James Merritt - He's Alive
Well, a few years ago, there was a few reputable historians who got together and they wrote a collection of essays entitled «Alternate History». They thought it’d be fun to say, «Hey, what would the world look like if history had been different»? In other words, how would the present be different if the past had been different? So they just, hypothetical questions like these: What if Germany had gotten the atomic bomb first? How different would this world be? What if Americans had lost the Revolutionary War? What if Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King had not been assassinated? Or Buddy Jack? How would things be different if Georgia had not won back to back national championships? All kinds of alternate history would be in place.
Well, this Easter Sunday, I wanna do a little alternate history of my own. I wanna ask this question: What if Jesus has not been raised from the dead? What difference would it make? There are people out there today who say, «I don’t care if He’s raised or not, it really doesn’t matter». What difference does it make? Well, today we’re gonna explore the doubts of people who really struggle to believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead. Now, I’ll tell you why this is a big deal to me. I’ve given this a lot of thought, and I finally have come to this conclusion. I can only think of one reason, only one, of all the doubts that people might have, I can only think of one reason why people would refuse to love Jesus, trust Jesus, follow Jesus, surrender to Jesus, worship Jesus, exalt Jesus, I can only think of one.
And that is you do not believe He was raised from the dead. I don’t blame you, if you don’t believe Jesus was raised from the dead, listen, I wouldn’t follow Him either. If I thought Jesus was still dead, I’d be doing something else today and you’ll see why in just a moment. I certainly wouldn’t worship just a common, ordinary man who’s dead. So when it comes to Jesus, I think we would all agree this question we just asked is a high stakes question. This is the ballgame. This is where it’s all coming down. You gotta cut bait or fish. To me, it’s a cut and dry, black or white question. It’s real easy, not hard to figure this out. Either Jesus is still dead just like every other person who’s ever lived and died, or He’s not. He’s not just spiritually alive, He is physically alive.
So what we’re gonna do today is this, let’s pretend, for just a moment, history’s different. They found the body. We do DNA and we confirm, «Yep, that is the body of Jesus». No doubt, He is still dead. What then? Well, I thought rather than me tell you what that means, I think I got a guy that much better can do it than I could do it. His name was Paul. Let me tell you about Paul, if you don’t know who Paul was, he was a man in the New Testament. Matter of fact, his name actually was Saul. And Saul had a full-time job at one time. And his full-time job was shutting down Christianity. He had been commissioned by the Jewish people to go everywhere he could, find every Christian he could find, imprison them, kill them, shut down every church. He wanted to do everything he could to absolutely wipe the name of Jesus out from every memory and every mind on the face of the earth. He did it 24/7 and he did it with a relish and he loved it.
If you wanted to get Paul mad, all you had to say was one word, it was Jesus, and it was like a red flag to a bull. And then one day he’s on this dirty, dusty road going to Damascus, and he has this supernatural encounter with the risen Jesus. In fact, the first thing Jesus said to him, just to make sure he understood, was, «I am Jesus». And from that moment, he spent the rest of his life traveling all over the world, preaching the gospel, planting churches, even though he endured unbelievable torture, hardship, finally was beheaded, when he met Jesus, from that moment to the moment they cut his head off, he refused to deny that Jesus was alive. The very man he hated, the very man he despised. The very man he could not stand was all he wanted to talk about. And you could not deny, you could not get him to deny that Jesus was alive.
Well, he writes to a church in Corinth, and if you wanna turn in God’s Word to 1 Corinthians, that’s where we are today, 1 Corinthians 15, he’s writing a letter to a church in Corinth, and he says, «You know what? Why don’t we do a little alternate history? Why don’t we ask the question, 'What if Jesus has not been raised to the dead? ' What if He’s not alive? What if everything Jesus said was an intentional lie or a bad mistake»? Because Paul knew what we know, whether or not Jesus is alive ought to have a tremendous impact on whether or not you follow Jesus. Matter of fact, I’m gonna put it this way, if Jesus is dead, nothing else matters; but if Jesus is alive, it is the only thing that matters.
So I don’t know where you are today on the spectrum of doubt. You may be a believer, you may be in-between, you may be an absolute cynic or skeptic. You may be agnostic, you may be atheistic. I don’t know where you are, but regardless of where you are, I want us just to answer two questions today, just two, and they have the power to both destroy your doubt and fortify your faith, so let tell you the good news on Easter Sunday. You ready? Normally I have three or four points, today, I only have two. That’s your gift on Easter. Here’s the other side, I’m gonna go just as long, okay?
