WEBVTT 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:06.959 Welcome to the MetaCurch Podcast. 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.080 My name's Clayton. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:10.320 I'm the pastor here at MetaCurch. 00:00:10.400 --> 00:00:17.920 And my hope is that today's podcast finds you at the perfect time in your life that God uses it to inspire and enlighten you. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:20.559 I hope that you enjoy today's message. 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:28.000 Well, uh, I want to welcome you to Easter weekend. 00:00:28.160 --> 00:00:29.120 I am so excited. 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:34.560 I'm excited for what God is going to do in this growing movement now in two locations. 00:00:34.719 --> 00:00:38.000 We've got seven services across our two venues. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.240 God is moving in such incredible ways. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:48.479 And uh so wherever people get the message from this weekend, here at Holodas, here at Petrenko, man, I just pray that God will use it in a very powerful way. 00:00:48.719 --> 00:00:51.280 If you're new to MetaCurch, my name is Clayton. 00:00:51.359 --> 00:00:53.200 I'm the lead pastor here at Meta. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:54.719 I'm so glad you joined us. 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:03.920 Uh, MetaCurch was planted to be a movement for everyone at all different walks of your life, all different parts of your faith journey. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:09.599 So if you are here and you're a seasoned believer, you follow Jesus for a long time, you are in the right place. 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:11.120 We dig into the word here. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:13.519 You'll be challenged and encouraged by the word. 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:23.359 If you are an unbeliever, you are a skeptic, you're not sure where you fall or what you think about the claims of Christianity, you are also in the right place. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:28.000 And my prayer is that you would really lean into what God might have for you today. 00:01:28.159 --> 00:01:30.879 In this series, we're doing something a little bit unique. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:38.159 We are not just starting as the church, as believers, assuming that what we believe is correct. 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.040 We are digging in and making cases for it. 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:51.120 We've done that all series long, and really kind of the key of what we're trying to ask in this series is is this all just make-believe? 00:01:51.519 --> 00:02:02.000 The majority of the world at this point has either been unreached by the good news of Jesus or is just unconvinced by the claims that we make about Jesus. 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:08.240 And so it's on us, scripture actually encourages us to be prepared to make a defense for the faith that we hold. 00:02:08.400 --> 00:02:11.599 Is this all just make-believe if you've missed the series? 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.159 And week one, we started with the person of Jesus. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:21.520 We asked, is Jesus just another myth, or is he what he claimed to be, Messiah, God's final king? 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:29.360 In week two, last week, we looked at the brutal reality of crucifixion and what Christians claim about the crucifixion of Jesus. 00:02:29.439 --> 00:02:32.879 And we tried to decipher what is fact and what is fiction. 00:02:32.960 --> 00:02:36.479 And, you know, we're here celebrating Easter, and so it shouldn't surprise you. 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.439 Today we're gonna take a turn towards the resurrection. 00:02:39.520 --> 00:02:48.719 And it isn't uh hyperbole to say that our faith hinges on what happened in that tomb 2,000 years ago. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:53.360 That's the exact point that Paul makes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15. 00:02:53.520 --> 00:03:09.120 He writes, if Christ has not been raised, if there was no resurrection, if Jesus died and stayed dead, if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:14.000 If Jesus is still in the tomb, then your faith is in vain. 00:03:14.159 --> 00:03:14.879 It's useless. 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:16.800 This movement is useless. 00:03:16.960 --> 00:03:20.560 Our faith is useless, all of it is for nothing. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:25.120 If Jesus did not raise from the dead, what are we doing here? 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:27.439 This is what we have to drill into today. 00:03:27.520 --> 00:03:36.080 And so we're gonna look at the resurrection and we're gonna ask whether it is just a hoax or whether it is an actual historical event. 00:03:36.240 --> 00:03:40.000 Is the resurrection hoax or is it history? 00:03:40.240 --> 00:03:44.080 Now, what we've been doing throughout the series is what you would call apologetics. 00:03:44.159 --> 00:03:46.159 That doesn't mean we apologize for our faith. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:47.439 It's based off of the Latin word. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:50.080 That means we make a defense for our faith. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:04:01.759 And typically, when you're trying to discern whether the resurrection is just a hoax that we tell to make ourselves feel better, or whether it's a real historical event that changed the world forever, there's several places that you would go. 00:04:01.919 --> 00:04:04.800 For example, you would look at the historical facts. 