But one time I was on an airplane where

this really, really, really mattered.

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So my wife and I were on our way

back from our honeymoon in Hawaii,

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and there wasn't just this light on.

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This light was on.

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This light is the, you can't

use the bathroom light Now.

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The reason that light was on was

because we were about to take off.

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So we're like coming down the runway.

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We're getting ready to take off.

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There's a woman in the bathroom,

there's a woman in the bathroom, and

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they're like, you can't be in here.

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Like, we, we need to take off.

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Like, you're not supposed to be in here.

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And she's like, I'm

gonna go to the bathroom.

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I'm doing it, you guys, I have, I

have free rights in this country.

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I could do whatever I want on this plane.

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I'm gonna go to the

bathroom in this plane.

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And they didn't, they

didn't let her do that.

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They, they, they were like, no, like,

ma'am, it's not safe for you to do that.

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It's not okay when we tell you to.

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Put on your seatbelt, you need to put

on your seatbelt and be in your seat.

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You can't be doing this.

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So then they eventually, this

lady was getting really upset, so

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eventually they call, they have to

call the security to, so we have

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to go all the way back to the gate.

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They call the security, they come

in and escort her off the plane

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after she gave this whole speech

about rights and all that stuff.

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It was, it was hilarious.

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But so they, they escort her off

the plane and so she, and all

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her family gets kicked off too.

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Her husband, her kids, they

all get kicked off this plane.

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I'm sure they didn't get refunded, right?

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So they lost their plane trip, they

lost their tickets, they all got

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kicked off, and I'm sure other things

happened to them afterward too, that,

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that weren't necessarily super fun.

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So they, they all got kicked

off this plane because she

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ignored the announcement, right?

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If she had listened to this sign,

she would've been fine, right?

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But she, she ignored the announcement.

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She didn't take it seriously.

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And so she got in big trouble.

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Now, I wanna tell you guys about an

announcement that's happening in the

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gospel of Matthew, chapters 27 and 28,

the very end that we're looking at.

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That announcement is that Jesus is alive.

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Jesus is, he's alive.

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He, he's out of the tomb.

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He was raised from the dead, and a lot of

people take that announcement for granted.

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They treat it like the seatbelt sign.

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They're just like, whatever.

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All right, cool.

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Jesus is alive.

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Great.

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I love that.

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That's cool.

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Maybe they're like, oh,

well, did he really?

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I don't know.

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Eh, that's okay.

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Or maybe they're just like,

no, I don't believe that.

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Whatever.

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But I wanna ask you tonight,

what are you gonna do about

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an empty tomb in a risen king?

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Because Jesus tomb was empty and king.

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Jesus is alive.

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And that matters for you.

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That matters for me.

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That matters for how you live,

that matters for your future,

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and that's an announcement that

you have to do Something about.

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How you respond to that announcement

really, really, really matters.

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Matters even more than getting

kicked off an airplane.

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So turn within your Bibles.

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We're gonna be in Matthew

27 at the very end.

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Matthew 27 62 is where we're picking up.

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All right.

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So last week we ended with Jesus burial.

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Right?

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When it was evening, there was a

rich guy named Joseph who came, and

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he's, he, he was a disciple of Jesus.

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He said, look, I want to

put Jesus in in a real tomb.

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I don't know if I'm gonna be

thrown in a, in a common grave.

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I'm gonna give him my tomb.

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We're gonna bury him.

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We're gonna take care of his body.

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We're gonna do do things the right way

for Jesus, because we care about him.

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That's where we left off.

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So look with me at verse actually before

we get there, before we get to verse 62.

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The way this passage is

structured is actually.

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Really fun and really interesting.

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So normally we kind of work our way

straight through the passage, but

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the way this passage is structured

is actually, uh, if, if you wanna

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be fancy, there's this, there's

this word, it's called a, a chiasm.

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Or a chiasm.

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And what that really just means

is, it means it's like a sandwich.

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All right?

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This passage is like a sandwich.

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This is what it's gonna look like.

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Okay?

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So this, this chiasm means it's like this.

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So there's parallel sections that

work their way to the middle.

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The middle is the most important part.

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That's how this passage is structured.

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So when you're reading this passage,

you'll notice there's opposition to

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the resurrection at the beginning.

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There's opposition to the

resurrection at the end.

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And then around that section,

there's the, the woman arrive at

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the tomb and they leave the tomb.

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And in the middle is the angel's message.

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So that's the way we're

gonna look at this sermon.

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We're gonna put these chunks together.

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We're gonna put these chunks together,

and then this is what we're gonna end on.

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So.

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Fancy word for that.

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It's called a chiasm.

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Or a chiasm.

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It's modeled.

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The, the name comes from the

Greek letter key, which is an X.

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So see how it would, it would

be an X if it kept going.

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See that?

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That's why it's called that.

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But that's how we're gonna be looking at

this passage, is we're gonna be, we're

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gonna take the the outside, and then we're

gonna work our way in into the middle.

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Cool.

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All right.

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So it's gonna end up looking like this.

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See that?

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We went from here to here.

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Whoa.

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Right.

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All right.

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So Matthew.

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This slide says 26.

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It should say 27, Matthew 27 62.

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The next day, that is after the day of

preparation, the chief priest in the

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Pharisees, they gathered before Pilate.

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So the chief priest, Pharisees,

those are the guys who wanted to kill

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Jesus Pilate, the Roman governor.

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They're like, Hey, sir, we remember how

that imposter, Jesus said while he was

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alive, after three days, I will rise.

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So even the Jewish leaders

remembered what Jesus said.

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Jesus said, after three days,

I'm gonna rise from the dead.

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So then they're like, all right,

we don't want anyone to think that

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Jesus is actually gonna be able

to rise from the debt, verse 64.

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Therefore order the tomb to be made secure

until the third day less, or because his

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disciples might go and steal him away and

tell the people he's risen from the debt.

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So the Jewish leaders, they're scared that

the disciples are gonna steal Jesus' body

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and be like, oh, guys, look empty tomb.

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Jesus rose from the dead.

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Whoa, isn't that crazy?

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That's what they think is gonna happen.

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So they, they wanna prevent that, and

they're gonna say that the last fraud.

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Will be worse than the first.

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They're gonna say that fake, a

fake resurrection would be worse

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than a fake Messiah, right?

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Because they didn't

think he was a messiah.

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They thought he pretended

to be the Messiah.

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And so then they would say a

fake resurrection is even worse

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than being a fake Messiah.

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So pil, he says to them,

you've got a guard of soldiers.

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You've got some, some soldiers who,

who are security for the temple, go

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and make the tomb as secure as you can.

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So they went and they made the

tomb secure by sealing the stone.

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Setting a guard.

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So they station a guard outside the tomb.

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They're just like, all right, we're

not gonna let anyone mess with this

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tomb to fake a resurrection from Jesus.

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Now, spoiler alert, guess what happens?

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Jesus is raised from the dead walks

out of the tomb, and this doesn't help.

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Right?

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But they're trying to

prevent the resurrection.

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They're opposing the resurrection.

