Resurrection: The Grand Finale Pt. 1
Introduction
Turn to I Corinthians 15
The ending of a story is the most important thing. It is what the story is all about. The same is true of a musical, it is the finale that brings the conclusion. So let me ask a question this morning, “What is the CONCLUSION to the gospel? When does the Gospel end? And we’ll spend the rest of this morning’s service, and next week, answering that question? When will it end? Let us first read I Corinthians. 15:24-28 together.
THE GRAND FINALE – The Greatest Ending Ever Written to the Greatest Story Ever Told. I tell you today NOT to be AFRAID to embrace the CLAIMS of the Gospel, and to BELIEVE the SUPERNATURAL in the Word of God. The Word is FILLED with supernatural implications all the way through from beginning to end.
And the power of God is in preaching God’s Word the way it is, and not simply the way you are able to comprehend it. I’ve seen a lot of things that I preached in the Word of God that were way ahead of where I was. And as I preached what I SAW in the Word, not basing it upon my own experience, or what I could receive in my intellect, but PREACHING AND BELIEVING the Word of God and what it was saying …it is amazing how then the HOLY SPIRIT brings about supernatural results.
This morning is a morning like that. The implications of the RESURRECTION are BEYOND ANYTHING that we’ve ever seen or attained.
Oh church, I get excited about great things that have happened in the past, but I get even more excited about greater things that are going to happen in the future. And I’m not here today to simply reminisce about great things that have happened in the past, but I want to talk about the GREAT VICTORIES that have been made possible in the FUTURE for us, and I pray that it will get deep down in our hearts.
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I. DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY
The good news this morning is that Jesus Christ is ALIVE, and because He lives we all have hope. It is what the Bible calls,
“THE BLESSED HOPE.”
It is the hope of our own PERSONAL RESURRECTION as Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. We have a hope that continues beyond the grave so that someday this MORTAL will put on IMMORTALITY, and DEATH will be SWALLOWED up in VICTORY.
Now, the GRAVE is an inevitable fact of life. It is one of the things that is least talked about in all of life, unless the subject is forced on us, and we have to visit a grave with a loved one, or we find ourselves standing at the threshold of the valley of the shadow of death with someone who passes through.
Death is a very REAL thing. But the best possible news that any of us could get would be that the awful FACT of death has been put into a new perspective by ANOTHER FACT. What we need to hear this morning is that the RESURRECTION IS AS REAL AS THE GRAVE.
Now because of the DEATH AND RESURRECION OF JESUS CHRIST, death DISPATCHES US TO GOD IMMDIATELY. Then our completely RAISED AND RENOVATED BODIES will be restored to us in THE GREAT RESURRECTION OF THE SAINTS.
No Christian is a premature victim of a death wish. Rather, he will throw himself for Christ into this life for all he is worth. But when the time comes, because of the RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, he will be able to say, “I cannot wait to go” with such appeal that those at his funeral will be envious.
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II. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD – IT DIDN’T END AT THE GRAVE
Of course, that it is what the pagan world believes – LIFE ENDS IN A GRAVE. Jesus bit the dust, and we are all going to bite the dust too, and THAT IS IT. For the world, THE GRAVE IS THE FINALE. Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow WE DIE. That’s the finish. Warn out by natural causes, we all end up in the human junkyard only to rust away forever. These are the same people who give their children stuffed, fuzzy bunnies for Easter.
So this Good Friday and Easter again, Jesus’ name will be at best, or should we say at worst, a curse word blurted out at the water cooler at work, or the brunt of a joke told at lunch. And even school children who do believe will not be allowed to pray in His name for fear of reprisals by the school authorities.
Well, first of all then, I’d like you to go back to the beginning of I Corinthians 15 so that we can focus on several verses from this chapter. Look at Verses 1-4 where Paul says,
“Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached
to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
“by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which
I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.”
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also
received, that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures,”
“and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third
day according to the Scriptures …”
The Gospel, the Good News, is that the purpose of God did not end at the grave of Jesus Christ. Hear it – THE GOSPEL DOES NOT END AT THE GRAVE. In fact, because of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it never ends.