00:04:04.879 --> 00:04:17.279 And so throughout this series, we have looked at the best scholars, the best historians, and what we have seen is that both secular and Christian scholars agree that Jesus of Nazareth was a real person. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:21.839 He really traveled as a traveling preacher, he really claimed to do miracles. 00:04:22.000 --> 00:04:28.240 We know as a fact of history that Jesus of Nazareth was killed, crucified on a Roman cross. 00:04:28.480 --> 00:04:43.519 And what the majority of historians, Christian and non-Christian, agree on is that a few days later, the tomb that he was buried in, and we know the tomb, it belonged to Joseph of Arimathea, a very wealthy and very well-known man in the first century. 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:46.480 That tomb came up empty. 00:04:47.360 --> 00:05:07.360 And so there's a lot of conversations you can have if you really are dug in as an atheist, a hardcore skeptic, you don't believe the claims of Christianity, but I will let you know that out of all the robust conversations we can have, and I love having those because I think we have really good answers to them, but your biggest problem is the historical fact of an empty tomb. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:16.079 That a massive crowd of people watched Jesus die, they knew where he was buried, and then he wasn't there anymore. 00:05:16.319 --> 00:05:24.959 And so, for some people, if you are uh an atheist or even just a materialist, which means I have no category for the supernatural, I don't believe in the metaphysical. 00:05:25.120 --> 00:05:28.240 If I can't explain it through rational science, then it doesn't exist. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:31.680 For you, you have to come up with an answer. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.879 And so there are some answers that people give to the empty tomb. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:42.879 There are theories of what happened, and often that's the apologetic you'll make, and a lot of people have answered that, including myself, last Easter. 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:49.040 So if you want to go and look at the theories of what happened to the missing body, then you can then you can go back and go to our YouTube and go to last Easter. 00:05:49.120 --> 00:05:52.639 And I answer all of those questions, and I think, you know, perhaps like I did a pretty good job. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:05:54.319 So you can go back and look at that. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:06:09.839 This Easter, the Lord has led me to do something a little bit different because the other thing you do to make a positive case for the resurrection of Jesus is you look at the historical account, especially in the gospels of the New Testament, and you look at what believers in Jesus said. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:12.240 And so you might go to someone like Thomas. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:20.560 Thomas was a disciple of Jesus, but after Jesus died, Thomas did not believe he had resurrected until Jesus walked into the room. 00:06:21.040 --> 00:06:26.720 And when Jesus walked in the room, Thomas fell on his knees and he he cried out, My Lord and my God. 00:06:28.160 --> 00:06:37.360 Thomas, a Jewish man, called Jesus, another Jewish man, Yahweh, the one true God, not only claiming his resurrection, but that he was God in human flesh. 00:06:37.519 --> 00:06:41.920 We can go to the testimony of believers, but we're not gonna do that today. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:48.000 Today I want to go to one of the most interesting passages in the whole New Testament. 00:06:48.240 --> 00:07:01.600 And what's so interesting is we're gonna all put ourselves in the shoes, not of one of the believers in the resurrection, but in someone who was a skeptic, in fact, a non-believer in the resurrection. 00:07:01.759 --> 00:07:09.279 Not a thousand years after Jesus died, not a hundred years after Jesus died, but just within months of Jesus dying. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.720 We're gonna be camped out in the book of Acts, chapter five. 00:07:12.800 --> 00:07:16.959 Uh, this is the first book in the New Testament after the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:21.439 It's also unique because one of the gospel writers also wrote the book of Acts. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:29.600 So Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke, and he wrote Acts, which is the history of the early church, and the early church was coming under persecution. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:30.319 Imagine this. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:31.839 You're in Jerusalem. 00:07:32.079 --> 00:07:36.639 It's not a huge city, it's not a hugely populated city. 00:07:36.800 --> 00:07:44.399 And in this one city, you have the religious elite, and these are the men who conspired to kill Jesus. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:52.000 And can you imagine their disappointment when after Jesus died, his following began to grow? 00:07:52.639 --> 00:07:56.800 And so the apostles who were the disciples of Jesus, you remember the 12 disciples? 00:07:56.959 --> 00:07:59.199 They became the apostles who started the church. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:03.839 The apostles are preaching the gospel, the good news of Jesus, every chance they get. 00:08:04.000 --> 00:08:07.519 And they're not hiding and doing it, they're doing it right out in public. 00:08:07.680 --> 00:08:12.720 And so these two sides begin colliding over and over and over again. 00:08:12.800 --> 00:08:14.240 And I want to give you a little bit of context. 00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:21.680 So in Acts chapter 5, verse 12, it says, Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles. 