Participants: Pastor Doug Batchelor
Series Code: EG
Program Code: EG002812
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00:09 It's been 2000 years since the glorious light of the cross
00:12 illuminated a world veiled in darkness and confusion about the 00:16 character of God. And still today the greatest need of 00:19 mankind is a revelation of God's love as revealed in the life of 00:22 Christ. Amazing Facts presents the everlasting Gospel with 00:26 Pastor Doug Batchelor coming to you each week from Sacramento 00:30 Central Church in sunny California. Discover hidden 00:33 treasures in God's word today. 00:37 I predict that in the last few years of this world's history 00:44 a debate that is going to come more and more to the forefront 00:51 is the debate regarding evolution and creation. 00:55 And it's becoming more intense right now. You can see that 01:02 there is an increasing effort on the part of 01:07 some to try to day don't 01:09 even to question it anymore. Science has proven unequivocally 01:12 that evolution is true and at the same time you're finding the 01:17 mounting evidence among the logic of the Christian science 01:22 community that you cannot have all the organization and design 01:27 in the world today without intelligence. I see it moving 01:31 more and more towards a fever pitch. I like to sometimes 01:35 pretend that I can venture into these things and understand 01:40 these thoughts and I always come back to asking the question, 01:44 Well assuming that you're not all a figment of my imagination 01:50 and that means that you're here and I think I'm here. So we're 01:56 here. Where did we come from? You don't get something from 02:01 nothing and that's the title for the message today. How can you 02:06 get something from nothing? All of the organization and design 02:10 and things that we see in the world today are evidence that 02:14 there is an intelligent God. Where did it all come from? 02:18 How did it appear? You know I was reading this week and I 02:21 learned about something I had never had heard about before. 02:26 Have you heard about the God particle? The God particle. 02:31 Well as I was reading this article it was telling me that 02:36 I was really wondering where I've been. There is a 02:40 contraption that is being built in Europe. It's about 300 feet 02:44 underneath the ground under a French town Cressay 02:56 on the border of France and Switzerland. 03:00 This multibillion dollar scientific 03:03 experiment is called the large Hadron Collider. Now they 03:08 used to have one in Texas and I don't remember what the 03:12 dimensions were but it was a tunnel over a mile around. 03:15 Well this one they're building, I think they must have used the 03:19 same boring equipment they used on the Chunnel that they built 03:22 across the English channel. France held on to one of those 03:25 and they built a tunnel 17 miles around. Some parts of it are 300 03:31 feet underground. And it's filled with these very 03:35 sophisticated electronic components and powerful magnets. 03:40 Matter of fact one of the magnets they said is so powerful 03:44 that you'd better not have a hammer in your hand when they 03:49 turn that thing on because if you're in the way it'll go right 03:52 through you on its way to the magnet. It's one of the most 03:56 powerful magnets in the world that they've built. The idea of 04:00 this contraption with the tunnel As a matter of fact we've got a 04:03 picture here on the screen next. It shows the underground under 04:08 the town. This is a 17-mile-long tunnel. They've got stations 04:13 all along the way and they take elevators down there. They're 04:17 going to shoot particles approximately the speed of light 04:21 from opposite directions and collide them. That's where they 04:25 get the name the Hedron collider and they're believing that when 04:29 they collide these particles fast enough they're going to get 04:32 something called the Higgs Boson That's the name that they gave 04:35 to this affect that they believe that they can create 04:41 matter from nothing, new matter. Now that's a lot of money to 04:45 spend on a theory. They won't even tell you exactly how much 04:48 they've spent but it's billions. Fortunately it's not all U.S. 04:52 money but some of it came out of your pockets. The international 04:55 science team, call this big science. It's a big scientific 05:00 experiment for the world. Matter of fact, by the time I read the 05:02 article they were saying anytime while we're sitting here they're 05:05 going to blast the thing. I don't know. It might blow the 05:07 world up and end all our problems. They don't know what 05:09 it's going to do. But they're theorizing that they're going to 05:13 get matter created from this, well they call it the god 05:17 particle. Now the reason they gave it the name they gave it 05:22 is because they're trying to find a way to explain how do you 05:27 get something from nothing. When creationists begin to debate 05:32 with evolutionists and they talk about all of the organization 05:36 and design and material and intelligence and systems that 05:41 are in the creation, where do you get it? They're trying to 05:46 now say there's this particle that is going to form. How come 05:50 we've not been able to produce one iota of life in a test tube? 05:55 Now having said that, I'm really introducing a bigger subject. 06:00 Most of us believe that we exist You probably believe that you 06:06 exist and I trust you believe I exist. Now there are some who 06:10 have a theory that everything around you is just a figment of 06:14 your imagination. You're living in sort of a reality that you 06:17 created but most of us realize that you're just as real to you 06:22 as I am to me. We exist. There's this world. When you realize 06:26 that you should also be wise enough to realize you weren't 06:31 always here. If I were to ask you how far back can you 06:35 remember? Do many of you have memories of four years old and 06:40 earlier? The older you get the less you remember of those days. 06:44 Anyone from three? You still remember something when you're 06:49 three years old? How about two. That starts getting hard, two 06:55 years old. Anyone one? Some of you imagine you remember 07:01 something when you're one and they say that if they hypnotize 07:05 you they can put you in your natal memories when you're 07:09 inside mommy's tummy. I don't know what you'd be remembering 07:16 at that time. So you know you didn't always know anything. 07:23 Then it should also be painfully plain to you that you will not 07:27 always be here in this body anyway. Life is temporary. 