24-0331p Transcript

Preacher: John Nousek

(0:34) Tonight’s sermon, which I have entitled, Do Peeps Rise from the Dead? (0:41) And I have here in front of me these little marshmallow peeps, and those are not the peeps (0:52) that we’re talking about.

We’re talking about you and I, those people that have come before us, (1:07) including us. You know, I hope to bring you some good news tonight. I have two questions to start (1:14) off with, one of which I’ll give you right now, something to think about.

And the question is, (1:20) what is the mortality rate? Mortality rate, sometimes you think in terms of, well, (1:32) children that are born. Likely is it that they’re going to survive so far into the world? Yes, (1:40) but the mortality rate I’m talking about is the mortality rate. And the answer is 100%.

(1:50) Every one of us, we’re born and we will die. And that’s just the way it is. And unless Christ (1:58) comes back before that event happens for each one of us, that’s how it’s going to be.

The second (2:08) question I’ll leave to a little later, but I’ll get right into, I’m going to read from 1 Corinthians (2:13) 15 first. And this is read from the New Living Translation, 1 Corinthians 15. I’m going to read (2:23) verses 12 and 19 to begin.

But tell me this. I like how that starts out. But tell me this, (2:33) since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be (2:39) no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, (2:44) then Christ has not been raised either.

And if Christ has not been raised, (2:50) then all of our preaching is useless. Your faith is useless. And apostles would be all (2:59) be lying about God.

For we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. (3:05) But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. (3:10) And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.

And if Christ (3:17) has not been raised, then your faith is useless. And you are still guilty of your sins. In that (3:24) case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost.

And if our hope in Christ is only for this (3:34) life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. I’m going to tell you three things tonight. (3:45) I’m going to try to cover three things about that, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (3:52) our Messiah.

First of all, the importance of the resurrection. In simple terms, (4:00) the who cares? The second is the reasons or support that we have for the resurrection. (4:13) The question is really, did it really happen? And finally, the implications of this singular event, (4:22) the punchline, so what? It doesn’t matter.

How important is it? So I’d like to start out with (4:36) who cares? The importance of the resurrection. A quote from a man who I actually met a few years (4:46) ago. His name is Lee Strobel.

He was an atheist, became a Christian. He wrote this at one point. (4:56) He said, before we start down the road to resurrection, a pilgrimage that for some (5:02) may be measured in days, and for others in decades, allow me to start by underscoring (5:08) the importance of the track.

This is not just a journey. It is a journey of enormous consequences. (5:20) You see, without the resurrection, there is no hope.

Indeed, without resurrection, (5:25) there is no Christianity. See, if it could be proven that the resurrection didn’t happen, (5:34) then Christianity crumbles. Everything hinges on that.

Jesus Christ lived. He said he would die. (5:48) He said he would come back from the grave.

And then he did it. Nobody else did that. (6:02) So there continues to be attacks on the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ranging from (6:07) Judaism, which says it never happened, to Jehovah’s Witnesses who suggest that Jesus' (6:14) physical body was discarded or destroyed or dissolved into gases, and to the Jesus Seminar (6:21) who says that the resurrection is just wishful thinking.

However, it can be demonstrated (6:32) not only that Christ’s resurrection is an immutable fact of history, but that our own (6:38) resurrection is just as certain. And that’s what I’m talking about in the question. (6:45) I say, which peeps will rise from the dead? Our own resurrection can be just as certain.

(6:56) It’s the singular doctrine that elevates Christianity above all other world religions. (7:03) Through the resurrection, Christ demonstrated that he does not stand, (7:07) if you will, in a long line of peers, Buddha, Confucius, all kinds, but rather he is utterly (7:19) unique. He has the power not only to lay down his life, but to take it up again.

(7:25) He demonstrated that by coming back from the dead and telling us he would do it, and he did it. (7:34) And because of the centrality to Christianity, those who take the sacred name of Christ upon (7:41) their lips must be prepared to defend the reliability of this resurrection. (7:46) As in 1 Peter 3.15, it reads one verse, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts (7:54) and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you for the reason, (7:59) for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.

I continue reading in 1 Corinthians 15, (8:14) verses 20 to 23. It reads, but in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first (8:23) of a great harvest of all who have died.

So you see, just as death came into the world through a (8:29) man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man. Just as everyone dies, (8:38) because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given (8:46) new life. But there is an order to this resurrection.

Christ was raised as the (8:53) first of the harvest, and then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. (9:02) All who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back. Dropping down to verse 35, (9:10) but someone may ask, how will the dead be raised? What kind of bodies will they have? (9:14) What a foolish question.

When you put a seed into the ground, it does not grow into a plant unless (9:21) it dies first. And what you put into the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare (9:29) seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have.

