He is risen. All right, there. Let's take a moment once again and turn our hearts to the Lord. Father, thank you for bringing us together this morning.
Thank you for the Lord Jesus our Savior, that He lives and we can come and rejoice in His life, His resurrected life and the life that He has given to us. And Father, as we've just been singing, behold, He comes. We look forward to that day when we see Him coming and all of our hopes, all of our desires will be fulfilled in that moment when we are with Him forever. We look to you this morning for help as we look into your word.
May you speak to our hearts and may it not be just me with idle words, Lord, but may it be the Word of God and the working of the Holy Spirit that penetrates our hearts, that we may see the Lord Jesus Christ and may we worship Him, may sinners be converted and turned to Him. May they come to see Him as the only Savior of the world and may they come to see Him as their only Savior and rejoice in that. Thank you in Jesus' name, amen. I'm excited to hear on Good Friday of a lady who was sitting in an audience like this hearing a message and she went to church for 30 years.
It's out there for 30 years and heard the message and everybody in the place, perhaps even including herself, thought that she was a believer and it dawned on her. She had never personally come to accept the Savior as her own and right there on Good Friday morning sitting in a seat. She came to trust the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. That can happen for you today if you don't know Him.
So what does Easter mean to you? What is it about? I have to say, growing up, we didn't give a lot of thought to Easter as part of the death burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus. In our home, you always got a stuffed bunny, a chocolate bunny and a bunch of sugary eggs that probably is why I have a mouthful of fillings.
So that's kind of what we did in our home. I actually grew up in a place where the gospel was preached and so on, but we didn't talk about it at Easter time. Now there's a reason for that because we came this morning and I'll tell you, being the guy who has to come up, stand up here and give you announcements to kind of make things end, you feel like a bum. I wanted this morning to just go on.
I understand why Paul preached until midnight, the guy fell out the window and he said, bring him back. I got more to say because I felt like we could have gone on this morning. And you know what? That's not the only Sunday morning that I've been here at 930 and felt like it should go on and on.
So if you're missing that, you're missing. But the thing is, every Sunday we come to remember the Lord's death, burial and resurrection. So every Sunday is kind of an Easter Sunday for us. And so I understand why, perhaps there was no real mention of it, but I look at it and think it's a great opportunity to proclaim to the whole world.
And for me, I think after I came to know Christ, it's a great opportunity to spend a whole weekend thinking, thinking and thinking about the cross, the tomb and the empty tomb and my living hope. It's about the resurrection of Jesus Christ from a now empty tomb near Jerusalem. Now there are people who think that it's that garden tomb. Perhaps it is.
I don't know. There are some who have been there. John, I know you've been there. There's others here who have been there.
And it's amazing to see it. It's amazing to see this empty tomb. Whether that's the actual one or not, it doesn't matter. There is one like that somewhere if it's not the one.
I was reading this morning as number of gentlemen shared on Matthew, chapter 28, and there's a little story towards the end that says that the guards who were scared to death came and said, okay, we got a story to tell you. Here's what happened. And this is the real story what happened. And we fell over dead and then all of a sudden there's no body.
It's gone. So they went to the leaders and the temples and look, you know what, guys, you're supposed to pay for this with your life. But instead what we're going to do, we're going to give you some money. And here's the story you're going to tell everybody.
Middle of the night, we dozed off, disciples came, stole a body and we don't know where it is. And so they took away all the money and it says that story spread amongst everybody and there's even there to this day. Sometimes I read in the Bible even there to this day. I think that's probably like even there to today.
Because you know what, nobody has ever, ever, ever produced a body. You want to kill a resurrection? They've had 2,000 years to come up with a body and nobody has. Do you know why?
Somebody tell me why. There is nobody. He's not here. He's risen.
And so that has nothing to do with what I was going to preach on today, but I got kind of excited about it as I think about that is what Easter is all about. That is what the resurrection is all about. Now some people say Easter, it's a pagan, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. That's what I say is blah, blah, blah.
I don't really care. You call it what you want. I'm calling this Easter Sunday. I'm calling it Resurrection Sunday.
I'm calling it the greatest hope of all time, the greatest miracle of all time. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. And nothing more needs to be said. You can call it whatever you want.
Even in my home, even though I believe that. And I'm so adamant about that. We still did Easter icons in my home just for fun. But we made sure that the kids do.
Jesus Christ is alive. And you don't just wait until once a year to do that. You do it every single day of your life. You live your life in living hope.