07:31 We're just here for a little while. We've got to make the 07:35 most of our time to evaluate what the real priorities are. 07:40 People are typically afraid of dying. We're tormented through 07:44 life with fear of death. I'd like to address that. 07:48 Hebrews chapter 2 verses 14 and Inasmuch then as children 07:52 having partaken of the flesh and blood... humans have flesh and 07:58 blood; we're mortal... he, Jesus, likewise shared 08:03 in the same... he took a mortal body, 08:06 that through death he might destroy 08:09 him who had the power of death, that is the devil, 08:12 now catch this, and release those who through 08:14 fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 08:19 Many people live their lives fearing death. They don't enjoy 08:25 their life because they're always worried about death. 08:26 Some people have anxiety attacks They panic, they're afraid to 08:32 leave their house, something bad might happen. I just heard a 08:37 fleeting report on the news so I don't have all the details but 08:40 some lady was so panicked she didn't leave her bathroom for 08:44 two years. Some of you heard about that? People live in fear. 08:49 Paul tells us here in Hebrews that the devil keeps people 08:53 living in fear of death. Well Jesus does not want you to live 08:59 that kind of way. Jesus, in his death and resurrection, provided 09:04 a way for us to not be in bondage to fear. Now normally 09:10 when we think about death it's pretty ominous because for us 09:14 death, you turn into nothing. And if you ask a lot of people 09:17 on the street which we did back in 1999 when we were in New York 09:20 City. We took a camera and went around the streets and we asked 09:22 people what they thought happened when you died. 09:25 And it was kind of disturbing how many people said well you 09:26 just turn into nothing. You just turn back into dust. And that's 09:32 it and you don't know anything anymore. In the back of our 09:35 minds I think a lot of people worry about that and we wonder 09:39 can God make something from nothing again because really 09:44 that's what a resurrection is. Well I'd like to talk about that 09:47 theme a little bit in the Bible. First of all, I want to remind 09:51 you, you don't need to be afraid of death. Jesus said in 09:54 Matthew 10:28: Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot 09:58 kill the soul. There's something to you more than your body 10:02 that's growing old. Our minds get feeble. There's something 10:06 that can last forever. Jesus said, rather fear him who is 10:10 able to destroy both soul and body in hell, hell being the 10:15 grave. There is eternal life and there is eternal death and we 10:20 have a choice to make that will have eternal consequences. 10:24 Now today we're going to talk a little bit about the 10:27 resurrection of Jesus because I think there's more good theology 10:30 in the resurrection of Jesus that affects every part of our 10:33 life than we may consider. Jesus performed about four 10:38 resurrections in his ministry. Now there may have been more. 10:44 There are four that are really sited. Each one is followed by 10:49 one of greater intensity. Let's look at them briefly. 10:53 One of the first resurrections that's recorded 10:55 is the resurrection of Jairus' 10:58 daughter. You find this in Mark chapter 5 verse 41. This little 11:02 girl was sick. Jesus was summoned by the father: Please 11:06 come and help my daughter, she's at the point of death. 11:10 While Jesus is on the way his progress is slowed by the 11:14 crowds. He stops and heals this woman who's bleeding for 12 11:17 years. On the way messengers come from the house of Jairus 11:21 and they say don't trouble the master anymore. You're little 11:25 girl has died. It's hopeless now because you know who can make 11:29 something from nothing and once you die and the cells begin to 11:33 deteriorate there's no way to reanimate them. Now Jesus said 11:37 to the father, Do not fear, only believe. So they went to the 11:40 house. The mourners had already been gathered. It must have been 11:44 quite a journey to get there because it was enough time for 11:46 them to summon the local mourners and they're beginning 11:50 their mournful tunes on their lutes and instruments and 11:54 wailing and Jesus evicts them all from the house. He takes the 11:56 father, mother, Peter, James and John, and they go into the 11:59 little room where the little girl is and he takes the child 12:03 by the hand; this is where our verse picks up, Mark 5:41: And 12:08 he said to her, Talitha Cumi, which is translated, Little girl 12:11 I say arise. He uses basically the same words that a parent 12:14 uses for their daughter when they're getting her up for 12:17 school. Little girl, wake up, time for school. And immediately 12:23 the girl arose and walked for she was 12 years of age and they 12:28 were overcome with great amazement. You know, when I was 12:33 studying some of the information this week about this great 12:37 collider that they're building there in France underground 12:41 something else came out in one of the articles that the big 12:45 bang, you've heard of the big bang, they're talking about 12:49 creation and these things wasn't really a bang. Now these are 12:54 these scientists that are saying this, the evolutionary 12:55 scientists. They are saying it was more like a sound, a hum, 12:59 that creation was caused by sound waves but they don't know 13:04 where did the sound waves come from. Now sound waves that 13:08 travel faster than the speed of sound somehow initiated this 13:12 creation. But I seized on that and I thought well that's very 13:17 interesting. It says in my Bible and God said. Now they haven't 13:21 got a recording of what those sound waves sounded like but I'm 13:24 thinking well they might have something here and they just 13:27 don't know it. Sometimes science gets awful close but they just 13:31 hate to admit the Bible. It struck me for years, I'm getting 13:35 a little off track but not totally, I thought it was really 13:40 amazing. I went to public school and they taught dinosaurs and 13:44 the evolution and of course we believe there were dinosaurs but 13:47 they said the dinosaurs slowly died out over millions of years 13:51 as other creatures evolved and replaced them. Well then I 13:55 remember when I started to travel I saw evidence of a flood 13:58 all over the world. I'll never forget, I still was not a 14:02 Christian, but living with my uncle in New Mexico, 7000 feet 14:06 up above sea level there were sea shells everywhere and I said 14:10 boy there must have been a lot of water all over the world at 14:13 some point. Then I started reading more and more of the 14:16 scientific evidence was saying well evidently the dinosaurs 14:20 didn't die slowly. They all died suddenly in some great 14:23 cataclysmic event. And they say evidently an asteroid struck the 14:29 ocean and caused a massive global flood and I went bingo. 