1 00:00:00,530 --> 00:00:03,910 Many of us here like uncertainty. 2 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:10,820 Now, I think many of us like to 3 00:00:10,820 --> 00:00:14,460 say, oh, no, no, the world is hungering 4 00:00:14,460 --> 00:00:15,440 for certainty. 5 00:00:16,500 --> 00:00:18,540 And I'm hungering for certainty. 6 00:00:21,030 --> 00:00:24,610 But, loved ones, many of us actually prefer 7 00:00:24,610 --> 00:00:25,650 uncertainty. 8 00:00:28,210 --> 00:00:30,790 That's why a lot of us go to 9 00:00:30,790 --> 00:00:31,630 graduate school. 10 00:00:36,270 --> 00:00:38,410 Now, a lot of us go to graduate 11 00:00:38,410 --> 00:00:40,410 school because we know why we're going. 12 00:00:41,070 --> 00:00:42,530 But a lot of us go to graduate 13 00:00:42,530 --> 00:00:47,910 school because it puts off the terrible risk 14 00:00:47,910 --> 00:00:54,850 of committing ourselves to some enterprise whereby suddenly 15 00:00:54,850 --> 00:00:58,710 we would discover what we're worth. 16 00:01:01,250 --> 00:01:05,450 And we'd rather be a non-achiever than 17 00:01:05,450 --> 00:01:07,150 be a possible failure. 18 00:01:08,090 --> 00:01:11,990 And so we keep on putting off the 19 00:01:11,990 --> 00:01:15,070 evil day when we have to commit ourselves. 20 00:01:15,330 --> 00:01:18,570 And that's really why we like uncertainty. 21 00:01:19,610 --> 00:01:23,410 Because uncertainty gives you an excuse for spinning 22 00:01:23,410 --> 00:01:28,530 your wheels, for marking time, for putting off 23 00:01:28,530 --> 00:01:29,770 committing yourself. 24 00:01:32,160 --> 00:01:35,240 And so we tend to want to hold 25 00:01:35,240 --> 00:01:36,480 on to uncertainty. 26 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:38,740 I agree with you completely. 27 00:01:39,080 --> 00:01:41,140 There's something in us human beings that want 28 00:01:41,140 --> 00:01:41,740 certainty. 29 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:44,260 But I put it to you, there is 30 00:01:44,260 --> 00:01:47,500 something in us that likes uncertainty. 31 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:54,900 Because it enables us to excuse ourselves for 32 00:01:54,900 --> 00:01:59,220 not committing ourselves definitely and clearly to some 33 00:01:59,220 --> 00:01:59,980 enterprise. 34 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,040 And I would just really push those of 35 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:05,040 us who are older. 36 00:02:05,040 --> 00:02:07,280 And I'd say to you, isn't it true 37 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,660 that we ourselves fiddled around for years and 38 00:02:11,660 --> 00:02:15,500 years before we committed ourselves to something. 39 00:02:16,640 --> 00:02:19,040 And we were all the time trying to 40 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,640 avoid the horrible reality of what we were 41 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:24,240 worth or what we weren't worth. 42 00:02:26,410 --> 00:02:30,170 And that's why many of us get so 43 00:02:30,170 --> 00:02:32,050 wrapped up in Easter bunnies and that kind 44 00:02:32,050 --> 00:02:32,790 of stuff, you know. 45 00:02:32,790 --> 00:02:34,550 I mean, it's dumb all that stuff. 46 00:02:34,710 --> 00:02:36,750 And I apologize with apologies to all of 47 00:02:36,750 --> 00:02:38,270 you who are going off for lovely lunches 48 00:02:38,270 --> 00:02:38,550 today. 49 00:02:38,770 --> 00:02:41,810 That's why I think many of us try 50 00:02:41,810 --> 00:02:44,930 to get wrapped up in Easter lunches and 51 00:02:44,930 --> 00:02:48,330 picnics and all that kind of important stuff. 52 00:02:50,010 --> 00:02:53,970 Because in our hearts we don't like the 53 00:02:53,970 --> 00:02:56,070 certain day that Easter brings. 54 00:02:57,870 --> 00:03:01,790 Easter is the most certain day in the 55 00:03:01,790 --> 00:03:02,510 whole year. 56 00:03:03,910 --> 00:03:08,110 The first Easter Sunday was the clearest day 57 00:03:08,110 --> 00:03:09,790 that the world ever saw. 58 00:03:10,750 --> 00:03:12,790 You remember that song, On a Clear Day 59 00:03:12,790 --> 00:03:14,250 You Can See Forever? 60 00:03:14,810 --> 00:03:16,550 And I do a great imitation of Frankie 61 00:03:16,550 --> 00:03:17,050 on that. 62 00:03:19,230 --> 00:03:21,630 But my wife said, promise you won't sing 63 00:03:21,630 --> 00:03:21,810 it. 64 00:03:24,290 --> 00:03:26,510 But On a Clear Day You Can See 65 00:03:26,510 --> 00:03:30,190 Forever, and this is the clearest day of 66 00:03:30,190 --> 00:03:32,190 the whole year and the clearest day in 67 00:03:32,190 --> 00:03:32,770 the whole world. 68 00:03:32,870 --> 00:03:34,590 On this day you can see forever. 69 00:03:35,550 --> 00:03:38,730 Suddenly all vagueness disappears on this day. 70 00:03:40,170 --> 00:03:42,350 And that hits many of us where it 71 00:03:42,350 --> 00:03:42,690 hurts. 72 00:03:42,790 --> 00:03:44,890 Because a lot of us here like to 73 00:03:44,890 --> 00:03:46,910 say, oh for goodness sake, there's no certainty 74 00:03:46,910 --> 00:03:47,330 anywhere. 75 00:03:47,710 --> 00:03:49,110 You can't find certainty. 76 00:03:49,110 --> 00:03:52,890 Let's face it, no one knows what is 77 00:03:52,890 --> 00:03:54,070 the meaning of the universe. 78 00:03:54,590 --> 00:03:57,010 Nobody really understands why we're here. 79 00:03:57,810 --> 00:04:00,390 No one understands where we all came from. 80 00:04:00,770 --> 00:04:02,830 Let's face it, we all just have to 81 00:04:02,830 --> 00:04:05,570 live the best way we can because we've 82 00:04:05,570 --> 00:04:07,570 had all kinds of holy men and the 83 00:04:07,570 --> 00:04:09,410 world is full of religions and they all 84 00:04:09,410 --> 00:04:10,470 have their own story. 85 00:04:10,970 --> 00:04:12,670 You can never know, you can never know 86 00:04:12,670 --> 00:04:13,250 for sure. 87 00:04:13,610 --> 00:04:15,950 All we can do is do our best. 88 00:04:15,950 --> 00:04:18,089 And there are many of us, loved ones, 89 00:04:18,250 --> 00:04:22,190 that love the uncertainty that comes from that 90 00:04:22,190 --> 00:04:23,470 kind of viewpoint. 91 00:04:24,410 --> 00:04:27,550 And on this day, all that disappears. 92 00:04:29,170 --> 00:04:31,170 Because millions may have followed Muhammad. 93 00:04:32,010 --> 00:04:33,410 Millions may have followed Buddha. 94 00:04:34,350 --> 00:04:36,810 There may be thousands of other so-called 95 00:04:36,810 --> 00:04:39,890 religious leaders that have claimed to do mighty 96 00:04:39,890 --> 00:04:42,890 deeds and around which great legends have gathered. 97 00:04:42,890 --> 00:04:48,650 But this Easter day sets one person above 98 00:04:48,650 --> 00:04:49,990 all of those. 99 00:04:51,450 --> 00:04:54,370 Buddha didn't even believe in a personal God. 100 00:04:55,310 --> 00:04:58,130 Muhammad never claimed to be more than an 101 00:04:58,130 --> 00:04:59,210 ordinary human being. 102 00:05:00,370 --> 00:05:04,290 But there is only one man who not 103 00:05:04,290 --> 00:05:06,950 only claimed to be the unique son of 104 00:05:06,950 --> 00:05:13,170 our Creator but who died so publicly that 105 00:05:13,170 --> 00:05:17,370 even Roman historians, critical of the faith that 106 00:05:17,370 --> 00:05:20,030 he established, recorded his death. 107 00:05:20,950 --> 00:05:26,150 And this same man, three days later, came 108 00:05:26,150 --> 00:05:29,470 back from being dead and for more than 109 00:05:29,470 --> 00:05:33,050 a month walked and ate and slept with 110 00:05:33,050 --> 00:05:38,530 a material body among people who challenged their 111 00:05:38,530 --> 00:05:45,370 own contemporaries to disprove the resurrection of this 112 00:05:45,370 --> 00:05:45,690 man. 113 00:05:46,590 --> 00:05:49,770 Only one man has set before the world 114 00:05:49,770 --> 00:05:54,530 such plain and obvious proof asking the world, 115 00:05:54,990 --> 00:05:57,390 contradict this, contradict it. 116 00:05:58,250 --> 00:06:01,210 Loved ones, it's the last way you would 117 00:06:01,210 --> 00:06:02,910 try to pull a hoax on people. 