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Then if you skip down to verse 11 of

chapter 28, so remember we're we're

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looking at the beginning of the passage.

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The end of the passage, if you go

to the end of our passage, 28 verse

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11, we go back to the Pharisees.

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So the announcement happens,

angel, the woman, Jesus, all that.

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Then while they, the woman we're going,

behold some of the guard, so we're now

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we're, we're back to where we started.

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Behold, some of the guard went into

the city and they told the chief

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priest everything that took place.

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And when they assembled with

the elders and taken counsel,

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they decided what to do.

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They gave a sufficient sum

of money to the soldiers.

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They bribed them and they say, all

right, here's what we want you to

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tell People, tell people that his

disciples came by night and stole

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him away while we were asleep.

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So they say, Hey, we want you to, to

pretend like the disciples stole Jesus'

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body, and that's why the tomb is empty.

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Verse 14, if this comes to the

governor's ears, we'll satisfy him.

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We'll, you know, we'll protect you, um,

and we'll keep you out of trouble because

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if you were a guard and the body is no

longer in the tomb, you're in big trouble.

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Right.

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That's, I think of that scene.

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You know that scene in Captain America one

where Captain America needs a uniform, so

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he steals Captain or no, captain America

two, where he steals the uniform from

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the exhibit to wear, and then Stan Lee

shows up and he's like, I'm so fired.

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Right?

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That's the guard.

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That's what they're saying.

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So they need to figure out

something to keep it up, right?

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So verse 15, they took the money and did

as they're directed, and this story has

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been spread among the Jews to this day.

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So Matthew includes these two

sections about opposition to

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Jesus, resurrection, right?

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People trying to stop Jesus

resurrection and people trying

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to cover up Jesus resurrection.

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And the reason Matthew does

that is because he wants to show

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everyone, us included, that there

always are gonna be people who.

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Don't like Jesus resurrection.

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There's always gonna be people who

oppose it, who either want you not

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to believe that it's true or want

you to ignore it, or want you just

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to have nothing to do with it.

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They want you to think it's

made up or they don't like it.

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So our first point tonight is expect

opposition to the resurrection.

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Expect people to push back

against the resurrection.

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Expect people to say it's not true.

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Expect people to be like,

oh, you really believe that.

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You believe that some

guy rose from the dead.

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You believe that God actually did that.

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Or maybe people are just like,

oh, well, maybe he did, but

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it doesn't really matter.

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That's still opposition.

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So expect opposition to the resurrection.

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There's a lot of different theories

actually, that people try to come up

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with to disprove the resurrection, right?

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We saw one in our passage, the Jewish

leaders, they said, Hey, tell them

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that the disciples stole the body.

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So I'm gonna go through a few different

common arguments that if you, if you

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say, Hey, Jesus was raised from the

dead, people are gonna oppose you.

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And they might use some of these

arguments to say, you know what?

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This is really what happened.

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You know, Jesus didn't actually

get out of the, get outta the tomb.

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This is what really happened.

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So the first one.

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Is this disciples stole the body.

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Right?

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That's when we saw in our

passage, well, here's why.

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There's no way that this happened.

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First, what happened to all

disciples before Jesus died?

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Were they like, oh, we love Jesus.

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We're so excited about Jesus.

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We're gonna fight for Jesus.

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No, they were all scared, right?

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They ran away.

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So do you think they would come back

and be like, you know what guys?

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Let's do something about Jesus.

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No, they were hiding, right?

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Peter was scared of a servant girl.

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Do you think he's gonna go up

to a tomb and beat up a Roman

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guard and steal the body?

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No right sec.

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Second thing, right?

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These disciples would have

to go fight these guards and

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take the body out of the tomb.

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So that's

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definitely, you know, okay.

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These PE don't look like people

who would go steal a body.

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The third thing is that if they stole

the body, then they know Jesus didn't

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really rise in the dead, right?

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So then.

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Why did they all die?

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Or all of them except John, right?

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He went into exile for life.

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But why did they all die if

they stole the body, right?

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If you fake Jesus resurrection, you stole

the body and then you tell people, oh,

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hey guys, you just rose from the dead.

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And then someone's

like, oh, I'll kill you.

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If you keep saying that and

you knew it was fake, would

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you let them cut your head off?

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Would you let them crucify you for that?

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For a made up lie?

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You wouldn't do that, right?

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So that's pretty solid evidence.

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The disciples didn't steal the body.

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So if anyone ever tells you, Hey, I think

the disciples actually did steal the

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body, you can point them to this evidence

that says, you know what, actually.

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It's really not likely that

disciples stole the body, right?

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The disciples weren't very

likely to steal the body.

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They were all scared, and if

they did steal the body, why did

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they all die for their faith?

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Right?

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That doesn't make any sense.

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So it's not really a good conclusion

that disciples stole the body.

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Well, okay, let's say you're talking

to your friend at school, or you're

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a college professor in a few years,

and they're like, well, you know what?

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All the Gospel Council

of the Resurrection, they

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all contradict each other.

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Mark says that the, the woman

or the woman got to the tomb

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and saw it was already empty.

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Matthew says they got to the

tomb, and then the angel came.

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John says that it was

just Mary at the tomb.

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What?

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What is this?

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They're all contradicting each other.

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It's clearly made up, right?

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Maybe you hear that one.

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The gospels contradict each other.

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Well, first of all.

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The gospels, they're not all describing

the exact same moments, right?

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You can fit all these together.

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You could say, you know what?

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Maybe Mary did get to the tomb first,

and then the woman came, or maybe

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the woman left and Mary stayed,

and then Jesus appeared to her.

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You can fit all these together

in a way that makes sense.

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Also, they're eyewitness accounts.

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They're not like a timeline, right?

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John is giving his

account of what happened.

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Mark is giving Peter's

account of what happened.

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Matthew is giving his

account of what happened.

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They're not meant to be like, here's every

single thing that happened in Jesus' life.

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Remember at the end of the gospel of

John, it says Jesus did a bunch of other

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things enough to fill many books, right?

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There's a lot of different things that

happen, and the gospel writers are only

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giving us their perspective, the details

that they want you to know that fit

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with what they're sharing about Jesus.

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And if you want, you can actually

put all this together on a timeline.

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I found one online.

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That lines up all the different accounts,

John and Mark and Matthew and Luke.

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It puts 'em all together

to show you what happened.

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So this is from answers to Genesis.

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You don't have to copy all this

down, but I just want you to show

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that it all, I just wanna show

you, it all fits together, right?

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So if, if someone says, look, the

Gospels all contradict each other.

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They don't say the same thing

about Jesus Resurrection.

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You can say, well, actually they all

fit, they all make sense together.

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So if, if you want, I can send you

this, or you could take a picture

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of this or whatever, but this is on.

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Answers in genesis.org.

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If you wanna find this

chart, you can do that.

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Um, but you can fit all this together.

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See, we've got, we've got John,

we've got Matthew, mark and Luke.

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We've got Luke, we've got

First Corinthians and Luke.

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So it all fits all the accounts of Jesus

resurrection fits together really nicely.

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So if someone ever tells you the

gospel's for each other, that's not true.

