Resurrection Sunday Pastor Cody Harlow Luke 24:36-47

Luke chapter 24. We were in there this morning with my community group I love my community group it's one of the best hours of my week being with those Saints I invite you to stand as we read verses 36 through 47. Luke 24 verses 36-47 God's word says this as they were talking about these things Jesus himself stood among them and said to them peace to you but they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit and he said to them why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your heart see my hands and my feet that it is I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have Flesh and Bones as you see that I have and when he said this he showed them his hands and his feet and while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling

He said to them have you anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it ate before them then he said to them these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and said to them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer on and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the Forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to All Nations beginning from Jerusalem pray and so Lord we do thank you for this testimony of Scripture that's so clear Lord in this passage it says that the people that saw Christ disbelieved for joy and I pray that you would do such a mighty work in our own hearts that we would disbelieve for joy that we couldn't believe what was happening in front of us Lord for people that we've been praying for months years Lord we pray that they would be born again by the power of your spirit and that they would hear this resurrection message and that today they would be transferred from Darkness to light from Death to light that we would behold your glory and see you work in a mighty way Lord I have nothing good to say except Christ and him crucified and raised and I pray that if there's anything that people take out of us that would be it Lord make us small make a small on your sight because we are that you would condescend to love us and care for us God thank you for that in Jesus name amen

Well our passage says as they were talking about these things so what things is Luke writing about here well it's the events of the day and that's exactly what we do around our dinner tables that night isn't it how was your day it's good how and we rehash the events of the day especially if it's been a busy day or something crazy happened at school or work and you just can't wait to tell your spouse or your family about it your friends and so they're they're rehashing the events of the day in order to process it and the disciples they are gathered together except for Thomas and the disciples they are together and they are full of fear John chapter John chapter 20 verse 19 it says on the evening of that day this is a parallel verse on the evening of that day the first day of the week that's Sunday Sunday's the first day of the week the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews Jesus came and stood among them and said to them peace be with you so the first exchange that takes place we're talking about Forex changes that Christ made in his resurrection the first exchange that takes place is peace for our fears peace for our fears I think it's important to note that the room is locked in Christ he does not bust the door down he doesn't crawl in through a window he is very God a very God and he enters wherever he will however he wills and he just pops onto the scene and it's shocking to the disciples and it's perplexing to them listen to me you cannot block Jesus out he is the Lord of everything and he is the Lord of you he made you he made everything that you have there is not one thing that you earned by the sweat of your brow that is not

Christ's because even the sweat of your brow is Christ's The Works of your hands are Christ's and so he enters into this place and he enters for their good and when Christ enters your heart when Christ comes in he enters for your good as well when Christ enters the places that we've blocked him from one thing that he brings to that situation or to that struggle or to that sin is he brings peace when there is none and if you're Faith fearful today I want you to know that you can have the peace of God by knowing Christ not just by knowing Christ in your head but knowing him in your heart so what do you turn to when life gets scary when a child is sick or a marriage is struggling where do you go a lot of people naturally they become bargainers with God at that moment right hey God I will do this if you would just do this and we've all been there right I'm preaching to myself and so we make deals we make promises to God that feeds somehow works out this situation that is uncomfortable then you know what I'm going to go to church better I'm going to be a better spouse I'm going to be a better father I'm going to be a better better mother and yet it is only by coming to God in Christ that we can have peace with God we can't do it by making by having bargaining chips with him that's that's works so it's only then when you bring God into the situation when you surrender yourself to him and you do business with the Lord and you say God I'm at my Wit's End and I have nothing else to do but to claim Christ it is only then that fear will dispel