14:33 Massive global flood. They won't say Noah, that is a dirty word. 14:38 They'll say asteroid but they can't refute the evidence that 14:42 there was some kind of a global flood. That's how you get all 14:46 these fossils. Anyway they won't say the word of God created, 14:51 they say sound waves. And then their saying that light somehow 14:56 collided and life came from the sound waves and the 15:00 colliding light beams and the particles in the light, the god 15:04 particles. Well you know the Bible says God said let there 15:10 be light. Well, the wisdom of men is foolishness to God. 15:14 That's what the Bible says. Anyway so this girl dies, Jesus 15:18 speaks, she's reanimated, she comes back to life. Now you 15:22 notice in the sequence of miracles before the miracle of 15:25 Jesus' resurrection in the sequence of resurrections, this 15:29 girl had only been dead a matter of minutes and she's raised. 15:33 Next you get to a resurrection that was a matter of hours. 15:37 It's the young man of Nain. His mother was a widow, he was her 15:41 only son, this funeral procession was coming out of the 15:45 city, this was her only means of support, her only relative, she 15:48 was going to lose her property now, had no means of sustenance 15:51 and it just broke the Lord's heart. So as they were making 15:54 their way out of the city Jesus stops the funeral procession. 15:59 Luke 7 verse 14: Then he came and he touched the open coffin 16:05 and those who carried it stood still. And he said, Young man I 16:09 say to you arise. That sounds a little bit like what he said to 16:13 the girl. Young man I say to you arise. So he who was dead 16:17 sat up and began to speak and he presented him to his mother and 16:21 fear came upon all and they glorified God saying a great 16:24 prophet has risen among us and God has visited his people. They 16:28 were right. Jesus was God. He had visited their people. 16:31 Now you go from that experience where he had been dead a few 16:35 hours because they had already embalmed him and you get to the 16:39 next resurrection which is John chapter 11. What's that story? 16:44 Lazarus. How long had he been dead? A few days. So you're 16:49 going from a few minutes to a few hours to a few days. And of 16:54 course he comes to the tomb. He tells Martha and Mary to have 16:57 faith. He says roll away the stone. They said Lord by now 17:01 he smells bad because he's already begun to decompose. 17:05 The cells are broken down. How can you reanimate something when 17:09 it's already beginning to rot. Forgive me for being so graphic. 17:14 But you know every now and then I'll hear stories and they'll 17:18 say there was a resurrection, modern day resurrection. 17:21 We heard about over in the mission field, a child had died, 17:24 this person had died, the missionary was there, they 17:26 prayed and they came back to life and I said praise the Lord. 17:29 But in the back of my mind I always think, ah I wonder if 17:32 they were really dead. Come on. Have you ever had those thoughts 17:35 before? Maybe they just thought they were dead. I mean we've all 17:39 heard stories about people who the coroner says yeah they've 17:42 died and they take them off to the morgue and they're getting 17:45 ready to do the autopsy and they sit up. Scared the poor guy half 17:48 to death. And they find out no they weren't really dead. 17:51 Did you know Robert E. Lee's mother died before he was born? 17:57 That's right. Read history. She had a terrible fever. She died. 18:01 They were having the funeral. Had her stretched out. She sat 18:05 up. She lived long enough to give birth to him then. But they 18:09 thought she was dead. Her breathing was so shallow, no 18:12 motion, lifeless, looked like she was blue. So when you hear 18:17 these stories about resurrections, I do believe 18:19 God can raise the dead, don't misunderstand. But I think 18:23 sometimes we don't know. It's like the story of Eutychus in 18:27 the Bible. The jury's still out. Remember Paul preached too long, 18:31 Eutychus fell out the window and Paul said don't fear, his 18:34 life is still in him. He took him up. You wonder if he was 18:38 just knocked out. Paul healed him from a concussion or if he 18:42 was raised from the dead. I believe he was raised, the Bible 18:46 says. What about when Paul was stoned. Sometime I wonder maybe 18:49 he was dead and God raised him and nobody knows. Paul was 18:53 stoned. They thought he was dead and he got up and went on 18:57 preaching. You wonder if God just said they think you're dead 18:59 maybe you are dead but I'm not done with you so I'm raising 19:03 you up. I mean, these things go through my mind. But when the 19:10 cells begin to die? And you've probably heard about suspended 19:17 animation. They have some creatures, generally reptiles 19:19 and there are some turtles and frogs which are amphibians that 19:25 it appears they totally freeze. Like the common American garter 19:29 snake. I've seen them before where they're caught by a frost, 19:33 they're out in the open and their body is just covered with 19:37 ice and then it thaws out and they begin to move again. 19:41 Some reptiles are totally frozen and the come back to life. 19:45 There are insects and other creatures that it seems like 19:48 they're totally frozen. Well they've done some experiments 19:51 and they find out their not really technically, clinically 19:54 frozen because their bodies have in their cells the equivalent of 19:59 antifreeze that really prevents the cell from freezing. They've 20:02 got frost all over their body, they seem like they're as hard 20:07 as a rock but their not really frozen. The cells haven't died. 20:10 They're just suspended. They've got this built-in antifreeze. 20:13 How many of you know what I'm talking about? So they've never 20:16 really figured out a way to truly freeze them because when 20:19 the cell wall freezes it crystallizes and it kills it. 20:23 Lazarus was dead. The cells were beginning to disintegrate and 20:30 when he was raised Jesus may as well have started with a rock. 20:36 It would have been just as much a miracle if Jesus had taken a 20:41 log and turned it into Lazarus. He was dead. He completely 20:45 created new life in those cells. That was a miracle. Now you 20:50 notice what's happening. Each miracle is getting to be more 20:54 profound than the one before. Each resurrection is getting 20:59 greater than the one before. You know Jesus told us to raise 21:05 others? Yeah. He told us to raise the dead. I've wondered 21:10 about this sometimes. You know I've done a lot of funerals. 