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They, they all compliment each

other and share one unified story.

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They just share different

parts of the same story.

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So then here's my favorite one.

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Well, my second favorite one.

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My favorite one is that you just

didn't really die on the cross.

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That's the dumbest thing

you could ever say, right?

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Oh, he hung on the cross and was

beaten and all that stuff that I'm

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not, I didn't even put that one in my

slideshow because it's so ridiculous.

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Right?

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Jesus, like faked his death on

the cross and then like came out

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of the tomb from the inside after

he'd been in there for three.

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Like, come on, we can do better than that.

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So this is my, my other favorite one is

that all the disciples are hallucinating.

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They're all crazy.

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They just, they just saw Jesus ghost and

they thought it was, it was actually him.

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And they said, oh, he's

raised from the dead Now.

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What could be wrong with this?

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Well, one, Jesus appeared multiple times

to different groups of people, right?

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That's what we see in the Bible.

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He's, he's appearing multiple times in,

in Luke, he shows up to these people and

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he talks to these people, and John, he

talks to these people without Thomas.

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Then he talks to people with Thomas,

and then in Matthew, we, we see him a

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few different times talking to people.

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So he, all these people are

apparently having the same

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hallucination over like a month.

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That's not very likely.

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Jesus ate with people.

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Right.

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We see this in, in, in John

and Thomas touched him.

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Can you touch a ghost?

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No.

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Right.

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Jesus appeared to large groups of people.

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So Paul says that he appeared to

a ton of people all at once, so

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all the people in the same time

having the same hallucination.

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I I read one guy online, he said that

there must, he literally said there

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must have been something in the water.

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Seriously, bro.

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Come on.

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Like, no.

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All these people have the

exact same hallucination at

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the same time, not likely.

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And then Paul, in one Corinthians

15, he lists names of people.

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Now, if you're in, if you're in Corinth

and Paul says, oh yeah, this guy saw the

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resurrected of Christ, what could you do?

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You could go over and say,

Hey, did you see Jesus?

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What was he like?

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What did he say?

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And you could go ask him.

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So Paul is, is clearly open to people

asking people, Hey, did you see Jesus?

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What did he say?

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What did he teach?

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What did he do?

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So Paul's not afraid that someone's

gonna be like, oh, well actually

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it was just a dream, or I was just

ghost Jesus floating around, right?

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So if someone says, you know,

the disciples are just mass

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:

hallucination, they're just going

crazy, that's also not true.

404

:

So expect people to push back on you.

405

:

If you, if you're someone

who says, you know what?

406

:

I believe that Jesus was

raised from the dead.

407

:

I believe that Jesus.

408

:

Is alive today.

409

:

I believe that Jesus walked outta the

tomb and we've never found his body, ever.

410

:

People are gonna maybe say some

things like this, oh, well, maybe the

411

:

disciples stole the body, or, well,

you know, it doesn't really happen.

412

:

I want you to be prepared for

that, and I want you to be

413

:

able to, to know these things.

414

:

You can say, you know what, that's

not, that's really not true.

415

:

And really you can just walk

through the the options.

416

:

Right.

417

:

Well, what do you think is more

likely, you think it's more likely

418

:

that Jesus didn't really die?

419

:

Or do you think it's more likely

that all these people had the same

420

:

hallucination at the same time?

421

:

So the, the logical, reasonable conclusion

is that Jesus actually is who he said

422

:

he is, and he's raised from the dead.

423

:

There's a bunch of other details in the

story even that you could point out to,

424

:

to show you that, that it's really true.

425

:

Maybe you're someone who says, I

don't really know if the Bible's true.

426

:

I don't really know if God's real.

427

:

I don't know if this is really,

this whole Christianity thing is

428

:

really what everyone says it is.

429

:

Well, think about this in this culture.

430

:

Matthew says the women were the

first people to go to the tomb.

431

:

Now, in this culture, did you know that

woman actually couldn't testify in court?

432

:

So if you're Matthew and you're

making up a story, why would you

433

:

have your primary witnesses be women?

434

:

Right?

435

:

Unless it was really the ca like

that actually what happened?

436

:

So that's another thing you could say.

437

:

You could even talk about, remember how we

saw that even the chief priest knew that

438

:

Jesus said he rose from the dead, right?

439

:

If you're saying, oh, well the Christian

just made it up a hundred years later.

440

:

Why are the chief priests also

saying, Jesus said he was gonna be

441

:

raised from the dead, so it's common.

442

:

It was common knowledge that

Jesus said stuff like this.

443

:

So there's a bunch of other details

in the stories, but I just want you

444

:

to know that that Christianity isn't

just like some made up, you know?

445

:

Oh yeah.

446

:

This is just something that the

church made up to teach people

447

:

how to be nice to each other.

448

:

That's not true, right?

449

:

Th this is actually the only religion

that's based on a historical event.

450

:

There's no other religion that.

451

:

Rises or falls on a real thing

that happened in history.

452

:

So Christianity is, is connected to, to

real events, real places, real people.

453

:

That really happened.

454

:

Um.

455

:

You're gonna get pushback if you say

stuff like that, people are gonna

456

:

be like, you don't really believe

that the Bible's true, do you?

457

:

You don't really believe that,

that Jesus rose in the dead.

458

:

Jesus fed all these people

with five loaves and two fish.

459

:

Jesus, really?

460

:

You don't believe that

Jesus walked on water?

461

:

You don't believe that, et

cetera, et cetera, right?

462

:

You're gonna hear that.

463

:

If you believe this, I want you

to expect it, and I want you to

464

:

be ready so you're not like, whoa,

I've never heard that before.

465

:

Right?

466

:

I want you to do the homework, do

the research, and I'm helping you

467

:

with some of it so you can expect

opposition to the resurrection.

468

:

Also opposition from the

resurrection usually doesn't really

469

:

come down to a mental question.

470

:

Usually the reason people are opposing

the resurrection is hard hearts.

471

:

People don't want God.

472

:

And maybe that's you.

473

:

Maybe you're like, well, I know that

the resurrection probably happened.

474

:

I, I think it makes sense.

475

:

I think the Bible's true, but I just, I

just don't wanna be a Christian, right?

476

:

I don't think God is very good,

or I don't want to do all the

477

:

things that, that God says.

478

:

You're still in your heart, you're still

pushing back against the resurrection

479

:

because what you're saying is that, well,

maybe that is true, and maybe you're not

480

:

arguing with it, but you're just like,

well, you're, I don't, I don't want that.

481

:

Right.

482

:

I don't, I don't want Jesus.

483

:

You're still opposing Jesus.

484

:

You're, you're looking at the

creator of the universe who rose

485

:

from the dead and saying, peace out.

486

:

I don't, I don't want

anything to do with you.

487

:

That's what you're doing, and it,

it always comes down to your heart.

488

:

If you, you could have all the

evidence you want, but if your heart

489

:

is hard and, and you're opposed

to Jesus, you're opposed to the

490

:

gospel, you're not gonna believe it.

491

:

Remember what Jesus said,

I think it was in Luke.