In the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will come into your life but even after Christ pronounced peace what does the disciples reaction there they're still they're still fearful look at what it says it says but they were startled and frightened and thought that they saw a spirit so there they are they see the Lord and they weren't convinced it was him even though they had heard the resurrection rumors even though some of his disciples who were women had said I saw Jesus I touched Jesus I worshiped at the feet of Jesus they're going I don't know seems a little far-fetched this and so they think well this is a spirit this is some kind of a so they weren't convinced it was him and this isn't the first time that the disciples have arrived at this conclusion either when Jesus was still alive among them before his crucifixion here's what it says in Matthew chapter 14. Verses 25-26 and in the Fourth Watch of the night Jesus he came to them walking on the sea but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said it is a ghost and they cried out in fear you see Jesus he knows your fears he knows your struggles he knows your doubts and he is always gracious to provide the second exchange that we see here in the passage which is proof for our doubts see the Risen Christ is standing in front of them and they arrive at the wrong conclusion it is a spirit and in spite of all they knew in spite of all the things they had heard and now what they see they still arrive at the wrong conclusion and so Christ he invites them he doesn't say can't you tell that it's me I'm literally standing right here in front of you come on get on board you idiots right you know Jesus is gentle and he says and he invites them come and

Examine me come and touch come and see how gracious is it that in spite of all of the things that Christ had done going to Mount Calvary and paying the sin punishment that we deserved and he said to tell us die it is finished in spite of all that he doesn't say come on guys I just finished all this work for you get on board he says examine me come and touch come and see and he says that to you and I as well because Jesus he addresses all of our doubts openly he doesn't allow us to just discover doubt and leave us to it he meets Us in the midst of it and he invites us to know him better and he addresses your doubts too he stands up to heavy examination and scrutiny oftentimes there are men and women that seek to disprove Christ and when they arrive to the end of their conclusion whether they're cold case detectives or lawyers or whatever they many times become faithful believers and Proclaimers of the Gospel and so how did Christ provide proof for his disciples firstly it was through seeing Jesus it was through sight he says see my hands and my feet that is I myself he invites those critics and those with us with weak Faith to examine his nails scarred hands he invites you to consider what do those scars on his hands mean you know you got to ask that question why didn't Jesus I mean he receives his resurrected Body by his own power he took up his life again and he could have very easily filled in those holes in his hands and in his feet and in his side but he doesn't so why didn't he do that I mean surely it's easier to heal yourself than it is to come back from the dead yourself see it's at the Cross of Christ that we

See God's love displayed we know it's not lovely to look at and yet it is love in the greatest form in Christ he would not take away the marks of his crowning Act of love because it's by his wounds that we are healed but there is another reason that Christ kept his wounds is because he is coming to judge the Earth again every time someone rejects the Gospel message the judgment is what the Pharisees said may his blood be on us and on our children when we when the Lost stand before the great white Throne of judgment they will look at Christ who is pierced they will look at his hands they will look at his feet they will behold his side and they will weep because the mercy that he had offered to them on Earth will no longer be available and that the full penalty for sin will remain upon them for all of eternity the second proof that Christ offers is touching Jesus look at the verses for a spirit does not have Flesh and Bones as you see that I when he said this he showed them his hands and his feet eight days later in John chapter 20 verse 27 here's what it says then he said to Thomas Thomas he gets a bad rap right put your finger here I don't want to put my finger there and see my hands put out your hand and place it in my side do not disbelieve but believe God has revealed everything necessary for you to believe but the fact is that many people don't want to they want their sin they want their lifestyle or identity they want Jesus the Savior without the kingship of Christ and yet Jesus he still beckons you to come he invites you to examine his hands he invites you to check out the holes in his feet and the wound in his side

