Sovereign Grace Bible Church
These are the sermons and teachings of Sovereign Grace Bible Church in Biggsville, Illinois. We exist to fulfill the Great Commission through the Great Commandment within Gospel Community.
Sovereign Grace Bible Church
The Empty Tomb: From Disbelief to Marvel (Luke 23:50-24:12)
God called His shot long before Babe Ruth ever pointed to the center field bleachers. "I will save a people, I will die for them, and I will overcome death." The empty tomb proves He delivered on that promise with perfect accuracy.
In this profound Easter message, we journey through Luke's resurrection account to discover how even those closest to Jesus struggled with weak faith. Joseph of Arimathea risks everything to bury Jesus' body with no expectation of resurrection. The women arrive at the tomb carrying spices, their primary concern being "who will roll away the stone?" rather than anticipating the miracle. The disciples dismiss the resurrection account as "an idle tale." And Peter—impulsive, curious Peter—runs to see for himself, leaving "marveling" but not yet understanding.
Their story mirrors our own spiritual journey. We approach God with our plans and offerings, determined to "take care of Jesus" rather than trusting His promises. We seek life among dead things—success, accomplishments, pleasures—while missing the living Christ right before us. We hear God's truth and it often feels like "an idle tale" when we're trapped in unbelief.
The resurrection confronts our pride with a humbling truth: "The only thing you've contributed to your salvation is the sin that required Jesus to die." Yet this same truth frees us from the exhausting performance treadmill. Our lives don't revolve around what we can do for God, but around Christ's perfect work for us.
What will you do with the resurrected Christ? Will you walk away unchanged, make small behavioral adjustments, or finally surrender everything? Take that first step toward Jesus today—even with imperfect faith—and watch how He transforms your life.
Good morning. Go ahead and turn with me and your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke. Luke, chapter 23, verse 50 is where we start today, and the title of our sermon is the Empty Tomb. There's a date that stands out to me. I was a bit of a sports nut back in the day, and that's a hereditary condition. In case you're wondering, sports nut back in the day, and that's a hereditary condition. In case you're wondering, yeah, and so October 1st 1932 will never get out of my mind. And in case you're wondering, I was not alive then. So you might wonder why. Well, on October 1st 1932, the Yankees were playing game three in the World Series against the Chicago Cubs. And you're wondering where I'm going with this.
Speaker 1:Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate and one of the most famous moments in sports history happened. Whether it's part myth, part legend or all true, the story goes that Babe Ruth stepped up to the plate and before actually going into the box, he pointed out past center field, got into the box and on the first swing he hit a home run right down center field. It was the called shot. Babe Ruth had done what no one thought was possible as a human being. He he had called a home run in center field. He called a shot and he made it. As a child, that moment stood out to me with my pap, as we would sit and talk and well, he would talk sports and I would listen and learn, and I was always amazed at that story. How did he do it? How did he know so much? Greater than that, my friends, today, is the fact that God called his shot before creation even began and he said I will save a people, I will die for a people and I will overcome death, I promise. And over thousands of years, history revolved around this moment of what's going to happen. It's like the three seconds between Babe Ruth pointing and the pitch actually coming. There's this tension and, lo and behold, we see today that Jesus was the fulfillment of that culture and that everything in Christianity rests on the resurrection.
Speaker 1:My favorite proof text for that is 1 Corinthians, chapter 15. I believe it's verse 17. Where Paul is writing to the Corinthians about how important the resurrection is and he says guys, listen to me, if the resurrection didn't happen, your faith means literally nothing and you're going to die in your sin. We should be pitied above everyone else if the resurrection did not happen. The resurrection is not just one of the truths of Christianity, it is the primary truth of Christianity upon which everything else rests truth of Christianity upon which everything else rests. It's very easy to come to an Easter sermon and think we're going to hear the same old message. It's going to be the same thing again, and yet I want you to be pleasantly surprised, as you see yourself in the text, just like the disciples, just like the women having weak faith and needing to be reminded of these things. Read with me God's holy word. We're going to start in Luke, chapter 23, verse 50, and go through 24, verse 12.
Speaker 1:Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man who had not consented to their decision and action, and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone where no one had ever yet been laid. It was the day of preparation and the Sabbath was beginning. The women who had come with him from Galilee followed and saw the tomb and how his body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments. On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment. But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared, and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold two men stood by them in dazzling apparel and as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise. And they remembered his words and, returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in. He saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened.