492

:

He said, if they don't believe Moses,

they're not gonna believe someone,

493

:

even if they came back from the

dead, because maybe you're like,

494

:

well, I want Jesus to prove it.

495

:

I want a sign from God, or I want this.

496

:

Why doesn't God do this?

497

:

Right?

498

:

If you are asking for more evidence, then

that probably says more about your heart.

499

:

If you're someone out there who's

saying, oh, I need more evidence to

500

:

believe in the Bible, there's plenty.

501

:

God's given you everything

you need to know.

502

:

Um, it, it really is a

matter of your heart.

503

:

If you've got more evidence, I'm

sure what you would do is make up

504

:

more ways to get around the evidence

or ask more questions, so it always

505

:

is gonna come down to your heart.

506

:

How?

507

:

Because you, you're never

gonna get enough evidence for.

508

:

For Jesus, for God's word,

for the existence of God, it's

509

:

gonna come down to your heart.

510

:

All opposition comes down

to a hard heart, right?

511

:

That's where it started with the

chief priest and the Pharisees.

512

:

They saw all of Jesus

miracles, and guess what?

513

:

They were like, nah, let's kill him.

514

:

Oh, he's gonna try to make up a story

about being raised from the dead.

515

:

Let's stop that.

516

:

And then the guards come and say,

Hey, this angel came and the tomb

517

:

was empty, and Jesus is alive.

518

:

And they're like, well, just

pretend it didn't happen.

519

:

No amount of evidence was enough

for them, and it's not gonna be

520

:

enough for you because ultimately

it's gonna come down to your heart.

521

:

You have the evidence you need,

and what you need to do is, is just

522

:

surrender to Christ because he's the

king, he's alive, he's, he's reigning.

523

:

So if you're that person who's

opposing the resurrection,

524

:

you know, do do your homework.

525

:

Look at the evidence you have,

and then come to your conclusion.

526

:

If you're someone who believes in

the resurrection, who says Jesus is

527

:

alive, you learn to defend it because

you're gonna get challenged as you

528

:

get older, especially, and I want

you to be prepared for those moments.

529

:

So we're working in, right, we started

with the first section in the last

530

:

section, opposition to the resurrection.

531

:

The next thing we're gonna see is how

Matthew is actually, he's focusing on

532

:

the different emotions of this passage.

533

:

Matthew really cares about the woman

who come to the tomb, hear the angel,

534

:

leave the tomb and talk to Jesus.

535

:

So look with me in chapter 28.

536

:

Now we're working our way to, towards

the middle of our sandwich, right?

537

:

We finished with, with the buns.

538

:

Now we're getting to like the, the

cheese or the vegetables or whatever.

539

:

That's what we're doing right now.

540

:

So verse one of chapter 28.

541

:

All right.

542

:

Now, after the Sabbath toward the dawn of

the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene

543

:

and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

544

:

Behold there was a great earthquake

for an angel of the Lord descended

545

:

from heaven and came back and

rolled back the stone and sat on it.

546

:

That's like so epic

when you think about it.

547

:

Like think how big this stone is.

548

:

And there's like lightning and

there's an earthquake, like if you

549

:

wanna talk about it, an entrance.

550

:

That's an entrance.

551

:

His appearance was like

lightning verse three.

552

:

And his clothing white as snow.

553

:

And for fear of him, the guards

trembled and became like dead men.

554

:

So they just pass out at

the sight of this guy.

555

:

They fall down as though they are dead.

556

:

So then verses five to seven, the angel's

gonna say what he's gonna say, and

557

:

then afterward, this is what happened.

558

:

So the woman, after they hear from the

angel, verse eight, they departed quickly

559

:

from the tomb with fear and great joy.

560

:

Those are the two emotions.

561

:

They, they feel, they feel they're

afraid, and they're super excited.

562

:

They're really happy.

563

:

Then they run to tell the disciples

and behold Jesus met them.

564

:

So they talked to the angels.

565

:

Now they talked to Jesus.

566

:

Jesus met them.

567

:

Now, isn't that like, that's wild.

568

:

They saw this guy die.

569

:

They saw him die on the cross, and now

they're talking to him like, I know you've

570

:

heard this before, but think about it.

571

:

You saw you watched some guy die,

and then three days later you're

572

:

having a conversation with him.

573

:

That's crazy.

574

:

Jesus met them and said,

I love this greetings.

575

:

He's like, hi.

576

:

And they came up and took hold

of his feet and worshiped him.

577

:

Now, if anyone ever tells you,

Jesus never claimed to be God,

578

:

what do you do when you see God?

579

:

You worship him.

580

:

If Jesus didn't claim to be God,

you know what Jesus would do?

581

:

Stop.

582

:

Don't worship me.

583

:

What?

584

:

We've seen angels do that in the Bible

before they, when someone worships

585

:

them, they're like, no, no, no, no, no.

586

:

Don't do that.

587

:

But Jesus, he's, he's taking it in.

588

:

He, he's like, yeah, that's right.

589

:

You should worship me.

590

:

Verse 10.

591

:

Jesus said to them, don't be afraid.

592

:

Go and tell my brothers, which

also, this is such a huge detail.

593

:

Who are these people?

594

:

The disciples, right?

595

:

Did they show very much loyalty to Jesus?

596

:

Did they love Jesus very well

up to leading up to his death.

597

:

Have.

598

:

Jesus says, he doesn't

call 'em my disciples.

599

:

He doesn't say, oh, those

losers who abandoned me.

600

:

He says, my brothers like my family.

601

:

I wanna see them go to Galilee, just

like I said, and they'll see me there.

602

:

I he's initiating a relationship

with these people who left him.

603

:

They, they abandoned him.

604

:

They were like, no.

605

:

Peter was like, I don't

even know who that guy is.

606

:

And Jesus says, I want him

to be part of my family.

607

:

So tell him to go meet me and Galilee.

608

:

So what Matthew is focusing on here is

he's focusing on these emotions that

609

:

the woman's have, that the woman have.

610

:

So if you go back this, he doesn't say

this explicitly, but think about this.

611

:

Think about what they're doing.

612

:

Mary and Mary, it's like Shane

and Shane before Shane and Shane.

613

:

Mary and Mary, they go to see the tomb.

614

:

Now they're gonna go and see dead Jesus.

615

:

They're just gonna go to his

tomb and they're gonna put.

616

:

More spices on us.

617

:

Doesn't smell terrible.

618

:

They're gonna, that's what they're doing.

619

:

They're showing devotion to Jesus.

620

:

Right?

621

:

In Matthew, if you look with me,

look back up at the, at verse 55,

622

:

in chapter 27, also, there are many

women there looking on from a distance

623

:

who had followed Jesus from Galilee

ministering to him, among whom were Mary

624

:

Magdalene and Mary, mother of James.

625

:

So Matthew mentions these women who

followed Jesus all the way from Galilee.

626

:

Then after Jesus is buried, verse 61, Mary

Magdalene and the other Mary were there.

627

:

So Matthew really wants you to

know these women care about Jesus.

628

:

They're devoted to him.

629

:

They're committed to him.

630

:

They love him, right?

