Bill Johnson - Why the Resurrection?
Everything in our relationship with the Holy Spirit is about discovering and manifesting the resurrected Christ. Everything is connected because without the resurrection there is no forgiveness of sin; it is all tied to the resurrection. Thanks! Wow! Well, happy Easter! He has risen! He’s risen indeed! But not the truth! Scripture says that without the resurrection we can’t be born again, we can’t actually be saved. Everything hinges on that one thing and the complete victory that Jesus had over sin, the powers of darkness, and the grave. Wow, wow, wow! So significant! So, we’ll talk about that today.
Brief update on my way, by the way, to all our online community: We love you, and I’m so thankful for you. Thank you for joining us week after week, and blessings to all of you in the overflow rooms. You know, we used to have this manifestation of glory that would appear in the room, and we actually had it happen 26 times in a period of about 11 months. I remember one time it started in the overflow, so it kind of makes me want to go hang out over there. So all of you overflow people, bless you! We’re thankful.
Just a quick update: I appreciate so much all the great numbers of people who have been praying for my wife. We’re so thankful; her white blood count has gone up, so she was able to receive treatment. She got shingles, so the pain level has been pretty nasty. We’re fighting against that annoying thing right now, but very thankful for the prayers and thankful for all that Jesus has accomplished.
You know, we quote verses a lot to each other, and we actually minister to ourselves with these scriptures. One of them is about the Holy Spirit: «He who raised Jesus from the dead gives life to your mortal bodies» (Romans 8:11). The Holy Spirit, who dwells in us, is the spirit of resurrection, and everything you will ever learn in this New Testament life is through the Holy Spirit. It is always to reveal the resurrected Christ. Everything is connected to the resurrection. Yes! Amen! Everything is connected to the resurrection; it is so central.
I don’t understand this, but I’m fascinated by it: The blood of Jesus wipes out sin, and yet it says that without the resurrection there is no forgiveness. It was the resurrection that validated the sacrifice of His blood. That was worth the mourning, whether you realize it or not, it really was.
All right, open your Bibles to Mark chapter 16. We’re going to do something I’ve only done twice in my life, and those were the previous two services. We’re actually going to study a chapter; I don’t think I’ve done that before unless it was a tiny chapter. Just be thankful we’re not doing Psalm 119; we’d be here till Friday! I want to talk through Mark chapter 16. If you have a Bible, please open it because I want you to be able to follow along. There are so many different portions of Scripture that add elements of insight and unique perspectives on the resurrection. I don’t always talk about the theme of a holiday, whether it be Easter, Christmas, or whatever, but I really have wanted to, and I’ve been doing it more lately. I’m trying to learn to be a good pastor, and it has been in my heart to talk to you about the resurrection.
Let’s go ahead and begin with Mark 16; we’ll start with verse one. We’re going to read the first eight verses, and then we’ll stop and talk.
«Now when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, 'Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us? ' But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away; for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him as He said to you.' So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.»
All right, verse 7: Go tell His disciples. Verse 8: They trembled and said nothing. The first evangelists hit a wall! You know, the Gospel of John adds some elements to this story that I love so much. One is when Peter and John actually ran to the tomb; they got there apparently after Mary. But when they got to the tomb, there was an angel at the foot of the stone bed where they would lay the body, and there was an angel at the head. They saw the grave clothes folded where His body used to be, and then the napkin over His head was folded and placed in a separate place.
There’s this Jewish tradition: if you ever went to someone’s home for a meal and it was absolutely disgusting, there was a way you could fold the napkin and leave it on your plate so that when you left, they would know you would never eat that meal again. Jesus tasted death, and it was folded and left where His body once lay, and He declared, «I will never taste of death again,» as a once-and-for-all statement. The angels at the foot and at the head remind me a lot of the Tabernacle or the Ark of the Covenant.
In the Old Testament, there was this golden box in the Holy of Holies before the presence of God. The manifested presence of God rested upon this golden box. On this box were cherubim, one at either side facing each other. In the middle was the mercy seat. Inside this Ark of the Covenant, which was also called the Ark of Testimony, were the tablets of stone, the revealed will of God; the jar of manna, which represented His continuous provision; and an almond rod that was dead but now alive with sprouts, buds, blossoms, and ripe almonds, which is how God marks His leadership—His leadership is always marked with resurrection life.
So, He’s got this threefold testimony inside the Ark of the Covenant, and the mercy seat is on top. This tells me that every time we share our testimony, any time we share with somebody else the word of the Lord that God has spoken to our life, we actually usher in the mercy seat into that environment so they can taste for themselves the mercy of God. Stories are always meant to produce the mercy of God in a given environment. And here, we have the cherubim on either side of the Ark, and I’d like to suggest to you that the angel at the head and at the feet is the eternal testimony of that Ark of the Covenant where the mercy of God is displayed through the resurrection of Christ.