21:16 I guess I can say this now but if one of our older saints goes 21:20 to sleep I say bless their heart I wouldn't want to bring them 21:24 back. Because the next thing they're aware of is the new body 21:29 and the resurrection. Wouldn't that be a dirty trick. Yeah. But 21:33 you know sometimes there's these tragedies where a person appears 21:36 to die prematurely and their family needs them so much and 21:40 I think Lord my heart breaks and I think Lord are you wanting 21:45 me... How would I know if I'm supposed to say what the 21:47 apostles said, Come forth, or something. Of course, I've never 21:50 done it. That'd be terribly embarrassing. It would be great 21:54 if you did it and it worked. But if you said come forth, nothing 21:58 happens you just say well folks I tried. You don't know. 22:02 I mean I believe the word of God so I sometimes wonder. Do you 22:06 think pastor's crazy now? Have you ever been at a funeral and 22:10 wondered. Now I mean, I believe what I read in the Bible. Jesus 22:15 said, Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out 22:20 demons. Freely you've received, freely give. A lot of scholars 22:23 sort of spiritualize this and raise those who are spiritually 22:27 dead. But no, the disciples were raising the dead weren't they? 22:31 I think we may see more of this in the last days as God pours 22:35 out his Spirit. So now we're going to move on to Jesus' 22:38 resurrection. I remember reading where Dwight Moody, when he was 22:44 a young minister, he was suddenly invited to do a 22:48 funeral. He had no preparation. He was actually a layman who was 22:51 kind of called into the ministry So he began to read through the 22:54 Bible to try and found where Jesus had a funeral sermon. 22:57 He wanted to do Jesus' funeral sermons but you realize every 23:01 funeral Jesus went to he sort of messed it up; he raised them. 23:05 Death could not exist in his presence including his own 23:10 funeral. So before I get to that though I want to establish 23:16 something that is difficult. When Jesus died was he really 23:22 dead? You know some say think about this. Was Jesus God the 23:29 Son? Can God die. If Jesus is divine, can divinity die? 23:35 That's so hard for us to comprehend. Let me just read 23:40 what the Bible says and you just I hope will trust what the word 23:46 says. Romans 5 verses 6 to 8. For when we were still without 23:51 strength in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely 23:56 for a righteous man will one die, yet perhaps for a good man 23:59 some would even dare to die but God demonstrates his own love 24:05 towards us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us 24:11 It's plain, he died. And you know there are scores of verses 24:14 I could read that say the same thing. I Thessalonians 5:9and 10 24:18 For God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation 24:23 through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us. For whether we 24:28 wake or sleep we should live together with him. Some will say 24:32 when Jesus died on the cross he didn't really die. There's a 24:36 couple of theories. One is he swooned. That's kind of the old 24:40 word that they used, passed out. He was in some suspended state. 24:44 That you know when he was on the cross and they gave him 24:48 something to drink, it wasn't sour wine or vinegar or gall. 24:52 It was actually a narcotic that put him in a coma, death-like 24:55 state. This is a theory that has been around for years and that 24:59 when the soldiers took him down he wasn't really dead. They put 25:02 him in the tomb, the disciples snuck in, they revived him 25:05 and it's no miracle, it wasn't a resurrection. Jesus never 25:09 really actually died. How many of you have heard this before? 25:14 Any of you ever hear Pastor J. Vernon McGee. He's been around 25:17 for years, he has actually passed away a few years ago but 25:21 his ministry has been around for years. It's called Through the 25:23 Bible. I enjoy listening to Pastor McGee. He has a very 25:26 distinctive deep southern drawl even though he preached in L.A. 25:29 for years he was from the south and you could always hear Pastor 25:33 J. Vernon McGee talk in his very deep... Those who listen know 25:37 what I'm talking about. But he's a pretty good scholar. Someone 25:40 wrote J. Vernon McGee one time and said our preacher said on 25:43 Easter Jesus just passed out on the cross and the disciples 25:46 nursed him back to health. What do you think? Pastor McGee said, 25:51 Dear Sister: Beat your preacher with a leather whip with 39 25:55 heavy strokes, nail him to a cross, hang him in the sun for 26:00 six hours, run a spear through his heart, embalm him head to 26:03 foot, put him in an airless tomb for three days and let's 26:08 see what happens. (Laughter) Well that kind of says it all 26:15 doesn't it. The idea that Jesus just passed out. It says he 26:22 actually had a napkin around his head, he was in an airless tomb, 26:26 they pierced his heart, all his blood ran out. He wasn't just 26:31 fainted. Then others say well he did die but because he's God, 26:35 God can't die, he was always conscious through the whole 26:39 experience. And you've probably heard this. Matter of fact it's 26:43 repeated in the Apostles Creed. Jesus actually had an out of 26:47 body experience when he died on the cross. Most of this comes 26:51 from one verse I'm about to read. They say when Jesus died 26:54 he wasn't really dead but he just went into another state and 26:58 he began to preach to lost souls in hell to give them another 27:02 chance. Have you heard this before? Well first of all there 27:05 are serious problems with the idea that after a person dies 27:08 and they get their punishment, that God is going to give them 27:12 another chance. The Bible is clear that it's appointed unto 27:15 man once to die, after this the judgment. Nowhere in the 27:19 Bible does it say after you die instead of being judged based 27:22 upon your works you're going to be judged or rewarded based upon 27:26 did Jesus come to you in your after-life and then you accepted 27:30 him or by virtue of someone praying in your behalf or doing 27:33 something in this life that's going to give you merit to save 27:37 you. Once you are dead that is it. You take to your grave your 27:40 destiny. Every man will be rewarded according to his words. 27:44 Not according to the works of your family, not according to a 27:47 second chance. So there are really problems with this 27:51 theology. But this is the verse that that theory comes from. 27:56 I Peter chapter 3 verse 18: For Christ also suffered once for 28:01 sins, the just for the unjust. That he might bring us to God 28:06 being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 28:11 capital S, by whom he went and preached unto the spirits in 28:16 prison who formerly were disobedient when once the divine 28:20 longsuffering waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being 28:24 prepared wherein few, that is eight, souls were saved through 28:28 water. So they say ah here it is. Jesus died and then through 28:31 the Spirit he went and preached to the spirits who were in 28:34 prison and so folks say will it sounds to me like after Jesus 28:38 died he didn't just stay on the cross. He went into some other 28:41 state and he went down to spirits who were in prison. 