118 00:06:02,910 --> 00:06:04,810 The way this man did it. 119 00:06:05,630 --> 00:06:08,230 He died so publicly and so obviously. 120 00:06:08,690 --> 00:06:10,670 He was so efficiently killed by the military 121 00:06:10,670 --> 00:06:12,590 experts at killing of that day. 122 00:06:13,310 --> 00:06:16,690 He so clearly presented himself as one who 123 00:06:16,690 --> 00:06:20,490 was alive and challenged so plainly anybody to 124 00:06:20,490 --> 00:06:25,530 disprove it that either this man is true 125 00:06:25,530 --> 00:06:28,670 or history itself is not real. 126 00:06:29,750 --> 00:06:35,250 And loved ones, Easter sets this man above 127 00:06:35,250 --> 00:06:36,510 everybody else. 128 00:06:37,410 --> 00:06:39,590 And if you say, what is certainty? 129 00:06:40,150 --> 00:06:41,130 Well, I'll show you. 130 00:06:41,330 --> 00:06:43,310 It's in that verse that we read. 131 00:06:43,430 --> 00:06:45,210 If you like to look at it, it's 132 00:06:45,210 --> 00:06:47,030 that John chapter 20. 133 00:06:47,710 --> 00:06:48,690 John 20. 134 00:06:53,490 --> 00:06:54,710 And it's verse 17. 135 00:06:55,170 --> 00:06:59,410 That's the most certain verse in the whole 136 00:06:59,410 --> 00:06:59,890 world. 137 00:07:00,890 --> 00:07:02,610 John 20 and verse 17. 138 00:07:02,790 --> 00:07:04,370 It's page 945. 139 00:07:05,430 --> 00:07:06,650 John 20 and 17. 140 00:07:07,870 --> 00:07:10,750 Jesus said to her, Do not hold me, 141 00:07:11,330 --> 00:07:13,130 for I have not yet ascended to the 142 00:07:13,130 --> 00:07:13,450 Father. 143 00:07:14,090 --> 00:07:15,950 But go to my brethren and say to 144 00:07:15,950 --> 00:07:19,130 them, I am ascending to my Father and 145 00:07:19,130 --> 00:07:22,110 your Father, to my God and your God. 146 00:07:24,540 --> 00:07:26,140 A lot of other people have said that. 147 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:28,360 But we've never seen them again. 148 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,020 But he came back the next day to 149 00:07:33,020 --> 00:07:34,780 tell us what our Father was thinking of 150 00:07:34,780 --> 00:07:35,100 us. 151 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:37,700 Now, loved ones, that's certainty. 152 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:45,680 No Muhammad, no Buddha, no Philokal Smith, no 153 00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:50,640 Zoroaster, no moon can give that kind of 154 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:51,060 certainty. 155 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:52,840 That is certainty. 156 00:07:54,420 --> 00:07:56,500 And you and I really have to deal 157 00:07:56,500 --> 00:07:57,840 with that certainty today. 158 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:01,320 I did not like it. 159 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:03,240 I tried to deal with it the way 160 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:04,840 probably many of you have. 161 00:08:07,020 --> 00:08:08,560 I tried to get rid of it. 162 00:08:10,300 --> 00:08:12,800 Because I was the same as many of 163 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:14,420 you and the same as Aldous Huxley. 164 00:08:14,600 --> 00:08:16,980 I felt that I wanted to live life 165 00:08:16,980 --> 00:08:17,660 my own way. 166 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:19,900 I didn't want to have to commit myself 167 00:08:19,900 --> 00:08:22,660 to some other person or to some definite 168 00:08:22,660 --> 00:08:23,520 way of life. 169 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,080 I wanted to live it the way I 170 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:25,820 wanted to live it. 171 00:08:26,100 --> 00:08:29,660 So I wanted to retain uncertainty as far 172 00:08:29,660 --> 00:08:31,740 as some final authority in the universe is 173 00:08:31,740 --> 00:08:32,100 concerned. 174 00:08:32,580 --> 00:08:34,700 I was happy with the idea that we 175 00:08:34,700 --> 00:08:36,700 should all make our own standards, live by 176 00:08:36,700 --> 00:08:38,700 the golden rule, be as kind as we 177 00:08:38,700 --> 00:08:39,580 can to everybody. 178 00:08:39,980 --> 00:08:41,919 I was happy with that because that made 179 00:08:41,919 --> 00:08:44,280 me the God of my own life. 180 00:08:44,540 --> 00:08:46,100 And I could decide how kind I was 181 00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:47,900 to be or how unkind I was to 182 00:08:47,900 --> 00:08:48,160 be. 183 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:51,540 But I hated the idea of somebody who 184 00:08:51,540 --> 00:08:54,240 was clearly and obviously the son of the 185 00:08:54,240 --> 00:08:55,920 person who made my hands and my feet 186 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:57,920 and therefore the one who had the right 187 00:08:57,920 --> 00:08:59,460 to have authority over my life. 188 00:08:59,960 --> 00:09:01,700 So I tried to get rid of this 189 00:09:01,700 --> 00:09:02,200 certainty. 190 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:04,820 And I did it the way most of 191 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:05,320 us do. 192 00:09:05,800 --> 00:09:07,140 You know how we tackle it. 193 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:11,120 We say, OK, well, that's history, I see. 194 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,740 Well, yeah, yeah, but... 195 00:09:14,740 --> 00:09:17,040 But it needn't have happened that way, need 196 00:09:17,040 --> 00:09:17,220 it? 197 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:19,840 And then you know the way we go 198 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:21,020 on in our high school games. 199 00:09:21,020 --> 00:09:25,040 We say, now, I know the evidence suggests 200 00:09:25,040 --> 00:09:27,660 that it did happen that way, but it 201 00:09:27,660 --> 00:09:29,680 could have happened some other way, couldn't it? 202 00:09:30,680 --> 00:09:32,460 And then we scrounge around in the old 203 00:09:32,460 --> 00:09:36,200 wastebasket up here and we think, now what 204 00:09:36,200 --> 00:09:37,120 way could it have happened? 205 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,320 Jesus could have been a green leprechaun. 206 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:40,300 That's a possibility. 207 00:09:41,740 --> 00:09:43,460 It could have happened other ways. 208 00:09:44,100 --> 00:09:45,840 And that's the way we tackle it, don't 209 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:46,060 we? 210 00:09:46,300 --> 00:09:49,720 We say, now, maybe he wasn't resurrected from 211 00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:50,040 the dead. 212 00:09:50,040 --> 00:09:52,500 Maybe something else happened. 213 00:09:54,520 --> 00:09:56,560 And we get caught up in that kind 214 00:09:56,560 --> 00:09:57,860 of theorizing, don't we? 215 00:09:57,900 --> 00:10:00,320 And we say, now, it could have happened 216 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,080 some other way, so perhaps it didn't happen 217 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:03,580 that way. 218 00:10:04,540 --> 00:10:06,420 It's a ludicrous approach to history. 219 00:10:06,940 --> 00:10:08,040 It's absolutely ridiculous. 