631

:

They're super invested in

Jesus and, and following him.

632

:

So that's the first emotion,

is they're devotion.

633

:

The second emotion I want you to

see is that they're afraid, right?

634

:

They, they ran from the tomb with

fear and great joy with fear.

635

:

What are they afraid of?

636

:

Right?

637

:

The angels already told

'em, don't be afraid.

638

:

He said, Jesus says, don't be afraid.

639

:

But they're afraid.

640

:

And I think this is actually a good thing.

641

:

I think there's something good here.

642

:

There's also a lot of fear

in this passage, right?

643

:

The fear for fear of the

angel, the guards trembled.

644

:

So there's, there's a lot of devotion.

645

:

There's a lot of fear.

646

:

And then the last thing is joy, right?

647

:

Great joy.

648

:

Not just joy.

649

:

Great joy.

650

:

A lot of joy.

651

:

Those are the three emotions we've got.

652

:

Demotion, devotion, fear, and joy.

653

:

And then ultimately what

those end up with is worship.

654

:

And I think that's what Matthew

wants you to see in this passage.

655

:

I think he wants you to see that this

is what worship of Jesus looks like.

656

:

Worship of Jesus is actually

a combination of these three

657

:

emotions, devotion, fear, and joy.

658

:

And so write this down

as your second point.

659

:

Respond to Jesus with heartfelt worship.

660

:

Respond to Jesus with heartfelt, right?

661

:

Meaningful, emotional,

662

:

full worship, not empty worship.

663

:

That's the kind of follower that Jesus

is asking for, and that's the kind

664

:

of follower that these women are.

665

:

They're following him with, with

all of their, with all their heart,

666

:

all of their emotions are engaged,

they're devoted, and they're afraid.

667

:

They're joyful, they're excited.

668

:

Now, something that I hope you've

gathered from the gospel of Matthew

669

:

so far is that knowing and doing

does not always equal worship.

670

:

Right?

671

:

Knowing the right things about

Jesus and doing the right things for

672

:

Jesus doesn't always mean worship.

673

:

What group in the Gospel of Matthew

is really good at knowing things

674

:

about God and doing things for God?

675

:

Pharisees, right?

676

:

The Pharisees, they know a ton about

God and they do a lot of things for

677

:

God, but are, do they worship Jesus?

678

:

No.

679

:

They kill him.

680

:

So I think what Matthew is doing is

he's showing us at the very end, here's

681

:

what real worship of Jesus looks like.

682

:

It looks like these three emotions,

affections, desires, right?

683

:

Worship has to include your heart.

684

:

If all your worship is, is just your head.

685

:

Your, your actions.

686

:

There's, there's nothing that

you're really doing that's

687

:

different from a Pharisee.

688

:

There's nothing about

you that's different.

689

:

You know the right things about God.

690

:

Great.

691

:

Satan knows everything there is to know

that we could know about God, right?

692

:

Satan knows way more

about God than you do, so

693

:

that's not good enough, right?

694

:

That's not true worship, but

just knowing things about God

695

:

and then doing things right.

696

:

Well, about the Pharisee,

he did a ton of stuff.

697

:

Jesus said, if your righteousness

doesn't exceed that of the Pharisees,

698

:

you're not gonna make it to heaven.

699

:

So worship has to include your heart.

700

:

If your heart's not in it, it's

not worship, it's just empty.

701

:

Now, these three emotions

are crucial to worship.

702

:

The first one probably makes sense, right?

703

:

Devotion.

704

:

Okay.

705

:

Love and commitment to Jesus, right?

706

:

We're, we're faithful to Jesus.

707

:

We follow Jesus.

708

:

We, we care about him.

709

:

We're invested in him.

710

:

We're dedicated.

711

:

Right?

712

:

That makes sense.

713

:

Okay.

714

:

Contract with that, that that sounds

like real worship, but what about fear?

715

:

Right?

716

:

That doesn't make, why did

you include that Lewis?

717

:

I thought they said don't be afraid.

718

:

Well, I think fear of God is something

that maybe you, you've thought

719

:

about or you don't understand.

720

:

And I think Matthew is also including

that in here because true worship of God

721

:

always has right fear of God included.

722

:

Now, maybe you've heard

fear of God is respect.

723

:

That's part of it, but I

think it's more than that.

724

:

Because I can respect someone

without really trembling, right?

725

:

I'm not like, oh man, wow.

726

:

That's not respect.

727

:

So it's a little different than that.

728

:

The best way I can

describe it is being here.

729

:

Have you ever been to

the Grand Canyon region?

730

:

Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

731

:

I remember one time I always said to

the Grand Canyon during one of these,

732

:

one of the coolest moments of my life.

733

:

I was outside.

734

:

I think you were there and you were there.

735

:

You gave us all COVID when we

were there and you were there.

736

:

Um, being outside at the Grand Canyon

during a thunderstorm, coolest thing

737

:

ever because when you get to the

Grand Canyon, right, you look over

738

:

the edge, you feel so small, right?

739

:

You feel tiny, and you see a person down

there and you're like, that's a person.

740

:

You feel tiny.

741

:

But then with a thunderstorm,

man, I like 10 outta 10.

742

:

Highly recommend this.

743

:

You should definitely go to the green

hand during a thunderstorm because.

744

:

Thunder is loud and scary, but when

you're outside in a thunderstorm,

745

:

man, that's different, right?

746

:

If you go outside, whenever there's a

thunderstorm at the office, Mark Hogan

747

:

is always like, I love thunderstorms.

748

:

And he goes outside and he listens to it.

749

:

It's so fun, um, because it's, it makes

you realize how small you are, right?

750

:

You realize like this electricity

is literally creating a vacuum so

751

:

loud that the air is going boom

and clapping, and you have thunder.

752

:

It makes you feel so

small now in this moment.

753

:

Like, yeah, I'm scared, right?

754

:

I'm like, man, if one of

those hits me, I'm gone.

755

:

Right?

756

:

If I get hit by a lightning

bolt or if I fall off the edge

757

:

of this thing, right, I'm dead.

758

:

But at the same time, there's something

so like just amazing about it.

759

:

You're like, wow, that's so cool.

760

:

That's so awesome.

761

:

And that I think is a sense of.

762

:

Of how fear of God is.

763

:

Right?

764

:

When you look, when you, when you

hear about what God does, when you,

765

:

when you see God in his word, there

should be a sense of of awe, right?

766

:

Of wow.

767

:

And you're kind of scared.

768

:

But if you're a Christian, you

don't have to be afraid of what

769

:

God's gonna do to you, right?

770

:

Because Jesus paid for your sin.

771

:

He took all of God's wrath for you.

772

:

So God, God's power is never gonna be

directed at you if you're a Christian.

773

:

In a punishing way, right?

774

:

God is never gonna to direct his his power

at you in a way that's wrathful or angry.

775

:

So you don't have to be afraid of

God's wrath on you specifically.

776

:

But you should, I think sometimes look

over the cliff and be like, man, if I

777

:

fell that would, that would be terrible.

778

:

And that's a long fall.