So turn me through me in your Bibles, please, to 1 Peter, chapter 1. I had another message. Halfway's done. And I told a couple of guys, the prayer meeting on Thursday night, and I said, you know, that's not the message.
That might be a message for me, but that's not my message for Sunday morning. It's just not going to be it. What do I do? You feel like you're really like sunk at that moment.
So all of a sudden I'm reading and I thought, there's the word resurrection. That's the message. That's what the Lord wants me to know today. So turn 1 Peter, chapter 1, verses 3 and 4.
Just a short passage to 2 verses. Blessed be, this is from the New American Standard, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you. You know, out of that I looked and I thought, there are four words. There are four words that are coming out of this that struck me about the resurrection.
It brings us four things. I could get more, I suppose, but here are the four that hit me. The other message actually was perfect because it hit three points. This one has four, so, but it brings mercy.
The resurrection brings mercy. It brings life. It brings hope and it assures us of heaven. And I highlighted in that verse where those words are found, mercy born again, which is life, living hope, and reserved in heaven.
So first of all, the resurrection brings mercy. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great mercy. You know, every generation since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, when man first sinned, has paid the price for their sin. And what is that price?
Romans 3 verse 23, Romans 6 verse 23. It says, the wages of sin is death. The wages of sin is death. I have looked, and even with a few people who perhaps haven't died, Enoch, Elijah.
It's very, very rare other than that, so there's a couple of people. But other than that, even if you mix them in, the death rate is 100%. 100% of people die. You are destined for a spot in the ground.
That's what's going to happen to everybody. 107 people a minute, 153,400 a day, 56 million people a year around this world die. Walter Scott said, come, he's slow or come, he's fast. It is but death who comes at last.
Death will come to every single person. It's endless. It's uninterrupted. It's a cruel cycle of life and death.
It just keeps going and going and going. Ecclesiastes chapter 1 verses 2 to 4, it says, vanity of vanities. This is Solomon, the wisest man supposedly who ever lived. Vanity of vanities, says the preacher.
Vanity of vanities, all this vanity. What advantage does a man have in all his work, which he does under the sun? That's on this earth. A generation goes and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
So behind you is another generation. You know, I was really struck when I went down to Cape Breton. My ants moved into a kind of a care facility and they had to, the thing is, when they go in, you're allowed to take a suitcase. That's pretty much it.
They really feel it was a blessing. They were allowed to take their reading lamp and their chair. That's an exceptional thing that they were able to do that. So everything else they've ever owned and accumulated over 90 years.
Over 90 years has been donated, taken away in my car, taken away in somebody else's car, is gone somewhere else. And they're still living. But when they go, they will leave the chair in the lamp and the suitcase behind. And Solomon is saying that man has paid greatly because of sin.
They die. They leave everything behind. And then another generation comes. And you know the funny thing, I got to be careful because I'm on one here.
But my aunt was saying, hey, would you like this? And I'm thinking, not really? There's a lot of things I said, yeah, I'd love to have that. A lot of things I was really thankful for.
But there's some things that just have meaning. And I know I've got junk in my house. I've got a rock collection. Who else has a rock collection?
Stick your hand up. Okay, one other person. You know what? I'll change my will.
So I'm thinking, the day I'm gone, who's going to want those rocks? Who cares? Nobody knows where they came from. Nobody cares.
Precious to me. Worth nothing to the next generation. And that's the endless cycle of life. But you see, here's the...
Well, yeah, let's not get ahead of myself. So one famous actor, I won't say his name, but he said we are here to ruin ourselves, and to be a part of our hearts, to love all the wrong people, and then to die. Wow. How hopeful.
Isn't that great? Because you know what? You might as well exit now if that's what life is all about. No wonder people say I dread the day I was born.
Because if that's the way you look at life, if that's the way it is to you, there is no hope. Life is full of just cruelty, death, that's cycle. Life is merciless. But here's the thing.
And this is my first point. The resurrection brings mercy to us. While life is cruel, while life might seem senseless, the resurrection is merciful. And while it shows that there is a God who wants to break that endless cycle, God wants to interrupt your life and my life and break that cycle.
Rather than let the cycle go on and on and on, he interrupted it with the resurrection. First Corinthians chapter 15, read this morning. Verse 21, you see, just as death came into the world as through one man, Adam, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man, Christ. That's from the NLT.