220 00:10:08,900 --> 00:10:11,240 But we get involved in it because we 221 00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,320 have a volitional, a will interest in disproving 222 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:15,600 this. 223 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:17,760 It would be mad if we were to 224 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:18,780 do it with ordinary history. 225 00:10:19,300 --> 00:10:20,620 I'll try one on you. 226 00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:23,500 You know how Carter got elected? 227 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:26,820 You think it happened the way they said 228 00:10:26,820 --> 00:10:27,260 it happened. 229 00:10:28,640 --> 00:10:31,680 But don't you think that he could have 230 00:10:31,680 --> 00:10:36,120 bribed every elector by promising three pounds of 231 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:37,200 peanuts for life? 232 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:40,940 And you know your reaction. 233 00:10:41,180 --> 00:10:42,760 You say, yeah, he could have done that, 234 00:10:42,820 --> 00:10:44,400 but there's no evidence to suggest that he 235 00:10:44,400 --> 00:10:44,680 did. 236 00:10:45,180 --> 00:10:46,960 I haven't eaten a peanut for weeks. 237 00:10:48,330 --> 00:10:50,950 In other words, our response to that is, 238 00:10:51,490 --> 00:10:52,910 look, that's just imagination. 239 00:10:53,370 --> 00:10:54,250 It's not true. 240 00:10:54,650 --> 00:10:56,990 There's no evidence to suggest that that happened. 241 00:10:57,330 --> 00:10:59,430 Yes, it could have happened that way, but 242 00:10:59,430 --> 00:11:01,290 there's no evidence to suggest it. 243 00:11:02,250 --> 00:11:04,750 But yet, that's what we do with this 244 00:11:04,750 --> 00:11:05,790 resurrection business. 245 00:11:06,390 --> 00:11:08,450 We tend to say, look, I know there's 246 00:11:08,450 --> 00:11:10,430 no evidence to suggest what I'm going to 247 00:11:10,430 --> 00:11:12,810 suggest to you, but it could have happened 248 00:11:12,810 --> 00:11:13,750 that way, couldn't it? 249 00:11:14,510 --> 00:11:16,690 And therefore, maybe it didn't happen the way 250 00:11:16,690 --> 00:11:17,870 it's supposed to have happened. 251 00:11:18,710 --> 00:11:19,770 And that's what we do. 252 00:11:20,750 --> 00:11:23,050 And I won't draw it out, because a 253 00:11:23,050 --> 00:11:24,770 lot of us just know the thing off 254 00:11:24,770 --> 00:11:26,770 by heart, but you know there are two 255 00:11:26,770 --> 00:11:29,150 great facts on which the resurrection stands. 256 00:11:29,570 --> 00:11:32,490 The empty tomb and the resurrection appearances. 257 00:11:32,830 --> 00:11:35,150 Those are the twin bases of the resurrection. 258 00:11:36,330 --> 00:11:38,450 And so, we tackle the fact of the 259 00:11:38,450 --> 00:11:39,030 empty tomb. 260 00:11:39,410 --> 00:11:42,610 And we start with our crazy little imaginations 261 00:11:42,610 --> 00:11:44,930 and we say, now it could have happened 262 00:11:44,930 --> 00:11:45,730 some other way. 263 00:11:48,320 --> 00:11:53,260 I know they went on that first day 264 00:11:53,260 --> 00:11:55,480 of the week to the wrong tomb. 265 00:11:56,720 --> 00:11:57,320 That's it. 266 00:11:59,630 --> 00:12:01,230 And we try that for a while and 267 00:12:01,230 --> 00:12:03,130 then realize it was a private cemetery and 268 00:12:03,130 --> 00:12:04,110 there was only one tomb. 269 00:12:04,550 --> 00:12:09,350 And anyway, if they had gone to the 270 00:12:09,350 --> 00:12:12,030 wrong tomb, the authorities could have come and 271 00:12:12,030 --> 00:12:12,890 gone to the right tomb. 272 00:12:13,230 --> 00:12:14,590 So, we try that. 273 00:12:15,610 --> 00:12:17,810 And then, you know, and it's almost, I 274 00:12:17,810 --> 00:12:19,370 mean, you have to call it high school, 275 00:12:19,470 --> 00:12:21,070 because it is almost high school. 276 00:12:21,410 --> 00:12:23,310 And yet, you know, loved ones, how often 277 00:12:23,310 --> 00:12:25,130 we've listened to this stuff and shared it 278 00:12:25,130 --> 00:12:25,550 ourselves. 279 00:12:27,070 --> 00:12:34,040 I know the Roman authorities or the Jewish 280 00:12:34,040 --> 00:12:36,560 authorities or anybody, we almost get to that 281 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:38,200 point, but the Roman authorities or the Jewish 282 00:12:38,200 --> 00:12:39,580 authorities stole the body. 283 00:12:42,690 --> 00:12:45,510 And then suddenly you begin to wonder, well, 284 00:12:45,530 --> 00:12:48,070 if they stole the body and they had 285 00:12:48,070 --> 00:12:50,910 the body and they were so anxious to 286 00:12:50,910 --> 00:12:55,050 destroy the Christian sect, why didn't they just 287 00:12:55,050 --> 00:12:58,490 bring the body out and parade it through 288 00:12:58,490 --> 00:13:01,390 the streets of Jerusalem and say, look, these 289 00:13:01,390 --> 00:13:02,970 people are saying this man rose from the 290 00:13:02,970 --> 00:13:03,250 dead. 291 00:13:03,550 --> 00:13:04,290 Here's his body. 292 00:13:05,010 --> 00:13:06,270 He didn't rise from the dead. 293 00:13:06,350 --> 00:13:07,070 Here's his body. 294 00:13:07,190 --> 00:13:08,010 You can see that. 295 00:13:09,940 --> 00:13:11,100 And that's true, isn't it? 296 00:13:11,640 --> 00:13:13,100 If they stole the body, whether it be 297 00:13:13,100 --> 00:13:14,660 the Romans or the Jews, all they had 298 00:13:14,660 --> 00:13:17,000 to do was produce the body and that 299 00:13:17,000 --> 00:13:18,580 was the Christian sect destroyed. 300 00:13:18,580 --> 00:13:20,520 They were exposed as liars. 301 00:13:23,350 --> 00:13:25,070 And then we say, well, maybe not. 302 00:13:25,210 --> 00:13:26,350 Maybe they didn't steal the body. 303 00:13:27,190 --> 00:13:29,570 I know the disciples stole the body. 304 00:13:30,270 --> 00:13:31,290 They stole the body. 305 00:13:31,710 --> 00:13:32,330 The disciples. 306 00:13:35,490 --> 00:13:37,590 And yet, loved ones, you know there's an 307 00:13:37,590 --> 00:13:39,790 ethical problem in that when you begin to 308 00:13:39,790 --> 00:13:40,610 think about it. 309 00:13:41,690 --> 00:13:46,590 Can you imagine having your children at home 310 00:13:48,590 --> 00:13:51,770 and knowing that this man, Jesus, didn't rise 311 00:13:51,770 --> 00:13:52,510 from the dead. 312 00:13:53,030 --> 00:13:54,730 Knowing that he's an ordinary man. 313 00:13:54,850 --> 00:13:56,270 He claimed to be the Son of God, 314 00:13:56,350 --> 00:13:57,690 but he's just an ordinary man. 315 00:13:58,890 --> 00:14:00,210 And he didn't rise from the dead at 316 00:14:00,210 --> 00:14:00,550 all. 317 00:14:00,930 --> 00:14:02,530 But you go and you steal the body 318 00:14:02,530 --> 00:14:03,710 and you hide it somewhere. 319 00:14:04,030 --> 00:14:05,490 And then you come out and you preach 320 00:14:05,490 --> 00:14:06,630 that he rose from the dead. 321 00:14:07,270 --> 00:14:11,410 And that's the very reason for the persecution 322 00:14:11,410 --> 00:14:13,310 that comes upon you. 323 00:14:14,070 --> 00:14:16,790 And yet, you keep on preaching this lie 324 00:14:16,790 --> 00:14:19,990 even when you end up going into a 325 00:14:19,990 --> 00:14:22,450 lion arena with your children by the hand. 326 00:14:23,470 --> 00:14:25,470 And even as you see one of those 327 00:14:25,470 --> 00:14:28,310 lions eating up one of your children, and 328 00:14:28,310 --> 00:14:30,490 you know that they're dying for a lie, 329 00:14:31,050 --> 00:14:33,530 and yet you still keep pretending that this 330 00:14:33,530 --> 00:14:34,470 man rose from the dead. 331 00:14:35,150 --> 00:14:38,650 No man, no woman, however insane they are, 332 00:14:39,030 --> 00:14:39,990 will go that far. 333 00:14:40,930 --> 00:14:43,770 They may die for something that they think 334 00:14:43,770 --> 00:14:46,690 is true, but they will not die for 335 00:14:46,690 --> 00:14:48,870 something that they know is not true. 336 00:14:49,690 --> 00:14:51,710 None of us will die for a lie. 337 00:14:52,670 --> 00:14:55,850 And yet, loved ones, these disciples and their 338 00:14:55,850 --> 00:14:59,810 followers and their friends died in thousands. 