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.720 They were all together in Solomon's colonnade. 00:08:24.879 --> 00:08:29.040 No one else dared to join them, but the people spoke well of them. 00:08:29.279 --> 00:08:33.840 And believers were added to the Lord in increasing numbers. 00:08:34.159 --> 00:08:37.440 Multitudes of both men and women. 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:39.840 Why did they kill Jesus? 00:08:40.480 --> 00:08:44.240 Well, they killed Jesus in part to stop his movement. 00:08:44.480 --> 00:08:46.000 He was gaining popularity. 00:08:46.159 --> 00:08:48.480 People were flocking to his teaching. 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:57.679 They killed him, and on the other side of death, multitudes of men and women are coming and believing the claims of Jesus. 00:08:57.840 --> 00:08:59.200 And this is a real problem. 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:03.759 And if you're paying attention to the text, what did that middle verse say? 00:09:03.919 --> 00:09:09.759 It said the people were speaking well of the apostles, but they did not dare to join them. 00:09:10.559 --> 00:09:14.399 They knew well enough, it's not even like complicated math. 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:23.840 It's like these guys killed Jesus, and now Jesus' followers are seeming to do everything they can to piss off the guys who killed Jesus. 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:28.080 You know, it's like simple math of like, this seems kind of like a bad idea. 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:32.240 And in fact, they were running into problems all the time, just a few verses later in verse 17. 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:38.480 It says, and the high priest rose up, he and all who were with him, who belonged to the party of the Sadducees, they were filled with jealousy. 00:09:38.559 --> 00:09:42.399 And so they arrested the apostles and they put them in public jail. 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:46.720 And this was just becoming status quo for the apostles. 00:09:46.879 --> 00:09:56.240 It's like we raise up, we do whatever God calls us to do, and then there's always consequences, and we don't really trip out about the consequences because God always shows up. 00:09:56.480 --> 00:10:08.480 And later we see, like as you read through the New Testament, these same apostles, they have this attitude of like, look, until someone kills me, I'm just gonna do what Jesus asks me to do. 00:10:08.720 --> 00:10:15.679 And if somebody kills me, I believe that God will get even more glory for it. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:29.840 I think our text today is really interesting because a lot of times, uh, if you're new with us, what what I try to do is I take a text of scripture and then I'm just I'm just looping everybody into it. 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:33.039 And so if you're a believer in Jesus, I'm looping you into it. 00:10:33.200 --> 00:10:35.440 If you're not a believer in Jesus, I'm looping you into it. 00:10:35.840 --> 00:10:42.480 Today's text has these two sections, and they both speak very uniquely to those two sides. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:54.240 And in the front part of this passage, this historical account of the persecution of our forebearers in the movement of Jesus, our forebearers in the church. 00:10:54.480 --> 00:10:59.919 It is deeply convicting to those of us who have put our faith in Jesus. 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:08.240 As we're reading not only about what they are going through, but about their disposition towards it. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:19.840 If you're a follower of Jesus, I want you to do what I've had to do for the last two weeks studying this passage and go, do I see this attitude reflected in my own life? 00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:26.000 Do I see this courage present in our current generation of Christians? 00:11:26.960 --> 00:11:31.840 Do I see this fearlessness displayed in the church in America? 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:40.639 You see, what happens is they're like, we're gonna do what Jesus tells us to, and then Jesus is just gonna take care of us. 00:11:40.960 --> 00:11:46.000 And and you know, this Jesus who we're gonna follow, we all watched him die. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:48.720 And then we hung out with him later. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.039 So, what's the worst they're going to do? 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:52.320 Kill us? 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:59.519 We quit being afraid of that when our leader walked out of his own tomb. 00:12:00.000 --> 00:12:03.200 And so they show up and they're preaching and they put them in jail. 00:12:03.519 --> 00:12:14.879 And in verse 19, it says, An angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail during that night and brought them out and said, Go and stand in the temple and tell the people all about this life. 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:19.519 And hearing this, they entered the temple at daybreak and they began to teach. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:34.960 Now, a lot of times we feel like these minor forms of persecution, you know, it's like, man, I started following Jesus, and so it's like I'm not doing that anymore, I'm not smoking that anymore, I'm not acting like that anymore, I'm not behaving like that, and my friends they won't even be friends with me anymore. 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:42.879 And man, I hope that God is like storing up some jewels in my crown, bro, because I'm out here suffering persecution for the Lord. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:45.279 And look, suffering is scalable, and it is tough, man. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:50.879 When you start losing things and losing opportunity and losing dates and losing friends, it's very difficult. 