Now, two things. Number one, what is the problem if Jesus is still dead? Let’s just assume He’s dead, what’s the problem? Well, Paul says, «I’ll tell you, five things are true if Jesus Christ has not been raised from the dead, five things. Number one, our message would be meaningless». Evidently, there were some Christians who doubted the possibility or feasibility of any kind of a literal, physical resurrection. There were people in that church saying, «You know, I’m not so sure anybody comes back from the dead,» so here’s what Paul said: «But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how could some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead? If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised».
Now, if you lived 2000 years ago, and you’d gone up to a Roman, or you’d gone up to a Greek and you would’ve said, «I want to talk to you about the resurrection of Jesus,» he would’ve laughed in your face because nobody in Roman culture or Greek culture believed anybody was physically raised from the dead. They believed you might live in some kind of ghostlike sense, but your body would always be dead. And evidently, there were people in the church that finally decided, you know what? Maybe they’re right. Maybe there’s no such thing as a resurrection.
Well, Paul says, «All right, wait a minute, time out. If you’re gonna deny a resurrection, then you have to deny the resurrection. If you’re gonna deny your possibility of being raised, you gotta deny His possibility to be raised». And he said, «If you do, if this domino falls, it triggers a cascade». So he says this, «If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless». Let me tell you what Paul just said. Paul just said to a guy like me, «James, if Christ has not been raised from the dead, you’re out of a job. Your message is meaningless».
You see, have you ever thought about this or not? The reason why this church exists, any church exists, there’s only one reason, that’s because of the one message we have, nobody else has. You don’t have to go to church to hear a lot of stuff I preach, right? Treat others the way you ought to be treated. You don’t need to hear a preacher say that. Love your enemies. You don’t need to come to church to hear that. Do good to other people. You don’t need to have a preacher tell you that. Don’t run around on your wife. Be faithful to your spouse. All these kind of things we talk about, you don’t need to come to church, but we’ve got this one message, it’s called the Gospel. Jesus died on a cross, He was buried, but three days later, He was raised from the dead.
That’s the only thing that makes this church different from every other institution in the world. And if the message stops at the word buried, oh yeah, He died, He was crucified, He was buried, full stop, then the message becomes meaningless. In other words, the Gospel’s not good news, it’s fake news. It’s not true. If Jesus is as dead now as they were when they took Him off the cross, then every Christian who’s ever lived has played the fool. Every Christian martyr who’s ever died, died in vain. Every person that’s ever walked through the door of a church has wasted their time. In other words, let me put it to you this way, if Jesus Christ is still dead, I am wasting my time right now preaching to you, and you’re wasting your time listening to me 'cause I’ve got nothing to say to you that’s absolutely worth hearing at all. A dead Jesus is not worth preaching. He’s not worth promoting, He’s not worth proclaiming.
As we’re gonna talk about in just a moment, if Jesus is still dead, there wouldn’t even be an Easter Sunday 'cause let me remind you, the Easter tomb came before the Easter Bunny. So no Jesus, there is no Easter. But the dominoes keep on falling because Paul says, «Look, if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, not only is our message meaningless, our faith would be fruitless. If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless. Oh, and so is your faith». Paul said, «Why would you put a living faith in a dead Jesus? Why would you put a living faith in a corpse»? Which is why Paul repeats this in verse 17, «If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile,» why? Because faith is no better than the foundation on which that faith is based on. Without a sure foundation, faith is just wishful thinking. So let me just kind of do this reverse engineering, you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Let’s go back to Christmas. Think about the birth of Jesus. What gives meaning to the birth of Jesus? The life of Jesus. Because if Jesus had not lived a sinful life, it doesn’t matter whether He’d been born of a virgin or not. Well, what gives meaning to the life of Jesus? The death of Jesus. Because even if Jesus was born of a virgin, even if He lived a perfect life, if He didn’t die on the cross for my sins, I’m still up the creek without a paddle. Well, what gives meaning to the death of Jesus? The resurrection of Jesus. Because if Jesus has not died for our sins, we could not be forgiven, and if He’s not been raised from the dead, then He really couldn’t be who He said He was, or do what He said that He did. So without the resurrection, His birth doesn’t mean anything, His life doesn’t mean anything, His death doesn’t mean anything. It all falls like a house of cards. And it’s foolish and futile to place your faith in a person who’s just a dead dude.