And he invites you to touch and put him under scrutiny because he's strong enough to endure it thirdly third proof is Jesus eating now among the Jews it was a belief that angels and spirits that they couldn't or wouldn't eat human food because it's physical and they considered all things that were of the earth to be bad but I want you to look at the passage and while they still disbelief for joy and we're marveling he said to them have you anything here to eat they gave him a piece of broadfish he took it and ate before them listen this is definite proof that Christ didn't just come back in some type of ultra-spiritual form this is definitive proof that his body actually rose again from the dead and he himself testifies it is I myself you can't get any more clearer than that I want you to notice the change that the disciples had they disbelieved for joy this is such a wonderful miracle that they couldn't believe what was happening right in front of them and once again what a great evidence for the truth of the Resurrection Christ is there he's appearing to some of his disciples they've seen him they've touched him they've worshiped him here he is he's eaten in front of them and the disciples still disbelieved for Joy you know if I were writing that I would think this is the moment this is where they conclusively believe and have all the evidence and they would just simply rejoice and believe but God's word is better than my thoughts and they're overwhelmed with the glory of the good news of Christ's Resurrection and it's not the only time that we see people acting like this in Acts chapter 12 we see James he's he is captured and killed by King Herod Peter is in jail he's scheduled to be executed meanwhile across town There's a

Late night prayer meeting and they're praying for Peter to be delivered and while they're praying they don't know this but Peter is being delivered and actually the Scripture says this that he's outside and he's banging on the gates wanting to get in hey guys I'm out here in the open if anyone sees me I'm going to get caught and put back in jail and this girl Rhoda here's Peter's voice recognizing Peter's voice in Her Joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate I said her you are out of your mind but she kept insisting that was so and they kept saying well it is his angel but Peter continued knocking and when they opened they saw him and were amazed like wow God actually answers prayers all of these are evidences because of God's grace he knows that we are just dust he knows that we're frail he knows that we're prone to disbelief but the proof of the Resurrection has convinced so many and I pray that's convincing to you as well the third exchange that takes place is knowledge for our ignorance knowledge for our ignorance look at the passage then he said to them these are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled then he opened their mind to understand the Scriptures there is such a massive shift and being able to understand the Scriptures from when you were before Christ and when you received the Gospel I remember trying to sit down and read the Bible and I just this is before I became a Christian and I had one no desire to it's almost like a punishment I had no desire to know the things about God and when I'm reading words like repentance and propitiation and wrath and

Anger and judgment and things like that like you know they were they were very off-putting but when I received the Gospel it was like a switch changed in my entire life not that I could understand all the words on every page and understand the high Theology of God but you know a funny thing happens when you come to the Lord and are born again he Reveals His word to you this happened to a lady named Lydia and Philippi she was a wealthy woman and Paul shares the Gospel with her and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul yeah that opening of the heart it's a sudden change from the drudgery and the hard to understand parts of Scripture all of a sudden they open up like Fountains of Living Water upon the soul since this is to say that there's not any difficult sayings in Scripture but the Lord is the one who opens up the mind for people to understand the Gospel you know at least five times in the Gospel accounts Jesus he told his disciples that he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem according to the Scriptures and yet they were still ignorant of the truth of Jesus Christ and ignorance is always used negatively in the Scriptures when you look at Paul he writes this in Ephesians chapter four they talking about those who are lost okay Gentiles that's us before Christ are darkened in their understanding alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of hearts so you see ignorance is synonymous with being opposed to God yeah I heard a story a bad teacher and a student who are walking one day and a student was complaining about all the ignorant villagers that were around and just you know day after day

Who's just complaining about how ignorant everyone was come on they're unlearned they don't know what's going on they don't know things that they ought to be knowing and so the teacher says you know you really shouldn't be complaining about that all the time they can hear you and so that didn't do anything to dissuade this young man from complaining and complaining and well one day they are walking at night and they come across a sleepy town in the evening and they go to this dining hall and they open up the doors and it's just dark no one's there the teacher goes man it sure is dark in here and the student goes yeah it is really dark teacher goes man it is so incredibly pitch black can't believe how dark it is yeah I know and then teacher goes my goodness how dark is it in this room I mean my gosh so that why are you complaining about he goes well I just don't want it to be dark anymore and so the student goes well all we got to do is just slide a lamp and bring in some light and he goes you're exactly right it's just like that with ignorance we have to share the knowledge of Christ so that those who are in darkness might be able to see the light of God you know there's so much ignorance in our world today and depending on your political disposition you can what you consider to be ignorant is what you consider to be ignorant but what I'm talking about is what God says is ignorance you know there's so much Social ignorance that just rips communities of heart sexual ignorance Wicked and sinful but you know all of those there's so many different types of ignorances but the most severe one is spiritual ignorance