339 00:15:01,330 --> 00:15:05,170 The Roman emperor used them as torches, put 340 00:15:05,170 --> 00:15:07,150 tar over them and lit them and used 341 00:15:07,150 --> 00:15:09,630 them as torches in his garden parties. 342 00:15:10,470 --> 00:15:12,950 He tore through them by the thousands. 343 00:15:13,890 --> 00:15:17,090 And yet, these so-called Christians kept on 344 00:15:17,090 --> 00:15:20,210 claiming that this man really did rise from 345 00:15:20,210 --> 00:15:20,530 the dead. 346 00:15:20,610 --> 00:15:23,370 Loved ones, if they knew that was a 347 00:15:23,370 --> 00:15:26,710 lie, even if the first ones, the Peters 348 00:15:26,710 --> 00:15:28,550 and the Johns, knew it was a lie, 349 00:15:28,970 --> 00:15:30,370 they would not die for it. 350 00:15:30,690 --> 00:15:33,030 They'd have pulled off the hooks when it 351 00:15:33,030 --> 00:15:35,550 began to cost them their lives and the 352 00:15:35,550 --> 00:15:36,430 lives of their families. 353 00:15:38,940 --> 00:15:40,460 And then some of us try the other 354 00:15:40,460 --> 00:15:42,960 one, you know, well, do you really think 355 00:15:42,960 --> 00:15:44,440 that Jesus died? 356 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,500 Do you not think that he may be 357 00:15:46,500 --> 00:15:49,620 swooned or fainted from his wounds? 358 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:55,460 And, you know, it sounds plausible until you 359 00:15:55,460 --> 00:15:59,940 see and study the narratives of what he 360 00:15:59,940 --> 00:16:02,520 did immediately after his resurrection. 361 00:16:03,060 --> 00:16:05,220 And then it becomes ridiculous. 362 00:16:06,050 --> 00:16:09,060 Because you're forced to believe, first of all, 363 00:16:09,620 --> 00:16:12,640 that the Roman soldiers, who were experts in 364 00:16:12,640 --> 00:16:15,540 killing, did such a poor job that Jesus 365 00:16:15,540 --> 00:16:18,860 was still alive on the cross, that they 366 00:16:18,860 --> 00:16:21,240 thought he was dead and therefore did not 367 00:16:21,240 --> 00:16:22,200 break his legs. 368 00:16:22,740 --> 00:16:23,860 Because that's what happens. 369 00:16:24,420 --> 00:16:26,080 When they weren't sure a person was dead, 370 00:16:26,160 --> 00:16:27,180 they would break his legs. 371 00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:29,720 They didn't break Jesus' legs because they thrust 372 00:16:29,720 --> 00:16:31,480 a spear into his side and blood and 373 00:16:31,480 --> 00:16:33,660 water came out and they were absolutely sure 374 00:16:33,660 --> 00:16:34,220 he was dead. 375 00:16:34,520 --> 00:16:36,420 But you have to believe, first of all, 376 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:38,460 that they did such a poor job that 377 00:16:38,460 --> 00:16:40,540 he was still alive when he was taken 378 00:16:40,540 --> 00:16:43,720 from the cross and put into the tomb 379 00:16:43,720 --> 00:16:47,480 and bound tightly with those cloths that are 380 00:16:47,480 --> 00:16:49,540 talked about in that chapter that we read. 381 00:16:50,220 --> 00:16:52,060 And then that he lay there in the 382 00:16:52,060 --> 00:16:55,160 coldness of the tomb, bleeding all the time. 383 00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:00,000 And then that he recovered sufficiently to do 384 00:17:00,000 --> 00:17:02,940 really what is a Houdini, to get himself 385 00:17:02,940 --> 00:17:06,000 out of those bonds that were binding him 386 00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:09,599 so tightly, and then was strong enough, losing 387 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:12,200 all that blood all the time, strong enough 388 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:14,240 to get up and push the stone away 389 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:16,040 that it took two men to remove. 390 00:17:16,619 --> 00:17:19,680 And then that he appeared in the garden 391 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,480 and then disappeared immediately and travelled miles at 392 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:28,060 supersonic speed to get to another place, to 393 00:17:28,060 --> 00:17:31,180 appear in another room, to pass through walls 394 00:17:31,180 --> 00:17:34,000 and through locked doors and present himself alive 395 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,400 again and then over the next forty days 396 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:42,280 make fourteen different appearances in different geographical spots. 397 00:17:42,820 --> 00:17:45,780 Loved ones, he gave an impression of being 398 00:17:45,780 --> 00:17:47,620 more alive than he had ever been in 399 00:17:47,620 --> 00:17:48,500 his life before. 400 00:17:49,580 --> 00:17:52,460 It's incredible to believe that a man who 401 00:17:52,460 --> 00:17:57,400 was dying from his wounds could bring about 402 00:17:57,400 --> 00:17:59,240 that kind of physical transformation. 403 00:17:59,780 --> 00:18:01,580 And yet that's what you have to believe 404 00:18:01,580 --> 00:18:03,560 if you believe this wound theory. 405 00:18:03,740 --> 00:18:05,360 And it's the same, loved ones, with the 406 00:18:05,360 --> 00:18:06,780 old hallucinations, you know. 407 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:09,300 Because many of us have tried to tackle, 408 00:18:09,700 --> 00:18:11,280 alright, we can't deal with the empty tomb, 409 00:18:11,380 --> 00:18:14,040 you can't undermine that fact, we can undermine 410 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:15,920 the appearances, the resurrection appearances. 411 00:18:16,340 --> 00:18:18,860 He appeared on thirteen or fourteen different occasions. 412 00:18:19,500 --> 00:18:20,100 Hallucinations. 413 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:22,360 Hallucinations. 414 00:18:23,240 --> 00:18:26,360 But any psychologist here knows that the appearances 415 00:18:26,360 --> 00:18:29,140 don't fit any of the laws that govern 416 00:18:29,140 --> 00:18:29,880 hallucinations. 417 00:18:30,280 --> 00:18:32,700 There are definite psychological laws. 418 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,320 One is, a hallucination is usually subjective. 419 00:18:36,740 --> 00:18:39,560 It's usually something that you experience just yourself. 420 00:18:39,940 --> 00:18:41,660 It's you alone that sees it. 421 00:18:42,820 --> 00:18:46,160 Jesus appeared to seventy people in the upper 422 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:49,160 room, to above five hundred people at one 423 00:18:49,160 --> 00:18:49,560 time. 424 00:18:50,260 --> 00:18:52,680 He was seen constantly by groups of people. 425 00:18:55,330 --> 00:18:59,190 A hallucination has to be an individual thing. 426 00:18:59,610 --> 00:19:01,570 It has to be something that occurs to 427 00:19:01,570 --> 00:19:03,030 an individual, not to a group. 