Here is what the essence of the GOSPEL is. It is the GOOD NEWS about three things:
1. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, God the Son, CAME AND DIED FOR OUR SINS. He did not die to be a HERO or a MARTYR. He did not die for A CAUSE. HE DIED FOR OUR SINS, my sins and your sins, according to the Scriptures, such as Isaiah 53:5,
“He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was
crushed for our iniquities.”
According to the Scriptures! Remember II Corinthians 5:21,
“…He Who knew no sin, was made sin for us.”
If you will:
“HE WHO WAS WITHOUT SIN BECAME ON THE CROSS THE GREATEST SINNER
IN THE WORLD, SO THAT WE WHO ARE THE GREATEST SINNNERS IN THE
WORLD, BECAUSE OF THE CROSS, BY FAITH ARE DECLARED JUSTIFIED
AS IF WE ARE WITHOUT SIN.”
2. He was BURIED according to the Scriptures. DEAD and BURIED! Not carried away and then hid. BURIED! It was the final signature of death – BURIAL. It was the lowest state of being DEAD – BURIAL. It was not optional. He had to go through our death and burial if we were to go through HIS RESURRECTION AND ASCENSION.
HEAR IT:
“JESUS HAD TO BE BELOW OUR FEET ON EARTH IF WE WERE EVER TO CAST OUR
CROWNS BEFORE HIS NAIL PIERCED FEET IN HEAVEN.”
And again:
“CHRIST’S BURIAL WAS HIS LAST STATE OF HUMULIATION BEFORE HE THEN
COULD BE BROUGHT TO HIS STATE OF EXULTATION.”
3. He was RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY according to the Scriptures. Now, that is the Gospel – IT DID NOT, DOES NOT, AND NEVER WILL END IN A GRAVE OR GRAVES. Hear it:
“GOD DID NOT SURVEY THE EARTH SAYING TO HIMSELF, ‘WHAT A MARVELOUS PLACE FOR A CEMETERY.’ GOD IS NOT A GRAVEYARD SUPERINTENDENT. GOD IS NOT AN ARCHAELOGIST WAITING FOR THE DUST TO SETTLE ON THE SUCCESSION OF GENERATIONS AND CIVILIZATIONS SO THAT HE CAN EXAMINE BONES TO SEE WHAT WENT WRONG. GOD IS NOT THE GOD OF THE DEAD BUT OF THE LIVING. GOD IS NOT THE GOD OF FILLED GRAVES, BUT THE GOD OF EMPTIED GRAVES. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD DOES NOT END WITH AN OCCUPIED GRAVE.”
-The apostle Paul said,
“This is the message I preach everywhere.”
-He didn’t preach it once a year on Easter Sunday. Everywhere he went he preached about the MOST UNIQUE thing of Christianity, that Jesus Christ is ALIVE.
-That’s the PRIMARY DIFFERENCE between CHRISTIANITY and any other kind of religion in the world. You take the resurrection of Jesus Christ out of Christianity, and then it is nothing more than another CODE OF ETHICS. And then:
a. We’re left without the HEART OF THE GOSPEL,
b. And worst of all, we are still in our sins.
c. Paul says this is what makes us STAND APART.
d. It is that our faith DOESN’T END with the grave.
e. The GOSPEL doesn’t end with the grave.
f. It is what SAVES us. If there is no resurrection, we’re not saved from ANYTHING.
g. But if there IS A RESURRECTION, we can be saved from everything.
h. We STAND on the resurrection. It is the GOSPEL, the good news that life doesn’t end at the grave.
-In fact, Paul says it is the PRIMARY ISSUE. Do you see that in Verse 3? He said,
“THIS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE, THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND THE RESURRECTION ARE
OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE. THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS THE VERY
HEART OF THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES AND THE CHRISTIAN FAITH.”
ILLUSTRATION
What disturbs me is on Easter, the cathedrals around the world that are crowned with crosses and Christian emblems, with pulpits that were originally fashioned to preach the Christian message, are SOFT-PEDALING the RESURRECTION because DOUBT and UNBELIEF have EMASCULATED it from their faith.
And that is WHY their churches are dying. Oh they may show up on high holy days such as Easter and Christmas, but the attendance wanes, and not just the attendance, but there is a hollow ring to the worship and to the message. Something huge is missing besides people. I HAVE BEEN IN CHURCHES WHERE THE RESURRECTION ON EASTER MORNING IS NOT EVEN PREACHED ABOUT, AND ONLY GIVEN PASSING NOTICE.