Peter called God's mercy abundant. And this was from his own personal experience. You know, Peter is an interesting character because this is all recorded at all, all of the gospels. Was that supposed to change?
No, it wasn't. Okay. So in all the gospels, Peter, it's recorded in his denial. First he says, you know what, Lord?
I will die with you. There's no way I'm going to ever deny you. Okay. A few hours later.
Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. Really? I told you, man, I don't know.
And then the third time, I won't say what he said, but get away from me. I never knew. I don't know him. I'm not with him.
Three times. You ever wonder why it's recorded in John? John's writing it. That's probably why he's a faster runner.
But when they came to the tomb, it says that the first disciple ran on ahead and he got there first. Do you think Peter was anxious to see a risen Lord at that point in time after he had just said, ah, yeah, no, I didn't know him. Peter had denied him. He's probably going to the tomb.
Okay. What am I going to say? Okay. I'm sorry.
I denied you. I know you were right. That's what I'll say. You were right.
You were right. I'm sure Peter was just kind of sauntering to the tomb. But you know, when he got there, when he got there, he saw the tomb was empty. Imagine the guilt and the burden and all of this stuff that happened in Peter's life as he kind of walked towards that tomb.
And then there's a story that's a little further on and it's in John 21 verse 7. And here's Peter. He says, okay, he's gone. He's dead.
Life is over. I'm going back to fishing. I'm going back to the boat. And he's out there in the boat and he looks on the shore and he says, it's the Lord.
Puts on his best clothes and jumps in the water and swims the shore to see him. He's so excited because you know why he knew the one who's standing on the shore is filled with mercy, has abundant mercy for him. No longer is he the guilty Peter. He's the forgiven Peter.
God's mercy is great. He had at that point in time, Jesus said, three chances to affirm his love for him. And then he says, feed my sheep, feed my lambs. And John 21.
How about you today? I never feel like you wish you could just hit the escape key on your life or hit control all to leak. Just started all against the cold boot, have it again. Because you feel like, oh, I got so much guilt.
I got so much, I got so much trouble in my life. I would just like to get a restart on my life. God's mercy. Brian Doman said it so eloquently years ago.
Mercy is for the miserable. If you are miserable in your sin, God's abundant mercy is for you. The resurrection of Christ made mercy a possibility for us all. Mercy was a priority for the Lord Jesus.
He said even from the Sermon of the Mountain, Matthew, chapter 5 or 7, blessed are the merciful. They will receive mercy. This is a story told of Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War was over. And some of the Northern generals came to him and says, okay, war is over.
How are we going to treat those southerners now? And he said, you know what? I'm paraphrasing this. I'll treat them like they never left.
I'll treat them like they never left. What great mercy. This Christ will treat you today if you'll come to him like you never left. That's his mercy.
The second thing that the resurrection brings, it brings us life. Now I've not ever quoted from Eugene Peterson's The Message before, and this is probably the only time I will, but it's not my favorite, the color of the translations, it's not, it's a paraphrase, but it says, because Jesus, this was a good verse though. Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand new life and have everything to live for. We have been given a brand new life and everything to live for.
If Jesus had come and died without resurrecting, there would be no possibility of eternal life. All of those promises would be empty. Everything he said in John chapter three, tear it up and throw it out because he's fraught. He didn't live.
But you see, without resurrection, there is no eternal life. But Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 19, he says, after a little while, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me because I live and you will live also. What great hope. Life.
We have life in him. Now, the English word that we use for life actually has three different words in the Greek. The first one is bios, which means your physical life, your external life. I'll give an example of that.
I think I have it there. Yes, Luke chapter 8 verse 14, the seed which fell among the thorns. These are the ones who have heard and they go on their way and are choked by the worries and riches and pleasures of this life and bring up fruit to maturity. The cares of this world, this life.
How do I look? How's my hair? All that stuff. The part of life we get most preoccupied with and spend all of our time worrying about.
And then there's this word that we actually looked at this word last night on ESL. Suke. It might have said it wrong, but that's roughly it. It's the inward life, your conscience, your psychological life, your personality.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10 verse 39, he who has found his life will lose it and he was lost his life for my sake. We'll also find it. That's also in Mark and Luke and in the story of the rich man who decided he was going to tear down his burns and build greater. Remember that story in Luke chapter 12?
He had an abundant crop and it says he said to his soul, soul, you have laid up much for yourself. Well, the word for soul there is the same as this word here for life. It's the same word. To his inner person.