28:43 Evidently those were disobedient back in the days of Noah. Folks 28:46 who died from the flood maybe didn't get to hear the gospel. 28:50 He went back to give them another chance. Have you heard 28:54 this? Yeah, it's out there. Yeah That's not what it means. 28:59 Let me tell you what this is saying. By which Spirit he 29:03 preached to the spirits in prison. The emphasis here isn't 29:07 that Jesus, it's that the Spirit went and preached to those who 29:11 were in prison back in the days of Noah. Now if you take your 29:15 Bible and you turn to Genesis chapter 6 verse 3, let me find 29:20 that real quick. You remember this verse. This is exactly what 29:25 Peter's talking about. And the Lord said, My Spirit will not 29:29 always strive with man forever. In other words, it was through 29:34 the same Spirit, Peter's saying, that raised Christ that God 29:38 preached to those spirits, meaning people, who were in 29:42 prison by sin back in the days of Noah. That's all he's talking 29:47 about. He's using that metaphor of people who were in prison by 29:51 sin. My Spirit will not always strive with man forever. He is 29:55 indeed flesh. Yet his days will be 120 years. So from that 29:58 point in a special through the ministry and the witness of Noah 30:02 God preached, Christ preached through the Holy Spirit to those 30:05 people back then. It's a reference to the Spirit, the 30:07 same Spirit that raised Jesus is the same Spirit that preached 30:10 to those who were in prison by sin back in the days of the 30:13 flood and those who didn't listen then perished and those 30:17 who don't listen now perish. That's the emphasis there. 30:21 So when it talks about the altered state, did he have an 30:25 out-of-body experience? No. What was Jesus thinking while he was 30:29 on the cross. Where was he, where did he go, what was he 30:32 doing? He didn't go anywhere. How do you know that? He said 30:36 when Mary went to worship him, Do not cling to me for I have 30:40 not yet ascended to my Father. That's the first place I'd go. 30:45 I'd go to my Father. He hadn't gone anywhere. Now you and I, 30:49 we struggle with this, but think about it. What is the penalty 30:53 for sin? The penalty for sin is death. Did Jesus take our 30:58 penalty on the cross. He did. If Jesus didn't really die when 31:03 he was on the cross then did he really take our penalty? Do the 31:07 wicked know anything, do the righteous know anything when 31:10 they die? Do the dead know something while they're in 31:13 death? The living know they'll die but the Bible says the dead 31:17 know not anything. In that very day they die their thoughts 31:20 perish. Do not put your trust in princes or the son of man in 31:24 whom there is no help. His breath goes forth. He dies and 31:27 that very day his thoughts perish. So the dead don't know 31:30 anything. So Christ took the penalty of the lost and he died 31:34 for our sins. He was unconscious while he was in the tomb. He was 31:39 not there with a reading lamp catching up on his reading. 31:42 He wasn't out meandering through the spirit world 31:46 preaching to people as an itinerant spiritual evangelist. 31:51 He died. He slept through the Sabbath. Christ rested even in 31:56 death from his work of saving men. That's wonderful when you 32:01 think about it. Christ even kept the Sabbath in his death. 32:05 And then he told them he would rise the third day. He had said 32:09 this numberless times in the New Testament. Mark 8:31: He 32:14 began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things 32:17 and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the 32:21 scribes and be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke 32:25 this word openly. It was no secret that Jesus said that he 32:29 was going to rise again. He told the disciples this on many 32:33 occasions. So not only did the Old Testament prophecies say 32:37 this as Luke mentions, Jesus told the disciples this that he 32:41 was going to really die and he would rise. Could he have faked 32:45 this, could he have set it up? Could he have talked the Romans 32:49 into crucifying him and hoped that this whole trick or ruse 32:54 would pass off. You could never fabricate something like that. 32:59 And then of course the good news After the three days in the tomb 33:04 and it was over the period of really touching on three days, 33:10 part of Friday, all of Sabbath, part of Sunday, he rose. 33:15 And then you read in Mark chapter 16 verse 9 that Jesus 33:20 rose. When he rose early in the morning on the first day of the 33:24 week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had 33:30 cast seven devils. Now how did Jesus rise? Who raised Jesus? 33:36 You know the Bible says that he raised himself. I'm sure the 33:41 Father cooperated. But read this. John 10:17. Are you making 33:46 notes? You can look it up if you have your Bible. John 10 verses 33:51 17 and 18: Therefore my Father loves me because I lay down 33:56 my life that I might take it again. No one takes it from me. 34:00 But I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I 34:04 have power to take it again. This command I have received 34:08 from my Father. Now that's another thing that causes a 34:12 mystery for people. How could Jesus who is unconscious have 34:15 power to raise himself up. You'd think he'd need to at least be 34:19 standing there outside your body and shaking yourself. Okay, wake 34:22 up. How do you lay down your life and raise it up. Here's my 34:25 theory. There's power in the word. There's creative power 34:29 in the word. Heaven and earth will pass away but the word of 34:32 God does not pass away. When Jesus told the daughter of 34:35 Jairus get up she got up. When he told the young man of Nain 34:39 get up, he got up. When he told Lazarus come forth, Lazarus came 34:44 forth right. So whenever the word of God says something is 34:47 going to happen it happened. When Jesus said I will rise the 34:51 third day, that was the same word that raised him up. 34:53 The power of his word. Oh sure it was suspended but his word 34:58 doesn't pass away. It's fulfilled right on time. 35:01 Now you might say well there's a theory that he was buried in a 35:07 borrowed tomb, we're not sure exactly where it was and 35:09 supposedly the disciples came and stole the body and said that 35:13 he rose. How can you really know that Jesus rose? How do you know 35:18 anything? What evidence do you have? You've got first-hand 35:22 evidence of your senses. If you were not there 2000 years ago to 35:25 see him rise and you don't have that first-hand evidence, what 35:28 evidence do you have. You've got to have the evidence of others. 