People in modern religion ARE MORE CONCERNED ABOUT THE DEATH OF THE AMERICAN DOLLAR, than they are EXCITED ABOUT THE RESURRECTION from the DEAD OF JESUS CHRIST! That is because modern religion is MORE TEMPORALLY MINDED THAN ETERNALLY MINDED. These same churches are asleep spiritually, and have become communal bedrooms on their way to becoming graveyards.
Remember, when Jesus was dying on the cross, the sun went under and everything became black. In modern religion, in many churches, the sun has never come up, because they do not center anymore on the crucified CHRIST WHO WAS RAISED UP FROM THE DEAD.
ILLUSTRATION
And yet there are other churches across the United States and around the world that are BURGEONING with POWER. And God is raising them up to cast a bright LIGHT of INFLUENCE over cities that are dark with sin. And the church is ALIVE and GROWING because they have kept the HEART OF THE GOSPEL.
Paul says in I Corinthians 15:3 that the RESURRECTION OF CHRIST is of FIRST IMPORTANCE. Let’s say that together:
“THE RESURRECTION IS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE.”
If you don’t have that, you don’t have anything. If you don’t have a Christ WHO came out of the grave, and ascended over the power of death itself, then you do not have THE CHRIST WHO WILL HELP YOU IN YOUR TIME OF NEED. Then you do not have THE GOOD NEWS, BECAUSE the GOOD NEWS IS:
a. First, He DIED FOR OR SINS. He wasn’t JUST KILLED OR MARTYRED, but HE DIED FOR OUR SINS. He was the SACRIFICE OF GOD.
b. Second, was BURIED. He was not resuscitated after a couple of hours, but was indeed DEAD and BURIED for three days.
c. Third, He arose again on the third day, all of it happening JUST AS GOD SAID IT WOULD ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURES. Hear it again:
“IT ALL HAPPENEND ACCORDING TO PLAN, A PLAN THAT
DIDN’T END AT THE GRAVE.”
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But then, we should not be all that shocked. God the Father already told us in the Scriptures, such as Psalm 16:10,
“NEITHER WILT THOU ALLOW THY HOLY ONE TO SEE CORRUPTION.”
Hear it:
“WHATEVER GOD DECREES AND PROMISES, FOREVER PASSES OUT OF THE
REALM OF CONTINGENCY AND UNCERTAINTY, AND IMMEDIATELY
INTO THE REALM OF NECESSITY AND INEVITABILITY.”
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III. THE GREATEST STORY EVER OLD – IT DIDN’T END WITH A CHOSEN FEW
A. Now look with me at I Corinthians 15:5-8,
“…and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
“After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at
one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have
fallen asleep;”
“then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;”
“and last of all, as it were to one untimely born, He appeared to
me also.”
B. It doesn’t end with a CHOSEN FEW.
-It did not conclude with some LITTLE GROUP.
-The RESURRECTION is not some little secret written in SAND SCRIPT on HOLY PARCHMENT held in the hands of a few loyal faithful people.
-It didn’t get locked up in a little CLIQUE OR ELITE GROUP.
C. The word in Verse 5 where it says “He Appeared” is the word HORAO (hor-ah’-o).
-It has to do with SEEING with your eyes.
-In fact, it is usually translated as SEEN.
-We’re NOT TALKING about an ABERRATION or a DREAM.
-We’re NOT TALKING about some intuitive revelation that somebody just “BELIEVED” that Jesus was alive.
-Or they simply believed that the SPIRIT of Jesus Christ was alive.
-That word “APPEARED” there means that JESUS CHRIST came forth IN A BODY, He could be touched, He ATE food, He was REAL. We read what the Apostle John states in I John 1:3,
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with
our eyes, what we beheld and our hands have handled, concerning
the Word of Life.”
-It isn’t some obscure passage that is left open for interpretation.
D. And praise God, it doesn’t end with a few people.
ILLUSTRATION
When I think of the fact that all over the world this Easter morning there are hundreds of millions of people who will be celebrating the RESURRECTION of JESUS CHRIST, MY HEART LEAPS FOR JOY! This is the GREATEST DAY of the year, because without this day, no other day would mean anything. All other sacred days and celebrations would be of NO SIGNIFICANCE whatsoever. If the ending had come at the grave, there would be no reason to celebrate any of the rest of it.