Let’s move on to verse nine. «When He arose early on the first day of the week, He appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.»
Let’s read verses 10 and 11 together again. «She went and told those who had been with Him as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.»
Mary Magdalene had seven demons cast out of her. In John’s Gospel, this particular story is fascinating to me because after Jesus died, He went into the place of the dead. Luke 16 describes two compartments of the place of the dead: the place of torment and the place of comfort. The place of comfort is called Abraham’s bosom. Who is Abraham? He is the father of faith. This describes the level playing field of Old Testament and New Testament believers; everyone is saved by faith, never by works, always by faith.
So Jesus, when He died, went to broadcast to those in the place of comfort. They were in peace but could not go to heaven because they weren’t born again; the blood hadn’t been shed until that death on the cross. When Jesus died, He descended into that place of the dead and made the proclamation. I do wish I could see the video of this: He proclaimed, «The price has been paid!» Can you imagine the celebration? They all received it gladly—their sins have been atoned for and permanently wiped off the slate. It says, «He led captive a host of captives.»
So here are the captives—the captives of the enemy through death—now the captives of life. He takes them and begins to ascend to the Father. As He’s ascending to the Father, He sees Mary Magdalene. John’s Gospel gives us the story: she’s weeping at the tomb because Jesus isn’t there and she wants to know who stole His body. She is there weeping, and Jesus sees her and stops the whole procession. How do we know this? Because He tells her, «I have not ascended to the Father yet.» It’s like He was somewhere in between the place of the dead, leading a host of captives on His way to the Father.
He is moved by the love and affection of one, and He stops! He stops what all of heaven has been waiting for ages to accomplish so He can take one moment with this woman out of whom He had cast seven demons. This is personally where I think in Matthew’s Gospel it says that some of the righteous dead in Jerusalem were seen walking around. So I think it’s when Jesus said, «Hold on a moment; I’ll be right back,» and He comes over to talk to Mary.
You know, David’s saying, «Hey, we might as well catch a few sights. I wonder if the old house is still there.» And they’re seen walking around. Then Jesus spends time with Mary. Mary’s weeping, and He speaks to her. She thinks He is the gardener. Supposing Him to be the gardener, she turns to Him and says, «Do you know where they’ve laid Him? I want to attend to His box.» She’s there to put spices, etc., on Him. She doesn’t recognize Him. When she turns to Him, He says, «Mary.»
When Jesus said «Mary,» all confusion, all mourning, everything that was competing for her attention and affection immediately dissolved as she saw the one she was there for. In that moment, she sees Him. John’s Gospel says Jesus said, «Stop clinging to me. I haven’t gone to the Father yet.» That tells me she was clinging to Him.
Yes, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary; He was also the firstborn of the dead. In His virgin birth, the first one to embrace Him was the Virgin Mary. In His second birth from the dead, the first to embrace Him was Mary Magdalene, out of whom seven demons were cast. The first closed out the law; the second inaugurated the hour of grace.
Verses 10 and 11 once again: «She went and told those who had been with Him, and they mourned. When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.» There’s kind of an unhealthy approach that many have to avoid mourning. I think it comes from a good place, wanting to be strong or illustrate faith or whatever it might be. But there’s this denial of bad things happening to good people. Here we have the disciples who are in mourning, and because of that mourning, they did not believe.
Here’s the warning: mourning will either take you to unbelief or to the Comforter. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Mourning either leads you into a divine encounter where you become healed from the problem, and you become equipped to be a problem solver. He doesn’t just bring us out of the red; He takes us into the black, if that makes sense. He doesn’t just take us out of the pain of a problem; He doesn’t just take us out of the bad memory of a situation, but He takes us into a redemptive solution where we become the very messengers of the life that once tried to destroy us. You see it in Isaiah 61: «Those who are brokenhearted, the blind, the lame—all the broken people,» and it says, «and they will rebuild the ancient ruins.»
The very ones who were despised and rejected by society become restored by King Jesus, and in that place, they become the rebuilders. What’s happening here is that mourning is a skill that requires honesty and abandonment. Honesty because you have to be honest about what you’re experiencing. This didn’t seem fair; this didn’t seem right. I thought this would happen; this promise was given to me. I’ve experienced all this disappointment—it’s got to be honesty, number one.
But number two, there has to be abandonment to the one who is trustworthy. There has to be a point in which you say, «I don’t know what’s going on here, but I give myself to you completely, because you’re the only one who is absolutely perfectly trustworthy, and I trust you.» There is a point where, in mourning, tears are welcome. There’s no problem with that.
What you don’t want to do is be like these disciples, who, in this case, led their mourning to a rigidity where they couldn’t receive truth. Let’s read further because this will make more sense, I hope. All right, verse 14: «Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.»