35:32 Does that make sense? Is there evidence of others that Jesus 35:37 rose? Well let's look at some of the witnesses. First of all we 35:41 just read about Mary. What witnesses do we have that Jesus 35:46 rose? Mary was there first at the tomb. Then that same day on 35:50 the road to Emmaus. Two disciples were walking with him. 35:54 They didn't know that it was him. Maybe his shroud was 35:57 covering his head or he shielded them from recognizing him but 36:01 before the meal was over in the town of Emmaus they recognized 36:04 him and they said Lord, it's you. They ran back up to the 36:07 upper room to tell the other disciples. So he appeared to the 36:11 two on the road to Emmaus. And their testimony is, The Lord is 36:14 risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. That's an important verse 36:19 by the way. That's Luke 24:34. Not only did he appear to Mary 36:22 he appeared to the two on the road to Emmaus, one of them 36:26 their name was Cleopus, but they said before that day was 36:30 over he evidently had appeared to Peter, Simon Peter. That's 36:34 why they said, he did appear to Simon. He's not making up 36:37 stories. It's true because we saw him also. There's no record 36:41 in the Bible of Jesus appearing to Simon. I have a feeling it 36:44 was a personal thing because remember Peter had denied him 36:47 three times. So they said the Lord has risen and he did appear 36:51 to Simon. Then you go to the upper room and in the upper room 36:55 he appeared to not only the 12 that were gathered there but 36:59 there were others with them. Then you've got the 12 apostles. 37:04 He appeared to them on numerous occasions and he said I'm alive. 37:09 He ate in front of them, ate honey comb and he ate fish and 37:13 you've got the testimony of all of those men. Now granted some 37:17 of them were fishermen and fishermen sometimes tell stories 37:20 but one of them was an accountant and they're very 37:22 precise, right? Matthew. Matter of fact, their details are more 37:28 precise than you usually want them. There were shepherds and 37:34 scribes and all kinds of people. They all bore testimony together 37:37 that he was alive. He appeared to them again by the sea. 37:40 You remember when Peter was fishing with part of the 37:44 apostles and he appeared to them and he had conversations 37:47 with them. Matter of fact, over a period of 40 days he appeared 37:50 to many of them on many occasions before he ascended 37:53 to heaven. At one point he appeared to 500 of them at one 37:58 time. Now you might think well there's one or two people in 38:01 history and they're a little cracked or their delusional. 38:04 They thought they saw him but they had a vision. Well here you 38:08 get 500 seeing him. I Corinthians 15. I'm not 38:11 reading you all these references because there's not time for 38:14 that. I Corinthians 15 verse 6: After that he was seen by over 38:18 500 brethren at once of whom the greater part of them remain to 38:22 the present day, but some have fallen asleep. After that he was 38:27 seen by James, now it's mentioned here with a comma, 38:31 meaning that it's separate. This is James his brother who is not 38:34 one of the 12 apostles. He appeared to him. Then by all of 38:38 the apostles. Then last of all he was seen by me also as one 38:43 born out of due time. Now who wrote that? Paul. So not only 38:48 did he appear to 500 disciples but then he appears to Saul who 38:54 is also known as Paul. He sees Jesus alive. But that's not the 39:00 last one. You go to the book of Revelation and who appears to 39:04 John, the last of the apostles in the waning days of his life. 39:09 Jesus reveals himself to him and he ends the book by saying I am 39:13 He that lives. I was dead but I'm alive forever more. Even so 39:17 come Lord Jesus. So if you're not going to believe this 39:22 testimony... Let me just get you to think about something. If you 39:27 believe in ancient history, there's a lot of things we take 39:30 for granted about ancient history like the existence of 39:34 Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, Nebuchadnezzar, Hammurabi 39:39 the various pharaohs. You go through the different records of 39:45 history and you know there are more witnesses to the 39:47 resurrection of Jesus than all these other famous characters of 39:50 ancient history and yet nobody ever questions did Alexander the 39:54 Great really live. There are not as many writings about 39:58 Alexander as there are about Jesus and his resurrection. 40:02 So what testimony would you accept? You've got the 40:07 testimony of history and would you be willing to die for 40:11 something that... If you made up a story of the resurrection 40:14 would you be willing to die for a big fabrication that you 40:17 created? Were the apostles willing to die believing that 40:21 Jesus had risen? Many of them did. They laid down their lives. 40:24 They were tortured. That's why Paul says We have seen with our 40:28 eyes, we have handled the Word of Life, we bear witness that 40:31 what we've seen is true. They're using the strongest, most 40:35 emphatic language that they can find that Jesus really rose. 40:39 Now I read this just last week but there's lots of 40:45 extra biblical testimony besides what you find in the Bible and 40:49 I quote Flavius Josephus. This is in his book The Antiquities 40:53 of the Jews. He was a contemporary of Christ. 40:57 He toured with the Romans. He was spared after the destruction 40:59 of Jerusalem. He wrote the history of the Jewish people. 41:03 He was a scholar. Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise 41:07 man if it be lawful to call him a man. Don't forget this was 41:11 written by a Jew who was not a Christian. By the way, you can 41:16 be a Jew and a Christian but Josephus made no profession of 41:19 being a Christian, sounds like he believed. There was about 41:23 this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, 41:27 for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as 41:30 received the truth with pleasure. He drew over to 41:33 himself many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was the 41:37 Christ. And when pilot, at the suggestion of principal men 41:41 among us, had condemned him to the cross, those who loved him 41:44 at the first did not forsake him for he appeared to them alive 41:48 again the third day as the divine prophets had foretold 41:53 These and 10,000 other wonderful things concerning him and the 41:57 tribe of Christians so named from him are not extinct at this 42:01 day. So what testimony will you believe? You know I think one 42:05 reason that it's so hard for us to believe in the resurrection 42:10 is because in our modern world today... You might say I believe 42:14 in the resurrection, Doug. I don't really have a problem with 42:18 this. But I think we're scared of death. You don't need to 42:22 be because Jesus can make something out of nothing. 