Life With the Risen Lord!

Here we are in the month of April…1/4 of 2022 is in the past…Every year when April rolls around there are some people who can’t wait for April 1st…April Fools Day. Some people have become real experts at the April Fool’s Joke...The origin of April’s fool day is difficult to determine…some trace it back to the Middle Ages…some go back even later…April fools day is viewed by many as the opportunity for pulling pranks on an unsuspecting individual.

One of the best known pranks/hoaxes was perpetrated as a news story…(not going to be political so please don’t tune me out)

#1: The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest (show picture)

April 1, 1957: The respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees. Huge numbers of viewers were taken in. Many called the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this the BBC diplomatically replied, "place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best." Even the director-general of the BBC later admitted that after seeing the show he checked in an encyclopedia to find out if that was how spaghetti actually grew (but the encyclopedia had no information on the topic). The broadcast remains, by far, the most popular and widely acclaimed April Fool's Day hoax ever, making it an easy pick for number one.

#20: The Left-Handed Whopper (Show picture)

April 1, 1998...Burger King published a full page advertisement in USA Today announcing the introduction of a new item to their menu: a "Left-Handed Whopper" specially designed for the 32 million left-handed Americans. According to the advertisement, the new whopper included the same ingredients as the original Whopper (lettuce, tomato, hamburger patty, etc.), but all the condiments were rotated 180 degrees for the benefit of their left-handed customers. The following day Burger King issued a follow-up release revealing that although the Left-Handed Whopper was a hoax, thousands of customers had gone into restaurants to request the new sandwich. Simultaneously, according to the press release, "many others requested their own 'right handed' version."

Not Fake News

There is also another event in history that was originally perpetrated as a hoax but instead turned out to be very real…Matthew 28:11-15 “Now while they were on their way, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And when they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ “And if this should come to the governor’s ears, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble.” And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day.”

The day Jesus rose from the tomb and it was discovered empty, they had no explanation for the empty tomb, so the establishment of the day concocted the lie that the disciples stole his body while they slept (which meant certain death for the roman guard placed at the tomb);

and at the time of Matthew’s writing it was still believed; the soldiers were bribed to perpetuate his resurrection as a hoax…

Still over 2000 years later, you are faced with the same decision…is the Resurrection the world’s greatest hoax or is it real…is it a joke or is it a reality…

It is no joke…it is no hoax…Jesus is alive today and forevermore and the proof of His resurrection is portrayed in the life change of all who proclaim Him as Savior.

Main Point: Changed Lives Prove the Resurrection is Real!

How can our lives be changed by believing in Jesus and that he rose from the dead?

Three characteristics of the life anchored in the truth of Jesus resurrection.

With that in mind…turn to John 20:19-23…read

1. It is a Life without Fear (19)

1) Fear makes us want to hide.

The text says here the disciples were in a room, with the doors locked because they were afraid.

Shut (KJV, NASB) = indicates the entrance was locked.

They locked themselves in a room because they were afraid of what…the Jews…

They were afraid of the Jewish establishment…why?...they were worried that these people who had just tortured and killed their master, their friend, their teacher, were coming after them next…

So to protect themselves from persecution and suffering they hid together and locked themselves in…there was a conspiracy being perpetuated against the disciples…so yes there was reason to be afraid.

Our natural tendency when we are afraid of something is to shut down…to lock ourselves in and hope it goes away…we don’t do what we know we should do.

Remember with Adam and Eve…they sinned and were afraid and hid in the bushes…when God confronted Adam what did he say...Gen 3:10 “He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.””

2) Fear and worry are two sides to the same sinful coin.

Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 6 regarding worry/fear

Matthew 6:25 ““For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

Matthew 6:27 ““And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”

Matthew 6:28 ““And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,”

Matthew 6:30-34 ““But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

The root word for worry comes from a Greek word that means “to divide or tear.”

Worry can be described as a “divided mind” that rips/tears at our soul.

Worry is a fearful preoccupation with perceived loss or harm that might come my way.

Some people here this morning are expert worriers…stop and think with me where you mind goes in these particular situations…your teenage child is now able to start driving and asks you for the keys…you tell them to be home by 10:00 and now its 10:01 and they are not home…where does your mind naturally go?....you visited the doctor last week and they call you and want you to come in so they can talk to you…where does your mind naturally go?

When there is uncertainty, or the possibility of bad news, our minds go to different places, they are torn apart, divided and that naturally leads to being fearful.

Worry/fear is sin because it is idolatry that makes us afraid of losing earthly pleasures or treasures.

(Matthew 6:19, 24, 25)

We’re afraid something bad will happen to our finances so we hoard them instead of being generous.

We’re afraid of being hurt by people so our relationships never go beyond the surface conversations

We’re afraid of what others will think of us so we don’t speak the truth or live the truth.

Worry/Fear is also sin because it shows a lack of belief in God’s provision

Matt. 6:30-32

There is a fear that God is not going to be good to you and give you what you want so you pursue all the avenues necessary to get it instead of trusting God to give you what is best.

