Resurrection Celebration And The Question

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He is risen.

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He is ready.

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Y'all getting better and better at that. I'm Bark Kafosegan. I'm one of the pastors here. If you're our guests, an extra special welcome. We're just delighted that you're here with us this morning to celebrate the resurrected Christ, our Savior and our King. Now, today is April 5th, 2026 A.D. Adno Domini. That's Latin for a year of our Lord. So your computer, your phone, your smartwatch all acknowledge the very existence of Jesus Christ. The very date that you practice every day when you look at your calendar on whatever form of instrument you look at your calendar, it acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come to this earth. But we don't just celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ has come to this earth. We're celebrating his death, burial, and resurrection on our behalf. There are 8.3 billion people on the globe. I don't know if you knew that or not. That's where we are. 8.3 billion. Of those 8.3 billion, 2.6 billion claim Christianity as their faith. That means 31% of the populace of the globe are celebrating right now the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And you know, even though this is true, I'll bet some of you have friends, neighbors, teammates, classmates, workmates who've yet to place their faith, their trust in Christ alone as Savior. They still have doubts. They're still not so sure. This isn't just a fairy tale. Oh, this is just something you want to believe. But

Empty Tomb In John 19-20

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there's there's really no evidence for this reality. Well, the title of this message this morning, Evidence that demands a verdict. I thought we'd first look at what the scriptural record is and see whether or not we can trust that scriptural record. We found out that if we read together, we're going to find out that Jesus was crucified on a particular night and that he was taken down and his body was placed into a garden tomb. A tomb that nobody had ever used before. And then there was a stone that was rolled in front of it. And then there was a certification from Rome, it was sealed with Roman guards protecting the entrance of a dead man's tomb. I don't think anybody's trying to get in, do you? If he's dead, I'm pretty sure he's not trying to get out. We find out that because those Jewish believers were in such a hurry to prepare his body because it was Sabbath and they had to hurry up before the Sabbath began, there's a little bit they hadn't finished doing. And so some of the ladies came early in the morning on that first Sunday morning, and they they came to finish the job. But then when they got there, they find out, hey, the tomb is open, the guards are gone, and Jesus is not there. But eventually we find out he appeared to some of those women. And Mary Magdalene was one of them. And when she found out she ran to the disciples to tell them, and of course, the chief disciple at this point is Peter, right? And she goes to talk to Peter and the disciples, and the scripture says that Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved, that would be John, the way he refers to himself. He never says his own name, but he's so overwhelmed with the love of Christ, that's how he describes himself. And he being younger than Peter, he runs to the tomb, he beats Peter to the tomb, but he's not as bold as Peter. So he stands outside. Then Peter finally catches up. The old man was probably about seventeen. And he runs straight in. And he sees the cloth that Jesus was once wrapped in, and he's not there. And the cloth that was around his head is folded up neatly into the side. And at that point, John comes in, and John records of himself, he saw and believed. John chapter 19, verse 41 and following. Now in the place where he, Jesus, was crucified, there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. Therefore, because of the Jewish day of preparation, since the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter and the other disciples went f of the disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first. And stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came following him and entered the tomb, and he he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the facecloth which had been on his head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had come first to the tomb, then also entered, and he saw, and he believed. For as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead. And now through simple faith in Jesus Christ, who said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by me. I am the giver of life. We believe him. And in so believing, we have eternal life. Now that's for those of us who have seen the scripture and we believe the scripture, and yet we wonder, what about those who doubt? What about those who say, well, there, you know, it's just a bunch of fable? I thought we would look at some evidence. Now, I know for some of you, we're not convincing you of anything. You've long since placed your faith, your trust in Christ. But isn't it a good thing to be reminded of the evidence thereof? Some of you got dragged here because it happens every Easter. And you got dragged in, and they your your mom, your aunt, your grandmother just said, if you want lunch, you gotta come. And you're thinking, well, I want lunch, I can put up for a half hour, 45 minutes, we'll be okay. How about you? Perhaps you want to know, is there any real evidence that this is accurate and true?