42:26 That's the wonderful thing. You know, one of the things that 42:28 gives me comfort is I can't explain how you can have a 42:32 seed that is thousands of years old that can germinate after 42:37 being basically dead in every sense of the word. You've heard 42:42 some of these stories of ancient seeds. They found these ancient 42:46 lotus seeds in a bog in Japan, some extinct lotus flower. 42:50 They were 3000 years old and they carefully extracted them 42:54 and dried them out and wondered what if, you think they could 42:57 still be viable. If we plant them could they live. How can 43:00 you get a flower out of something that had been dormant? 43:03 It's not been eating. How could it stay alive? It's not been 43:06 doing anything for 3000 years. What do you think? They put it 43:10 in the ground and they sprouted. You've heard of Howard Carter 43:15 who examined the tomb of King Tutankhamun. They found a pot 43:19 that had some old Egyptian beans in it over 2000 years old, 43:23 pretty close to 3000 there too. They put them in some fertile 43:28 ground with some moisture and some sunlight and they sprouted. 43:32 What keeps that essence of life in those seeds? I don't know. 43:36 It's a mystery. But God can make something out of nothing and 43:41 he doesn't need a particle collider to do it. Let me give 43:45 you a kernel of truth. John 12, this is what Jesus said about 43:50 this: Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat 43:55 fall into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies 44:00 it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it and 44:04 he who hates his life in this world will keep it for life 44:08 eternal. What is Jesus saying here? Well for one thing we must 44:12 become nothing and die if we're going to become something. 44:16 Martin Luther put it this way. God creates from nothing so 44:20 until we become nothing he can make nothing of us. The Lord 44:24 doesn't need to start with material and transform it. 44:28 Man knows how to manipulate life. We can take cells from one 44:31 person and inject them into another person and have sort of 44:36 a symbiotic or surrogate, that's the word I'm looking for, 44:40 surrogate birth. We can clone and slice and splice the genes 44:44 and take what God's already created. We're taking life he's 44:48 already got and you know try to cross pollinate and cross breed 44:52 and do things with that. We can manipulate it, but we can't take 44:56 nothing and make a cell of life. We can't take nothing and make a 45:00 man. I don't know how he does it but I believe he can do it 45:03 because you look around you and all you see in the world today 45:07 is evidence God can make something out of nothing. 45:11 Again, Paul talking about the seed principle. I Corinthians 15 45:17 verse 36. Foolish ones. What you sow is not made alive unless it 45:22 dies. And what do you sow. You do not sow that body that shall 45:27 be... In other words, if I want to get a banana, you do not 45:32 plant a banana. Try it. You're not going to get a banana tree 45:36 from planting a banana. It's sown as something else but grows 45:40 into a banana. If you want a pine tree, you don't stick the 45:43 tree in the ground. You've got to take the seed of the tree 45:48 and put it in the ground. You don't sow that body that shall 45:52 be mere grain, perhaps wheat or some other grain, but God gives 45:56 it a body as he pleases and to each seed its own body. He was 46:00 using these metaphors from nature to try and help us 46:04 understand that God can take nothing and make something. 46:08 When you're resurrected, what does God use to resurrect you? 46:13 You know I read that in Japan in the 1600s there was a great 46:18 persecution of Christians. Thousands were killed. 46:20 The Japanese knew the Christians believed in the resurrection and 46:25 they said well what we'll do is we're going to bury their bodies 46:28 in one place and we're going to bury their heads somewhere else 46:32 so they can be raised. So is God going to come down and go Oh 46:37 where are the parts. I can't do this. Is God reassembling the 46:42 old parts. The wife of the president in South America... 46:50 Ok what was her name? That famous wife of the president in 46:57 South America, Argentina. (Audience responds) 47:02 Eva Peron, Eva that's it. He had her embalmed, very expensive 47:06 best in the world, and they say to this very day her body looks 47:10 just like the day they laid her in the grave. And you think the 47:12 Lord's going to come along and see her, assuming she's saved, 47:15 and say Ah thanks. This is a lot easier to do a resurrection like 47:18 like this. I really appreciate that. Who is it? Is it Lenin 47:23 that they've frozen? Yeah. They got him frozen there in Red 47:27 Square. I appreciate the help guys. If you freeze them it's 47:31 easier for me. Others are saying I want to be buried 47:35 cryogenically, frozen, preserved Just give the Lord a little help 47:39 because you've heard this, right It doesn't make any difference 47:43 because none of the body you're wearing now goes to heaven, none 47:46 of it, not one brain cell. Who you are he saves somehow. He 47:50 backs up the hard drive. I don't know how he does it, but he 47:54 saves who you are. God knows who you are and he makes a new 47:58 creature. That's why the Bible says all things are new. Old 48:02 things are passed away, all things are made new. This is 48:08 good news. John 11 verse 25, Jesus said to Martha, I am the 48:14 resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though he may 48:19 die, yet he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in me 48:24 will never die. Now wait a second here. If we are living 48:29 now and believing in him he said we will never die. Do Christians 48:34 die or do they go to sleep? According to the Bible they go 48:38 to sleep. You don't have to worry about dying. You're just 48:42 wondering when your change will be, when you're going to get the 48:45 new body. Those who are alive when Christ comes, it says in a 48:49 moment, in the twinkling of an eye, they are changed. I know it 48:51 sounds like a funeral service but I'm getting into things I 48:54 never get a chance to get into at a funeral service. We'll be 48:57 changed when the Lord comes down and what's change? This mortal 49:00 puts on incorruption. This body is dying, it's