Let’s read it again, verse 14: «Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.» Here’s something I think we’d all agree on: none of us wants to be gullible. We don’t want to believe every report we hear. We’ve all heard people boasting about certain things that we later found out were not true, you know, they had this vision, this whatever; it just didn’t happen. None of us wants to be gullible.
It would be cruel of the Lord for Him to require me to believe any report I heard if there wasn’t something in the report that caused me to know its source—whether the source was God or not. In Jesus’s second most famous sermon, His first was the Sermon on the Mount, the second was John 6, «Eat my flesh, drink my blood.» Nobody bought the podcast after that one! Nobody sent that to their mother-in-law and said, «Listen to this one!» In the end, perhaps 15, maybe even as many as 20,000 were there because He multiplied food, extraordinary miracles, and then He stands up to preach.
He decided to take a little different twist because His other sermons weren’t quite so offensive, but this one nailed them: «You have to eat my flesh and drink my blood.» They start complaining, so He turns it up a notch. Every time they start complaining, He just makes it more challenging. By the time we get to the end, everyone has left but the disciples. Jesus turns to the twelve and says, «Are you guys leaving too?»
Now, Peter got it right on several occasions, so we need to give him credit, and he nailed it on this one. He said, «Where are we going to go? You have the words of eternal life.» Listen to what he’s saying: «Where are we going to go? Every time you talk, we come alive inside.» He doesn’t say they understand; he says, «We don’t understand the sermon on eating flesh and drinking blood any more than the masses that left, but what we do know is that when you talk, we find out why we’re alive.»
There’s the reality: whenever you’re in a moment of conflict, confusion, or you don’t have a clue about what’s going on, if Jesus speaks, life stirs up inside of you. You then begin to find out why you are alive. There’s the confirmation: I’m at the right place at the right time. I may not know what to do, but I don’t need to at this moment. All I need to know now is the source of that word, and the source of that worth comes from the throne room of God. He’s given us the protection so we don’t fall into deception. It’s not because of our intelligence, it’s because of our recognition of a person. Learn to recognize the person.
All right, let’s finish the chapter. Verse 15: «He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.'» I like that it says every creature—not that I intend to lead the mule deer to the Lord before they’re harvested; that would be rather brutal. Sorry, someone over there. It’s that God actually plans on healing the planet. He actually values this planet. After He made everything, He said it was good, and after He made you, He said, «Ah, that’s very good.» He recognized the quality of His own work and everything that He made, and His desire isn’t to destroy it; His desire is to revive and renew.
The gospel that we carry is supposed to encompass a vision of bringing healing to a planet. If only the unbeliever has the vision for taking care of the planet, they will always make it a god. If only the unbeliever carries the message of bringing healing to a planet, that will serve the creation and not the Creator. The church must recover our assignment, not in contempt, not in a fight, but simply stewarding what God has given us. Preach the gospel to every creature.
Verse 16: «He who believes and is baptized will be saved.» Don’t underestimate the power of water baptism. «He who does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them.» Thank you, Lord! Grace was extended over coffee! «It will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.»
Stop right there for a minute. Yesterday, I was looking at—actually listening to a YouTube video, but it was just audio; there was nothing to watch—about John Wesley with somebody reading from his personal journal. He was extremely sick, very ill, and this verse came to mind, «These signs will follow those who believe.» Now, John Wesley is the father of the whole Methodist movement. He has this verse come to mind, and he prays, and he experiences a bizarre supernatural healing of something that was derailing him from his extensive travels in preaching the gospel. He was able to step back into the pulpit because of the miracle of healing that he experienced in his own body.
I love reading the stories of some of these saints of old who believed in this but somehow got removed from the history books. It’s true; the Shantung revival in China, one of the most bizarre Baptist revivals ever, had almost every manifestation that happened in Toronto. But in the reprint of the book, all those things are removed to make it clean; Randy Clark printed the original, so you can find it.
The point is that these signs follow those who believe. When we have a healing meeting, people will say, «Well, you’re not supposed to follow signs; signs are supposed to follow you.» Well, my response is: If they’re not following you, follow them until they follow you! If you’re in the environment long enough, it’ll get on you! That’s the truth!
All right, let’s wrap it up with verses 19 and 20. «After the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs.» Amen!
Read verse 20 again. «And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs.» This is fascinating to me, and I’ll tell you why before I read it: Most of the time we will emphasize, «Find what God is doing and join it.» But in this verse, the emphasis is different. «He said the Lord worked with them, and they went out and preached everywhere.»
Sometimes nothing happens because we haven’t said anything! Let me rephrase that: Anyone can boldly make a decree after God has shown up and is performing miracles, but show me the person who’ll make the bold decree before He comes, and I’ll show you where He’s going to come. The bold decree attracts Him into an environment to confirm His work.