00:12:51.200 --> 00:12:57.519 But here's what's so interesting is like they get put in jail, and the Lord comes and rescues them. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:03.759 And in my mind, if I'm in the jail, I'm like, you got me out of this one, you know? 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:05.440 Where are we going now? 00:13:06.080 --> 00:13:06.960 Far away? 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.879 Like, that's where I want to go. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:13.679 The angel of the Lord is like, jail's open. 00:13:14.799 --> 00:13:16.320 Let's go right back. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:20.399 I mean, identically, to the spot they just arrested you. 00:13:20.639 --> 00:13:24.080 It's like, okay, we'll go back there, but we're gonna behave, right? 00:13:24.559 --> 00:13:31.039 It's like, no, I want you to go stand exactly where you were, and then I want you to do exactly what you were doing. 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.200 And they don't hesitate. 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:39.759 I'm telling you the first century Christians, they were just built different. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:45.279 And because they were built different, they saw different things. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:48.559 They saw miracles during their time. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:14:00.559 They saw Jesus move and change, not just person by person, but family by family, city by city, sweeping movements of the Holy Spirit. 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:11.360 But their attitude and their disposition towards life and what they valued and how they thought it was very, very, very different than what we see in our lives today. 00:14:12.639 --> 00:14:16.240 And you behave differently, you see different results. 00:14:16.720 --> 00:14:18.159 And we want revival. 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:28.879 We keep talking about it, we want revival, we want to see it in our lives, we want to see it in our families, we want to see it in our neighborhoods, we want to see it in our city, we want to see it in our country, we want to see it in our world. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:34.320 But are we willing to behave differently to see different results? 00:14:35.360 --> 00:14:38.399 They're imprisoned for their faith and they're let out. 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:51.840 And and and the next passage is hilarious because the high priest shows up and he he gathers all the religious leaders, the whole Sanhedrin, all of these guys who had Jesus killed, and he gets them all together, and he has no idea they've escaped from jail yet. 00:14:52.000 --> 00:14:59.679 And so he brings them together, and everyone gathers, and all the men, and the high priest is like, now that we've cut these fools, what are we gonna do about it? 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:02.879 He has no idea they're already out of jail. 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:12.559 And so they just start this conversation, like, well, you know, we gotta be careful because a lot of people really like them, and so we gotta tread carefully, but we gotta silence them for sure because they're causing us lots of problems. 00:15:12.799 --> 00:15:19.679 Somebody rushes in to the Sanhedrin, interrupts the high priest, and is like, they're out. 00:15:20.320 --> 00:15:22.320 They broke out of jail. 00:15:22.559 --> 00:15:26.320 If you're the high priest, you're like, we will never see these fools again. 00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.600 By this point, they are halfway across the country. 00:15:29.840 --> 00:15:33.840 They are dug out, hidden so well, we'll never see them again. 00:15:34.320 --> 00:15:37.600 The guy who brought the news is like, Oh, you haven't heard? 00:15:39.200 --> 00:15:40.639 They're not hiding. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:49.600 They're in the temple, they're in your house, preaching the name of Jesus. 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:57.120 The high priest obviously is infuriated, so he goes and he has them rounded up in verse 27 after they brought them in. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:04.480 They had them stand before the Sanhedrin, and the high priest asked, Didn't we strictly order you not to teach in his name? 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:11.519 Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood. 00:16:11.679 --> 00:16:14.639 The poor religious leaders are living in groundhog day. 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:23.600 It's like, show up to the temple, they're preaching in the temple, arrest them, put them in jail, go to sleep, wake up, go to the temple, they're preaching in the temple, arrest them again. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:25.600 Like on and on it goes. 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:28.720 It's so interesting, too. 00:16:28.960 --> 00:16:30.159 What are they mad about? 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:35.600 You're preaching this, and you're gonna make us guilty of the blood of Jesus. 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:44.080 They're not mad that the apostles are teaching lies, they're mad that the apostles are telling the truth. 00:16:45.600 --> 00:16:48.080 They are guilty of the blood of Jesus. 00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:52.000 They are the ones who conspired to have him crucified. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.279 This is the nightmare of living with a guilty conscience. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:02.559 This is the nightmare of living trying to manage a lot of lies. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:11.119 When you are living with a guilty conscience, you have to be mad, not that people are lying, that they start telling truths that are inconvenient to you. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:18.160 These are the religious leaders, and they have to find a way to silence these guys, but they have to be careful. 00:17:18.799 --> 00:17:30.000 And you know, somewhere in the back of their mind, they're like, we thought we were gonna get rid of Jesus by executing this guy, and now even more people are following him and putting their faith in him. 00:17:30.319 --> 00:17:31.440 And so, what are we gonna do? 00:17:31.599 --> 00:17:32.720 So they bring him back in. 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:34.960 Didn't we tell you? 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:37.039 Has anybody ever had a toddler? 00:17:37.279 --> 00:17:42.079 Toddlers are so interesting because you don't really know how to be mad at them, but you're definitely mad at them, you know? 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:44.079 Because a baby can't really be bad. 00:17:44.240 --> 00:17:46.559 Like they cry and they don't let you sleep and everything. 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:47.759 But they're not bad. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.359 They're not like morally bad. 00:17:49.440 --> 00:17:50.640 They're innocent, you know? 00:17:50.799 --> 00:17:59.039 And then it's not like one day, all of a sudden, there's just like a floating label over their head, like capable of evil, you know. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:02.000 It's just like it just happens and you're not really ready for it. 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:08.480 But you know it happens because they can like hear you and they can kind of talk too, and you're like, hey, don't do that. 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:10.640 And they're like, mm-hmm, ah yeah. 00:18:10.880 --> 00:18:16.079 And then you leave for four minutes and come back, and they're it's like, didn't I tell you? 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.319 Like, we just had this conversation, it's so frustrating. 00:18:20.559 --> 00:18:23.920 And the high priest is like, didn't we tell you like yesterday? 00:18:24.160 --> 00:18:26.720 Put you in prison like yesterday. 00:18:28.240 --> 00:18:39.119 It's worth noting that the apostles, Acts talks all about the apostles, they are the same men in the gospels who are the disciples. 00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:45.519 It's the same Peter, it's the same John, it's the same James, it's the same exact guys. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:19:00.240 And what is so interesting if you read the Gospels and you read straight into the book of Acts is that even at the very end of the Gospels, the disciples, these same men, they're all cowards. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:10.799 Jesus, who they have like pledged their lives to, gets arrested in the garden and they all run for their lives. 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:18.799 Peter, who is closest to him, denies him publicly three different times to save his own skin. 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:25.039 What's interesting is the disciples in the gospels are often foolish. 00:19:26.240 --> 00:19:27.599 They're scared of everything. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:31.359 The God of the universe is in their boat and they're scared of a little bit of wind. 00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.160 They get the answers wrong like all of the time. 00:19:34.319 --> 00:19:37.440 They put their feet in their own mouth all of the time. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:39.680 And then you get to act. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:45.440 And these men who were cowards are just overflowing with courage. 00:19:46.319 --> 00:19:50.559 These men who were foolish are overflowing with wisdom. 00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:58.960 These men who seem to never be able to get it right are now just walking in perfect obedience to Christ. 00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:03.200 And the difference is obvious. 00:20:03.519 --> 00:20:05.839 The difference is Easter. 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:09.519 The difference is the resurrection. 00:20:10.799 --> 00:20:13.599 That is the turning point of their life. 00:20:13.839 --> 00:20:17.759 They became courageous because they now had nothing left to fear. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:24.319 The ultimate fear, death itself, had been vanquished by Jesus, and they were eyewitnesses to it. 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.839 They were filled with the wisdom of Christ. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:31.200 And they submitted their lives to him fully. 00:20:31.920 --> 00:20:34.880 I want to show you how fearless they are. 00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.839 What are they being accused of? 00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:46.480 You're preaching about Jesus, and we told you to stop, and part of how you preach about Jesus is you blame us for crucifying him. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:51.119 You're making us guilty of his blood in front of the whole nation. 00:20:51.359 --> 00:20:52.880 That's what they're accused of. 00:20:53.440 --> 00:20:54.880 Here's the next verse. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:03.039 Peter and the apostles replied, We must obey God rather than people. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:07.920 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead. 00:21:08.160 --> 00:21:10.319 You don't want me to talk about that? 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:23.440 God, the same God you guys serve, Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, that same God that you love, that you serve, that you've committed your life, raised up Jesus for the dead. 00:21:23.599 --> 00:21:26.079 By the way, shots fired. 