(9:37) A different plant grows from each kind of seed. Similarly, there are different kinds of flesh. (9:44) One kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish.

(9:51) There are also bodies in the heavens and bodies on the earth. The glory of the heavenly bodies (9:57) is different from the glory of the earthly bodies. The sun has one kind of glory, while the moon and (10:04) stars each have another kind, and even the stars differ from each other in their glory.

(10:12) In the same way, with the resurrection of the dead, our earthly bodies are planted in the ground (10:20) when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, (10:30) but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength.

(10:38) They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. (10:45) For just as there are natural bodies, there are also spiritual bodies. (10:54) The importance of the resurrection is just that.

There’s a one-to-one correlation (11:05) between each natural body and each spiritual body. That doesn’t mean each spiritual body (11:14) will experience the same thing at or after the resurrection. So the next question, (11:25) what reasons or support do we have for the resurrection? Did it really happen? Well, (11:31) there are lots of groups out there that say no.

Unfortunately, there’s no shortage of unbelievers. (11:40) Many have attempted to discredit Jesus' resurrection, and one such attempt is known as (11:45) the swoon hypothesis, claiming simply that Jesus appeared dead on the cross, (11:53) but was later revived in the coolness of the tomb in cool air. And so his appearances after (12:01) the crucifixion were easily explained away by the claim that he really never died.

(12:08) One version of this is called the Passover plot by a man in 1965. His name is Hugh J. (12:16) Schonfield. According to Schonfield, the story goes something like this.

Jesus was convinced (12:23) of his role as the expected Messiah based upon his lineage from King David, meticulously planned (12:31) to fulfill that role. He involved only a select few supporters in his plans on a need-to-know basis. (12:41) The original 12 apostles were unknowingly aiding him in his calculated mission.

(12:50) Schonfield contends that Jesus orchestrated the Passover events, ensuring that he wouldn’t be (12:54) on the cross for more than a few hours before the Sabbath. One of his supporters, he claims, (13:00) provided water laced with a drug to make him unconscious. And then he claims Joseph of Arimathea, (13:07) the well-connected supporter, secretly collected Jesus off the cross while he appeared dead, (13:14) allowing for his eventual resurrection and reign as the true, kingly, and priestly Messiah on (13:21) earth.

I’ll get to this. Let’s make no mistake about it. He died.

He definitely died. Mr. (13:33) Schonfield is woefully mistaken. And that’s as generous as it gets.

(13:40) From the Muslim perspective, Jesus was never crucified and thus never resurrected. (13:46) Christian by the name of Norman Geisler explains that the Orthodox Muslims traditionally held that (13:52) Jesus was not crucified on the cross, but that God made someone else look like Jesus, (13:58) as this person was mistakenly crucified as Christ. Then there’s the gospel of Barnabas.

(14:08) The 14th century, according to BibleGateway.com, what I believe to be a reputable source, (14:16) they refer to it as an Italian forgery by a renegade who moved from Christianity to Islam. (14:24) And this writing represents something referred to as the substitution hypothesis. (14:31) Claiming that Judas Iscariot was supernaturally transformed to look identical to Jesus and (14:39) therefore replaced him in the crucifixion.

And we have the Jehovah’s Witnesses (14:48) who were originally started in 1872 by Charles Taze Russell in this little town you might have (14:54) heard about, a little out of the way place. They’ve spread their teaching throughout (15:00) almost the entire world, if not the whole world. But it started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

(15:08) They contend that the human body of flesh, which was Jesus Christ laid down forever as a ransom (15:14) sacrifice, was disposed of by God’s power. Thus, instead of rising from the dead, (15:22) the fleshly body of Jesus was disposed of on earth by Almighty God and not taken to heaven by Jesus. (15:31) They believe the body that was hung on the cross either dissolved into gases or is preserved (15:36) somewhere as a, in capital letters, grand memorial of God’s love.

So even though the Jehovah’s (15:46) Witnesses did not accept the resurrection, they still acknowledge they don’t really know (15:56) what happened to his body. And even more recently, the more bizarre to me is the twin hypothesis (16:06) which was brought up in a 1995 debate between Christian William Lane Craig and a Robert Greg (16:17) Cavan, where Mr. Cavan contended that Jesus had an identical twin. And it goes something like this.

(16:27) So Mary has twins. And soon after birth, one of the twins gets mixed up with somebody else’s baby. (16:38) And so now Mary has these two children that she thinks are twins.

And they grow up and Jesus (16:47) is eventually crucified. And oh, the real twin, which was over here being raised by some other (16:55) mom and dad, stumbles into Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion, recognizes himself up on the (17:02) cross, sees the crucifixion, sees the death, and steals the body away, and steps into the place (17:10) of Jesus Christ, and he now is the Messiah. Okay, that’s not what really happened.