going to die, 49:03 just accept it. We're all terminal in that respect but you 49:06 don't need to be afraid because the resurrection of Jesus 49:09 proves... He was dead three days ... that God can make something 49:13 out of nothing. Because Christ went into the grave with a 49:17 mortal body like you and I have but he came out with a glorified 49:20 body. Isn't that what the Bible tells us. And that's the kind of 49:25 bodies we're going to have. So. I still can't prove it to you 49:28 scientifically, but I think there's a lot of evidence in the 49:32 world out there that God does know how to make something out 49:35 of nothing. And that's hope for you and me because when we come 49:39 to the Lord we are nothing. We are poor and wretched and 49:42 miserable and blind and naked and we're helpless and when we 49:47 realize our nothingness, that's when he can recreate us. The 49:51 resurrection of Jesus is inexorably linked to living a 49:58 new life. The victory that you and I have as new creatures with 50:02 new hearts... The idea of him giving you a new heart. The 50:07 resurrection is evidence that there's a new birth that happens 50:10 inside of you, a glorious new heart, a new spirit. The most 50:14 important thing that you could grasp from the resurrection is 50:16 God can make something out of nothing. He can take our stony 50:20 hearts, take them out and recreate a new heart within us. 50:24 All of this is very real. He really does give you a new heart 50:29 And also we don't need to be afraid of death. It's like that 50:33 hymn that we sing, Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to the 50:38 cross I cling. You know Sir Walter Raleigh is an interesting 50:42 character from history, very colorful character from history. 50:46 He was sort of a favorite of Queen Elizabeth for many years 50:50 but eventually she passed away and he fell out of favor and the 50:54 next ruler put him in the Tower of London, threatened to buy his 50:58 position and influence. They finally consigned him to be 51:01 executed. Most people don't know not only was he an explorer and 51:05 a sailor and a soldier, he was a poet. While he was waiting 51:09 there in the Tower of London for his execution he wrote these 51:14 words. Even such is time that takes in trust our youth, our 51:19 joys and all we have and pays us with age and dust who in the 51:24 dark and silent grave when we have wandered all our days, shut 51:29 up the story of our days. But from the earth, this grave, this 51:34 dust my God shall raise me up I trust. He died. He wasn't 51:40 afraid believing in the resurrection. Socrates oh 400 51:46 years before Christ died was told he needed to drink hemlock. 51:51 Basically he was given the death sentence and he said I'll drink 51:55 the hemlock rather than have you execute me. Then after he drank 51:59 it as he was waiting for the poison to take effect his 52:02 disciples around him were saying will we live again? He said, I 52:06 don't know, maybe. How sad to have that kind of an outlook on 52:10 life. When the pagans were buried there in the catacombs 52:14 underneath Rome. You can see some of the pagan graves and 52:18 they're etched good bye for eternity, good bye forever, 52:22 but in the Christian catacombs that you find around Rome it 52:26 says good night until morning. Good bye until tomorrow. There's 52:31 hope. This is what Jesus offers us. You need to be free. 52:34 We don't need to be held in bondage to death because God can 52:37 make something out of nothing. We're surrounded with evidence 52:40 of his creative power all around us. The resurrection reminds us 52:43 of that and that's good news. I thought it would be good for us 52:46 appropriate for us to just sing an anthem of praise in closing 52:51 our service today. It's 166 in your hymnals. Christ the Lord Is 52:56 Risen Today. I'd like for you to sing with enthusiasm and energy 53:01 this good news. Let's stand together as we sing. 53:03 ¤ ¤ 53:35 Christ the Lord is risen today. Al-le-lu-ia! 53:44 Sons of men and angels say, Al-le-lu-ia! 53:53 Raise your joys and triumphs high. Al-le-lu-ia! 54:02 Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Al-le-lu-ia! 54:11 Lives again our glorious King, Al-le-lu-ia! 54:20 Where, O death, is now thy sting? Al-le-lu-ia! 54:29 Once He died, our souls to save, Al-le-lu-ia! 54:37 Where's thy victory, boasting grave? Al-le-lu-ia! 54:47 Love's redeeming work is done, Al-le-lu-ia! 54:56 Fought the fight, the battle won Al-le-lu-ia! 55:04 Death in vain forbids Him rise, Al-le-lu-ia! 55:14 Christ hath opened Paradise, Al-le-lu-ia! 55:23 Soar we then where Christ has led, Al-le-lu-ia! 55:32 Following our exalted Head, Al-le-lu-ia! 55:40 Made like Him, like Him we rise, Al-le-lu-ia! 55:49 Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Al-le-lu-ia! 56:00 How many of you believe the Lord can make something out of 56:05 nothing? (Amen) That gives you and me hope, right? He can take 56:09 us and realizing that we've got these stony hearts, he can 56:13 give us new hearts, new spirits, new minds. He can recreate us 56:17 and the resurrection is a memorial of that. Let's pray. 56:22 Father in heaven, we are thankful for the good news that 56:26 Jesus is alive right now, at the right hand of your very 56:30 presence, there interceding in our behalf in the heavenly 56:34 temple. That he is there and he hears our prayers, that we can 56:39 have our petitions answered in his living name. Lord we pray 56:44 that each of us can be recreated by faith in this truth that you 56:49 can make something from nothing, that your word has creative 56:53 power and that it can animate new life into that which is dead 56:58 and it can reanimate our hearts and minds. Bless us Lord that we 57:03 might be mobilized by this truth We also pray that we can all 57:07 believe that eternal life, this gift, is given now and we can 57:11 embrace it now and take it on from this point through eternity 57:15 Bless each person. We pray your blessing on this church and the 57:19 families represented here and ask you go with us from this 57:22 place through the Sabbath day and the week before us. 57:25 In Jesus' name. Amen. 57:28 Thank you for joining us for this broadcast. If you've missed 57:31 any of our Amazing Facts programs visit our web site 57:34 at AmazingFacts.org. There you'll find an archive of all 57:37 our television and radio programs including Amazing Facts 57:40 Presents, Central Study Hour, Everlasting Gospel, Bible 57:43 Bible Answers Live and Wonders In the Word. You'll also find 57:47 a storehouse of biblical resources geared towards 57:49 answering some of your most difficult questions and our 57:52 on-line Bible School is just a click away. One location, so 57:55 many possibilities. AmazingFacts.org. |
Revised 2014-12-17