00:21:26.319 --> 00:21:28.640 Whom you have murdered. 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:33.519 It's like the two things that they're like, whatever you do, you just can't do these. 00:21:33.599 --> 00:21:37.119 Those two things are like, that's exactly what we're going to do. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:43.039 Jesus is alive, and the only reason he's dead is because you killed him. 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:50.799 Believers, I'm I'm asking for us to try and find ourselves in this text. 00:21:55.440 --> 00:21:59.759 I'll be frank, it's easy for me to find myself in the life of the disciples. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:09.920 Scared, screwing things up, not having the right answers, foolish, sinful. 00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:12.319 And we find some comfort in that. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:13.599 And we even we say that. 00:22:13.680 --> 00:22:16.559 It's like we are a movement that comes and we get brutally honest. 00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:17.920 We do not have all the answers. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:20.000 We are all jacked up in our own ways. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.279 But we were created on purpose and with purpose. 00:22:23.359 --> 00:22:25.519 And the Holy Spirit of God lives inside of us. 00:22:25.680 --> 00:22:34.720 And so the fact of our honesty cannot become an excuse that holds us back from our sanctification and maturing in Christ and who He created us to be. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:37.359 It's easy for me to see myself and the disciples. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:39.119 What about the apostles? 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:43.599 It's like the only difference is the resurrection. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:48.319 That is the dividing line between who they were and who they became. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:49.519 Fearless. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:23:04.079 Church, if we had a fraction of a fraction of the courage and clarity and determination and urgency that the apostles had, we would see revival sweep our world. 00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:06.400 And what's the difference? 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.079 It's the same difference between who they were and who they became. 00:23:10.319 --> 00:23:11.839 It's resurrection. 00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:17.200 For us, Easter is an event. 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:21.920 For them, Easter was a lifestyle. 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:26.640 For us, Easter happens once a year and on different days. 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:27.839 And I'll and it's like, why? 00:23:28.000 --> 00:23:29.519 It was March last year, and now it's April. 00:23:29.599 --> 00:23:30.319 And a lot of people don't know. 00:23:30.480 --> 00:23:32.400 And it's the lunar calendar, and we're trying to match Passover. 00:23:32.480 --> 00:23:33.920 And they don't do that in the East, but we do that in the West. 00:23:34.160 --> 00:23:37.039 And it's like, does Easter move, did Jesus raise on different days? 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:39.599 Like if it was a different year, and he didn't, and it's confusing. 00:23:39.759 --> 00:23:42.640 But what we know is Easter's coming. 00:23:43.039 --> 00:23:44.240 That's how we mark it. 00:23:44.400 --> 00:23:48.400 It's like, hey, it's April 1st, but on April 20th, Easter's coming. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:52.480 Easter, this thing, this event, this once a year. 00:23:53.759 --> 00:24:04.160 If the apostles just like walked into our churches today, would they recognize our attitude and our disposition? 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.160 Would they recognize my outlook on life? 00:24:11.599 --> 00:24:23.519 If I named off the things that I'm worried about, my guess is the apostles would go, whoa, what wait, you haven't heard about Easter? 00:24:25.759 --> 00:24:27.839 And we're like, no, we know Easter. 00:24:28.079 --> 00:24:30.160 Easter half as it have is in the spring. 00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:31.680 Uh we wear pastels. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:40.400 It's like blue but not dark blue, and like pink, but not bright pink, and green, and but not dark green. 00:24:40.559 --> 00:24:46.240 It's like you wear your pastels, and uh, you know, in San Antonio we crack eggs on each other's heads. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:47.759 Like, we know what Easter is. 00:24:49.279 --> 00:24:52.960 They're like, no, no, no, not a day. 00:24:54.319 --> 00:24:58.240 It's like it's Easter every day. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.200 It's like you're you're worried. 00:25:04.079 --> 00:25:04.799 Can you imagine? 00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:07.119 Okay, I'm just, I'm living in hypotheticals now. 00:25:07.279 --> 00:25:15.759 It's like, can you imagine the apostles who just all were dirt poor and gave up everything, including their lives, because they saw Jesus walk out of a grave? 00:25:16.000 --> 00:25:21.440 And and and if they took a time machine to today when we have air conditioning? 00:25:22.400 --> 00:25:34.240 And we're like, I don't know, my my 401k, the tariffs and the 401k, and they'd be like, Y'all are worried about your money? 00:25:37.039 --> 00:25:38.480 Y'all haven't heard? 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:45.920 Jesus died and walked out of his own grave. 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:49.359 What else matters? 