So to put a finer point on it, let me put it to you this way, if there is no Easter, then Good Friday is Bad Friday. If there is no Easter, Christmas is just another holiday, it’s just another day in the year, and the faith of every Christian who has ever lived becomes a fool’s errand. He says, «Our faith is fruitless». But the dominoes keep on falling. Because if Jesus has not been raised from the dead, not only is our message meaningless, not only is our faith fruitless, our testimony would be truthfulness. He goes on to say, «More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if, in fact, the dead are not raised».
In other words, here’s what Paul said, if Jesus is still dead, Matthew lied, Mark lied, Luke lied, John lied, Peter lied, James lied, Jude lied, Paul lied. They all lied. Matter of fact, the Greek word there for false witness, it’s a really interesting word, it’s a compound word in the Greek language. It’s the word pseudomartyrs. You know what the word pseudo means, right? Pseudo means false, like a pseudo intellectual, who is that? Somebody who thinks they’re smart, but they’re not. That’s a pseudo intellectual. Or a pseudonym, that’s a false name. If I told you my name is Charlie, that’s a pseudonym. No, my name is James. And then the word martyrs, that gives us the word, that martyr, that refers to a witness in a court of law.
So here’s false witness, a false witness is somebody who gets up in a courtroom, takes an oath to swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, and then they lie. They’re guilty of a felony called perjury. And what Paul said is, «If you are one of those people that say, 'Oh man, listen, Jesus is alive. I believe in Him, I believe He’s the risen Lord. He has changed my life, '» he’s saying, «You know what, you’re a liar. You’re guilty of spiritual perjury». All these disciples, I mean, by the way, not only would these disciples be guilty of perjury, they’d be guilty of stupidity. 11 of the 12 disciples died violent deaths. Thomas was crucified upside down. James was beheaded, Paul was beheaded, some were fed to lions. And they did everything they could to stop them, but they could not stop them from talking about the resurrection of Jesus.
Paul even said in another Book, he said, «You know what I’ve gone through? I’ve been beaten, stranded at sea, I’ve been robbed, I’ve been left for dead, I’ve been in prison. I know what it is to go without food. I know what it is to go without water». It’s not uncommon for somebody to die for the truth. Very rare for somebody to die for a lie. And the problem continues right up to this day because don’t raise your hand, but I just wonder if I were to ask you this question, if I were to say, «How many of you would say that Jesus Christ has changed your life»? How many of you do you say that Jesus Christ lives in your heart? How many of you would say you have a living, breathing, personal relationship with Jesus?
Now, some of you, «Oh yeah, yeah, I would say that. If Jesus Christ is dead, you just lied. You just told a bald-faced lie. You are a pseudo witness. You are a false witness. You’re guilty of spiritual perjury». Because if Jesus Christ is still dead, if Jesus Christ has not been raised in the dead, the disciples weren’t just deceived, they were deceivers. They weren’t just mistaken, they were malicious. They weren’t just wrong, they were wicked. Paul says, «Hey, if Jesus hasn’t been raised the dead, our message is meaningless, our faith is fruitless, our testimony is truthfulness». And then he says, fourthly, «Our heart would be hopeless». He says, «For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either».
You say, «Okay, why is that such a big deal»? Well, think about it this way, this will rattle your cage a little bit, if Jesus Christ is still dead, then the greatest problem of humanity, the greatest problem this world has today, has no solution. No doctor can solve it, no scientist can solve it, no politician can solve it, no philosopher can solve it, nobody can solve it. And you say, «Why»? Can I tell you what the greatest problem in the world is today? Always has been, always will be. Okay, I don’t wanna make you feel bad on Easter Sunday, but I’m gonna be real blunt, just in your face right now, okay? Every one of you are jacked up. Every one of us is jacked up.
«Oh, you don’t know me». I don’t know you. Sir, I don’t know there in that brown shirt. Yeah, I know who you are. How you doing? I just wrote you a letter today, by the way, but let me tell you something, you’re jacked up. By the way, your wife told me you’re jacked up. You’re jacked up. That’s okay, honey, he told me you’re jacked up too, so it doesn’t matter. You know why? The whole world’s jacked up. We’re just jacked up in different ways. Oh, you can come to the Easter, you can come to church, you can dress in your Sunday best, you can look your best, you know, like you know, here I am, you know, usually if I’m in a shirt and tie, someone is either being married or buried, but today’s Easter.