428 00:19:03,030 --> 00:19:05,670 A hallucination has to be something that you 429 00:19:05,670 --> 00:19:06,350 want to see. 430 00:19:06,990 --> 00:19:09,870 You know, it's a dear mother whose son 431 00:19:09,870 --> 00:19:13,150 has been killed in Vietnam, and she desperately 432 00:19:13,150 --> 00:19:14,630 wants him back. 433 00:19:14,690 --> 00:19:15,850 And she wants him back. 434 00:19:16,190 --> 00:19:17,870 And she sits there at the door of 435 00:19:17,870 --> 00:19:19,830 the kitchen, and she sees him coming through 436 00:19:19,830 --> 00:19:20,270 the door. 437 00:19:21,010 --> 00:19:22,570 Because she wants that. 438 00:19:23,630 --> 00:19:25,570 These disciples had given up hope. 439 00:19:26,350 --> 00:19:29,470 They said, we thought this man was the 440 00:19:29,470 --> 00:19:30,810 man who was to lead Israel. 441 00:19:30,810 --> 00:19:32,130 But he's now dead. 442 00:19:33,110 --> 00:19:35,810 Repeatedly you find them imprisoned in an upper 443 00:19:35,810 --> 00:19:38,810 room because they're scared and afraid, and they 444 00:19:38,810 --> 00:19:40,990 feel, no, he wasn't really the Son of 445 00:19:40,990 --> 00:19:41,290 God. 446 00:19:41,530 --> 00:19:42,870 He's finished and done with. 447 00:19:43,310 --> 00:19:45,270 They had given up any hope of seeing 448 00:19:45,270 --> 00:19:45,790 Jesus. 449 00:19:46,170 --> 00:19:47,750 So that when he appeared to them on 450 00:19:47,750 --> 00:19:49,330 the road to Emmaus, or appeared to Mary 451 00:19:49,330 --> 00:19:51,330 in the garden, they thought he was somebody 452 00:19:51,330 --> 00:19:51,770 else. 453 00:19:52,750 --> 00:19:54,370 They had given up hope that they'd see 454 00:19:54,370 --> 00:19:54,550 him. 455 00:19:55,330 --> 00:19:57,970 A hallucination has to appear over a long 456 00:19:57,970 --> 00:20:00,210 period of time, years and years and years. 457 00:20:00,690 --> 00:20:03,470 Here, Jesus appeared over a period of 40 458 00:20:03,470 --> 00:20:05,330 days, and then the appearance is stopped. 459 00:20:07,190 --> 00:20:09,830 The hallucinations usually take place with people that 460 00:20:09,830 --> 00:20:12,930 are nervous and imaginative, not people like Peter 461 00:20:12,930 --> 00:20:15,250 and the down-to-earth fishermen who were 462 00:20:15,250 --> 00:20:16,490 very practical men. 463 00:20:17,630 --> 00:20:20,570 Loved ones, I don't know if you tried 464 00:20:20,570 --> 00:20:23,950 those arguments out, but I tried them. 465 00:20:24,330 --> 00:20:27,610 And I tried somehow to persuade myself that 466 00:20:27,610 --> 00:20:31,290 this resurrection had not really taken place, and 467 00:20:31,290 --> 00:20:33,910 that this Jesus was no different from any 468 00:20:33,910 --> 00:20:34,970 other religious leader. 469 00:20:35,110 --> 00:20:38,310 But, loved ones, the more you try to 470 00:20:38,310 --> 00:20:42,350 offer arguments to explain the resurrection, the harder 471 00:20:42,350 --> 00:20:46,630 it gets to believe the arguments themselves, and 472 00:20:46,630 --> 00:20:49,270 the easier it becomes to believe the resurrection. 473 00:20:50,470 --> 00:20:52,090 But, of course, loved ones, the truth is 474 00:20:52,090 --> 00:20:55,430 that's a ridiculously unhistorical approach to take to 475 00:20:55,430 --> 00:20:55,790 history. 476 00:20:56,510 --> 00:21:00,890 You don't confirm history or disprove history by 477 00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:02,890 saying it couldn't have happened because I can 478 00:21:02,890 --> 00:21:04,510 think in my little head of some other 479 00:21:04,510 --> 00:21:05,650 way that it could have happened. 480 00:21:06,210 --> 00:21:08,670 You examine the evidence, and when you examine 481 00:21:08,670 --> 00:21:11,330 the evidence for the resurrection, it is beyond 482 00:21:11,330 --> 00:21:13,690 the evidence of any other historical event. 483 00:21:14,110 --> 00:21:17,690 Westcott said it's the best-attested fact in 484 00:21:17,690 --> 00:21:20,150 history, the resurrection of Jesus. 485 00:21:20,530 --> 00:21:21,610 And it is, loved ones. 486 00:21:22,090 --> 00:21:25,210 The witnesses are the most reliable witnesses that 487 00:21:25,210 --> 00:21:27,130 we have ever had to examine. 488 00:21:27,670 --> 00:21:29,610 They have made an impression of honesty and 489 00:21:29,610 --> 00:21:30,710 sanity in our world. 490 00:21:31,190 --> 00:21:34,990 Wherever you get true Christianity, you get an 491 00:21:34,990 --> 00:21:37,630 influence for health and sanity in our society 492 00:21:37,630 --> 00:21:39,630 that has come from the Peters and the 493 00:21:39,630 --> 00:21:42,970 Johns, and the Simon Peters, and the James. 494 00:21:44,310 --> 00:21:48,230 These men were the most reliable people that 495 00:21:48,230 --> 00:21:50,370 we have met in our history. 496 00:21:50,370 --> 00:21:53,370 They were people who died for what they 497 00:21:53,370 --> 00:21:54,410 witnessed to. 498 00:21:54,870 --> 00:21:55,770 And they witnessed to it. 499 00:21:55,830 --> 00:21:57,530 You remember, John said, what we have felt 500 00:21:57,530 --> 00:21:59,610 and seen, what we have touched with our 501 00:21:59,610 --> 00:22:00,130 hands. 502 00:22:00,430 --> 00:22:01,490 This is what we tell you. 503 00:22:01,730 --> 00:22:02,990 We have seen this man. 504 00:22:03,310 --> 00:22:05,490 We have walked with him and eaten with 505 00:22:05,490 --> 00:22:05,650 him. 506 00:22:05,990 --> 00:22:06,710 We know him. 507 00:22:06,830 --> 00:22:07,910 We have talked with him. 508 00:22:08,250 --> 00:22:09,790 We saw him healing the leper. 509 00:22:10,670 --> 00:22:12,050 And if you doubt, you know, if you 510 00:22:12,050 --> 00:22:13,770 wonder, well, can you prove that they were 511 00:22:13,770 --> 00:22:14,430 eyewitnesses? 512 00:22:14,430 --> 00:22:14,730 Sure. 513 00:22:15,230 --> 00:22:16,950 The literature of the first century is filled 514 00:22:16,950 --> 00:22:17,790 with their letters. 515 00:22:18,170 --> 00:22:19,970 Letters from this man to this group. 516 00:22:20,370 --> 00:22:21,690 From this group to this group. 517 00:22:22,130 --> 00:22:24,710 Even the Roman historians, even people like Tacitus 518 00:22:24,710 --> 00:22:28,390 and Suetonius, even critical historians like Pliny and 519 00:22:28,390 --> 00:22:31,770 Celsus and Porphyry, refer to these men as 520 00:22:31,770 --> 00:22:33,590 being alive at this time, and to this 521 00:22:33,590 --> 00:22:36,150 man, Jesus, being alive and being crucified at 522 00:22:36,150 --> 00:22:36,670 that time. 523 00:22:37,490 --> 00:22:39,890 And so, not only are they reliable eyewitnesses, 524 00:22:40,130 --> 00:22:44,150 but their eyewitness account is corroborated by the 525 00:22:44,150 --> 00:22:46,050 contemporary historians of their time. 526 00:22:46,050 --> 00:22:49,150 Not only that, of course, but they wrote 527 00:22:49,150 --> 00:22:51,890 the account at a time when other people 528 00:22:51,890 --> 00:22:53,710 were alive who had seen these events. 529 00:22:54,790 --> 00:22:58,010 I don't know if you've examined carefully Islam 530 00:22:58,010 --> 00:23:01,290 or Buddhism, but you'll find that all the 531 00:23:01,290 --> 00:23:05,650 other religions are built on so-called facts 532 00:23:05,650 --> 00:23:08,510 that were only recognized two or three hundred 533 00:23:08,510 --> 00:23:10,910 or four hundred years after the person actually 534 00:23:10,910 --> 00:23:11,330 lived. 535 00:23:11,730 --> 00:23:14,110 So they discovered all kinds of miracles a 536 00:23:14,110 --> 00:23:17,750 hundred years after Muhammad lived, after Buddha lived. 537 00:23:18,170 --> 00:23:20,290 And most of the other religions are built 538 00:23:20,290 --> 00:23:22,590 on that kind of legend that is built 539 00:23:22,590 --> 00:23:24,990 up years after the events took place. 540 00:23:26,530 --> 00:23:30,790 These men wrote about Jesus' resurrection as early 541 00:23:30,790 --> 00:23:33,210 as 48 A.D. That's the book of 542 00:23:33,210 --> 00:23:33,790 Galatians. 