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:57.200 It's like, well, my marriage, I'm like my marriage is really frustrating, and I mean it's it's obviously all her fault, you know, and like she's wrong about it. 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:58.319 It's like, really? 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:10.559 Like Jesus literally died because of how much sin you have done, and you cannot die a little bit to your pride to take your marriage and use it as an instrument to build God's kingdom. 00:26:16.079 --> 00:26:18.160 I I just want to say it because I feel it. 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.680 Like I'm I'm preaching at me. 00:26:23.759 --> 00:26:28.960 What you're experiencing right now is the conviction I have been under from this text. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:35.519 And I want to see revival in my lifetime. 00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:47.519 And I want to see our world that grows increasingly hopeless by the day come into contact with the only hope that is actually on offer through Jesus Christ. 00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:53.119 And if you want to see something different, you have to be something different. 00:26:54.480 --> 00:27:04.160 And I'm not sure I can read what's happening in Acts and find a whole lot of overlay to what's happening in Western Christianity. 00:27:05.839 --> 00:27:08.480 I think if, like, the day might come, right? 00:27:08.640 --> 00:27:10.000 Because things change. 00:27:10.240 --> 00:27:13.279 All over the world, people are imprisoned because of their faith. 00:27:13.359 --> 00:27:17.039 They're preaching the name of Jesus and they're put in chains and they're hauled off to jail. 00:27:17.200 --> 00:27:24.319 Like, if that were to happen in America, how would American Christians respond? 00:27:28.000 --> 00:27:32.079 I think we would respond like Americans and not like Christians. 00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:36.720 I think we would be offended. 00:27:38.079 --> 00:27:43.119 I think we would trust our lawyers more than our Savior. 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:48.640 And so, what's it going to take? 00:27:50.240 --> 00:27:55.279 There's a reason in the first century people took the gospel seriously. 00:27:56.319 --> 00:28:04.480 Like the gospel is if you're outside the faith, you're unconvinced that we're separated from a perfect God because of our imperfection. 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:07.759 Our sin separates us from God, but God is love. 00:28:07.920 --> 00:28:08.640 He is just. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:13.680 He's perfectly just, so he can't be in the presence of sinners, but he's perfectly love. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:24.960 And in his love, he came down to our world and put on human flesh and lived in our pain and experienced our brokenness and never sinned and was the perfect sacrifice and traded his life for our own. 00:28:25.119 --> 00:28:33.039 And when it seemed like it was all finished, Jesus, three days later, walked out of his own grave. 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:37.920 It's not a hoax, it's not a fairy tale, it is historically what happened. 00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:40.960 You may not believe it, I will put my life on it. 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:46.319 Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, 2,000 years ago, walked out of his grave. 00:28:51.839 --> 00:29:01.839 And people took that message seriously because the people preaching that message lived every day like it was true. 00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:09.680 And I don't know how convincing of a message it is. 00:29:10.960 --> 00:29:18.960 My God defeated death itself, and I can't function because of a presidential election. 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:29.279 My Savior walked out of his own grave and has promised that I will never experience true death. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:34.640 And I am crippled because I didn't get enough likes on my last Instagram post. 00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:45.200 I think people will start taking the resurrection seriously when we start taking the resurrection seriously. 00:29:46.480 --> 00:29:50.559 When it's not an event, it is a lifestyle. 00:29:50.960 --> 00:29:54.400 When it is not once a year, when it is every day. 00:29:54.640 --> 00:30:03.039 When it isn't a story, it is a mandate for us to submit our lives to the king who exited his own tomb. 00:30:03.279 --> 00:30:05.920 And whatever he says, we do it. 00:30:08.079 --> 00:30:10.640 And we here's what we're doing. 00:30:11.200 --> 00:30:12.240 I didn't write any of this. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:13.200 I didn't, I wasn't gonna preach. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:15.920 I haven't gotten to my text I want to talk about today. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:25.920 We have a generation of Christians, and they're taking scripture and they're studying it. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:35.359 Not to find out who Christ has called them to be, they're studying it to find loopholes to the sins they want to keep committing. 00:30:38.640 --> 00:30:40.240 I've studied it like that. 00:30:42.000 --> 00:30:45.599 I took like nine months to prepare, probably for the hardest series I ever preached here. 00:30:46.400 --> 00:30:47.519 You know what I was looking for? 00:30:47.680 --> 00:30:49.839 It was like, do I have to get up and say it? 00:30:51.200 --> 00:30:53.200 Do I have to get up and draw hard lines? 00:30:57.200 --> 00:31:01.440 The world will take the resurrection seriously when they see it on display every day in our life. 00:31:01.839 --> 00:31:04.160 The apostle Paul was the greatest missionary. 00:31:04.720 --> 00:31:07.039 I production, I'm sorry, I don't know where I'm going. 