Manuscript Evidence And Copy Accuracy

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I thought we'd look at some of the manuscript evidence. Now, what do we mean by manuscript evidence? There is ancient history that has been recorded and we still have it. And the idea is that those from days gone by actually recorded, wrote down the historical record of what took place. Not only as far as the New Testament and the Old Testament is concerned, but as far as history in general is concerned, but all of this was before the printing press, which means it had to be hand copied if it's going to pass on from generation to generation. And there are copies for us. Now, ancient manuscripts means those that were written before the end of the Roman era, before Rome fell. And these are ancient manuscripts. And they're they're made of paper, that is, from a particular plant that they put together and made paper out of and eventually scrolls out of, and they would write on these. But you can imagine that over years and centuries they would deteriorate, so they have to make more copies and more copies and more to keep passing it on. There's vellum, which is this idea of taking an animal skin and scraping it to the point where it can be written on, and they would write on that, and they would roll that up. And this is what we're talking about the manuscript evidence. Why don't you show that chart? Here's what we still have copies of in existence today throughout the world. So we have from Pliny, we have from Plato, from Herodotus, from Suetonius, from Euripides, from Caesar, from Tassus, from Aristotle, from Homer, and the New Testament writers. And these are the number of copies that the historians have found and are protecting. They're in museums across the globe. And I want you to see here, for instance, plenty. There's only seven copies of his writings. And look at the widespread between the original and the copies that still exist. We have this for Plato. Look at Plato, there's only seven copies of what Plato's written. And if you have a classical education, you study Plato like everything he wrote. Everything you read is true and accurate. That's how you studied it. That's how your professors present it. Herodotus, only eight copies. Suetonius, only eight copies, Euripides, only nine copies. Caesar, only ten copies. Tacitus, one of the most famous Roman historians, only twenty copies. And the span between when it was originally written and the copies that are in existence here, a thousand years. Finally we get to Aristotle. Look at that. Only 49 copies. We have a 1,400 year spread between when it was written and the copies still in existence. And now we come to Homer. Now, Homer, there's 1,800 copies still in existence, but the spread between them being originally written and where they are today is 500 years. And yet, statistically speaking, they compare copy to copy, the older ones to the younger ones, and they come compare them all. And statistically they come up and say we have 90% accuracy of what it is that Homer wrote, even though we don't have what he originally put down in pen and paper. And then we come to the New Testament 60, 5600 copies, less than a hundred year span between the originals and the copies we have. And statistically speaking, they're 99.5% accurate. Guys, I don't know about you, but that's pretty important to me. And you say, well, where's the 5%? It's misspellings. They know the word, they just spelled it wrong. They flip the vowels, or they flip the consonants, or perhaps they copied a verse and recopied again. Can you imagine you're a copyist and you're you're at candlelight and you're bending down, and that's your job all day long. You ever made a mistake? Imagine. And yet they can examine these copies, identify whatever mistakes made, and know exactly what was written. The magnitude of cooperation for the New Testament is exponentially greater than any other writings. You can believe this book that you have this English translation of, or perhaps you have a Spanish translation, or Portuguese. You can believe it. Well, we'll looked at some of the manuscript evidence.

