Michael Youssef - The Resurrection... And You
I have a simple message. It's a two-word message. Two words. Only two words is gonna be the message today, so I want you to focus and concentrate. And if you're taking notes, take them down. Two words you will never forget. These two words are part of the message that the angel sent to the disciples in Mark chapter 16. And the angel said to the women, he said, "Go and tell the disciples," and here it comes, the two words, "and Peter". Let me set the stage first before I get to the message. The tomb was found empty. Jesus was risen from the dead. This is the greatest news of all, especially in the midst of that dreary, painful, fear and death and diseases that are surrounding us right now. The Resurrection of Jesus tells us that death has been defeated. The Resurrection of Jesus tells us that sin has been conquered.
The Resurrection of Jesus tells us that Satan has been defeated once and for all. The Resurrection of Jesus tells us that the grave could no longer hold him, praise God. He rose from the dead. Hear me right, please. There is no greater news for the disciples of Jesus, whether they were 1st century disciples or 21st century disciples. There is no greater news. But today, as I said, I wanna share with you the application of that great news. Mark 16, part of verse 7, two words: And the angel said to the women, here it is, "Go and tell the disciples and Peter". And then the angel said, "Tell him he's gonna go to the Galilee ahead of you to meet you". But listen, those two words that I'm focusing on, on this Resurrection Sunday, are the summary of the good news of the gospel. You say, "'And Peter' is the summary? It's the application of the good news of the gospel. How come"?
This is not a word of indignation. This is not a word of condemnation. This is not a word of even appreciation. It's a word of affection. It's a word of affection. Only words of encouragement, only words of the second chance. Listen to me. The resurrected Jesus tells everyone who's listening right now, watching right now, telling everyone because of the Resurrection there is a second chance. First, the second chance is irrevocable to the repentant, irrevocable to the repentant person. Secondly, the second chance is very intimate, very intimate with God. And thirdly, the second chance is very impactful, as we're gonna see in the Scripture. Look at those with me, those three things: irrevocable, intimate, impactful. The second chance that the resurrected Jesus gives every one of us, every repentant individual, every repentant man or woman, every repentant boy or girls is irrevocable as the Resurrection itself is irrevocable. For if there are no Resurrection, there would have been no gospel.
And if there were no gospel, there would have been no forgiveness of sins. And if there were no forgiveness of sins, we would be doomed to a life of misery and eternal suffering. But thank God that is not the case. There are two words, only two words, that gives everyone at the sound of my voice great hope. Great hope to know that there is in the resurrected Jesus a second chance. "And Peter". The natural way for Peter to think after denying his Lord and Savior and friend, Jesus, three times, the natural way to think, a lot of people think that way, too, "The Lord is gonna disown me now. The Lord is gonna reject me now for good. The Lord is gonna abandon me for good. And the Lord would have nothing to do with me after what I have done. He would have every right not to do anything with me, not to have anything to do with me. He can never use me again".
Ah, that's what we do, right? That's what we do to people when they wrong us. But no, the power of Jesus's Resurrection assures every repentant sinner of the second chance. Oh, God, our God is the God of a second chance. And a 3rd chance, and a 1000th chance and a million chances. The Bible says that after Peter denied Jesus three times, he wept bitterly. The weeping and the repentance was not wasted on Jesus. It was not wasted in Jesus. Your repentance is never wasted on Jesus. Can you imagine Peter's elation when the women came and said to him, "Peter, the angel mentioned you by name. Peter, the Lord wants you to meet him in Galilee. Peter, he loves you by name. And he told us to tell you by name. Peter, you're still dear and near to the heart of Jesus. Peter, Jesus saw the brokenness of your heart and the heat of your tears".
Well, the second chance is irrevocable. It is not offered willy-nilly to everyone. No, no, it's not. Only to those who repent. Repentance has to take place. Judas sold Jesus with 30 pieces of silver. It is not any bigger sin than the sin of Peter who denied Jesus, no. But unlike Peter, Judas allowed his pride to take hold of him instead of repenting. His pride did not receive the second chance. The second chance is irrevocable to the repentant person. The second chance is for men and women, boys and girls, who are watching right now, it is for them who are like Peter, recognize their sin, confess their sin, repent of their sin. Hear me right, please, this is important. There are a lot of people who get filled with remorse after they've done the wrong thing, especially if they get caught and become public. But only repentance provides a second chance, not remorse; repentance.
This is the good news on this Resurrection Sunday. This is the great news on this Resurrection Sunday. Regardless of how deep you may have descended, regardless of how far you might have traveled., the resurrection day, this resurrection day, you can come home. Come home to Jesus. There is a second chance for you because the second chance is not only irrevocable, but it's very intimate. It's very intimate, very personalized. It's not a blanket like we say in the South, "Y'all come". Maybe that's the invitation, "Y'all come," but then you have to repent on the coming. Now, the Lord Jesus singles us individually. I know I'm talking to millions of people right now but, you see, I don't know you. I know some of you by name, but I don't know all of you by name. But Jesus does. He speaks to you by name. He knows you by name. He deals with you by name. He saved you by name. He forgives you by name.
In fact, Jesus said in John chapter 10, verse 3, he said, "My sheep I call by name". And that is why the angel sent the message to Peter by name, by name. Something else I don't want you to miss here. I want you to notice that the angel did not use Peter's old name, Simon or Cephas as he was known in the Greek. Simon Peter. You see, he uses the new name that Jesus gave him: Petros, the rock. You see, when Jesus first met Peter, he was just Simon the fisherman. That's all he was. But after Peter confessed when Jesus asked, "Who do you say that I am"? And he said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," meaning that you're the only way to the Father, you're the only way to heaven, you're the Messiah, you're the only hope for mankind and says, "Upon that confession, that is the confession, that is the rock upon which the church of Jesus Christ is built". Not Peter himself.