Soul, you're good. You're good. But God said something different. This night, your soul will be required of you.
I'm taking it back from you. We have much discussion on that in the study last night because the Chinese people who were looking at this did not understand that it meant death. But once you say this is, you have to, it'll be required, taken back from you. So that's the other one.
And the other one, the most common word is zoi. I said it wrong, but anyway, means age by abiding life. It's a term for eternal, everlasting life. John chapter 3 verse 16, for God's the love of the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
That is that little word. It is everlasting life, spiritual life. It doesn't just mean quantity. It's the quality of life that lasts forever.
John chapter 10, verse 10, Jesus says, the thief comes only to steal and destroy. I came that they may have life, the same word, and have it abundantly, abundant life. Not just a quantity of long life forever, but a quality of life, an abundant life, life to the full. Technically, every person who is born is an eternal being.
You have an eternal soul that will never die. What the question is where? Where will your soul be when you die? That's the greatest question you could face.
You have an eternal life, as it were. But will it be eternal life with God or will it be eternal separation from God because you've never come to God. But when a person is born again, as Peter says in 1 Peter chapter 1, through the resurrection, we are born again. When you are born again, you are given a new life.
Life begins for you. You know, actually it affects all three kinds of life. Your physical life. Your decaying body.
If David Spidell is on there, he's probably typing amen right now because you know what the thing is, my decaying and declining body, I'm getting a new body for heaven, a new body. The promise to every believer is a new body. The psychological life. You have peace of mind.
There's a peace of mind that comes in knowing Jesus Christ. There's a peace of mind knowing you have peace with God. And then your spiritual life, your life in Christ, you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you and your future and eternity are secure. You know, if you think in life of the good old days that your best days have been behind you, in all likelihood, you're still dead in darkness and sin.
But if you are a believer, you look and you say, my best days are ahead of me. They are ahead of me. No matter what happens, I have an interview tomorrow. If I get the job, is that the greatest day?
No, not at all. If I get a letter in the mail, some uncle and I didn't know left me a bazillion dollars. Is that my best day? Not at all.
My best day is ahead of me when I'm with Jesus Christ forever. That's my best day. That is life. That's eternal life.
You see, we find out a lot about eternal life. We find out a lot about born again when we read in John chapter 3 verse 16, this man, Nicodemus, and speaks to the Lord Jesus. And Jesus says to him, look, you know what? In John chapter 3 verse 3, you need to be born from above, born of God.
That is what real life is. It means that you are in liven, you're transformed from the inside out. You know, the thing is, I could do 100 interviews and fail them all. And then I can go over to the moors and say, hey, I've been trying to get a job, I did 100 interviews, I failed them all.
Can you give me a new suit? All right, here's a new suit. And I get the new suit and I put it on. And I still go into the interview, bumbling, fumbling, using the wrong words and saying everything else.
Am I going to get the job? No, that's what religion does. Religion is, you know what? I know, I feel guilty all the time with all of the stuff.
If I just clean myself up, if I just change the way I look, if I just change, if I don't cost anymore, if I don't do this anymore, if I'm nicer to my neighbor, then I'll be okay. No. The transformation that comes from being born again is inside. It's from the inside out that we are changed.
Your outside will change, but it's changed from the inside. If anybody has a suit to lend me for noon tomorrow, I'd like it. You see, only Jesus Christ can do that. Only He can make that change from the inside.
You can't change your inside. You can't change your heart. Only God can do that. And you need the new birth.
Thirdly, and I'll move along here. It brings hope. Easter is a celebration of hope. One of the things I like about this time of the year, I walk on the trails and stuff is coming back to life.
I can hear birds singing. It's getting warmer. Well, sort of, it was getting warmer. And, you know, it's just, it's one of those times of the year.
It's kind of hopeful. Ah, that long winter's behind me. I'm hopeful the weather's going to get better. I'm going to enjoy the summer coming up and so on and so on.
If there's anything this world needs is hope. Let's look back on the past year. A year ago, we did not have an Easter Sunday service here. Anyway, spoke from home.
First time ever, probably on an iPhone, speaking to a congregation. We had the Lord's Supper for the first time on Zoom. Boy, didn't that seem hopeless. I'm sorry, but, you know, it was, it was great.
We were able to do that, but we needed hope. And think of ever since then, the world has hoped for a vaccination. The world has hoped COVID to go away. They've hoped this and they've hoped that.
But, you know what? That's, that's not the answer to any of this. Man needs hope. It's sure hope.