E. Paul says, “He appeared,” and He gives 6 appearances:
1. He says in Verse 5 that He appeared to Cephas or Peter.
2. That He appeared to the 12.
3. That He appeared to over 500 at one time.
4. He appeared to James. (We’re not told precisely HOW OR WHEN that happened, but apparently James had a visitation with the Lord and the early New Testament Church knew about it.)
5. He appears to ALL THE APOSTLES.
6. Paul says He, “Appeared to me.”
F. But this doesn’t account for ALL of the appearances that are mentioned in the N. T. As a matter of fact, there are ANOTHER 6 that are specifically mentioned in Scripture.
1. He appears to Mary Magdalene.
2. He appears to the OTHER women, probably including Mary, the MOTHER of Jesus, and SALOME.
3. He appears to 10 apostles and then later to 11 apostles.
4. He appears to the 7 by the sea.
-Now undoubtedly, He made more appearances than those, because Luke said that He was there, and about for 40 days, presenting Himself as alive after HIS SUFFERING BY MANY CONVINCING PROOFS.
-Understand this:
“THE SUN RISING IN THE MORNING DOES NOT SHOW ITSELF TO ALL PARTS OF
THE WORLD AT ONCE, OR TO THE SAME REGION ITS WHOLE LIGHT ALL AT
ONCE. BUT BY WEAKER SHINING AT FIRST, IT GRADUALLY ASCENDS TO
CLEARER AND CLEARER BRILLIANCE.”
So too:
“THE RISEN SON OF GOD REVEALED HIMSELF AFTER HIS RISING BY SEVERAL
INCREASING EVIDENCES AND PROOFS, UNTIL IN HIS ASCENSION HE
SHONE IN HIS FULLNESS OF GLORY.”
-And soon, very soon, the entire human race, past, present, and future will see Him. We read in Revelation 1:7,
“BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see
Him, even those that pierced Him; and all the tribes of the
earth will mourn over Him. Even so! Amen!”
-The unbelieving world will mourn, for they shall then know that JESUS IS GOD, and it will be too late. They will realize that this Jesus who they always gave at best a BACK PAGE MENTION will now be HEADLINE NEWS FOREVER. They will read it and weep and gnash their teeth.
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IV. THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD – IT DIDN’T END WITH A LIE
A. And that brings me to THIS point:
1. It didn’t end with the GRAVE,
2. It didn’t end with a FEW.
3. AND NOW, IT DIDN’T END WITH A LIE.
B. Look with me at I Corinthians 15:15-19 where Paul says,
“Moreover, we are even found to be false witnesses of God because we
witnessed against God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise,
if in fact the dead are not raised.”
“For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;”
and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless;
you are still in your sins.”
“Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.”
“If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most
to be pitied.”
C. Even the POSSIBILITY that the RESURRECTION didn’t happen has INCREDIBLY DISMAL, STARK IMPLICATIONS:
1. You cannot have FAITH and yet DISCOUNT THE RESURRECTION.
2. If you deny the RESURRECTION, you haven’t denied JUST ONE ASPECT OF THE FAITH.
3. If you deny The RESURRECTION, you have NOTHING CREDIBLE OF FAITH LEFT AT ALL.”
D. Paul says, in Verse 17,
“If Christ has not been raised….”
-Well, let’s just STOP THERE for a moment. If Christ is not risen, then all these WITNESSES that we have just talked about, in at least 12 SCRIPTURAL APPEARENCES, ARE LIARS:
1. If Peter, the first among the Apostles DIDN’T SEE THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, then Peter IS AN OUT-AND-OUT LIAR.
2. And what does that do to all of the rest of the APOSTOLIC COMPANY?
3. What does that do to all of THE BOOKS THAT THEY WROTE IN THE BIBLE, AND THE TESTIMONY THAT THEY HAVE GIVEN?
4. What does that do to any THEOLOGICAL CREDIBILITY? If Jesus ISN’T ALIVE, Peter’s a FRAUD, and that puts THE WHOLE COMPANY OF THEM IN DIRE JEOPARDY.