So you can come dressed in your Easter best, you can put on your Sunday performance, but we’re all jacked up. We’re twisted, we’re tarnished, we’re darkened, we’re deceitful, why? Because of sin. Well, there’s only one remedy for sin, and that is a Savior. But if there is no resurrection, there is no Savior. If there is no Savior, there is no forgiveness. If there’s no forgiveness, we are still in our sin. So in other words, if Jesus is still physically dead, we are still spiritually dead and there’s not a thing we can do about it. Sin is still a chain that binds us. Sin is still a load that burdens us. Sin is still a hammer that breaks us. 'Cause the cross, listen to me, the cross without the empty tomb is just firewood. The cross without the empty tomb is just firewood. Because without a risen Jesus, this sinful guy that’s talking to you right now has no shot at having a relationship with a perfect, holy God.
So if Jesus hasn’t been raised from the dead, our heart would be hopeless. And Paul says, «But there’s one other domino that’s still to fall. Because if Jesus hasn’t been raised to the dead, our message is meaningless, our faith is fruitless, our testimony is truthless, our heart is hopeless». But then he says, «Our death would be dauntless». «Then those also have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are for all people most to be pitied». This Wednesday, this past Wednesday, I did a funeral of one of the dearest friends I had. A man who was very generous to me and my family.
Yesterday morning, Teresa and I drove to a funeral home here in Beaufort to visit one of our small group members who lost their mother. If Jesus Christ is still dead, that guy that I did the funeral for on Wednesday, he’s gone, he’s lost, he’s done. I have no message of hope to that dear, sweet sister who lost her mother. If Jesus Christ hasn’t been raised from the dead, that means when you buried that father, you buried that mother, you buried that sister, you buried that brother, you buried that son, you buried that daughter, you buried that very, very, very best friend you’ve ever had in your life, you better make sure you said a real good goodbye 'cause you will never see them again and they will never see you again. Because if Jesus Christ has not been raised to the dead, that means death is not a comma in the sentence of life, it is a period. That means death is just a dead end on the highway of life and when death comes, life is over forever.
A dead Jesus means death still has its sting, the grave still has its victory. It means there’s no hope now, there’s no heaven later. So that means when you buried that dear departed loved one, and you cried over that graveside, «Oh, I miss you, mom,» «I miss you, dad,» you may as well have been burying a dead dog in a dry hole if Jesus has not been raised from the dead. And then he goes on to say, «And by the way, those of us who are still alive, we are still most to be pitied». 'Cause after all, what do we have to look forward to? Nothing. Life is an exercise in futility, a dead end street that winds up in the pothole of death. That’s why I’ll repeat what I just said a while ago. If Jesus Christ is dead, nothing else matters. If He’s alive, that is the only thing that matters.
Now I know, let just stop right here, I know what a lot of you are saying right now. You’re in culture shock right now. You’re going, «I don’t think I’ve ever heard a message like this on Easter. I mean, talk about Negative Nick. I didn’t come to hear about Jesus not being raised from the dead. Why are you so negative»? Well, let me quote the great philosopher, Yogi Berra, «It ain’t over till it’s over». We’re not finished yet, 'cause I told you there are two questions, not just one. And matter of fact, this question begs the other question. So I’ve answered the question, «Well, what if Jesus has not been raised to the dead»? I’ve told you, «Well, five things are true if Jesus hasn’t been raised in the dead».
Five things. But that begs the second question. What is the proof that Jesus is alive? We’ve addressed the problem. What is the problem if He’s still dead? But what is the proof that He’s alive? Because if Paul had ended his writing at verse 19, I’d be the first one to say, «Man, we’re in big trouble,» but he doesn’t because in verse 20, he begins with a word and it’s one of my absolute favorite words in the Bible. It’s one of the greatest words in the Bible. It’s a little word, but. And I don’t mean any pun here, but that’s a big but. «But,» Paul says, «Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep». Now, sir, you may have your doubt. Ma’am, you may have your doubt. Paul didn’t have his doubts. I love the way Paul puts it.