Speaker 1:We begin here in verse 50 of chapter 23, and it's very easy, I think, when it comes to the story of Jesus's life, to emphasize certain aspects. The crucifixion is huge and the resurrection is just as big, and yet what we miss is that God's sovereignty, his control over everything, is proven by his burial. You see, at this time Jesus is crucified, and that day, people that were crucified did not get buried. They were to be disgraced and they were thrown on a pile of other bodies and shown to the rest of the world. Don't rebel against Rome, world. Don't rebel against Rome. Don't be like these people.
Speaker 1:Number two Jesus dies early. A crucifixion typically would take a very long time to die. You would die, actually, just from exhaustion and from not being able to breathe. So the fact that Jesus died this way died in a timely way, and now that Joseph of Arimathea is bold enough to go to Pilate Again, I need you to remember this context. Joseph is a Pharisee, he's a part of the group that just got Jesus killed, and so what is he doing after Jesus dies? By going to Pilate in a very public manner and saying may I have the body of Jesus to bury? Number one he's asking for an exception. That's not what happens to bodies that die on a cross.
Speaker 1:Number two he is sacrificing his entire life. In that one moment, joseph goes from being a very rich man who's prestigious in the community to an outcast who will not be able to work a job in that town ever again. He, in one moment, sacrifices everything and you and I would look at that and say that takes maybe more faith than I have, because in that moment Jesus just died and you know how many people believed that he was going to come back? Not one. So Joseph is willing to sacrifice his entire life for this man who no one believes is coming back. He puts it all on the line. Why? Because he is a good and righteous man. He believes God. He believes God is good, even when he doesn't understand it. Right? Jesus just died.
Speaker 1:I'm about to bury his physical body. Somehow God's good in this, somehow God's going to overcome this. I'm just going to be faithful and I have money and I have a tomb, so I'm going to do what I can and trust that God will cover the rest, and that's something I've told to my wife and my children and anyone else I've discipled in my entire life is that you and I can get anxiety this performance anxiety when it comes to our faith or doing the right thing, and the easiest thing to remember is like you and I are just to do our best and let God handle the rest. Like God's got this. Like, yes, you are to be responsible, yes, you're going to get consequences for your decision, but God's got this. He doesn't need savior 2.0. You can't save them. You can't even save yourself.
Speaker 1:Jesus has got this and even when his body has died, he is still controlling history as it's coming forth. So they wrap his body in linen shroud and we know spices as well and they lay him in the tomb. And it's the day before the Sabbath, so we actually have the Sabbath starting at 6 pm and so, realistically, they're in a rush right now. This is a rush job Again. I want you to think about that for a second. The Savior of the world, the perfect life, died for no reason, it seems like, and his burial is one where they're like we're going to have to come back tomorrow and fix this. This is not a good job, and yet it was required because they had to keep the Sabbath at that time legally.
Speaker 1:All of this is important preparation for us when we look to this next text. See, the women had come with him. They followed him from Galilee and they just want to see where Jesus' body is being buried. Why? Because they think he's going to come back. No, because they want to do one last honoring thing for Jesus. Read with me verse 1 there. We'll start there in chapter 24 again.
Speaker 1:But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices they had prepared. They are not going to the tomb expecting a resurrected Christ. They are not expecting Almighty God to have overcome this situation. They are expecting Jesus' body is going to be decaying and stinking already and we got to make sure that we honor him by bringing extra spices. And the number one concern of the women on the way we learned from Matthew's gospel is who's going to move the stone? Women on the way we learn from Matthew's gospel is who's going to move the stone? This is a gigantic stone that would have taken many soldiers to move into place, and so the handful of women are looking around like I don't know, but we're going.
Speaker 1:My dear friends, this is a picture of what you and I look like in our faith. You see, the women have this love and adoration and devotion to Jesus. Jesus, we're going to fix you, jesus, we're going to make it right for you. Don't worry, jesus, you weren't able to make sure you don't stink. We got you. Don't worry, jesus, you had to get buried quickly. We're going to make sure it's done properly. We'll take care of you, jesus.
Speaker 1:They did not come in faith, but they did come in love and devotion. They're like the little sorry saps that we are where in our lives. We're like, jesus, I love you and I want to do the right thing. And he's like okay, well then, trust me in this moment. You're like that's too much, but I will do this extra work over here for you. He's like I didn't ask you to do that. You're like this is good stuff, though. I'm doing good stuff.