779

:

When you're at Fritz's on the zip line and

you got to jump off the thing and commit

780

:

and trust the zip line, sometimes I don't

think Christians think enough about that.

781

:

And that's when you think about

all these passages in the Bible,

782

:

these warning passages like,

oh, can I lose my salvation?

783

:

Or whatever The reason for the warning

passage is so you stay on the path.

784

:

The warning passage keeps you on

the path if you're a Christian.

785

:

So you, you look over the

edge and you're like, oh man.

786

:

And then you stay on the path.

787

:

That's the point of a, of a, like a

warning in God's word is for you to

788

:

see God and not treat him casually.

789

:

Right?

790

:

Like if any of you guys, if your,

if your parents own a gun, they're,

791

:

or if they've ever, if you've ever

gone shooting with them, right?

792

:

They're very serious about it.

793

:

They're like, Hey, this thing is powerful.

794

:

You have to treat it properly.

795

:

You can't be, be flippant

about it or treat it casually.

796

:

Or maybe you're learning to drive,

or my, my mom, the first time that

797

:

I was gonna drive someone else.

798

:

My mom said, they're putting their

life in your hands right now.

799

:

Anytime someone gets in your

car, you could kill them.

800

:

Anytime you get in a car,

you could kill someone else.

801

:

There's an appropriate level of man that's

intense that you should feel about God.

802

:

But at the same time, we also see

the joy that these women have, right?

803

:

They're, they're so excited.

804

:

There was fear and there was great joy.

805

:

They were so excited about God.

806

:

They were delighted, they were

satisfied, they were full.

807

:

So Jesus isn't just to be

learned about or served.

808

:

He's supposed to be served in a way

that's worshipful, that's from the

809

:

heart, and you're learning about

Jesus should fuel your worship, right?

810

:

Just like wood fuels a fire

or gasoline will help a fire,

811

:

but it's not fire, right?

812

:

Wood is not fire, but wood helps fire.

813

:

Same thing.

814

:

Your learning helps you worship, but

learning is not worship unless there's

815

:

emotion in it, unless there's devotion,

unless there's fear, unless there's joy.

816

:

So your learning should fuel your worship.

817

:

But if all you're doing is stockpiling

information about God and memorizing Bible

818

:

verses and, and doing all this stuff,

and there's no worship, there's no heart

819

:

in it, then you're really just, you're

just piling up wood and you got no fire.

820

:

Same with doing things,

doing things for God, right?

821

:

I'm not saying doing

things for God is bad.

822

:

I'm saying doing things for God has to

have worshipful heart along with it.

823

:

So who has your heart?

824

:

Maybe you do a lot of things for God.

825

:

Maybe you serve at our church.

826

:

Maybe you serve in kids' ministry, or

you, you help set up, or maybe you,

827

:

you like learning about the Bible,

you know a lot of information about

828

:

God, but, but who has your heart?

829

:

When you do things, what is it for?

830

:

What do you get excited about?

831

:

What?

832

:

What's your, what's your treasure?

833

:

What's most important to you?

834

:

That's a worship question, and that's

what I want you to be thinking about

835

:

as we finish the gospel of Matthew.

836

:

I want you to think

about who has my heart?

837

:

Am I just doing things for God or learning

things about God, or am I worshiping God?

838

:

Am I just singing songs to

God, or am I worshiping God?

839

:

Am I just hearing sermons

or am I worshiping?

840

:

Am I just.

841

:

Acting like a Christian around

my parents or I worshiping

842

:

God with my actions at home.

843

:

Those are all things that, that

are the difference between real

844

:

worship and being a fake Christian.

845

:

So then the middle of this passage

is gonna show us where that joy and

846

:

where that genuine worship comes from.

847

:

The source of all this joy

is the angel's announcement.

848

:

The angel says something that

causes the woman to run out.

849

:

With great joy, and that's what we

see in the middle of this section.

850

:

We're at.

851

:

We're at the meat of our burger.

852

:

All right, so five through seven, but

the angel said to the women, so angel

853

:

shows up, lightning rolls a stone away.

854

:

Right?

855

:

Guard falls that down like he's dead.

856

:

Angel said to the women, don't

be afraid for, I know that you

857

:

seek Jesus who was crucified.

858

:

He's not here for, he has risen.

859

:

As he said, which I love that.

860

:

I love that this is here, right?

861

:

Jesus called it.

862

:

He's like, yep.

863

:

I said I was gonna be racing

the dead, and I, I am.

864

:

So then come see the place where he lay.

865

:

Then after you see it, go quickly

and tell his disciples that he's

866

:

risen from the dead, and behold,

he is going before you to Galilee.

867

:

There you will see him.

868

:

Look, I've told you so

the angel's announcement.

869

:

Is the middle of this passage

is the focus, and it's the

870

:

reason that there's so much joy.

871

:

Now, the, the reason that the

resurrection is, is all of this,

872

:

like, it's, it's the, the reason that

they're, they're so devoted, Jesus.

873

:

The reason they're so afraid, and

it's the reason they're so joyful

874

:

is because the resurrection is,

is everything to a Christian.

875

:

If Jesus is not alive, we're

not worshiping a living God,

876

:

we're worshiping a dead God.

877

:

Jesus isn't alive.

878

:

He doesn't make any, any difference in

anything that we're doing, so Jesus is.

879

:

Alive, and that's the source of joy.

880

:

But also what I want you to see is

there's a lot of, there's a lot of

881

:

movement in this passage, isn't there?

882

:

Like, come see the place, then go quickly.

883

:

He's going like, people are

moving all around, right?

884

:

The the women are coming this

way and they're supposed to go,

885

:

and then Jesus is going this way.

886

:

They're gonna all go to Galilee.

887

:

There's a lot of action here.

888

:

And that's because joy

is meant to be shared.

889

:

Joy.

890

:

What it is you have to

tell someone, right?

891

:

That's how joy works.

892

:

And so for our third point tonight, I

want you to join Jesus in spreading joy.

893

:

Join Jesus in spreading joy.

894

:

The resurrection is like an explosion

because after the resurrection, all

895

:

this, all these people come flying out

and they're telling everyone about it.

896

:

There's the angel, there's the woman,

there's Jesus, there's the disciples.

897

:

There's a lot of running.

898

:

There's a lot of.

899

:

Action.

900

:

There's a lot of people telling

people things, and that's because the

901

:

resurrection is the source of joy.

902

:

And so from Jesus in his resurrection,

it goes outward into everything.

903

:

And next week we're gonna see that

Jesus says, go to all nations and make

904

:

disciples, and in this case, spread joy.

905

:

See, joy comes from a living

savior, so the resurrection.

906

:

Because a lot of Christianity,

we talk about the cross, right?

907

:

We talk about all the cross and

we put crosses on our buildings

908

:

and we wear a cross on our neck.

909

:

We talk about so much about the cross.

910

:

The resurrection, arguably

is equally important, right?

911

:

The Bible, Romans four says

that the resurrection gives us

912

:

forgiveness from sin, that Jesus

was raised for our justification.

913

:

So the resurrection is a

source for forgiveness, right?

914

:

You, you can say, I don't have to pay

for any of my sins because of Jesus.