If you go and get a vaccination, tomorrow, it might work or it might not. I'll probably get it. One of them. And probably say, hope it works.
Let's wishful hoping. We need a sure hope. We're talking about a sure hope. Not, I hope, I win the lottery.
Not, I hope, I get a new job. Not, I hope this. It's a sure hope. Something I can anchor my soul to.
And that's what Peter is speaking of here. Man can live for 40 days. One writer says 40 days without food, three days without water, eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope. Man cannot live without hope.
We need hope. And if you think of your life before you knew Jesus Christ, Ephesians chapter two of verse 12, if you don't, you might not have a story to tell about, or you think I'm not eloquent enough, but this tells every believer's story of where they were before they knew Jesus Christ. It says, and remember, you were at the time separated from Christ excluded from the common wealth of Israel strangers to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in this world. Without God in this world, you have no hope for this life or the next.
A teenager, and I put the quote up here. This is a teenager posted this on an atheist forum. This teenager is just desperate. And I just read this little quote this past week.
She says, I'm confused. I always believe science would be the cure all for my problems, but I don't know if I can keep living without eternal life. I guess I'll have to find a way myself to make it through this meaningless existence. I just wish I knew of someone who could show me the path to eternal life.
If science can't provide the answers, then who or what can? Doesn't it seem like a higher power that gives our life purpose? Well, science says that there isn't. So I guess there isn't.
And I'll tell you, wouldn't you love to sit down with that person? Have five minutes? Give her a track. Give her a track.
Absolutely, John, amen. But that's the way many of the people that we speak to on the streets have lived their life. That's what they have no hope. And it doesn't matter if you're living on the streets or you're living in a mansion.
If you don't know Jesus Christ, you have no hope in this world. That's what the scriptures teach. Before Jesus came, Peter was a fisherman. Now, people think it's really cool to be a fisherman.
You see bumper stickers. I'd rather be fishing. Well, I've been off work for a while. I'd rather be working right now.
But people go around with this bumper sticker. I'd rather be fishing. Do they really know what they wish for? Have they ever been to Yarmouth and talked to someone like Ashton Spiny and asked him, so what do you do for a living?
I fish. Oh, yeah, must be nice. Yeah, we start in November and we go into the Gulf of Maine with freezing spray on our faces all day. And there's not enough Noxiema in the world to kill the sun and windburn that we've got.
But anyway, that's what we do. So Peter was doing this on the Sea of Galilee. And then one day, Jesus says, hey, come here, follow me. You're going to fish men.
Peter left it all, walked away from it all. Didn't even put it on Kijiji or marketplace. He just walked away from it all and followed Jesus. And so here he is.
His life was monotonous. And he says, okay, this guy is this exciting. Three years he's walking with this guy. And then all of a sudden, three years into it, he's at that hill and sees, wait a minute, the man that I've put all my eggs in, all the basket I've put all my eggs in has just breathed this last.
He's dead. My hope, it's gone. What do I do? Jesus rose from the dead and one of the first things he did, he walked along the road.
It's a wonderful story recorded in Luke 24. And he's walking along the road with these two dudes. And he says, hey, what's going on? He said, what's going on?
Haven't you heard? Where you been? What do you mean? How about Jesus?
It's in Nazarene. What about him? Come on. Like we had hoped.
It says right there, we had hoped he would be the one who would come and deliver us. We had hoped. Everybody was looking for hope. But you see, when Peter came and he walked into that tomb and he looked, his hope was realized.
It's empty. He's alive. I remember he said he was going to be alive. And he is, praise God.
I now have living hope. And that's what he wrote about in first Peter chapter one. I have a living hope. When Jesus rose from the dead, it's like hope went off scale for everybody.
The resurrection meant that all of the promises that Jesus made were now true. You know, if he didn't rise from the dead, his promises meant nothing. But when he rose from the dead, every promise of God that Jesus Christ made meant everything. And they should mean everything to you.
When you read the Scriptures, you read the promises of God because he is alive. Those promises are for you. They are true. If he can rise from the dead, he can do all of those other things that he has promised.
Finally, the resurrection assures us of heaven. And I stole a little bit of clipart there from a friend of ours. Peter Ramsey is the guy who has this website called heaven for sure. I like that.
I like the name he's got on it. I've seen bumper stickers over in PEI with heaven for sure on the bumper sticker. I like that idea. I am sure of heaven.