Speaker 1:I showed up to church and that person who I hate, I did good things to them. And Jesus is poking you, the Holy Spirit is poking you, and it's like yeah, but you didn't go say sorry to your family member, and that was what we were talking about. You're like, but I did mow my neighbor's lawn. See what I did. Jesus, I'm taking care of you. I got this and we do this out of love and devotion for Christ. We're like I will take care of you. Jesus, and he's like cast all your anxieties on me because I care for you. And you're like he's too busy. He's got a lot on his plate. I feel awkward, like what does that look? Like? What does that feel like? I have trust issues. I just can't do it. So, jesus, instead of trusting your promise, I'm going to make my own to myself, and in doing that, I'm going to say look, what a good job I did, jesus.
Speaker 1:It's like working at Walmart and you're in the produce section and they're like hey, can you fix the produce and make sure the apples look this way? And the bananas? You're like you got it, boss. And then they find you in the back room and you're like boss, look what I did. All of the pallets that were in the way that you complained about the other day. I moved all of them and they're organized.
Speaker 1:And then you get fired why you didn't do your job. You didn't do what you were told to do. You did a good thing, but you didn't do a God thing. You see, love and devotion that does not have faith, that does not trust God, only ends up hurting us because it's missing. It's like trying to make a cake with no eggs or milk or leaven. You're not going to do it. You're going to make some sort of big cracker. 11. You're not going to do it. You're going to make some sort of big cracker. That's not a cake and we're like but I did it myself and it's like good job. That's the worst cake I've ever seen in my life.
Speaker 1:We're so busy focusing on I can do it. We forget the Christian life is not I can do it, it's God's already done it. It's not a I have to work harder. It's a I need to believe more that God's already done the work, that he's the one that does the work in my life, that I can't do it, that I'm weak and unable. And pride says I don't like that weak and unable part. Can we talk about how I'm strong or what I'm good at? I'm good at some things and the answer is no, because every good and perfect gift comes from God. He's got everything. You and I. We will come to this moment where we think of salvation and we're like, yeah, like I chose Jesus, I did it, I made it happen and I'm smarter than the rest of this town because I chose to be saved.
Speaker 1:The Puritans the old men that I study all the time had a fascinating quote that's been repeated throughout the years and it goes like this the only thing you've contributed to your salvation is the sin that required Jesus to die. That's the only thing you bring to the table. Is need, is an emptiness, is a oh. I can't fill this hole. I can be as pretty or as strong or as successful as I like, and this hole inside of me cannot be fixed.
Speaker 1:He didn't choose me. Like he was walking down the beach and looking at the seashells and was like, ooh, this one's pretty, or I like this one a lot. He loved us when we hated him. He chose us when we were the most unlovable, the least attractive, no benefits. His love is purely and perfectly sacrificial and you might look at that and say, well, you're really kicking me, pastor. Like this, like give me something. Give a dog a bone. Come on, help me. The bone is not in you being awesome.
Speaker 1:The point is in you marveling at how awesome God is and how astounding it is that when you hated him and had nothing to give him and you weren't worth anything, that he said I will make you worth everything to me. The American mind does not comprehend that Everything's got a price tag Everything A house, a marriage, a child, everything. It's worth it or it's not worth it, and I decide based on my standard. Thank God he didn't choose to have a standard with me, Because I'm here to tell you that when God saved me 12, 13 years ago, I was a very different person and no one in this room would have looked at me and been like that guy's going to be a pastor Nobody. But God did the work. He saved me.
Speaker 1:And so, as you see these weak characters in the Bible, it's important that you realize they're all weak. The only one that's not weak is Jesus, and there's a reason for that because it's representing all of us and it says no, no, you're not, you're, no, you're not Jesus. You may be strong, but you're Peter, and you got a big mouth on you and you get into way too many arguments and you need to stop Like no, no, no, no, you're not Jesus. You may be strong and be like David, but you have some terrible sins you've committed in your life that you can't make up for. You can be the greatest man or woman of God in the entire world and still be nothing without Christ. Christ is everything inside of us, to us and forever. So the women this is important context. We got to see the women correctly.
Speaker 1:The women come to the tomb ready to bury jesus. Better, and what happens? They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Imagine the moment, right, I just imagine, like mary's, like hold this big tub of spices and you like go up to the tomb and like the stones just rolled away and you just like drop it, just completely aghast, like what is happening right now? Verse three but when they went in so now they're going in like something happened, something's wrong. They did not find the body of the lord jesus.