543 00:23:34,290 --> 00:23:37,450 It was circulating around the ancient world in 544 00:23:37,450 --> 00:23:40,210 the year 48 A.D. Now, do you 545 00:23:40,210 --> 00:23:41,130 see what that means? 546 00:23:41,670 --> 00:23:44,630 If you had a 30-year-old alive 547 00:23:44,630 --> 00:23:47,410 in 30 A.D. who had observed the 548 00:23:47,410 --> 00:23:50,710 resurrection, that 30-year-old was only 48 549 00:23:50,710 --> 00:23:53,910 when the letter to the Galatians was circulating. 550 00:23:54,290 --> 00:23:56,350 All they had to do was say, I 551 00:23:56,350 --> 00:23:56,910 saw it. 552 00:23:57,250 --> 00:23:58,570 It did not happen that way. 553 00:23:59,950 --> 00:24:03,010 There were thousands of people who were still 554 00:24:03,010 --> 00:24:06,250 alive when the New Testament was circulating, and 555 00:24:06,250 --> 00:24:07,610 all they had to do was say, no, 556 00:24:07,690 --> 00:24:08,850 it didn't happen that way. 557 00:24:09,530 --> 00:24:12,390 That man really died and he never rose 558 00:24:12,390 --> 00:24:13,050 from the dead. 559 00:24:14,110 --> 00:24:16,290 Loved ones, whenever you begin to examine the 560 00:24:16,290 --> 00:24:18,930 history of the resurrection, you come up against 561 00:24:18,930 --> 00:24:20,950 history that is better than anything else we 562 00:24:20,950 --> 00:24:21,290 have. 563 00:24:22,390 --> 00:24:24,290 Even if you tackle it along the line 564 00:24:24,290 --> 00:24:26,970 of, well, who knows if this is what 565 00:24:26,970 --> 00:24:27,810 they really wrote. 566 00:24:27,890 --> 00:24:30,490 After all, it was 1900 years ago. 567 00:24:30,610 --> 00:24:32,070 Maybe it's all been changed. 568 00:24:32,630 --> 00:24:34,610 Loved ones, you know that what you depend 569 00:24:34,610 --> 00:24:37,410 on is the manuscripts, the manuscripts, you know. 570 00:24:38,570 --> 00:24:41,490 And all Caesar's Gallic Wars, written in 50 571 00:24:41,490 --> 00:24:44,350 B.C., ten manuscripts we have. 572 00:24:44,870 --> 00:24:46,590 Some boy could have gone around and changed 573 00:24:46,590 --> 00:24:47,490 the ten manuscripts. 574 00:24:47,830 --> 00:24:48,010 Really. 575 00:24:48,550 --> 00:24:51,310 We don't really know what Caesar wrote, what 576 00:24:51,310 --> 00:24:52,210 we say he wrote. 577 00:24:52,610 --> 00:24:54,630 There were only ten manuscripts, and those are 578 00:24:54,630 --> 00:24:54,970 ancient. 579 00:24:55,430 --> 00:24:56,910 It was written in 50 B.C. The 580 00:24:56,910 --> 00:24:59,310 earliest one is 900 A.D. Some fella 581 00:24:59,310 --> 00:25:01,110 could have rewritten the thing five or six 582 00:25:01,110 --> 00:25:02,030 or seven times. 583 00:25:02,950 --> 00:25:05,190 In the New Testament, there are 4,000 584 00:25:05,190 --> 00:25:07,770 Greek manuscripts behind the New Testament. 585 00:25:08,570 --> 00:25:12,170 The earliest one is 130 A.D. 130 586 00:25:12,170 --> 00:25:14,910 A.D., there's a manuscript in the Manchester 587 00:25:14,910 --> 00:25:18,350 Museum of part of John's Gospel. 588 00:25:19,230 --> 00:25:21,430 Do you see how impossible it would be 589 00:25:21,430 --> 00:25:26,610 for some happy little forger to tour around 590 00:25:26,610 --> 00:25:29,790 all the caves of Qumran and all the 591 00:25:29,790 --> 00:25:30,570 deserts? 592 00:25:30,790 --> 00:25:32,210 And not only that, but he'd have to 593 00:25:32,210 --> 00:25:33,530 do it over a period of 1,000 594 00:25:33,530 --> 00:25:36,290 years, because these 4,000 manuscripts are dated 595 00:25:36,290 --> 00:25:39,070 from 130 to 1,000 A.D. He'd 596 00:25:39,070 --> 00:25:40,350 have to have a whole family. 597 00:25:40,530 --> 00:25:42,390 He'd have to get his sons to promise 598 00:25:42,390 --> 00:25:44,890 to get their sons to send their sons 599 00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:46,810 around and change all the manuscripts. 600 00:25:47,190 --> 00:25:47,990 It's impossible. 601 00:25:48,350 --> 00:25:49,250 You couldn't do it. 602 00:25:49,830 --> 00:25:51,910 Loved ones, really, when you deal with the 603 00:25:51,910 --> 00:25:54,850 resurrection, it's the best attested fact in history, 604 00:25:55,050 --> 00:25:57,790 and that's why I say to you, this 605 00:25:57,790 --> 00:26:00,470 is the most certain day in the whole 606 00:26:00,470 --> 00:26:01,430 world's life. 607 00:26:02,170 --> 00:26:05,870 And this man, Jesus, is really the son 608 00:26:05,870 --> 00:26:06,630 of your Maker. 609 00:26:07,050 --> 00:26:07,870 He really is. 610 00:26:08,470 --> 00:26:10,990 He's the son of your Maker, and if 611 00:26:10,990 --> 00:26:13,830 you try to get around it, you're just 612 00:26:13,830 --> 00:26:15,510 rejecting reality. 613 00:26:16,210 --> 00:26:19,530 And God, your God, on the final day, 614 00:26:20,030 --> 00:26:21,630 will say, No, no. 615 00:26:22,150 --> 00:26:24,150 Don't come that story with me that you 616 00:26:24,150 --> 00:26:25,070 hadn't enough evidence. 617 00:26:25,490 --> 00:26:27,870 Don't come that story with me that there 618 00:26:27,870 --> 00:26:30,110 were so many religious leaders and so many 619 00:26:30,110 --> 00:26:32,190 great religions that you couldn't tell which was 620 00:26:32,190 --> 00:26:32,490 true. 621 00:26:33,090 --> 00:26:36,890 My son's death and resurrection was clearly different 622 00:26:36,890 --> 00:26:38,250 from all of the others. 623 00:26:38,730 --> 00:26:41,010 And my son was obviously my son. 624 00:26:41,390 --> 00:26:43,050 And don't tell me that I didn't give 625 00:26:43,050 --> 00:26:43,950 you enough evidence. 626 00:26:44,250 --> 00:26:47,050 I give you black and white evidence scattered 627 00:26:47,050 --> 00:26:48,110 throughout the world. 628 00:26:48,610 --> 00:26:51,070 I give you a living church that has 629 00:26:51,070 --> 00:26:53,910 never failed to celebrate his last supper one 630 00:26:53,910 --> 00:26:56,610 evening since it was first celebrated by him. 631 00:26:56,610 --> 00:26:59,190 Don't come and tell me that I didn't 632 00:26:59,190 --> 00:27:01,310 give you any certainty or any information. 633 00:27:01,790 --> 00:27:04,990 Loved ones, truly, I'm thinking of those of 634 00:27:04,990 --> 00:27:07,370 you who are sitting here today and saying, 635 00:27:08,090 --> 00:27:10,550 Well, it's good, but it's not good enough. 636 00:27:11,110 --> 00:27:14,970 Loved ones, honestly, your God, your God will 637 00:27:14,970 --> 00:27:16,150 call your bluff. 638 00:27:16,490 --> 00:27:18,530 He will, on the final day. 639 00:27:19,110 --> 00:27:22,410 He will say, Look, you just didn't want 640 00:27:22,410 --> 00:27:24,110 to commit yourself to my son. 641 00:27:24,110 --> 00:27:25,290 That was it. 642 00:27:25,870 --> 00:27:27,950 You just wanted to be your own God 643 00:27:27,950 --> 00:27:28,970 in your own life. 644 00:27:31,960 --> 00:27:34,800 Some of you may say, Well, you mean 645 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:36,500 that Jesus is alive today? 646 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:37,940 Loved ones, of course He is. 647 00:27:39,900 --> 00:27:42,540 If He destroyed death once, He can destroy 648 00:27:42,540 --> 00:27:43,380 it all the time. 649 00:27:44,100 --> 00:27:44,840 Sure, He's alive. 650 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:47,920 He's alive here in this room. 651 00:27:48,520 --> 00:27:49,840 In this room, He's alive. 652 00:27:51,260 --> 00:27:53,900 And if you say to me, Well, how 653 00:27:53,900 --> 00:27:55,840 do you know and I don't know? 654 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,220 Loved ones, it's really very simple, the answer 655 00:28:00,220 --> 00:28:00,680 to that. 656 00:28:02,140 --> 00:28:05,900 How Jesus makes himself real to you. 657 00:28:07,980 --> 00:28:10,520 Judas, not Iscariot, but Judas, one of the 658 00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:12,120 other disciples, said that to Jesus. 