Non-Christian Writers Corroborate Jesus

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I thought we might look at some of the external evidence. And what do I mean by external evidence? Writers of this same time who we have copies of what they wrote who do not believe the record of the New Testament. And what did they write about the history during that very time that the record of the New Testament is being written? What did they have to say? I want you to see that even though they're unbelievers, in their historical record, they actually corroborate the New Testament record. Let's look at this first one, Tacitus. Here's what he writes. Hence, to suppress the rumor, the rumor that Nero had set Rome on fire, which by the way was true. In order to suppress the rumor, he, Nero, falsely charged with the guilt and punishment with the most exquisite tortures the persons commonly called Christians, who were hated for their enormities. Christus, the founder of the name, okay, so he uses a Roman name, Christus, because he doesn't realize that Christ is a title, not a name. And yet, he's actually recording that there was such a person. Christus, the founder of the name, was put to death by Pontius Pilate, procurator of Judea in the reign of Tiberius. But the pernicious superstition repressed for a time broke out again, not only through Judea, where the mischief originated, but through the city of Rome also. Well, listen, he's looking at history with a jaundice eye, and yet he corroborates our history. What does he tell? There was a Pontius Pilate. Jesus Christ was crucified, and he was put to death under Pontius Pilate. When? Where? In Judea. When? Under the reign of Tiberius. He's actually validating the New Testament, even though he's saying he doesn't believe all this stuff. He says that this pernicious superstition was repressed for a time, which it was. All the disciples ran and hid, running for their lives. Ah, but on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit comes upon them, they boldly proclaim the truth, and thousands come to Christ. So for a time it was snuffed out, but it came back up and spread throughout the entire Roman Empire. Look, we have someone who doesn't believe the New Testament text, and yet, writing during the same time, he actually validates too much of what he tries to disprove. We have Pliny the Younger. He's writing a letter to a letter to Trijan, who's concerned at this point in history, uh Rome is all but taken over by the Christians. They're being overwhelmed. He's concerned. What is this thing with these Christians? So he sends uh Pliny out to find out about it. And so here's what he writes They, the Christians, were in the habit of meeting on a certain fixed day before it was light, and when they sang in alternate verses a hymn to Christ as to God, and bound themselves by a solemn oath not to any wicked deeds, but never to commit any fraud, theft, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor deny a trust. This is an unbeliever writing. To our knowledge, he never trusted Christ. And yet he's actually validating the reality that Christians met on the first day of the week and sang hymns to Christ, to Jesus as to God. Hello. This is an unbeliever writing, and yet his writings corroborate the New Testament record. The Babylonian Talmud, the unbelieving Jews, what do they have to say about all this? Here's what they say: Jesus was hanged on Passover Eve 40 days previously. The herald had cried, he is being let out for stoning because he practiced sorcery and led Israel astray and enticed them in apostate. Whoever has anything to say in his defense, let him come and declare it. As nothing was brought forward in his defense, he was hanged on Passover Eve. Well, that's the way they express being hung on a cross. He was hanged. In the midst of their writing of the historic record, they're actually validating so much of what we know to be true. They said he practiced sorcery. Well, that's their twist on his miracles. They didn't believe in miracles, so it must be sorcery. He's actually validating that he was a miracle worker. They're doing it with a jaundice eye, and yet that's what he's telling us. He's telling us that nobody came to his defense. That's exactly what the scripture says. When they had their kangaroo trials, nobody came to his defense. It's actually validating the New Testament record written by unbelievers. We still have a copy of their history. Josephus, who actually was Jewish but became an officer in the Roman army, an unbeliever. Here's what he writes. He, Annas the Younger, convened a judicial session of the Sanhedrin and brought before it the brother of Jesus, the so-called Christ, James by name, and some others whom he charged with breaking the law and handed them over to be stoned to death. Well, we know that James, the half-brother of Jesus, was stoned to death. The Sanhedrin did meet together about 62, 63 A.D., and they stoned him to death. He's actually validating the truth of the scripture. When somebody says, oh, this Jesus, they made him up. It's myth. It's grown over time. There's nothing outside of the Bible that talks about Jesus. Oh, yes, there is. I'm just giving you a handful of examples. We could be here all day. Anyone want to be here all day? Lunch is awaiting, right? What I'm trying to say is there is evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament record concerning the birth, the life, the miracles, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Archaeology That Anchors The Gospels

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What about archaeology? Well, what's archaeology? Archaeology is where men andor women go out, they read this ancient text, both Christian text and non-Christian text, and they go out to the places that are named in those places and they start digging. And they're digging through the garbage pits, by the way, to try to find any evidence that this location is the location that's talked about in this particular manuscript. And is there any evidence for the people that are mentioned in this place in history? And so they're digging. I call this the Stone Cold Truth. Because they're digging up stone. Now I have a couple of books here. I have a whole shelf and a half of books that I would love for you to get a hold of. You can't have mine. This is a handbook of biblical archaeology. And this is written by Randall Price, a true archaeologist. And Wayne House. Wayne House is one of my professors in seminary. I've met Randall Price at a couple of conferences. A very nice guy, also a Dallas Theological Seminary grad. And he highlights for us uh archaeological proof, evidence, physical evidence for the authenticity of both the Old and the New Testament. About 63 examples from the Old Testament and about 37 examples of the New Testament. That's just a few examples. There are many more book books like this, but this one this is what you would. Fine. And if you you don't like to read lots of great pictures. I don't have any crayons for you, but lots of great pictures in here. There's another gentleman by the name of Titus Kennedy. He's a current uh professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He also has excavating the evidence for Jesus. Many more examples and pictures to show and all the uh information you need to know of how it was found, where it was found, how do we know it's true? How do we know this is an actual artifact? I'd love for you to enjoy some of these books. But I just thought I'd show you at least a handful, just a couple of examples. I'd like you to go ahead and and pop up that pilot stone for me. This is a pilot stone. This is by at Caesarea by the sea in Israel. Uh I've been there. This there's a facsimile of this stone in the location where it was found. It actually names uh Pilate, procurator of Judea, and it's physical evidence. It dates back to his time. The the uh actual one is in a museum that you can go see in a museum, but you'll see this facsimile at the very location where it was found. For a time there, the skeptics said we don't see Pilate anywhere. And suddenly they start finding it in these other writings, and then they find the stone to prove that, yeah, he existed. And yes, he was mentioned as the one who God allowed in under his authority to crucify Christ. That's physical evidence for us.