915

:

Jesus is alive.

916

:

He's alive.

917

:

And so I am free.

918

:

I'm not guilty anymore.

919

:

The resurrection gives victory

over, over death and over sin.

920

:

One Corinthians 15, right?

921

:

We that quote from Hosea, death is

swallowed up in victory, death wears

922

:

your victory, death wears your sting.

923

:

It's gone because of the resurrection.

924

:

Right?

925

:

If you ever make a, if you ever see

one of those lists online of like

926

:

what people are afraid of most.

927

:

Number two is always like public

speaking, and then number one is death.

928

:

That's like always the order.

929

:

You don't have to be afraid

of death anymore, right?

930

:

If, if you, if, if you're someone who,

who goes to sleep at night and you're,

931

:

you're not sure if you're gonna wake up

the next day or, or you, you know, are,

932

:

are terrified of, oh, what's gonna happen?

933

:

And if I go up in the airplane

and it starts getting bumpy, you

934

:

don't have to be afraid because

you know that death just takes you.

935

:

To God, and you know that you have

a God who's stronger than death,

936

:

who walked out of the tomb, so you

don't have to be afraid of that.

937

:

So there's joy in being forgiven.

938

:

There's joy in freedom from death.

939

:

The resurrection, Romans six,

four, tells us that there's new

940

:

life because of the resurrection.

941

:

So as a Christian, you don't have

to sin anymore because of of Jesus.

942

:

You don't have to spend your life

searching for satisfaction and happiness

943

:

and these things that leave you empty.

944

:

There's so much joy that comes from that.

945

:

There's also joy in a

certain future with God.

946

:

One Peter one says that according

to God's great mercy, he's caused

947

:

us to be born again to a living hope

through the resurrection of the dead.

948

:

The resurrection is the means by which

you are certainly going to heaven.

949

:

Jesus was raised from the dead.

950

:

Therefore, you can be confident.

951

:

If you're a Christian that

you're going to heaven.

952

:

So if you're someone who, maybe

you're not sure if you're a Christian

953

:

or you, you, you are a Christian,

you doubt your salvation a lot.

954

:

You can look back at Jesus resurrection.

955

:

The tomb is still empty.

956

:

Did nothing change.

957

:

You can look back and

say that tomb is empty.

958

:

Jesus is alive.

959

:

He will take me to heaven.

960

:

You can trust Jesus.

961

:

You can get joy from that.

962

:

You don't have to doubt anymore.

963

:

You don't have to be afraid anymore.

964

:

You can say Jesus is alive and I'm

certain of that, and he will He.

965

:

He's interacting with time

and history and space, and he

966

:

will take me safely to heaven.

967

:

He'll protect me from losing my faith.

968

:

You can trust him for that.

969

:

So there's so much joy to be

found in the resurrection.

970

:

But also once Jesus gives you this joy

of forgiveness, of victory over death, of

971

:

new life, of a certain future with God,

once Jesus gives you that joy, naturally,

972

:

you should want to share it, right?

973

:

If you, if you, if you're like,

oh, well that was kind of cool.

974

:

You're not gonna share it, right?

975

:

But if you are like, oh, wow, that

was amazing, you're gonna share it.

976

:

Joy is always the best

motive for spreading news.

977

:

If you don't believe me, why is

this always an Instagram post?

978

:

This is like always the biggest.

979

:

If you want to get the most comments

on your Instagram, get engaged.

980

:

Everyone's gonna comment.

981

:

You're gonna get a ton of

emojis, a ton of likes.

982

:

Like this is gonna blow up your

Instagram if you get engaged

983

:

because joy is meant to be shared.

984

:

And the more excited you are

about something, the easier

985

:

it is to tell people that.

986

:

Have you ever met an engaged woman

who's shy about being engaged?

987

:

If you do.

988

:

That's a rough situation.

989

:

Right.

990

:

But usually they're, they're like,

they can't wait to tell people, you

991

:

know, they're like, every time you're

talking to 'em, they're like, oh yeah.

992

:

Um, you know, I, I was on this

trip over the weekend and, and

993

:

they're, they're, they're shoving

their ring in your face, right?

994

:

Or they're typing on the

computer and they're like,

995

:

yeah, I'm, I'm doing some work.

996

:

You know, or.

997

:

They're like, oh, did you see

my, I just got my nails done.

998

:

Right?

999

:

If you, if you meet a girl

who just got engaged, this is

:

00:44:46,890 --> 00:44:48,209

happening all the time, right?

:

00:44:48,209 --> 00:44:49,649

They're, they're like, I got engaged.

:

00:44:49,649 --> 00:44:54,209

This is the cool, and they're posting,

you know, 185 days to the wedding.

:

00:44:54,270 --> 00:44:55,350

Oh my goodness.

:

00:44:55,350 --> 00:44:59,549

You know, they're posting all that

and then a week later, oh, 178

:

00:44:59,549 --> 00:45:01,950

days, guys can't believe it, right?

:

00:45:01,955 --> 00:45:04,109

Because they're excited and they should be

:

00:45:06,180 --> 00:45:06,390

right.

:

00:45:06,390 --> 00:45:09,899

Joy is always the best motive

for sharing news that that's.

:

00:45:10,260 --> 00:45:11,160

No brainer.

:

00:45:11,940 --> 00:45:17,430

And so if, if you are a Christian, you

have the, the biggest reason for joy

:

00:45:17,430 --> 00:45:22,050

of anyone on the planet, you should

be more joyful than anyone's fiance.

:

00:45:22,665 --> 00:45:24,540

You, you should be so excited.

:

00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:28,890

And if you're scared of evangelism,

the easiest way for you to, to get

:

00:45:28,890 --> 00:45:32,520

better at sharing your faith is to

be more excited about Jesus, right?

:

00:45:32,520 --> 00:45:35,070

The easiest way for you not to

be embarrassed about Jesus is for

:

00:45:35,070 --> 00:45:36,420

you to be like, Jesus is awesome.

:

00:45:37,080 --> 00:45:37,920

I love Jesus.

:

00:45:39,540 --> 00:45:41,280

That's the easiest way to do it, right?

:

00:45:41,310 --> 00:45:42,750

Why do you think a

sports team has a parade?

:

00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:43,590

They're excited.

:

00:45:43,590 --> 00:45:45,480

They wanna tell everyone, we

just won the championship.

:

00:45:45,990 --> 00:45:48,540

We just did this, and we want

everyone to know about it.

:

00:45:48,540 --> 00:45:51,150

So we're gonna block off the street

and we're gonna cause all this traffic

:

00:45:51,210 --> 00:45:56,040

and we're gonna potentially cause

harm by having this giant parade

:

00:45:56,580 --> 00:45:58,890

because we want you to know we're

excited, we're telling people about it.

:

00:45:58,890 --> 00:45:59,580

That's what they do.

:

00:46:00,750 --> 00:46:03,150

So joy is meant to be shared.

:

00:46:03,180 --> 00:46:05,550

And so if you aren't joyful.

:

00:46:06,180 --> 00:46:06,540

Jesus.