You know, so (17:30) due to the debate between Mr. Craig and Mr. Cavan, Craig goes on to say, (17:39) the theories like the twin hypothesis make for great comedy. But no one should take them (17:46) seriously, particularly theories like that of Calvin. And this is interesting.

Particularly (17:54) theories like that of Calvin, whose research has forced him to agree on these four things. (18:01) That Christ A was fatally tormented, so he died. The tomb was empty on Easter morning.

(18:13) The disciples were convinced because Jesus had appeared to him. That’s the third. And as a (18:21) result of that, the apostles' lives and others were utterly transformed.

(18:30) And I’m going to use the first letter of each of those four things. Fatal torment, F. Empty tomb, (18:40) E. Appearance, A. And transformed, T. F-E-A-T, a feet. It’s a real feet.

Consider this. If we (18:54) were asked, did you graduate from high school? Assuming the answer is yes. Let’s just go down (19:00) that road.

So did you graduate from high school? Yeah, yeah, I did. Well, how do I know? Well, (19:09) I have this paper over here. It’s called a diploma.

Oh, okay, yeah, I can see that. You can (19:14) print that any time you want. Just make a PDF or something.

Yeah, but I have a class yearbook here (19:20) and my picture’s in it. It’s here on page 17? Yeah, but you could have Photoshopped that in. (19:27) Yeah, maybe.

What about my cap and gown? I’ve still got a cap and gown from way back when. (19:33) It’s got some moths on it, but it’s my cap and gown. It’s a real one.

It even fits, see? (19:39) And then, hey, my parents were at the ceremony. They’re right here. Ask them.

They graduated. (19:49) Oh, my 12th grade science teacher? The one that threatened to fail me because I couldn’t remember (19:54) the periodic table of the elements? Yeah, he’s still alive. He lives down the street at this (20:00) address.

Go talk to him. You know, at some point, you have enough. But what if somebody said, no, (20:09) put that away.

You didn’t graduate from high school. That’s nonsense. (20:13) We just won’t believe it, no matter what you have to say, no matter what evidence you have.

(20:21) Now, don’t buy it. That response doesn’t make a correct response. But some will say, (20:32) they’ll just believe anything because they want to.

(20:36) But what we do have is this. We have the feet. We have the fatal torment.

Let me share this with (20:43) you. Christ’s torture began in the Garden of Gethsemane, where Christ experienced a medical (20:47) condition called, it’s a fancy word, hematidrosis. I’m probably not pronouncing that correct.

(20:59) Hematidrosis is the condition where the capillaries and the sweat glands rupture, (21:03) mixing sweat with blood, making Jesus' skin very fragile. It says in Luke 22, 44, (21:12) in being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. Then his sweat became like great drops of blood (21:20) falling to the ground.

And I’ve worked outside on a hot day, drink a gallon of water in a couple (21:29) hours. You’re working real hard, and it’s just pouring off. I mean, dripping from me.

But it (21:35) never got where it dripped with blood. This is a condition where intense stress, the agony, (21:43) he knows what’s happening. He knows what’s coming.

This is going to be bad. And that’s what happens. (21:52) It’s a real condition.

Within the same hours, same 24-hour period, Jesus is flogged, (22:00) which amounts to having a whip with razor-sharp bones and lead balls attached to the ends of (22:08) these strips, beaten onto your body, reducing Jesus' body to a quivering ribbon of bleeding (22:18) flesh. And then later, a heavy wooden beam is thrust upon Christ’s bleeding body, and he was (22:25) led away to a place called Golgotha to be crucified. The Roman system of crucifixion (22:32) had been so fine-tuned to produce maximum pain.

In fact, the word excruciating, (22:39) which is literally the words out of the cross, had been invented to fully describe its horror. (22:47) It is, among other things, death by asphyxiation, as you hang, unable to support yourself, (22:56) unable to lift up. You can’t breathe.

It’s awful. Beyond awful. So contrary to Mr. Schoenfeld’s (23:09) claim in his 1965 book, The Passover Plot, where he thinks, well, he just swooned.

He just (23:15) looked like he was dead. He was up there for hours. How long could you fake not breathing? (23:27) After just a minute.

Two at the most. Not hours. So this is the one that gets me.

(23:39) Now, while Jesus was still on the cross, a Roman legionnaire drove his spear through the fifth (23:45) interspace between the ribs upward into what’s called the pericardium. And I’m not a surgeon, (23:54) nor am I a heart doctor of any kind, but I had to look this up. The pericardium is a sack around the (24:00) heart.

It’s filled with clear fluid, and your heart, as it’s pumping, wiggles around all the time, (24:08) all day, all day, pump, pump, pump, pump. And it needs some room to move inside this sack of (24:15) clear liquid. So that when the spear goes in and out comes the clear liquid and the blood, (24:25) you’ve pierced the pericardium.