Nazareth Inscription And Tomb Theft Rumor

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This next one is the Nazareth inscription. Now, what's interesting about this particular inscription, it's it validates a story that we find in the New Testament concerning what did the Jews do about the fact that they couldn't find Jesus' body. You understand that all they would have to do to snuff out Christianity of that day, all they would have to do is go get the body of Jesus, pull him out, and parade that body through the city of Jerusalem. And all these people who witnessed his ministry would see him dead. They could see his corpse, they could see the hand, the wounds in his hands and his feet and his side, they could see the scars from the crown of thorns, and they say, Hey, yeah, that's Jesus, that's him. But no, what happened is the guards go fleeing after the angels roll the stone away. Can you imagine being a guard? An angel show up and literally roll the stone away, and they go running. So they go running to the Sanhedrin and tell them the story. This is what happened. Well, the Sanhedrin decided, well, we're not putting up with this. We have a plan. So in Matthew chapter 28, we read this some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they, the chief priests, had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers and said, You are to stay. His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep. And if this should come to the governor's ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble. And they took the money and did as they had been instructed. And this story was widely spread among the Jews and is to this day. I want you to imagine what would happen if you're a guard, a Roman guard, and you fell asleep. You know what would happen? We know from history they would have been tortured to death. So when they go run and tell a Sanhedrin and the siege Sanhedrin, say, I tell you what, here's what we're going to do. Uh you tell them that the disciples came at night and they stole them. These disciples, these scared disciples, overcame a group of guards, Roman guards, highly trained. You know what I'm saying? You know, the black ops guys that we have today, yeah, they came up. Some regular guys just came up, and you know, these 17-year-olds came up and no, I don't think so. And yet, this rumor went by. A few years later, this eventually gets all the way up to Rome, and Caesar sends out an edict, and that's what's on this stone. Here's what it says is my decision concerning graves and tombs. Whoever has made them for religious observations of parents or children or household members, that these remain undisturbed forever. But if anyone legally charges that another person has destroyed or has in any manner extracted those who have been buried, or has moved with wicked intent those who have been buried to other places, committing a crime against them, or has moved sepulchre ceiling stones against such a person, I order that a judicial tribunal be created, just as has been done, should be done concerning the gods in human religious observations. Even more so, will it be obligatory to treat with honor those who have been entombed? You are absolutely not to allow anyone to move those who have been entombed, but if someone does, I wish that violator to suffer capital punishment under the title of tomb breaker. So Caesar decides after this gets to him that I tell you what we're gonna have to do, we're gonna have to stop this body stealing stuff. Let me ask you something. We know there's been tomb raiders for centuries, millennia. Nobody's stealing bodies, they're stealing the treasure. Who would steal a body? And yet this validates the New Testament record of what took place. We're studying together the evidence that demands a verdict, the reality that there is evidence outside of the scripture that validates the New Testament record concerning the life, the miracles, the death, the burial, the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior. We do not practice a blind faith. We practice an evidential faith. The evidence, indeed, is clear. This is one of my favorites, if