I've spoken to people and they say I hope I get to heaven. I mean, a lot of people are thinking that. All we have hope if we die, you know, the weight, the scales and all that stuff. I'd rather have heaven for sure.
In fact, Peter says you've got a reservation. Don't you like when you go to a restaurant if you've ever done this? You walk in and they're standing at a desk like this. Hello?
Do you have a reservation? Yes, I do. McDonald. I have a million McDonalds on the list.
David. Oh, come this way. Oh, it's so nice and friendly and warm. Oh, how was your day?
I have a reservation. Peter says I have a reservation in heaven. There's no coming up and getting stumped by three questions by St. Peter at some fictitious gate.
I walk right on in. I've got a reservation. I'm there. You see, that's what the resurrection has done for us.
The word heaven appears 142 times in the gospels. Jesus does speak more of hell, but he does speak an awful lot of heaven. He speaks of the kingdom of heaven. You're rewarded heaven.
When you pray, say our Father in heaven, joy that is in heaven over sinners repenting. Assign from heaven. And he said heaven is God's throne. Heaven became really real to the disciples and to Peter.
When they saw Jesus Christ in Luke 24, verse 5051 and Acts 1, they saw Jesus Christ ascend up into heaven. Heaven opened, he went up. They realized that is where we're going. He is coming back and we are going there.
How else do you account for their lives? You see, first of all, all of them, but the exception of John, they tried their best. They all died of murders death. Renounce him and we will let you go.
If not, we are going to kill you. I'm going to die. I'd rather die. He's risen.
I've seen him alive. I'm going to heaven. I have him for sure. What are you going to do?
You open the door to heaven and let me in? Thank you very much. It wasn't like, okay, okay, okay, I got to weigh this up. No, they knew and heaven was real.
And for every believer, heaven is real. You see, that is our great hope. That is our great hope, the hope of heaven. First Corinthians, it was read this morning.
First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 19. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men to be most pitiful or most pitied. Or most miserable, it says in the King James. You see, if I, that's what's wrong with the prosperity gospel.
Prosperity gospel says, hey, you know what, trust Jesus Christ and look at all you're going to get today here in this life. Who cares? Trust Jesus Christ and you have the sure hope and promise of heaven. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are among of all men, most pitied.
Our faith in Jesus Christ gives us hope for the here and now, but it also motivates because we are going to be going to heaven. Popular Christian book tells us that our best life is now. I disagree with it. Our best life is much later.
Your best life is ahead of you. If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, his resurrection guarantees your resurrection. There was a letter once sent from social services and I know we have people probably online in here that make work for social services, but that's okay. It wasn't in Canada, it was somewhere in the US.
And they sent this letter to this man and it was addressed to a dead man. So the relative opened it up and says, dear Mr. Smith, we have recently received news of your death and therefore we need to stop all payments. However, if your circumstances change in the future, please let us know.
Now if you sent that to dear Lazarus, then okay, that's valid, but it wasn't. It was to a dead man. You know, after this life, he doesn't need social services. He doesn't need anything.
He has God, heaven. He is God, Jesus Christ forever as I close. The resurrection shows mercy. If the greatest enemy death has been defeated, then you've got nothing to fear.
Death is merely a shadow. If the resurrection gives you life and shares the life of Jesus Christ with you, then you need to really live. You have everything to live for. You've got nothing to lose in his life and share that life with others, share the hope of that life with others.
If the resurrection gives you great hope, then face life with a confident optimism for the future. You have nothing to regret. You have hope. And if the resurrection assures you of heaven, be assured your best days are ahead.
The best is yet to come. Now here's the thing. If you don't have any of those things, if you say, well, I hear what you're saying, but for me, I've never taken that in. Just like that lady did on Friday morning.
This is for you. Jesus Christ did not just rise for Peter. He did not just rise to put on a show for anybody else. He rose from the dead for you.
Romans 4, verse 25, he was delivered up or put on the cross because of our transgressions, but he was raised for our justification. Jesus rose from the dead so that you can have life, abundant life, eternal life, life in him and life in heaven forever. Let's pray. Father, thank you.
This morning that we can know the Lord Jesus Christ. He is more than just a wishful hope. He is a living hope. He has given us life.
He has shown us your mercy. He has assured us of heaven. If there's anybody here or somebody who will watch this later and they don't know him, they put their full trust in him. Lord, we praise you this morning that he is alive and we rejoice in that in his precious name.
Amen. Look at seeing him.