Listen, Paul’s not just dogmatic about it, He’s bulldog-matic. «But Christ has been raised from the dead». «Well, Paul, that’s fine, but confidence in a belief doesn’t make the belief right. Where’s the proof»? I mean, like Wendy’s says, «Where’s the beef»? Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Is Christopher Hitchens right? Stephen Hawking right? Richard Dawkins right? Is the atheist right? The agnostic right? Is the Buddhist right? Is the Muslim right? Who’s right? Who’s wrong? Believers or unbelievers? He’s either dead or He’s not. Where’s the proof? I mean, look, let me just get this out. I’ll be the first one, I’m gonna lay all my cards on the table. If Jesus Christ is physically alive, He died, but He’s physically alive, He is the only one in 30 billion people who have ever lived that pulled that off.
I’ll be the first one to admit, that’s pretty long odds. Yeah, I’m betting 30 billion to one, I’m betting He did it, I’m betting He pulled it off. I’m betting He did what nobody else has been able to do. Muhammad couldn’t do it, Buddha couldn’t do it, Confucius couldn’t do it, He’s the only guy. 30 billion people, He’s the only guy that did it. Well, where’s the proof? Well, for the sake of time, I’m just gonna give you four facts. By the way, this is not what I say. The vast majority of scholars on the life of Jesus, including those who are not believers, agree about these four things. Over the last 50 years, all the scholarships that have ever been done about Jesus, I’ve done my homework, there are four facts that basically nobody denies. Everybody says, «Yep, we believe that’s true».
Fact number one, Jesus died on a Roman cross and was buried in a tomb. You won’t find a historian anywhere that doubts that. Nobody doubts there was a man named Jesus, He did live. Around 30 AD, He was crucified and He died. Nobody disputes that. Fact, number two, the tomb was empty on that Sunday morning. The vast majority of scholars say, «Yep, can’t explain it, but the tomb was empty». Fact number three, numerous eyewitnesses testified, even at the risk of punishment and death, they saw Jesus alive and met with Him and even ate with Him. Nobody denies that. Fact number four, all 11 disciples and the Apostle Paul, who was the mortal enemy of Christians at first, were convinced that Jesus was alive and died because of the transformation that took place in their life.
Now, it’s been estimated that among scholars there is about a 75% consistence that the tomb was empty. In other words, of all the scholarships that’s been done over Jesus, especially over the last 50 years, three out of four scholars say, «Tomb was empty». About one out of four say, «Yeah, I’m not sure if it was empty. I’m not sure I’m buying that». Three out of four say, but the other three things I talked about, 99% of the scholars say, «Yep, we cannot deny that». So let’s just start right there. Four proofs of the resurrection of Jesus. One thing nobody denies. Listen, even Muslims don’t really deny a part of this. Nobody denies Jesus did die on a cross, no doubt about it. I mean, the guy was beaten, He was scourged, He was whipped, He was nailed to a cross, He was exposed naked, He was speared through His chest, He was declared dead by a Roman centurion, He was embalmed with over 80 pounds of chemicals, His body was sealed in a tomb.
Let me tell you something, that guy was deader than four o’clock in a Methodist church. No slam on the Methodist. That guy was graveyard dead. Nobody disputes that. Yep, He was dead. But the question is, «Yeah, but did He stay that way»? My grandparents died, they stayed that way physically. My mom and dad died, they stayed that way physically. But this guy, did He stay dead? And if He didn’t, where’s the proof? So I’m gonna give you three pieces of evidence and you just make up your own mind. Three pieces, we’ll be done. Evidence number one, the empty tomb. I mean the vast majority of all scholarships who studied the life of Jesus say, «Yep, tomb was empty».
And it’s not hard to see why, I mean, do you realize after 2000 years, there is no record of any kind that the empty tomb was ever disputed by anybody? Listen, even the people who crucified Jesus admitted the tomb was empty. Not one Pharisee said, «Oh no, He’s there». Not one Sadducee said, «Oh no, He’s there». Not one Roman soldier said, «Oh no, He’s there». Not Pontius Pilate said, «Oh no, He’s there». Herod Antipas said, «Oh no, He’s there». Not one person ever disputed. Because think about it, all anybody had to do 2000 years ago was just one simple thing, and we would not be here today, just produce the body. And nobody’s done it yet. Not one ounce, not even a cell, not a corpuscle, not one DNA strand. Nothing has been found, a body’s never been discovered.