00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:08.799 He was the greatest missionary. 00:31:10.079 --> 00:31:13.839 We read in 2 Corinthians, he talks about what he went through. 00:31:14.079 --> 00:31:16.079 He was beaten over and over and over again. 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:17.759 They tried to stone him to death. 00:31:17.920 --> 00:31:20.000 He was shipwrecked multiple times. 00:31:20.240 --> 00:31:21.440 You know what that means? 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:27.119 It means he showed up in your town to do spiritual warfare with whatever gods you were holding on to. 00:31:27.200 --> 00:31:33.119 And yes, if if you haven't put your faith in the one true God, you have your own gods, they're just ruining your life, not building your life. 00:31:33.279 --> 00:31:36.079 They'll only leave you in hell here and after this life. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:41.200 The one true God has come to do spiritual battle with whatever little G God you currently possess. 00:31:41.519 --> 00:31:58.000 So Paul would show up and he would preach something no one had ever heard before, and everywhere he went, they took him seriously because he literally bore the marks, the scars, the wounds that professed his wounds on his body, cried out. 00:31:58.240 --> 00:32:00.559 I take this seriously. 00:32:01.039 --> 00:32:02.880 The resurrection is real. 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.400 You think I'm living like this for a fairy tale? 00:32:11.599 --> 00:32:14.880 I see the apostles, and they're they're letting him know. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:20.799 Don't talk about Jesus and don't put his blood on us. 00:32:21.279 --> 00:32:24.319 And they say, Look, God raised up Jesus, you guys killed him. 00:32:24.640 --> 00:32:26.079 We're not stopping. 00:32:26.319 --> 00:32:29.039 And as you can imagine, this didn't go over well. 00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:34.640 In verse 33, when they heard this, they were enraged and they wanted to kill them. 00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:35.599 And of course they did. 00:32:35.920 --> 00:32:38.880 The apostles know the game, they know what's happening here. 00:32:39.119 --> 00:32:41.119 They just killed Jesus. 00:32:41.359 --> 00:32:43.440 They're standing in front of the same men. 00:32:44.079 --> 00:32:47.519 Now they're enraged, they want their own blood, and they would have got it. 00:32:47.680 --> 00:32:59.279 But verse 34 starts with, but but a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered the men to be taken outside for a little while. 00:32:59.440 --> 00:33:00.240 Here it is. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:07.200 We're not gonna plant ourselves in the testimony of believers, we're going to plant ourselves in the testimony of a skeptic. 00:33:07.359 --> 00:33:11.680 Gamaliel, he did not believe in the resurrection, he did not believe in Jesus. 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:15.279 He was one of the most respected men in the Sanhedrin. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:16.319 He was a Pharisee. 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:21.759 Now, he didn't have the highest position, which is probably why he was so well respected. 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:29.200 Because in broken bureaucracies, to get to the highest position, you gotta play the game and you lose a lot of respect. 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:35.119 The reason he had so much respect is because he was wise and he was consistent and he was honest. 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:42.400 And even if you're not a believer in Jesus, you should aspire to be wise and consistent and honest. 00:33:42.720 --> 00:33:44.960 He stops, he demonstrates his influence. 00:33:45.119 --> 00:33:48.880 He doesn't actually have the rank to do this, but he sends the apostles out. 00:33:49.119 --> 00:33:50.880 And here is his hesitation. 00:33:51.119 --> 00:33:57.200 He said to them, Men of Israel, be careful about what you're about to do to these men. 00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:00.640 Some time ago, Theodus rose up, claiming to be somebody. 00:34:00.799 --> 00:34:02.880 A group of about 400 men rallied to him. 00:34:03.039 --> 00:34:06.640 He was killed, and all his followers were dispersed, and they came to nothing. 00:34:06.799 --> 00:34:14.320 And after this man, Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and attracted a following, and he also perished, and all of his followers were scattered. 00:34:14.480 --> 00:34:18.239 So here's what he's doing, because we're very far removed from this context. 00:34:18.400 --> 00:34:36.320 He's reminding them that in the last couple of centuries, throughout the history of Israel, men have risen up and they have made claims to be the Messiah, and people have listened, and they've attracted a following, and they made a little bit of noise, and then given a little bit of time, they came to nothing. 00:34:37.679 --> 00:34:38.880 What's he saying? 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:43.920 Implicitly, he's reminding them that this thing with Jesus, it's a little more intense. 00:34:44.239 --> 00:34:46.800 It ended with a crucifixion during Passover. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:50.559 It's a little more recent, but it's not new. 00:34:50.800 --> 00:34:58.000 It's like there have been so many men who have risen up and gotten a little bit of a following, and if you just give it time, it dies out. 00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:00.079 He makes this point explicitly. 00:35:00.239 --> 00:35:13.840 He says, So in the present case, I tell you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, for if this plan or this work is of human origin, you can bet it will fail. 00:35:14.320 --> 00:35:16.000 Have you ever heard the phrase? 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:26.559