5. If indeed the Apostles proclaimed to the world things that are false, then too they did all those miracles by the power of the devil and not by the power of the living Christ. Or if they did do miracles by God’s power, then God lent His power to IMPOSTERS to ratify the preaching of a lie for the DECEPTION OF MANKIND. All of which is so blasphemous for anyone to assert, that the very thought of it is intolerable.
-We’re not talking about some MINOR POINT here, church, for we are talking about the LINK between CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY AND ITS TOTAL CREDIBILITY.
E. If Jesus is not RISEN from the dead, then THE APOSTLE PAUL IS A LIAR, yes, the very man who wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else.
1. He said it about HIMSELF, “If Jesus isn’t risen, then I’m a LIAR!”
2 Then the 2 men on the road to EMMAUS were lying.
3. Then MARY MAGDALENE was a liar.
4. Then all the women who SURROUNDED JESUS AND ATTENDED TO JESUS AT HIS DEATH AND BURIAL were liars too.
F. You see, we are dealing here with the ULTIMATE ISSUE:
-Either it is CREDIBLE or it is COMPLETELY INCREDIBLE.
-Either the gospel is TRUE or it ISN’T.
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G. The GOOD NEWS is that this is NOT some sort of concocted gospel that 10 guys got together in some darkened room and decided they would PROPOGATE IT TO THE WORLD.
1. There were WITNESSES out there for EVERYONE to see and QUESTION.
2. And the CREDIBILITY OF THE GOSPEL is hinged upon the CREDIBILITY OF MANY, MANY WITNESSES, NOT just a FEW.
3. We’re not dealing with somebody who has some subjective feeling and stands up in a meeting and says,
“I believe in my heart that Jesus rose again.”
4. We’re talking about people who SAW Him, TOUCHED Him, ATE with Him, people who walked with Him down the road and LISTENED TO HIM TALK.
5. People who saw Him so REAL that they thrust their fingers into the WOUNDS of His hands and His side.
6. The MOST ASTOUNDING FACT OF ALL is that we are talking about a VERITABLE FACT that many, many different people agreed upon.
7. Has it ever occurred to you what a remarkable MIRACLE IT IS THAT THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS who went to the UTTERMOSTof the then known WORLD, AGREED TOTALLY UPON THE EVENT?
ILLUSTRATION
On one beautiful spring day, 4 high school boys decided that they were going to cut classes. So after messin’ around several hours, they came back and told the teacher:
“We missed class because the tire went flat on the car.”
At first they were a little nervous, but the teacher said,
“Okay, no problem. However, you boys DID miss a TEST, so
I’d like you to sit down in 4 different places in the room
so that you can do the make-up quiz.”
They were a little nervous, but she assured them that it would be a very easy test. They sat down, pencil and paper out, and she said,
“The first question on this test is, ‘Which tire went flat?'”
That was a SMART TEACHER, right?
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G. You see, you can fabricate some things, but we are not talking about a few fellas getting together and fabricating some minor point. Paul tells us that THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST IS OF FIRST IMPORTANCE.
-It wasn’t verified by a person or two, it was verified by OVER 500 PEOPLE AT ONE TIME, MANY OF WHOM WERE ALIVE AT THE VERY MOMENT THAT HE WROTE THIS. THAT’S WHAT HE SAID.
-I mean, it would be EASY to discredit the resurrection if it were discreditable, but the resurrection DIDN’T END with a chosen few, it wasn’t 4 or 5 people in a closed room, it wasn’t even a DOZEN or TWENTY-FIVE.
ILLUSTRATION
The other day, on a TALK SHOW, they had some people who had made claims that ELVIS PRESLEY was ALIVE AGAIN. Oh sure! They saw him down at the “Burger King” in Kalamazoo or something. He probably ordered a Whopper, fries, and a coke.
But the INTERESTING THING is that nobody saw him except this SINGLE INDIVIDUAL, and the more that she TALKED, the more that she sounded like her elevator didn’t go to the top floor. And none of these people could AGREE on these “Elvis Appearances.”
***
-In the resurrection of JESUS CHRIST, we’re not talking about 1 or 2, or 10 or 12:
1. We’re talking about HUNDREDS who VERIFIED it.
2. They SAW Him.
3. Some DOCUMENTED it in TREMENDOUS DETAIL.
4. This was before books were printed and printing presses were invented.
5. Matthew didn’t “Xerox” a copy over to Luke you know. They were written sometimes YEARS APART and sometimes HUNDREDS OF MILES apart.