659 00:28:12,720 --> 00:28:15,760 Lord, how is it that you'll manifest yourself 660 00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:18,780 to us and not to the rest of 661 00:28:18,780 --> 00:28:19,160 the world? 662 00:28:20,420 --> 00:28:21,820 You might like to look at the answer, 663 00:28:21,940 --> 00:28:22,240 loved ones. 664 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:28,920 It's John and chapter 14 and verse 22. 665 00:28:30,040 --> 00:28:33,000 John 14 and verse 22. 666 00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:36,780 It's page 939. 667 00:28:38,020 --> 00:28:39,640 John 14 and 22. 668 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:46,400 John 14 and verse 22. 669 00:28:47,500 --> 00:28:53,080 Judas, not Iscariot, said to Him, Lord, how 670 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,200 is it that you will manifest yourself to 671 00:28:55,200 --> 00:28:56,700 us and not to the world? 672 00:28:58,640 --> 00:29:02,280 Jesus answered him, If a man loves me, 673 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:06,480 he will keep my word, and my father 674 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,100 will love him, and we will come to 675 00:29:09,100 --> 00:29:11,540 him and make our home with him. 676 00:29:12,900 --> 00:29:15,440 He who does not love me does not 677 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:17,940 keep my words, and the word which you 678 00:29:17,940 --> 00:29:20,480 hear is not mine, but the Father's who 679 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:20,960 sent me. 680 00:29:23,060 --> 00:29:25,540 I think some of you who even claim 681 00:29:25,540 --> 00:29:31,080 to be Christians do not sense the reality 682 00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,140 of Jesus alive in your own spirits and 683 00:29:35,140 --> 00:29:36,000 your own hearts. 684 00:29:37,080 --> 00:29:39,220 And I think many of you wonder, why 685 00:29:39,220 --> 00:29:40,000 is that so? 686 00:29:40,340 --> 00:29:42,660 How is it that Jesus is not making 687 00:29:42,660 --> 00:29:43,980 himself real to me? 688 00:29:44,460 --> 00:29:46,140 And I think a lot of us, loved 689 00:29:46,140 --> 00:29:49,160 ones, get caught up in little techniques. 690 00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:52,380 Well, if you say the Lord's Prayer holding 691 00:29:52,380 --> 00:29:55,700 your mouth this way, Jesus will show himself 692 00:29:55,700 --> 00:29:56,260 to you. 693 00:29:56,940 --> 00:29:59,360 Or if you speak in tongues, Jesus will 694 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:00,220 show himself to you. 695 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:03,460 Or if you have some shattering emotional experience, 696 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:04,620 he'll show himself to you. 697 00:30:04,780 --> 00:30:07,880 Or if you're imaginative and kind of a 698 00:30:07,880 --> 00:30:11,940 liberal arts enthusiast and very emotional, Jesus will 699 00:30:11,940 --> 00:30:12,860 show himself to you. 700 00:30:13,220 --> 00:30:15,540 Loved ones, it's so good that Jesus gave 701 00:30:15,540 --> 00:30:16,460 such a clear answer. 702 00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:19,960 If a man loves me, he will keep 703 00:30:19,960 --> 00:30:22,440 my words, and my father will love him, 704 00:30:22,900 --> 00:30:24,320 and we will make our home in his 705 00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:24,600 heart. 706 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:26,240 That's it. 707 00:30:27,500 --> 00:30:30,560 If you would clean up your life, God 708 00:30:30,560 --> 00:30:33,120 by his Spirit will make his Son real 709 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:33,720 to you. 710 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:34,640 That's it. 711 00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:38,420 If you say you love Jesus because he 712 00:30:38,420 --> 00:30:40,360 died for you, and because he is the 713 00:30:40,360 --> 00:30:43,180 Son of your Maker, then you'll keep his 714 00:30:43,180 --> 00:30:43,560 words. 715 00:30:44,060 --> 00:30:45,100 That's what Jesus says. 716 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:47,920 If you love me, don't talk a lot 717 00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:50,240 about it, don't express it, don't keep saying 718 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:51,920 praise the Lord and Amen and Hallelujah. 719 00:30:52,380 --> 00:30:54,920 If you love me, you'll keep my words. 720 00:30:55,940 --> 00:30:58,280 You'll be honest with your income tax results. 721 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:02,440 You won't be angry with your brother, because 722 00:31:02,440 --> 00:31:04,760 whosoever is angry with his brother is guilty 723 00:31:04,760 --> 00:31:05,260 of the judgment. 724 00:31:06,540 --> 00:31:08,420 You will not look unto a woman to 725 00:31:08,420 --> 00:31:10,380 lust after her in your heart, because I 726 00:31:10,380 --> 00:31:12,740 say to you that they said of old 727 00:31:12,740 --> 00:31:15,700 that whoever commits adultery is guilty of the 728 00:31:15,700 --> 00:31:15,920 judgment. 729 00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:17,460 But I say to you if you look 730 00:31:17,460 --> 00:31:19,340 unto a woman to lust after her in 731 00:31:19,340 --> 00:31:20,960 your heart, you're guilty of the judgment. 732 00:31:21,820 --> 00:31:24,060 In other words, you'll obey Jesus' words. 733 00:31:25,910 --> 00:31:27,450 You know that's the final proof. 734 00:31:28,690 --> 00:31:29,230 You know it. 735 00:31:29,410 --> 00:31:31,870 You brothers who are down-to-earth practical 736 00:31:31,870 --> 00:31:34,930 men, and you sisters who are subtle and 737 00:31:34,930 --> 00:31:35,310 shrewd. 738 00:31:36,010 --> 00:31:38,530 If I say that I am the Son 739 00:31:38,530 --> 00:31:41,110 of your Maker, the creator of the world, 740 00:31:41,730 --> 00:31:44,030 you know you'll have one re-attitude to 741 00:31:44,030 --> 00:31:44,270 me. 742 00:31:45,550 --> 00:31:47,330 If only to get in good with the 743 00:31:47,330 --> 00:31:47,970 one in authority. 744 00:31:48,510 --> 00:31:52,190 You'll say, what does your Father want me 745 00:31:52,190 --> 00:31:53,350 to do with my life? 746 00:31:54,170 --> 00:31:55,870 How do you want me to live? 747 00:31:56,550 --> 00:31:58,350 What am I doing that you don't like? 748 00:31:59,090 --> 00:32:00,110 Loved ones, that's it. 749 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:04,280 Jesus said if a man loves me, he 750 00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:06,480 will keep my words, and my Father will 751 00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:08,920 come to him and make my home in 752 00:32:08,920 --> 00:32:09,420 his heart. 753 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,380 It's not a spooky spiritual experience. 754 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,740 It's not some thrilling, exciting high that you 755 00:32:16,740 --> 00:32:17,680 bring on with drugs. 756 00:32:18,120 --> 00:32:21,120 It's not some emotional kind of trip. 757 00:32:21,780 --> 00:32:23,060 It's a down-to-earth thing. 758 00:32:23,800 --> 00:32:25,700 If you believe that Jesus is the creator 759 00:32:25,700 --> 00:32:28,480 of the world, make your life what He 760 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:29,400 says it should be. 761 00:32:30,020 --> 00:32:30,960 Clean your life up. 762 00:32:31,260 --> 00:32:32,040 Stop sinning. 