Remember, this is His word. People become offended throughout history because somebody was living an immoral lifestyle, you know, prays for the sick, and they get healed. Well, I don’t like that either, but God still confirms His word; He’s not confirming the person. That’s right, it’s never okay, but He still will confirm His word.
I actually know years ago, a woman who was part of this church had a husband who was not a believer, and someone at his workplace asked him how to get saved. This unbeliever led his workmate to the Lord; that shouldn’t be right! But he can do whatever he wants; in Psalms 115, God does as He pleases.
Yes, this passage reminds me of the one in Acts 4:23. He says, «Take note of their threats.» Peter had just been released from prison, so he’s praying and says, «God, take note of their threats. They’ve threatened that if we ever preach in Your name again, they’ll harm us. Take note of their threats and grant that Your bondservants can speak Your word with all boldness.»
Now, the previous chapter said they were arrested because they preached with boldness. Boldness got them in trouble. Now Peter’s saying, «Let’s amp it up a bit!» I didn’t give you permission to be obnoxious; take note of the threats and grant that Your bondservants can speak Your word with all boldness while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant, Jesus.
I just want to encourage you and challenge you: let the message of the resurrected Christ boil in you until you cannot help but speak! The bold proclamation is what attracts the hand of God into impossible situations. The decree releases the hand of God. We don’t control Him by any means, but He has already revealed His heart to us, and He’s looking for a people who will boldly declare.
So this verse ends the chapter and ends our message this morning: «They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs.» Amen!
Every time you talk to a friend about the Lord, every time you take just a moment at work or at home in your neighborhood to pray for a friend who is going through hell, every time you take any one of those moments, what you’re doing is declaring Jesus is alive, and I want now to introduce you to the resurrected One. Everything in our relationship with the Holy Spirit is about discovering and manifesting the resurrected Christ. Everything is connected because without the resurrection, there is no forgiveness of sin. It is all connected to the resurrection. You and I are alive to illustrate He’s alive.
Why don’t you stand? Jesus came in the flesh, gave Himself as a sacrifice to pay a price none of us could afford. He paid it so that the power of self-destruction would be broken off of our lives forever. He took my place in death so I could take His place in life. He conquered death; He rose from the dead. Now we make the proclamation that Jesus is here to save. He is here to deliver. He’s here to heal.
Just this morning, I had a grandfather come up to me who had a grandson they brought here for prayer some time ago, and he brought the picture with him. The grandson had autism and is completely healed. He took the grandson back to the original physician, and that doctor examined him and said, «This is not the same child!» Absolutely dramatic!
We’ve had, just this morning, testimony verified by mammogram of tumors growing that have been dissolved. Just yesterday, someone came into the healing rooms with breast cancer; the tumor dissolved and the pain is gone—completely healed! Just in the last 24 hours, the reports of what God has done and continues to do.
There are people in this room: there’s somebody who has a very serious injury to your right leg. It’s weak from the ankle all the way up to the hip; there’s a weakness there, and I don’t know if there’s ongoing pain or aching, but there’s a weakness there where you don’t have mobility or use because of an injury. The Lord is healing that this morning.
There are various individuals with tumors in your body; it is normal for tumors to disappear in the presence of the Lord. It’s normal for them to dissolve in the presence.
There are people here that have lost their sense of smell; it was stolen from you by this demon called COVID, and the Lord is going to restore it this morning. He will restore the taste and the smell. There are a lot of those conditions that Jesus is healing.
There’s someone who I don’t know if you’ve broken a rib or if you have some sort of issue right here in the abdominal area; you’ve got pain in it. I don’t know if it’s a growth or what it is, but there’s a miracle for you this morning.
But the greatest miracle of all is the one that’s about to happen, and that is that Jesus arranged for you to be here. For some of you, outside of a personal relationship with Him, you don’t know what it is to be born again; that doesn’t make any sense to you. Yet you found yourself here today, and the resurrected Christ is beckoning you. He’s calling you by name, inviting you to come to Him and to turn over your life to Him. Jesus is Lord of all; He’s the only one who has the right to rule our life, and He is this kind, wonderful Father who simply longs to forgive.
If there’s anybody in the room who would say, «Bill, I don’t want to leave the building until I know I’ve found peace with God,» then I want you to put your hand up right where you are. Do it quickly; wave it at me until I see you because I want to make sure that we receive everybody in the building who wants to get right with God. We just had two at Twin View and two earlier here this morning. Anyone else?
We’ve got people online as well. We welcome you; put it in the chat line and one of our pastors will get to you. Is there anyone at all who would say, «I want to get right with God; I want to receive Jesus into my life today»?
All right, well, I’m going to assume you’re all in. Leslie, why don’t you come on up? I’d like to ask, please hold your place for just a moment longer; at In-N-Out Burger, we’ll wait for you. I promise the line will always be long, no matter when you get there. So just hold for a moment, but I would like to have a ministry team come up to the front.