The Lord Jesus uses the symbolism by the rock of the confession that he made: I'm gonna change your name in a symbolic way and call you, "The Rock," Petros. He wouldn't build his church on a failed man, or a man who can fail and like all of us. No, no, no. He built on the confession, the rock. That's the confession. Second chance is always deeply personalized. It can't be done in masses. It's one-on-one encounter with the Lord. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verse 5, "After our Lord rose from the dead, he was seen by Cephas," that's Simon Peter, that's Peter. "Then by the 12". In other words, when our Lord rose from the dead, he went looking for Simon Peter. Why Peter? Because there are some things that's so intimate in our lives that it can only take place when we have an encounter with the Holy Spirit of God who dwells in us. Has to be done personally.
Peter thought he was finished. Peter thought he was done for. Peter thought that he was history. But no, the Bible tells us that he went on that intimate meeting with Peter. Why? Because there are some things that's just so private. They're so private. They cannot be dealt with publicly. We can only speculate, of course. We can only imagine what that conversation was like. "Oh, Peter, I've seen you in bitter tears. Peter, I've seen your sobs. Peter, I heard your broken words that were halting, coming out from quivering lips". You say, "Michael, well, how do you know that this may have happened"? I'm glad you asked. Because many of us, I dare say some of you who are watching, many of us, have been there. I have been there. I, for one, have experienced many times the incredible, indescribable grace of God pouring into my life in the times when I've felt the least deserving it.
I guess that's why it's called grace. That encounter with Peter must have been so tender and so intimate an encounter. This encounter must have been a moment of amazing grace. This encounter must have been overwhelming, loving forgiveness. Beloved, there are some people at the sound of voice right now who have experienced loving encounters with Jesus. I know some of you personally. I know I have. But perhaps there is that person who had never had that loving encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. I want to tell you today is the day. This Resurrection Sunday is your day to have a loving encounter with the living God. He wants to have an encounter with you. Will you come to him? You can do that today.
Ah, the second chance is irrevocable for the repentant. The second chance is very intimate and individualized to you, you, you, you, you, alone. But thirdly, the second chance is very impactful, very impactful. That encounter with the resurrected Jesus was so impactful, was so transforming of Peter's life, that he was never the same. Look at the transformation of Peter's life. He went from being a denier of his Lord to a fearless proclaimer of his Lord. In the book of Acts, we're told in the Day of Pentecost he stood up and gave this magnificent sermon. Three thousand people come to Christ and he said to them, he said, "We cannot but speak of what we have seen". Later on, when he was beaten and imprisoned, we see him say how grateful he was to be considered worthy to suffer for his Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved, that's the power of the second chance, of the resurrected Jesus, and he can give it to you today, today, today. I want you to do something for me, right now, wherever you are. I hope that you have a Bible in front of you and, if you don't, that's fine. Insert your own first name, okay? Let's do it. "And," insert your name, "Michael, Bob, Sue, Jane". Just insert your name under the word "Peter," and put your own name in your Bible so you'll never forget that you included in this invitation. Now can you hear your name? I want to do it again. "And," your name. That's what Jesus is telling you right now. And you, by name. Oh, what an impact those two words had on the life of the Apostle Peter. What a transformation it had on his life. Peter was about to be crucified and he said, "No, no, no, no. Don't crucify me like my Lord. I'm know I'm not worthy. I don't deserve that. Crucify me upside down".
What a transformation. What a transformation. My beloved friends, on this Resurrection Sunday the Father has his arm wide open. Because of Jesus and because of what Jesus did on the cross, would you run into his open arms right now. Run into his open arms. Whatever your name is, he's offering to you by name. Every repentant sinner is offered that second chance. Job, with all of his pain, he was restored double-time. Abraham, with his lying to Pharaoh and trying to hurry up God's plan and giving us Ishmael, he was called a friend of God. Jonah, with his running away, led the greatest revival known in history. David, who had blown it big time, when he repented, his heart become after God's own heart.
Thomas, the doubtful Thomas, the doubting Thomas, with all of his doubt, Thomas ended up being martyred but not before establishing the church in India, the Church of Mar Thoma. John Mark, who expressed cowardness and frustrated the Apostle Paul, died a martyr's death, but not until he established the church that my ancestors belonged to, in the Church of Alexandria in Egypt. John and James, who had dreams of grandeur and greatness: one died a martyr and the other one was exiled in Patmos. Both accomplished great things for God. Oh, yes, listen. The second chance is very impactful on your life. The second chance, it transforms your life. It is powerful. The question is, will you accept it? Will you seek it? And then it's offered to you. I know that because God's Word on it. Will you accept it?
The Lord wants to insert your name in this verse. Thank God for the second chance for it is irrevocable, it is intimate, and it is impactful. And if you wanna surrender your life to Jesus Christ, you heard the gospel message maybe for the first time, and you want to say, "Lord Jesus, come into my life. Forgive all my sins through the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank you that his death on the cross, he died for me. I thank you that he rose again from the dead so that it can demonstrate and can prove that I too will rise with him. Come into my life now". Or if you are believer who have wandered away from God, I wanna tell you, "Come home. Come home. He's waiting for you". Not with words of condemnation but he's waiting for you with welcoming words. Repent, turn to the Lord for he loves you.