I feel like piercing your eyeball, (24:33) and all the fluid comes out. And then somebody asks you, hey, can you see okay? (24:41) Oh, yeah. I just have this gaping thing out of the front of my head.

I’m fine. (24:48) No, you’re not. He died.

Let’s just be honest. So in John 1934, it records, (25:00) but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. (25:09) So he’s dead.

Now we have the empty tomb, and I’ll say this. According to (25:18) some writing I found also by this gentleman, Lee Strobel, he said, (25:23) liberal and conservative New Testament scholars alike agree that the body of Jesus (25:29) was buried in a private tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. So I’m going to take it from there.

(25:40) Once he’s buried, I’m going to read further down from 1 Corinthians 15. I’m sorry, (25:53) I’m going to read from Matthew. I’m going to read from Matthew 27, starting near the end of the (26:00) chapter, the very last two verses into the next chapter.

Matthew 27, 65, and I’m going to take it (26:10) through chapter 28, verse 7. It says, Pilate said to them, you have a guard. Go. Make it as (26:20) secure as you can.

So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone. (26:27) Chapter 28 begins, now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, (26:33) Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold, there was a great earthquake, (26:39) for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone (26:44) from the door and sat on it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes white as snow. (26:53) For fear of him, the guards shook and became like dead men. The angel answered the women, (26:59) don’t be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified.

He’s not here, (27:07) for he has risen. Just like he said, come, see the place where the Lord was laying. Go quickly, (27:14) tell his disciples, he has risen from the dead.

And behold, he goes before you into Galilee, (27:23) there you will see him. Behold, I have told you. That’s the historical account.

The tomb was empty. (27:39) And the appearance to many. So in Acts 1, verses 1 through 3, it reads, (27:46) the former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do and teach, (27:53) until the day in which he was taken up, after he through the Holy Spirit (28:01) had given commandments to the apostles whom he had chosen, to whom he also presented himself (28:09) alive after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during 40 days, (28:18) and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

So here he is. We have another (28:25) historical account that says, now he’s appearing to people face to face, like any man would be (28:40) talking. How is this? There’s only one way you can explain that.

He returned from the dead. (28:56) Back to 1 Corinthians 15, in verse 6, it reads, after that he was seen by more than 500 (29:05) of his followers at one time. Most of him are still alive, though some have died.

(29:13) Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had (29:18) been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. See, 500 of his followers at one time.

(29:30) This is like back to the diploma question. Did you graduate from high school? Yeah, I’ve got this, (29:38) I’ve got the diploma, I’ve got this cap and gown, and my parents, and oh, there’s a science teacher (29:44) down the street. Can I go talk to the science teacher? He’s right there.

He’s a little grumpy, (29:51) but he’s there. Yeah, 500 of them at the same time. Go talk to him.

Check it out if you want. (30:02) I dare you. What he’s saying.

And then finally, the transformed lives. (30:10) You know, what happened as a result of the resurrection? It’s unprecedented in human (30:14) history. In the span of a few hundred years, a small band of seemingly insignificant believers (30:21) succeeding in turning the entire empire upside down.

They faced all kinds of really awful situations, (30:36) but they were utterly convinced. Make no mistake about it. The classic question, (30:46) hey, just denounce Christ and we’ll let you live.

And they didn’t. And so many of them died because (30:55) of it. You know, I’ll remind you, Jesus Christ is the only one in human history to have done this, (31:04) to have lived, said he’s going to die, said he’s going to come back, and then he came back.

(31:16) It stands alone in history. So now the so what? So what is this? (31:33) Daniel 12.2, it reads the following. Old Testament.

(31:40) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake. Some (31:47) to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt. Those are the two options.

(32:04) The New Testament paints the same picture. John 5, two verses, 28 and 29. John 5, 28, 29.

Do not (32:16) marvel at this for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice (32:25) and come forth. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done (32:34) evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So at the beginning, I asked you, what is the mortality rate? (32:52) 100%.

We’re all going to make it. It’s just the way it works. Some point, we get older, (33:00) feel less vigor.

Our bodies can actually become our own worst enemies. Elbow hurts. My back.

(33:12) I can’t sleep at night. Oh, just my knees ache all the time. These things, they just happen.

(33:22) The good news is, when it’s over, we make the decision to be a Christian. He tells us. (33:34) He’s got great things ahead.

And for those that don’t, they don’t. It’s just that simple. (33:47) And my second question to conclude is, which category do you want to be in? I like the first.

(33:58) That’s just me. Let’s be grateful for the fact that God gave us his written word. He gave us (34:06) instructions.

And as we know, all peeps are going to be resurrected later. Praise God.