James Ossuary And Unhackable Proof

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you would. Go ahead and show that ossuary. This is an ossuary. Let me tell you what an ossuary is. It's a small stone box that is used to put the bones of the deceased in. Now you can imagine that day and time they have a they have their own burial plot. They have a little cave that they have hewned out in order that that is where their family's remains would be put, and they put somebody's body in there. And the practice of the day was they would wait a year, and then the eldest son was to go in and take the bones of the person, now that all the flesh has decayed off, and put it into an ossuary like this and set it aside. Now we got room for grandma and grandpa. That's really what the practice. And they found this ossuary. Now, these uh this particular size ossuary, there's about 70 of them that have found. If you go to Israel, there's a place where you can go see them. I have seen them. And uh there was a period of time that this particular size and type of ossuary existed. And it was about a 70 to 90 year period, right during the time of Jesus and the apostles. And then they changed the size. Everything was different. It's kind of like you have the original Coke and then you have the new Coke. You know what I mean? There's a season where you got the original Coke, and the season we have the new Coke, right? Well, this is a very specific season. And they're found this particular ossuary. And this ossuary actually has an inscription on it. I'm going to give that close-up inscription. Can't you see that so clearly now? It's an ancient Aramaic. And here's what the inscription says James, the son of Joseph, brother of Jesus. Now I want to tell you something. If you had an ossuary for you, it would say your name and your father's name. That's like saying your last name. Instead of saying a last name, you'd say son of. But nobody puts their brother's name on it. Unless your brother is more famous than you. This is the only Oshware that has a brother's name on it. Now you can look this up, and what you're gonna find out as you look this up is that there's been court cases over this, some denying that it's uh authentic. It has won the day. The courts have said in Israel that this is authentic. Some will say there's no evidence. Of course there's evidence. From outside the Bible. By the way, did you know that this thing can lie to you? Anybody? Did you know that? Did you know that ChatGBT could lie to you? Did you know that? Let me tell you why. Because there's things called hackers and you're studying and you're gonna look it up, and somebody has hacked the particular information that you're asking for, and they've changed the information. You know why the manuscript evidence and this archaeological evidence is so important? They can't hack it. It's just there. Somebody can't just go in and mess with the program, but you can go see it for yourself. By the way, I think some of the best evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament is those scholars who did not believe in Christ, who go out to disprove Christ, and find out that the evidence is overwhelming.

Skeptics Who Investigate And Believe

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One such scholar is Frank Morrison. Uh, he's written this book called Who Moved the Stone. He's a scholar, and studying Luke and Acts, he decided this can't be true. So I'm gonna disprove it. So he literally had the wherewithal as a scholar to go to Palestine and start following with a map from the New Testament all these places that Luke claims things took place and what happened there, and where Paul traveled. He goes and travels, and what happens is as he goes through this whole process, he finally gets overwhelmed with the reality of the truth, and he becomes a believer. And so he writes this book called Who Moved the Stone. The first chapter is called The Book That Refused to Be Written. And in the preface of his book, here's what he writes Not suddenly, as in a flash of insight or inspiration, but slowly, almost imperceptibly, by the very stubbornness of the facts themselves, the writer discovered one day that not only could he no longer write the book as he had once conceived it, but that if he could, he would not. It seems to me when we have skeptics out there who have a little greater gray matter than you and me, and they end up leaving with a John decide to disprove all this stuff and they come to Christ. Hey, maybe we ought to look at it one more time. This book is by Lee Strobel, The Case for Christ. Lee Strobel is an award-winning journalist for the Chicago Tribune. He literally won national awards for his report reporting, and he reported particularly on uh murder cases. That's what he reported on. He's a Yale graduate, law Yale graduate. Uh he grew up uh and he and his wife were hippies when they met, and uh he was enjoying his hippie lifestyle, even as he was getting highly educated. He makes gets this job, he ends up becoming an award-winning uh reporter for the Chicago Tribune, and then his wife uh goes to church one day and becomes a believer. And he goes, Oh, great. I wasn't marrying a believer. Now what do I do? So they had a lot of discussions, and he finally said, Okay, you do you, boo. But do me a favor, whatever you do, don't give any of those people at that building any of our money. You hear the skeptic? But she was so transformed. Such a positive change came over her life that he said, Okay, I gotta see what's going on here. So he goes to church, and sure enough, he hears the claims of Christ, and before you know it, he's there long enough to hear something like this a defense, and he decides, well, I'm a big boy, I've got all the tools, I know how to investigate this. So he goes to investigate the claims of Christ and ends up becoming a believer. And he writes this book, The Case for Christ. I forget how many million of these have been sold now. He's written uh now about four or five different books. He's known as an apologist. He actually travels the globe, giving evidence, much more than I'm presenting this morning, for the authenticity of the New Testament and the claims of Christ. One of my favorite is this big fat book by Josh McDonald. And the reason is God used Josh McDonald to lead me to the Lord. Josh McDonald is known as an apologist. He's one who travels just like uh Lee Strobel does, and he defends the faith, showing all the evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament. But he didn't start out that way. He uh he works with an organization called Campus Crusade for Christ, now known as Crew. And in college, I had a chance to hear him, and and he laid out evidence somewhat the way we're doing this morning. I have to tell you, the Holy Spirit spoke to me. It's like that stuff is true. But he tells his story. He grew up in a church home, and uh he was abused. He ended up leaving the church, and he ended up um becoming kind of obsessive compulsive. The way he he coped with his issues is he got into a scholarship and he became a real scholar. And uh he became the president of his student body class in college, and yet he was miserable. And uh he was in the student union and he walked past this group of students, and they all seem to be very happy. And two or three days later he walks past them, they're still happy, and he finally walked up and said, What are y'all so happy about? And one of them in the crowd, a woman, said, uh, because of Jesus, and he about lost it. So don't give me all that religious stuff. And she said, I didn't say religion, I said Jesus. He became friends with that group. He didn't become a believer at that moment. But they challenged him to investigate the evidence, and he actually had the wherewithal to do that, and he did investigate the evidence. He literally traveled the globe to look at the archaeological evidence and the evidence of the manuscripts. And he tells a story, you can find it in this book. Here's what he says. One evening he was in London, in the London Museum, looking at some of the artifacts and some of the manuscripts, and now he's in the library of the museum, and he says, This as I was reading it, suddenly it dawned on me. He exclaimed, It's true, it's true, it's really true. And then somebody came by and said, Shh! You're in a library. And then he writes, It was about 6 30 p.m. when I left the museum library. As I walked along the London streets, I realized that there was no escaping the facts. The Bible is true. The resurrection of Christ really did happen. Jesus is who he claimed to be. We can trust the record that we have been handed by those scholars who have been studying and made sure that we have an accurate representation of what the apostles have written to us of what happened with Jesus. And we can trust