That permeates pulpits Across America that Don't Preach Christ crucified but they have shows that cater to a lot of people and doesn't do anything to save Souls see what we need is not just pastors but husbands fathers men and women who are devoted to God's word where they view their homes as little churches who are led by their spouses to seek to love their wives and disciple their children believer you were called out of darkness and into His Marvelous Light you were not called to ignorance but you are called to know the Lord Jesus Christ and when you repent of your sins and you trust in Christ he saves you he redeems you and he gives you understanding in a massive way and yet the truth of God in Christ is an eternal Fountain of Knowledge that you learn and you consistently relearn day after day after fourth and final exchange is the Gospel for our works the Gospel for our works Jesus said to them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead and that repentance for the Forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to All Nations beginning from Jerusalem see every part of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is totally focused around the person and work of Jesus Christ every part of Scripture is relevant for the people of God and Jesus he didn't come to make us good people he didn't say that you can get into heaven by joining a church by attending regularly by giving a lot of money by serving people he came to bring the Gospel he came to make us alive through faith and to reconcile us to the Gospel to the father and the Gospel is simple you and I we are transgressors of God's commands we've all blasphemed we've all told lies we've all committed

Adultery in our hearts we've all disobeyed God at one point in time or another but it's not just our sin that separates us from God it's actually who we are that separates us from God because we weren't born morally neutral we were born into sin we're born as haters of God and that is why we teach our children how to be Godly not how to be evil and so Humanity was separated from God and when Christ arrived he was fulfilling 4 000 years of Prophecy as the promised Messiah who would come and bear the sins of mankind and Jesus he fulfilled all the law and the prophets in the in the Psalms so that when Jesus died on the cross he died to bring us near to the father in his atonement satisfied the wrath of God for anyone who would come to him but unless you come to the father through Jesus Christ the wrath of God remains on you even right now but it's not just in the death of Jesus Christ that we are saved okay think on that for a moment it's by his resurrection from the dead that we know that he delivers on his promise to save us if Christ didn't Rise Again from the dead we would have no hope we would be the most pitiable of all men but he did amen and listen to me and we say this often in our church it doesn't matter how far you've gone from the Lord it doesn't matter what you've done it doesn't matter what your background is none of that matters repentance is only one step away but you must come to God through faith in Christ you don't get to jump the fence don't get to sneak into the kingdom you must enter through Christ Alone by faith in his death burial and Resurrection you must believe that Jesus died you must believe that he rose again

Physically in order to be saved once that happens you know what happens is we repent he changes our mind by God's grace our hearts are broken over sin that we've held to our entire orientation changes because God he does an amazing work in our lives and Christ he calls us to share this message of repentance for the Forgiveness of sins you see the only reason that you were saved is because someone else shared it with you amen there is not one of us that came to God by ourselves someone shared the Gospel with you they told you about the hope of Christ it could have been a friend a family member a pastor a neighbor but the Gospel only goes as you share it Jesus said that this message should be proclaimed in his name to All Nations this means that we are to go that we are to share the Gospel with whoever would hear it because it is only in Christ that people's fears will turn to peace it is only in Christ that our doubts fade away because of the proof of his power it is only in Christ that we receive knowledge that thwarts ignorance and is only in Christ that we can rest by laying aside our works and receiving the Gospel by faith that may be you today maybe something I said he goes you know I really would like to have that life that we talked about that Abundant Life friend these things like knowledge peace proof it is nothing unless you respond to the Gospel message and my prayer for you is that on this Easter Sunday morning that your mind would be changed that your heart would be made new that you would turn from sin and trusting Christ that you would be born again to a Living Hope in and through Jesus Christ that your eternity would be settled and you can talk to me about