:

00:46:06,540 --> 00:46:08,490

If you're not excited about being

forgiven, if you're not excited

:

00:46:08,490 --> 00:46:11,070

about not having the fear of death

anymore, if you're not excited about

:

00:46:11,070 --> 00:46:14,430

the certainty of your salvation,

you're gonna be a terrible evangelist.

:

00:46:14,610 --> 00:46:15,000

Right?

:

00:46:16,020 --> 00:46:21,030

Like, imagine if you were trying to tell

someone about your fiance and you're

:

00:46:21,030 --> 00:46:22,470

like, yeah, well they're, they're okay.

:

00:46:23,010 --> 00:46:25,020

I mean, they're like sometimes nice to me.

:

00:46:26,235 --> 00:46:27,435

I'm terrible.

:

00:46:27,435 --> 00:46:27,675

Right?

:

00:46:27,675 --> 00:46:28,695

Terrible endorsement.

:

00:46:28,695 --> 00:46:29,025

Right.

:

00:46:29,145 --> 00:46:32,475

But if you're like, oh my goodness,

my fiance's amazing, and, and

:

00:46:32,475 --> 00:46:35,115

they're so cool, or they're so

gorgeous and they're, they're so

:

00:46:35,115 --> 00:46:36,855

helpful and they love me so well.

:

00:46:37,035 --> 00:46:37,365

Right.

:

00:46:37,545 --> 00:46:40,305

That's a, that's a good

evangelist for a fiance, right?

:

00:46:40,905 --> 00:46:41,535

For a wedding.

:

00:46:42,975 --> 00:46:47,625

And so if, if you're someone

out there, you, you, you, you

:

00:46:47,625 --> 00:46:48,675

believe in the resurrection.

:

00:46:48,675 --> 00:46:51,585

You say you're a Christian

and you're scared.

:

00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:54,000

I would just say focus on Jesus.

:

00:46:54,000 --> 00:46:56,220

Focus on how much joy you have in him.

:

00:46:57,690 --> 00:47:00,120

Focus on all the promises he makes to you.

:

00:47:00,120 --> 00:47:02,970

Focus on how good he is to you, and

that'll help you talk about him.

:

00:47:03,360 --> 00:47:06,750

It'll, it'll get easier because

you're, you're just, you can't help it.

:

00:47:06,750 --> 00:47:08,130

Joy is meant to be shared.

:

00:47:08,130 --> 00:47:10,920

And I also want you guys, maybe

you're not a Christian, or maybe you

:

00:47:10,920 --> 00:47:14,100

are, you never thought about this,

but did you know that the gospel is

:

00:47:14,100 --> 00:47:16,259

really just an invitation to Joy?

:

00:47:17,670 --> 00:47:19,680

Did you know that the gospel is good news?

:

00:47:20,370 --> 00:47:23,640

It's not like, oh, you

know, God said, do this.

:

00:47:23,940 --> 00:47:24,690

You stink.

:

00:47:25,589 --> 00:47:25,950

Right?

:

00:47:25,950 --> 00:47:27,270

The gospel is good news.

:

00:47:27,810 --> 00:47:31,440

The gospel is an invitation to the thing

that'll make you the happiest to God.

:

00:47:31,830 --> 00:47:34,890

God says, I want you to

be happy, so here I am.

:

00:47:35,220 --> 00:47:37,109

You can come to me if you trust Jesus.

:

00:47:37,109 --> 00:47:37,859

That's the gospel.

:

00:47:38,460 --> 00:47:42,750

The gospel is good news about how

to be happy forever, how to be the

:

00:47:42,750 --> 00:47:44,640

happiest for the most amount of time.

:

00:47:45,390 --> 00:47:48,180

That's, that's what the

gospel is really about.

:

00:47:48,180 --> 00:47:48,930

It's about joy.

:

00:47:50,190 --> 00:47:53,970

So maybe you, you've always thought

of Christianity as a bunch of rules or

:

00:47:53,970 --> 00:47:56,700

just something your parents make you do,

and I want you to see that the gospel

:

00:47:56,700 --> 00:47:57,930

is really just an invitation to joy.

:

00:47:57,990 --> 00:48:03,750

And Jesus is out here telling people

about it, spreading joy because God

:

00:48:03,750 --> 00:48:06,630

is ultimately gonna make you the

happiest for the longest amount of time.

:

00:48:09,030 --> 00:48:12,690

And so if that's you tonight, I,

I want you to think there's an

:

00:48:12,690 --> 00:48:16,320

empty tomb and there's a risen king

Jesus alive, and he's inviting you.

:

00:48:17,280 --> 00:48:19,260

You can find happiness in me.

:

00:48:19,500 --> 00:48:24,840

Stop trying to find happiness in whatever

you think is gonna make you happy, right?

:

00:48:24,840 --> 00:48:29,280

Whether it it's approval from others

or this dream school or career, or, or

:

00:48:29,730 --> 00:48:33,090

maybe you just want to your freedom and

autonomy and go do whatever you want.

:

00:48:33,090 --> 00:48:34,140

That's not gonna make you happy.

:

00:48:34,770 --> 00:48:36,390

It's gonna leave you

empty and regretting it.

:

00:48:36,570 --> 00:48:41,310

But Jesus is alive and he can free

you from sin and free you from death

:

00:48:41,520 --> 00:48:44,790

and give you the most amount of

joy for the longest amount of time.

:

00:48:45,330 --> 00:48:47,010

Let's pray and we'll go to small groups.

:

00:48:49,860 --> 00:48:51,900

God thank you that you

want us to be happy.

:

00:48:52,710 --> 00:48:56,550

You don't necessarily have to want

us to be happy, but you want us to

:

00:48:56,550 --> 00:48:58,890

be happy and so you give us yourself.

:

00:48:59,340 --> 00:49:03,360

I'm so grateful that you make a way

for us to relate to you, that you

:

00:49:03,360 --> 00:49:04,890

want us to be part of your family.

:

00:49:05,190 --> 00:49:11,430

You want to do good to us, you want

to um, you want to work for our joy.

:

00:49:12,240 --> 00:49:14,670

And so I pray that you would

help us to just remember that.

:

00:49:15,315 --> 00:49:18,165

Oftentimes when we don't trust you,

it's because we don't think you're

:

00:49:18,165 --> 00:49:19,695

looking out for our best interests.

:

00:49:20,025 --> 00:49:23,325

So I pray that you help all of us here to

trust that you know what's best for us.

:

00:49:23,325 --> 00:49:27,825

You love us more than we love

ourselves, and so you ultimately

:

00:49:27,825 --> 00:49:29,145

will make us the happiest.

:

00:49:29,145 --> 00:49:30,105

So help us to believe that.

:

00:49:30,255 --> 00:49:32,384

Help us to be focused and

honest in small groups.

:

00:49:32,835 --> 00:49:34,245

Um, and I pray all this in Jesus name.

:

00:49:34,485 --> 00:49:34,815

Amen.

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Compass Student Ministry Sermons Podcast
Compass North Texas Student Ministry Podcast
All the sermons preached at Compass Bible Church North Texas in the student ministry.

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