Trials Of Jesus And Innocence

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it. I thought with then we might look at some of the scriptural evidence. Let's look at the trial concerning Jesus from the scripture itself. Now, Jesus, on the night in which he was betrayed, he went through five different trials. And frankly, three of them were bogus. They were kangaroo courts. Only two were legitimate. He went through a trial under Annas, and if you read, you'll find out he violated Annas, violated all the rules of evidence according to the Jewish nation itself, let alone the Roman nation. We find out that Caiaphas did the same. He he, in fact, he's challenged by some of the Sanhedrin. Hey, this isn't the way we're supposed to be doing this. You're gonna find out that Pilate finally is brought before the governor, Pilate, who does have legal authority. He is both judge and jury, legally speaking, according to the law of Rome. You find out that Pilate realized this is a hot potato. I don't want to fool with this. So he realizes that he can send him to Herod, the so-called king of the Jews. So he sends him to Herod. Again, just a circus takes place. Herod just is daring Jesus to do a miracle for me. And Jesus won't even speak to him. And finally he mocks him and puts a robe on him and sends him back to Pilate. And then Pilate completes the trial. And we read in John chapter 18, verses 38 and following in 19, three times Pilate makes his judgment. John 18, 38, Pilate said to them, the Sanhedrin and the people, I find no guilt in him. Pilate came out again and said to them, Behold, I am bringing him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. And verse ninth chapter nineteen, verse six So when the chief priest and the officers saw Christ, they cried out, saying, Crucify, crucify. And Pilate said to them, Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him. The Apostle Paul writes to us in Second Corinthians chapter 5, verse 21, for God made Christ who never sinned to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. Romans 5:8 says this God demonstrates his own love toward us, and that while we're yet sinners, Christ died for us. He cried he died in our place. Christ didn't wait for you to get your act together. By the way, you're not capable of getting your act together. While you are still using his name as a curse word, he loved you so much he died in your place. Here's what the scriptural evidence continues to say.