Furthermore, there’s no record of any early Christians making Jesus' tomb a place of devotion or something sacred. I mean, think about this. Don’t you think if His body was still there, they’d have made some kind of a memorial? 'Cause He did do a lot of great things. I mean, I’ve been to some of the most famous grave sides in the world. I’ve been to the eternal flame of John F. Kennedy. I’ve seen the grave of George Washington. I’ve been to Westminster Chapel where some of the most famous people in the world are buried. I mean, we do that to so many people, and have in the past. Nobody ever did that for Jesus. Sure, if that body was still there, I mean, we’d know about men, «Hey, I know He didn’t come back from the dead, but man, this is Jesus, the most famous man that ever lived. Here’s where He was buried». But nobody ever did that, why? 'Cause it was empty. But there’s a second proof. There was the eyewitness testimonies.
Now think about this, all 11 disciples claimed to have seen Jesus raised from the dead. The Apostle Paul, when he met Jesus, he met Jesus in 50 AD, 20 years after the resurrection. He said, «I met Jesus,» 20 years later, not on Sunday morning, not right after it happened. 20 years later, he says, «I met Him». And then Paul said, «By the way, I met over 500 people, eye witnesses who said they saw Jesus». And even skeptics and cynics would at least admit they at least thought they saw Jesus. I mean, you might think if one or two people saw Jesus or said they saw, you might say, «Well, bad Mexican food. Too much to drink. They both just had the same hallucination». But 11 people? 120 people? 500 people all had the same dream, all had the same mistake, all had the same illusion, all were mistaken the same way? No, you got these eyewitness testimonies and you got this empty tomb.
But then you got one last thing. You’ve got the external transformation 'cause let me just take you back to the night that Jesus was arrested. He gets arrested by these Roman soldiers. And every single disciple ran away like scolded dogs. Every one of them. Every one of them, not one of them stayed with Him. Big Mouth Peter, remember Big Mouth Peter? «Oh, they may deny you, I won’t deny you,» Peter. «Get both feet out of your mouth, boy. Because before the rooster crows twice, you’re gonna deny me three times». He denied Him once, twice, and the third time, he was so adamant, he was cursing, he was using profanity. «I don’t know that blankety blank guy». «Never ever seen that blankety blank guy».
Denied Him. They didn’t even have the decency to show up at the crucifixion, except one. Wouldn’t even show up, and then after He died, what’d they do? All went back to their home, shut their door, locked it, turned out all the lights, wouldn’t go out in public. So afraid that somebody’s gonna come and arrest them because they were a follower of this guy that was dead. And three days later, these same yellow-bellied cowards that took tail and run, turned tail and ran, wouldn’t even show up at the crucifixion, wouldn’t even show up for the burial, those same 11 disciples go into that same city, stand in the middle of the Temple Mount, looked at all those Roman soldiers, all those Pharisees, all those Sadducees, looked Pontius Pilate right in the eye, and said, «He is alive. He has come back from the grave. We have seen Him with our own eyes».
Let me tell you something, you could beat them up, you could lock up, but you couldn’t shut them up. «We know what we’ve seen. We were wrong, He was right». And of course, the best story of all may be the guy that wrote this letter, remember? Full-time job destroying churches, persecuting Christians, hunting them down like animals, throwing them in jail, overseeing their executions. And then like that one five second encounter and he becomes the greatest preacher, the greatest theologian, the greatest missionary, the greatest evangelist, the greatest church planter, the greatest soul winner that the world has ever seen. But you don’t need Paul to do your homework for you. I mean, look, the evidence is all there for you to examine.
Look at it for yourself, what have you got? You’ve got the corpse of a crucified man. You’ve got a tomb that’s empty. You’ve got eyewitness testimonies. You’ve got complete transformations of the lives of billions of people right up to this very day. In this church with me standing on this step right here, a 91-year-old man comes up to me and says, «Yes, He has changed my life today. Here, this risen Lord, today has changed my life. It’s all there for you to see. It’s on the front page». It is not hidden. So I agree with every fiber of being what Paul said, «But Christ has been raised from the dead».
So I got news for you today, our message is meaningful. our faith is fruitful, our testimony is true, our heart is hopeful, and death has been defeated. Because that Easter Sunday, Jesus walked out of that grave and just like that, He took the sting out of sin, He took the dread out of death, He took the gloom out of the grave. Confucius died, he was buried. Lao Tzu, the father Tao wisdom, wandered off in the wilderness and died with his water buffalo. The Buddha rotted away with food poisoning. Muhammad died in 632 AD, his body was cut up and spread all over the Near East. But Jesus knocked that rocky door out of the way and left those grave clothes behind and walked out in a literal, physical resurrected body that nobody’s ever done before.