763 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:33,100 Obey Him. 764 00:32:33,940 --> 00:32:35,160 And if you say to me, oh now 765 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,120 listen, will that do it? 766 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:37,800 That'll do it. 767 00:32:38,620 --> 00:32:42,100 There'll be a strange new spirit will come 768 00:32:42,100 --> 00:32:44,800 into your life and you'll begin to feel 769 00:32:44,800 --> 00:32:47,640 at one with your creator and you'll begin 770 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,440 to feel that Jesus is real to you. 771 00:32:50,660 --> 00:32:51,440 That's it, loved ones. 772 00:32:51,540 --> 00:32:51,920 That's it. 773 00:32:52,480 --> 00:32:53,960 That's to those of us who aren't Christians 774 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:55,340 here and to those of us who are 775 00:32:55,340 --> 00:32:56,900 Christians and have lost the sense of Jesus' 776 00:32:57,060 --> 00:32:57,340 presence. 777 00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:59,060 Loved ones, it's the same story. 778 00:32:59,700 --> 00:33:01,220 Lord, how is it that you will manifest 779 00:33:01,220 --> 00:33:02,660 yourself to us and not to the rest 780 00:33:02,660 --> 00:33:03,100 of the world? 781 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:05,180 If a man loves me, he will keep 782 00:33:05,180 --> 00:33:07,380 my words, and my Father will love him, 783 00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:09,180 and we will make our home in his 784 00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:09,500 heart. 785 00:33:09,900 --> 00:33:10,460 That's it. 786 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:13,200 So it's so beautiful. 787 00:33:13,700 --> 00:33:14,660 It's so simple. 788 00:33:15,460 --> 00:33:17,300 And that will work, loved ones. 789 00:33:17,500 --> 00:33:18,260 It truly will. 790 00:33:21,060 --> 00:33:23,860 So could we just, in a few minutes 791 00:33:23,860 --> 00:33:28,260 now, would you examine any place in your 792 00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:31,740 life where you're not obeying what Jesus said? 793 00:33:32,920 --> 00:33:36,960 That's what's keeping Him making Himself real to 794 00:33:36,960 --> 00:33:37,240 you. 795 00:33:43,900 --> 00:33:47,220 Dear Father, we would pray now for each 796 00:33:47,220 --> 00:33:50,380 other, for judgment day honesty. 797 00:33:51,940 --> 00:33:58,420 Lord Jesus, it does seem plain from simple 798 00:33:58,420 --> 00:34:02,620 intellectual examination of the facts of history that 799 00:34:02,620 --> 00:34:05,860 you are alive and that you are actually 800 00:34:05,860 --> 00:34:07,080 the Son of our Maker. 801 00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:12,440 Lord Jesus, many of us have no awareness 802 00:34:12,440 --> 00:34:15,620 of you, no sense of your reality, and 803 00:34:15,620 --> 00:34:18,760 so we're missing a whole world that is 804 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:21,020 obviously there that we can't touch at all. 805 00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:23,219 Lord, we want to touch that. 806 00:34:24,620 --> 00:34:27,960 So will you show us where we're not 807 00:34:27,960 --> 00:34:29,639 keeping your words in our life? 808 00:34:33,010 --> 00:34:35,050 Will you show us, Lord, where we're all 809 00:34:35,050 --> 00:34:38,570 talk about loving you but no action? 810 00:34:42,179 --> 00:34:46,320 Lord, if we've reneged on our finances in 811 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:49,840 some way, by that old half-honesty in 812 00:34:49,840 --> 00:34:53,860 business that shows that we're just trusting ourselves 813 00:34:54,699 --> 00:34:58,040 to manipulate our way through, Lord, will you 814 00:34:58,040 --> 00:34:59,240 convict us now of that? 815 00:35:00,840 --> 00:35:03,520 And Lord, we'll put that right, even if 816 00:35:03,520 --> 00:35:05,620 it means sending in a new report, Lord. 817 00:35:05,920 --> 00:35:06,940 We'll put that right. 818 00:35:07,660 --> 00:35:09,300 If it means giving some money back to 819 00:35:09,300 --> 00:35:11,380 somebody, we'll put that right, Lord. 820 00:35:12,640 --> 00:35:16,600 We never saw before that your presence depends 821 00:35:16,600 --> 00:35:17,420 on our obedience. 822 00:35:17,600 --> 00:35:18,980 Lord, we always thought it was something to 823 00:35:18,980 --> 00:35:20,700 do with our imaginations, our emotions. 824 00:35:21,740 --> 00:35:23,600 But Lord, we'll put those things right. 825 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:26,940 Lord, if we're indulging in something that we've 826 00:35:26,940 --> 00:35:30,640 known for years is wrong, we'll stop that 827 00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:30,980 now. 828 00:35:31,620 --> 00:35:34,100 We're tired of the unreality and the hypocrisy 829 00:35:34,100 --> 00:35:34,800 in our lives. 830 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:39,240 And Lord, we commit ourselves to putting these 831 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:43,220 things right now because this is such a 832 00:35:43,220 --> 00:35:47,960 clear day that we can see forever, right 833 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:51,920 down to our life's end, to looking into 834 00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:57,300 your eyes and confronting you with the broken 835 00:35:57,300 --> 00:36:01,160 bits of our lives in our hands and 836 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:02,340 trying to make excuses. 837 00:36:04,590 --> 00:36:06,390 Lord, that's too clear a view. 838 00:36:08,050 --> 00:36:10,130 We're going to act on the clear view 839 00:36:10,130 --> 00:36:13,840 that we have, and we're going to put 840 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:15,360 things right this very moment. 841 00:36:18,900 --> 00:36:21,220 Lord, will you take care of manifesting yourself 842 00:36:21,220 --> 00:36:21,780 to us? 843 00:36:23,180 --> 00:36:25,320 We're not going to be all preoccupied with 844 00:36:25,320 --> 00:36:26,300 trying to feel you. 845 00:36:27,100 --> 00:36:29,020 Lord, you said you'd take care of that. 846 00:36:29,860 --> 00:36:31,760 Your Father would make his home in our 847 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:34,080 hearts if we keep your words. 848 00:36:35,000 --> 00:36:39,440 So we commit ourselves to that now for 849 00:36:39,440 --> 00:36:39,980 your glory. 850 00:36:43,140 --> 00:36:44,700 And thank you, Lord, that this can be 851 00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:48,060 the most beautiful Easter Sunday that we have 852 00:36:48,060 --> 00:36:50,000 ever had in our whole lives, so great 853 00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,240 that at last throughout every day and every 854 00:36:53,240 --> 00:36:57,080 night of our lives to that final morning 855 00:36:57,960 --> 00:37:01,220 when the breath goes from us and we 856 00:37:01,220 --> 00:37:04,940 meet you, the Lord of eternal morning and 857 00:37:04,940 --> 00:37:06,240 are welcomed into your home. 858 00:37:10,740 --> 00:37:14,600 Now the grace of our Lord Jesus and 859 00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:18,060 the love of God and the fellowship of 860 00:37:18,060 --> 00:37:21,720 the Holy Spirit be with each one of 861 00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:25,520 us now and until we see Jesus face 862 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:26,200 to face. 863 00:37:27,600 --> 00:37:28,420 Amen.