6. Why? Because God wanted to VERIFY A CRITICAL ISSUE:
a. It BREAKS FORTH beyond some little clique or sect or cult.
b. It BREAKS FORTH beyond a few people.
c. It BREAKS FORTH beyond a denomination.
d. It BREAAKS FORTH beyond any group that could possibly contain it, including the JEWS WHO FIRST RECEIVED IT.
e. And ABOVE ALL:
“THE ETERNAL LIFE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST BREAKS FORTH EVEN NOW
BEFORE AND BEYOND THE GRAVE IN THE DIVINE LIFE OF CHRIST WHO
LIVES WITHIN US – CHRIST IN US THE HOPE
OF GLORY. HALLELUJAH.”
***
H. Writes David Redding in “The Faith of Our Fathers,”
“BECAUSE JESUS DIED LIKE A LAMB, HE WOULD HAVE
TO COME BACK AS A ROARING LION.”
“He did. He had to frighten them into faith when they could not escape. Where did we get the idea that Jesus’ Spirit came back to massage old memories in the Upper Room? He took them by storm. He ordered, “Give me a place to sit down. Give me something to eat. Why are you standing there? Why are you perturbed? Touch me and see; no ghost has flesh and bones as you can see that I have.” (Luke 24:39-43)”
“He charged the room like a returning conqueror. If we remember the Upper room as a lovely little scene, we are dead to what happened. Christ broke up the meeting. He knocked them over each other. Jesus did not whisper to someone to tell Thomas that someday He would tell him all. Christ came back (from death and the grave) that night bigger than life to get Thomas. What Broadway Show ever went that far?”
“Jesus cornered Thomas. Thomas could not get out. ‘The doors were locked.’ (John 20:26)”
[Klingenberg note – The locked doors kept Thomas in but could not keep Jesus out. Without any noise or difficulty Jesus came into the Upper Room. This sight has thrilled me since I was a small boy. Jesus was no longer in his natural but supernatural body. Whether the doors fell open and then shut before Him, or He passed through them locked, is all the same to the risen Lord.]
“Jesus had had enough of doubting Thomas. ‘So you need more proof. You are going to get it that it will never come out. Christ almost frightened Thomas to death with evidence. Not everyone could have taken the evidence given to Thomas and lived to tell about it:
“PLACE YOUR FINGER HERE. SEE MY HANDS. REACH YOUR HAND HERE
AND PUT IT INTO MY SIDE,” said Jesus.
“MY LORD AND MY GOD,” said Thomas. “BECAUSE YOU HAVE SEEN ME,
YOU BELIEVE. BLESSED ARE THEY WHO HAVE NOT SEEN ME
AND YET HAVE BELIEVED,” said Jesus.
(John 20:27, 28, 29) – (End of Redding quote)
***
-Thomas could only tie his faith to his senses, and to believe no further than he could see. Thomas is the last person on planet earth to believe a lie. Hear it:
“THOMAS HAD TO FEEL HIS WAY BEFORE HE COULD
FAITH HIS WAY.”
Thomas would not believe a miracle upon mere hearsay. He would not see through any eyes but his own. He had to finger the print of the nails, and follow the spear into our Lord’s side. In short:
“HE HAD TO PHSICALLY TOUCH THE MIRACLE BEFORE
THE MIRACLE COULD SPIRITUALLY TOUCH HIM.”
And so it was that Jesus said to Thomas in John 20:29,
“Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who,
did not see and yet believed.”
He is talking about us!
-Come now troubled and doubting soul, open your heart to THE LORD OF THE WORD AND THE WORD OF THE LORD. Pray and consider what you have heard and read today, and I assure you that your defenses and doubts will crumble, and the BLOCK WILL BE BROKEN. I believe that this is your hour, and that you will see for the first time, and that the CRUCIFIED AND RESURRECTED CHRIST will come into Your HEART if you but ask Him to be YOUR SAVIOR FROM SIN AND THE LORD OF YOUR LIFE. Amen!*
*Look soon for RESURRECTION – THE GRAND FINALE Pt. 2