So I close with this story, and I get emotional. You have to understand, so many times over the last year and a half, I prayed for that man. So many times I just wanted to give up hope. So many times I’d say, «Lord, he’s never gonna come to Christ. He’s never gonna be saved». I got a list of people I pray for every Tuesday, some of them are here today. Sometimes I just wonder, «Lord, is it gonna happen? Will it be? Will it happen? Does it come today»? So I close with this story. Everybody knows the name Albert Einstein. I don’t really, he’s viewed one of the most brilliant men who ever lived, certainly one of the most brilliant scientists we ever produced. But what people didn’t know about Albert Einstein was as brilliant as he was, he was very absent minded. So he got on a train, he lived in Princeton, that’s where he taught, and he got on a train in Princeton, he was going to a speaking engagement.
So the conductor came by to punch his ticket. Well, Einstein couldn’t find the ticket. And he was, you know, as the guy was coming up, he was getting kind of nervous and he looked in his pocket, vest and he couldn’t, he looked in his pocket, and he looked and checked, couldn’t find the ticket. So when the conductor got up to him, he looked at him, he said, «Sir, I’m sorry I can’t find my ticket». And he said, «Dr. Einstein, don’t worry about it. Everybody knows who you are, you’re famous. You don’t even need a ticket. Don’t worry about it, it’s all good».
So he goes on down the line and he’s punching tickets, everybody’s ticket. He gets to the end and he turns around, and to his horror, here is Albert Einstein on all four knees looking for that ticket, he can’t find the ticket. He’s all over looking for the ticket. And the conductor rushes back to him, picks him up and says to him, he says, «Dr. Einstein, wait, listening to me. It’s okay, don’t worry about it. I know who you are». Dr. Einstein looked at him and he said, «Son, I know who I am. I need to find out where I’m going». If Jesus Christ is alive, and you know Him as your Lord and Savior, you not only know who you are, you know where you’re going. Because there’s only one person that is qualified to punch your ticket to heaven, and His name is Jesus and He is alive.
Now, here’s the question. You’re sitting there and you’re saying, «Okay, doc, I believe you. I believe everything you said, doc». You know, some of you could say this, «You’ve talked to me about it before. I believe you, I believe He’s alive». What you gonna do about it? That’s the question. I’m gonna say it one more time. I understand, if you don’t believe He’s alive, I wouldn’t follow Him either. I get it. But if He’s alive, you can’t just ho-hum and say, «Yeah, okay, He’s alive. See you next year».
What are you gonna do about it? You still have a choice. You gotta accept Him or you gotta reject Him. And there’s some of you that came to this church today 'cause a lot of people raised their hands in our first service, maybe you came because you felt obligated 'cause your buddy invited you or maybe someone like me put some pressure on you to come. You came because it’s kind of the thing you do on Easter, and I don’t care if it is, I’m glad you came. And somehow you’ve let the devil sell you this bill of goods that you don’t have to worry about the resurrection, you don’t have to worry about the cross, don’t worry about the virgin birth, don’t worry about Jesus.
Do your thing, do your best, be the best you can be, you’re good to go. No, you’re not. Without a risen Lord, you don’t have a half of a hallelujah’s chance of meeting God in heaven, none. But He is alive and He wants to live in your heart. So I’m gonna give many of you the chance today to make this the greatest Easter, not just the greatest Easter, the greatest day you’ll ever have, a day you’ll never forget. With heads bowed and with eyes closed, nobody looking but me. If you’re watching online right now, or you’re in this room and you’d say:
I want to ask Jesus into my heart. I’m not gonna walk out of here like I have before on Easter Sunday, not today. Today, I’m doing something about this risen Lord. I believe what you’ve preached, I believe what you said, I believe Jesus is alive and I want that Jesus to come live in my heart right now…
Then I want you to tell Him that right now. Right now, I want you to say this, old men, old women, young men, young women, boys, girls, teenagers right now:
Lord Jesus, I believe you’re alive. I believe you died for my sins. I believe God raised you from the dead. And yes, physically, you’re alive right now. Lord Jesus, I’m a sinner. I need a Savior. I can’t save myself. But right now, I ask you to come into my heart. I ask you to become my Lord. I ask you to become my Savior. I surrender my life completely to you. And I trust you for your gift of eternal life.