Speaker 1:So was there immediate reaction to seeing my plan didn't work and God's got a different plan Was to have faith in God's plan, like oh man, look, god did it. He told us so many times he was going to die and rise again. Like let's celebrate. Like break out the wine, let's make some good food, like Jesus isn't dead anymore. What do they do. Well, the next verbs that describe them are they were perplexed, and the next verse, they were frightened.
Speaker 1:Dear friends, this is exactly what a faith journey looks like. You see, you and I, we have this plan right. I'm going to go to this place, I'm going to do this thing, I'm going to build this thing, I have these ideas. I'm going to go and tell that person. And then we get into the situation and it doesn't work out like we thought it was going to work out, and the immediate response is not like oh, god's got a plan, god's got a plan, god's doing something here. I need to take a step back, I need to pray and I need to figure out what's happening. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. You and I, we got the dense thing down. We're like well, I know I ran into this wall, but my plan was to go that way. So I'm about to run into that wall again, because that was the plan, and I don't like adapting. I like having my plan and sticking to it. I was going to get this house, live this life and go this direction.
Speaker 1:They were perplexed about this, and then what happens? God's kind, he could leave you in that perplexment for quite a while. He could have left the ladies there for a while. You in that perplexment, for quite a while. He could have left the ladies there for a while. Instead, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. These are angels.
Speaker 1:And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them why do you seek the living among the dead? And the only thing I can think of in this moment was that's me. I seek for the living among the dead and, worse, I seek the dead among the living. That these women, because they did not have faith, are looking in the wrong direction. There's an answer to prayer. There's an answer right there. There's an answer right there. And they're not responding as they're supposed to. They say no, no, I'm perplexed, I'm frightened, I don't know what to do. And the question comes through why are you looking for a living man where dead people are? My friends, that's what idolatry means in a nutshell Is looking for Jesus in food, or in accomplishments, or in sex, or in success or in vanity? You and I are right there with the angels looking us bold in the face and saying why are you looking for? What's living among the dead? These things mean nothing. Stop looking at them.
Speaker 1:Verse 6. He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee? You and I have a quirk about us where we can feel like someone's demeaning us when they remind us of things. That's like marriage 101. A husband forgets something and the wife says, hey, do you remember this? And it's almost like your pride immediately gets pricked. You're like, yeah, I remember. And vice versa, right Every now and then the woman does forget something and has to be reminded and the pride still comes up, like I remembered nine times out of ten. And you're like, mm-hmm.
Speaker 1:We, for whatever reason in our flesh, hate when people remind us, especially of things we think we know. Like, don't talk to me about it. I know how to drive. Okay, I got this. Don't tell me how to cook that. I know how a microwave works. I know how to have this conversation. I know how to do my job. Leave me alone.
Speaker 1:This is the human anthem and really all it screams is pride, pride and pride. Why? Because you and I are in desperate need of being reminded, especially of these spiritual truths. Christ is not here. He has risen. They could have just said that and left it alone. But what do they do? They pointed to what they already knew but were not trusting in. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, what do you tell them? That the son of man must be delivered into the hands of simple men and be crucified. And on the third day rise, verse 8,. You see, you and I are at a point where, no matter how far you are on the Christian journey, at some point in time you need somebody to look at you and say the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. You got to stop that. Excuse me, you're to be slow to anger, slow to speak and quick to listen. We need to be reminded of these things. Why? Because no matter how mature I am, I'm still human, I'm still finite, I still. But what is the only thing that hasn't failed in this text? Christ and his word. What did he say? It is required, it's necessary, that the son of man be delivered into the hands of simple men and be crucified. And on the third day rise.
Speaker 1:When I was a child, I grew up in little conservative churches, and boy did I color me some pictures of Noah in the ark man Like I was just like I got those pictures down and the main stories like David and Goliath you never heard about David and Bathsheba. Or like how he killed Uriah the Hittite you never heard that story as a kid. But you heard about David and Goliath and you're like, yeah, that's awesome, taking down the giant. You hear these awesome stories Moses parting the sea. You never heard about Moses when he like stabs the rock with the staff and God says now you're going to die in the desert. You never heard those stories as a kid and I felt like it was the same thing with the gospel growing up, like I got just got, just like part of the story.