Eyewitnesses And The First Witnesses

Barkef 42:52

In John chapter 20, verses 1 and then 18, we have the record of women being the first witnesses to the resurrection of Christ. Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early in the uh early in the morning to the tomb while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. Mary and Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord. And that he said these things to her. Now what's interesting about this is in that time and place women had no standing in court or in public opinion. So if you're trying to sell a religion based upon a man who supposedly prophesied his death, burial, and resurrection, you're not going to quote women. Why would you do such a thing? In fact, Jesus says itself, even in your law, it has been written that the testimony of two men is true. So why do we have the record of women being The first to see the resurrected Christ because it's true. That's how it went down. And so the apostles recorded for us accurately. Now we find later that Paul is writing to the Corinthians, and in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, he's now giving them that evidence that he knows they will accept. And he says this he appeared to Cephas. He doesn't deny he appeared to the women first. He's just saying, let me tell you some people he did appear to. He appeared to Cephas, that is Peter, then to the twelve. After that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. What's he saying? Some of the eyewitnesses have already passed away. But the vast majority is still around. Go ask him. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared to me, Paul, that is, also. Scriptural evidence is overwhelming. Eyewitness after eyewitness after eyewitness. We even record eyewitnesses that at that time wouldn't have been accepted, yet they were true, and so they were written down. More than five hundred brethren at one time saw the resurrected Christ.

Promises Of Eternal Life Assurance

Barkef 45:23

What about the scriptural promises? Jesus said, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life. That he is the way, the truth, and the life. And no one comes to the Father except by him. There's some time later that some believers are getting confused by some false teachers, and the Apostle John writes a letter to him to just explain to him, hey, don't let anybody fool you. The moment you place your faith, your trust in Christ alone, the Savior, you're his forevermore, and he's yours forevermore. Once saved, always saved. And here's how he writes it. The testimony is this, 1 John 5, 11 through 13, that God has given us eternal life, believer, and this life is in his son. He who has the Son has the life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have currently possess eternal life.

Invitation To Believe And Join Community

Barkef 47:30

Now I'm well aware that some of y'all got dragged in here. Lunch is coming. But I wonder if you've considered the evidence. The evidence that demands a verdict. The evidence is beyond reasonable doubt. Not all doubt. Reasonable doubt. That's why we we practice the great hope. We are gonna see him again. But the evidence for the gospel message being true is beyond reasonable doubt. Did you know that in this country we put people to death as long as we can prove beyond reasonable, not all doubt, reasonable doubt, beyond reasonable doubt. But here we have evidence that you might live forever. If you place your faith, your trust in Christ alone as your Savior, there is no other way. Now perhaps you you've been a believer for a long time, and uh but you don't have a church home, and you know you come at Christmas and Easter. Here we are. Did you know that God's intent is that you would have an abundant life? I don't mean a perfect life. I mean a life to the full. I don't mean a life without struggles, but a life to the full, and then here and now he intends you to have life to the full. I came that I might have life and have it to the full. John 10 10. But you know, he's designed how believers will experience life to the full, even in the midst of their struggles, by being part of a local community of believers, a local church. In fact, Jesus told his disciples on the night in which he betrayed, he says, This a new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you have loved for one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples. He didn't say by this you will be my disciple. No. By this all will know that you have trusted me and you follow me. That's how you're gonna experience the abundant life. Now, if you're a Christmas and Easter Christian, I'm gonna tell you, you're missing out. You have an opportunity, the privilege, the precious opportunity to get to, to experience the fullness of life, even in the midst of all your struggles. You can come be part of a church. If you don't live here, go find one where you are. If you're close enough to drive, give me a break. It's half hour to get to the grocery store. We would love to encourage you in your faith and frankly be encouraged by you and our faith. And in fact, if you're our guest, even if you don't live here, you live somewhere else, and you already have a church home, but but there's some things you heard this morning that encourage you. We have a gift for you. This is More Than a Carpenter, written by Josh McDonald. If you had this book, you'd hurt your arm picking it up on a regular basis. So he wrote a smaller one. It's uh More Than a Carpenter. We also have the Gospel of John in the small form. It's the Gospel of John, the same thing that you'd have in a big old Bible. It's just the Gospel of John. See, the scripture says, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. I believe if you'll read the Gospel of John with sincerity of heart, you just pray, God, if you're real, if Jesus is real, let me know. You read through the Gospel of John a few times. I truly believe that the Holy Spirit will grab your heart, and you'll know. You'll know that you know that you know it's true. I also have a little track in here, just a little further explanation, important verses. You've heard me quote some verses concerning the gospel message. We'd love for you to have that.

Free Resources And Closing Prayer

Barkef 51:47

So I'm gonna pray for us, and then there's gonna be a couple of songs. I'm actually gonna go out those doors, and when you go out those doors, if you go directly to your left, I have a whole tray full of these. And if you're our guests, we'd love to give this to you for free. Even if you're never coming back, it's okay. We'd like you to have it to be encouraged in your faith. Will you stand and pray with me?