That after we respond in worship you can talk to a family member that invited you or any church member you don't have to go through me Jesus died so you wouldn't have to go through me you do business with the Lord and you come to him and there is nothing more important than answering that question what will you do with Christ head heart hand I want you to know that Jesus accomplished everything that he had to in order for Scripture to be fulfilled there's nothing left except for him to return and one day he will and it will be too late for you and so I pray that you would trust in the Lord and that you would receive him today heart I want you to believe that Christ really and truly rose from the dead physically he is alive right now do you know what he is doing with those nail scarred hands he is interceding for you before the Throne of his father hand I want you to trust in Christ if you haven't been born again it is only In Christ Alone that we can have confidence for our eternity and you don't have to go through a friend or a neighbor although if you have questions we want to talk about those with you we would love to pray with you about that type of stuff but there is nothing more important than to know where you will spend eternity when you pass from this world into the next maybe you know Christ maybe you've been born again you know what it is up to you to share that message of the Gospel one of the reasons why Christ came to die because you've been born again to a living and a new hope so share that with your neighbors

What stand let's pray and let's respond to God and worship bow your heads and close your eyes with me Lord we just thank you so much for this day we thank you for your kindness and your mercy we thank you for your Resurrection God and that we can have hope not only in this life but in the Life to Come Lord that you have secured us that you have redeemed us God by the power of your blood and I pray that if there's anyone here that doesn't have that assurance Lord that today would be that day that they would talk to someone after service say you know I need to get this settled Lord I pray that would that would happen in someone's life here today God you're so worth it thank you for being patient with us thank you for providing so much proof so much knowledge so much peace thank you for the Gospel we receive it with gladness Lord we are blessed thank you for your love as we worship together Lord we know that it's In Christ Alone that we are able to endure thank you for the gift of your son we just glorify you we thank you for this Resurrection Sunday and in Jesus name [Music] amen [Music] In Christ Alone my hope is found he is he is my strength my song This Cornerstone this Solid Ground through the fierce's drought and storm what height of love what deaths of Peace when fears are still when striving Seas further by all My All In All of Christ I stand In Christ Alone flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe this gift of love and righteousness scorned by the ones he came to save till on that cross as Jesus died the wrath of God was satisfied for every sin on was laid here in the death of Christ I live there in the ground his body lay Light of the World by Darkness [Music] up from the grave he rose again and as he stands in victory since curse has lost its grip on me for I am his and he is mine but with a precious blood of Christ no guilt in life no fearing death death this is the power of Christ in me from life's first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny no power of Heaven hell scheme of man can ever block me from his hand till he returns or calls me home here in the power of Christ I'll stand no power of hand everybody [Music] [Applause] just wanna thank you for the sermon this morning that the Lord laid on your heart is this working okay all right and it just it just amazes me how God works in our lives and that I kind of had this in my head this morning before I knew what Cody was preaching exactly on but I knew it had something to do with it because it's it's a Resurrection Sunday so but man most a lot of you guys see us come up here Cody and the other deacons and other Servants of the church and it appears that life is all together and just know that we struggle just the same as every single one of you and nobody knows that more than our wives or our kids but man I thank the Lord for

What he allowed his son to do on that cross and I thank the Lord even more that it wasn't in vain and that his son has Rosen again today on the third day and so let's just go to the Lord in prayer and thank him for what he's done for us father we just we come to you Lord and awe and joy father for the peace that you've given us knowing that your son has taken the burdens has taken the death that we deserve Lord and that he has defeated it and that he's risen and Lord we go out today and I just pray that Lord that we can show the light to the world Lord light up that dark room and follow that Lord I just ask that you just bless this congregation give them the wisdom and the words to spread your word and your good news throughout the land in your son's name we pray amen