Speaker 1:It was like man, like young man Jesus loves you and he died for you. And I'm like cool, like, and all you got to do is just believe. Okay, I'll believe that Jesus died for me. That's great and that was the end. That was the whole gospel in a nutshell, and I'll tell you what I felt like. I felt a lot like a guy that's on the end of a pier. It's fishing, fishing, and some guy just like all of a sudden I hear someone running like they're going crazy behind me and they're going, I'm going to save you and they jump off the pier and they fall into the water and they're drowning in the water. Like I'm doing this for you, I'm just fishing, bro. Like why are you dying? I'm okay, I was fishing, I didn't need you to die.
Speaker 1:We miss the most important part of the gospel, which is the need. You see, god created a perfect world where there was no sin, and Adam chose to disobey God. And when that happened, this separation happened. We're no longer were they in this wonderful, perfect relationship with God, in this wonderful, perfect relationship with God. Instead, they were now enemies of God. They hated God, they were afraid of God and Jesus.
Speaker 1:All the way back in Genesis, chapter 3, was promised that one day he would come and he would crush the head of the serpent, that he would have victory over Satan, over sin, over death. That that would be offered to us. You see, you and I are not inherently good, we are inherently bad. And if you don't believe me, have a child. You don't have to teach a baby to freak out whenever you're changing their diaper. You don't have to teach a toddler to hit their brother or sister when they want a toy. You don't have to teach a young child to lie, why they do it.
Speaker 1:Naturally, you and I have something wrong on the inside and the only fix, the only antidote, the only way to get from point A to point B and not die in your sins is to first realize I can't save myself, I need to be saved, I can't do it. And then to look to Christ and to marvel at the fact that the man who had everything and is everything, gave everything up for me when I was nothing so I could have everything. He shares his glory with us, he shares his love with us, and we can barely do that with family, like you're going to probably be with some family members later today, and I want you to watch yourself. You're going to get annoyed, you're going to get frustrated, and when that happens, I want you to remember this. That's sin.
Speaker 1:God is never annoyed with us. He's never frustrated with us. Why? Because he is perfectly patient and perfectly kind. God is love and we see this so clearly in the life, death and resurrection of Christ. You and I can find comfort in the fact that Jesus did rise from the dead, because if he did not rise from the dead, you and I could say Jesus's sacrifice wasn't enough. God didn't accept it. He rose from the dead, so the sacrifice was sufficient, it was enough. You and I can get comfort from the resurrection, why? Because Jesus fulfilled the greatest promise, the greatest prophecy, and if he can do that, by golly, even a wreck like me, if he says I will complete the good work I began in you. Even on my weakest day, when I fail and I yell at my children, I'm impatient with my wife and I hate everyone and everything. In that moment I can trust that God's got this, because my life is not revolving around my performance, but around Christ's performance, but around Christ's performance, and thank God for that. Continue with me. This is great.
Speaker 1:Returning from the tomb verse 9,. They told all these things to the 11 and all the rest. I want you to imagine that moment. The women, they drop the spices, they run back. Guys, the people closest to Jesus. You'll never guess what happened. Two angels, the stone. Jesus is there. He's risen Verse 11,.
Speaker 1:But these words seem to them an idle tale. This is what unbelief looks like. You ever had a spiritual conversation with someone that's not in the same zone with you mentally? Here, like, spiritually, they're just like not in it, and you say something like God's so good, he took care of me yesterday. I was going to slip up and I felt the Holy Spirit kind of pull me back, say no, no, we ain't going there today. And then they look at you like you just talked about, like Peter Pan, like cool, I'm glad Disney's working for you.
Speaker 1:Man, unbelief doesn't understand.
Speaker 1:It's like speaking Swahili to someone in America. There's not even a translation here, there's not even some sort of common ground. It's complete gibberish when we don't believe. And, my friends, this is why, even as a Christian, when I wrestle with unbelief, my friend can come to me, when I'm feeling down and I'm kicking myself and I'm saying what's wrong with me, and they can say, oh, your identity is found in Christ. Stop looking to yourself and look to him, everything's going to be okay. And in that moment my heart can be stone cold and be like man you are. You're frustrating. Why do you keep saying these things to me, like it's not doing anything here, like sometimes I'm warmed up and I'm ready to receive that? This is not that time. So if you could stop just saying that thing over and over again, I'd appreciate that. You and I wrestle with this where the promises of God.
Speaker 1:Even the gospel can feel like an idle tale. It's just a little thing, right? Sometimes, that's most days. You go to work and you forget the gospel, and you go home and you continue to forget the gospel. You forget who you are in Christ. So, instead of identifying yourself as a Christian, first and foremost, you say I'm a worker at this place, I'm a father, a mother, I'm a husband, I'm a wife, and we forget that first and foremost, the title is child of God. First and foremost is the title saved, redeemed, loved.
Speaker 1:The reason that we have so many problems in life is not because the world's evil or because we keep making stupid decisions. That is a part of it. I mean a little bit. The main reason we have problems in life is because we don't believe what God has said. When he says to count it all joy when you suffer. We're like what kind of weird masochist kind of statement is that? Like, yeah, go into it. Like we don't believe the promises of God? That's the primary issue. But we're not alone.
Speaker 1:So, verse 11, the words seemed to them an idle tale and they did not believe them. Verse 12, but Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and, looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves and he went home marveling at what had happened. Again, bravo to Peter. John is also in this story, by the way. He goes with him, and John says that John was faster than Peter too. So that's important. Now they both run to the tomb.
Speaker 1:Question for you Does that show faith? Well, of course it does. Action in the direction of Jesus shows faith. It shows I'm trusting that something's different, that something's real, and so, while the disciples did not believe, this is where you and I need to find ourselves is there's gonna be a lot of times where Jesus shows up in your life, where the truth is presented to you and you know I'm not responding to this like I'm supposed to. I can, just I can feel it right now and like I'm supposed to be like yeah, and I feel like like it's just not there, man, like leave me alone. Bad day at work. I don't want to hear it In those moments. I want you to have this switch in your head that says wait, wait, wait, wait. A step in the direction of Jesus is what I need. I don't need to like, just like, pretend, like all of a sudden I'm all better, like I'm going to do the right thing exactly, but I need to take a step in the direction of Jesus. Peter ran to the tomb and he looked in to see with his own eyes.
Speaker 1:One of the biggest things we miss in the Christian life is that it's to be experienced, and not in some mystical la-di-da I had a vision way but in very practical application, the moment you're able to say no to your sin for the first time and you remember it, like you were going to start cussing somebody out and then you didn't. Or you were going to do that one thingussing somebody out, and then you didn't. Or you were gonna do that one thing to that one person and then you didn't. And you could like feel like inside of you there was a tug of war and like, for once, the good side won. You're like, oh, that moment, that was the step in the right direction, that was the win, and you and I we're not gonna be super Christians ever.
Speaker 1:Paul was the super Christian and he said who's gonna save me from this body of death? I don't do what I wanna do and I keep doing what I don't wanna do. And that's how you know you're a Christian, because when you hear the gospel, you respond to it and you have that wrestling match inside you that says I keep doing this thing. I don't want to and I keep wanting to do this and I keep not doing it. If it bothers you, that means you're alive, because the world is called dead in their sins. They cannot respond.
Speaker 1:So final question for you today is what are you going to do with the resurrected Christ? You have options. You can walk out of here and pretend like I didn't say nothing. I could never see your face again. We could run into each other every now and then and be like and we'll have a great little. And then and be like, oh, and we'll have a great little fist bump and call it a day. You could make a small commitment I'm going to really control what I say around these people. I'm going to work really hard on not freaking out on that one person. I'm going to work really hard on not giving over to anxiety in this moment. That's a step in the right direction.
Speaker 1:Let me encourage you that the greatest thing you could ever do today is one of two things. Number one is to look at the resurrected Christ and to say Lord, what part of my life have I not given over to you? What do I need to give up? And then he'll show you. Don't worry, you probably already know I probably said that and you're like, oh yes, that thing and you don't want to admit it, but it's right there and that's okay. That one thing if it's just between you and God, it ain't getting done. If it's just between you and God, it ain't getting done. You need a community around you. You're a lot weaker than you think you are. You need support. And if Alcoholics Anonymous groups up together because they know they're weak and unable, by golly you and I should be able to look at our sin and say sin's everywhere and it's inside me. Yeah, I need help, I need accountability, I need some love here. You and I are not able, and the last step would be just to pray a prayer of complete sacrifice.
Speaker 1:There was a moment for me again about 12, 13 years ago, where God finally broke me. I thought I was hot stuff, I thought I was the man. I thought I had all these things plenty of money, plenty of cars, the whole kit and caboodle Like no 19 year old should have had what I had. It was inappropriate. And yet God slowly but surely broke me, until I finally was crying on my hands and knees and saying Lord, whatever you would have me do, wherever you would have me go, whoever you would have me be, I am yours. Please don't leave today without doing something. Knowledge that's not applied only makes you more proud. Apply it and I promise you you'll be humbled. Let's pray, father. We come before you.