There is a fear that God somehow forgot about you and you are alone trying to face this world on your own so you want to throw your hands up in despair and forsake it all.

There is a fear that God stopped caring for you because God can’t care for you when He is allowing so much suffering and hardship to be present in your life right now.

The cross is evidence that God has always cared for you…the resurrection is evidence He will continue to care for you...

Worry/fear is sinful because it makes us lazy

Matthew 6:27, 33-34

Fearing the unknown often prevents us from directing our energy towards solving problems today and appropriately planning for tomorrow.

Worry/fear are two sides of the same sinful coin because they tear us apart from a complete trust in God that leads to active service…they locked themselves in…

3) Jesus replaces Fear with Peace.

They needed peace because a war was raging between God and His creation.

Here’s what we understand from a the New Testament usage of peace:

the antithesis of war

a condition resulting from the cessation of war

state of law and order that gives rise to the blessings of prosperity

Recent events on the world’s stage show us there can be no peace until that war ends, peace will not be possible.

So what is this war?…it is a war started by Satan when he rebelled against God…it is a war that man entered on his own when he followed Satan’s rebellion…but know this…God is the one who declared the War…there is no longer peace between me and my creation…there is no longer a state of law and order that gives rise to blessings and prosperity…Gen 3:15 “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

Everyone of us becomes part of this war by simply being born into it…Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—”

So as a result of our rebellion against God a war is raging

We are at war with others – Gal. 5:15 “But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

We are at war with self – James 4:1 “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members?”

We are at war with God – James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

Before we can gain peace, we have to understand how peace was lost and how it is regained.

You can’t have real peace, biblical peace until your lack of peace has been significantly addressed.

They needed the peace that could only be found in Jesus.

Jesus appeared to them and twice told them to be at peace.

Peace was not something they could manufacture…it required the very presence of Jesus.

Jesus took our lack of peace upon Himself so that He could give us a life a peace with God…through Jesus the war has ended.

We no longer have to be at war with God…

Rom. 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

Col. 1:20-22 “and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—”

Isa. 53:5 “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

Luke 1:79 “To shine upon those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.””

We no longer have to be at war within our hearts.

John 14:27 ““Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

John 16:33 ““These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.””

We no longer have to be at war with others.

Rom. 14:19 “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.”

Eph. 2:14 “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,”

Real peace, biblical peace, results when the war has been settled!

That means your sin has been addressed, and Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to your account! — Explain

perhaps you are here this morning and you are experiencing a lack of peace…

first let me ask you has the war ended between you and God…(GOSPEL)

perhaps that war has ended because you are now in Christ but you still struggle to find peace…what do you fear and worry about that has torn your mind away from trusting God for your needs?

2. It is a Life of Rejoicing (20)

Notice how the disciples changed…their fear turned to joy… they saw the nail scars and rejoiced…they were no longer afraid…

I wonder how many people are here this morning that find themselves at the point the disciples were before Jesus entered that room…

You’re afraid, locked away…stuck between fear and joy…you need to have a biblical understanding of joy

Biblical joy is a matter of the heart.

It is the deep-down sense of well-being that abides in the heart of the person who knows all is well between himself and his Lord.

That feeling of happiness that is based on spiritual realities…the spiritual reality for the disciples at that moment was their teacher, their friend, their Savior was alive and that brought great assurance to them.

Biblical joy is not dependent on an absence of adversity [in fact at times, a Christian’s joy is at its fullest in the midst of adversity].

we’re talking about an issue of the inner man, not the outer man...about a focus on spiritual realities, not external or temporal matters...we’re talking about something that lasts, not something that is fleeting.

Biblical joy stands up to tough times without disappearing.

I Peter 1:8 “and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,”

Biblical joy is a gift

Gal. 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”

John 15:11 ““These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

biblical joy is something you receive from Christ

Our ultimate joy is found only in the Person and work of God.

for sake of time, we’re going to put this next series of verses on the screen.

but look at how much God’s Word says about this:

1) Psalm 35:9 - And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; It shall exult in His salvation.

2) Psalm 43:4 - Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God, my God.

3) Isaiah 61:10 - I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, My soul will exult in my God; For He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

4) Luke 1:47 - And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.

5) Romans 5:11 - And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

6) Philippians 3:1 - Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

7) Philippians 4:4 - Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!

8) Romans 14:17 - For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

see, friend, God wants you to find your source of joy in Christ...He wants you to find your ultimate joy in His wonderful attributes...He wants you to be joyful about your salvation...He wants you to find joy and delight in His Word.

...joy you find in other places will not last…but lasting joy, ultimate joy is found in a growing and vibrant relationship with Him.

and the beauty of this approach to life is that it is resilient to outside forces...

…just think about how the disciples changed from that moment on…they would go on to turn the world upside down because they rejoiced in their Lord, not their circumstances…

history would tell us that many of the disciples would suffer as martyrs…they could only do this if they had lasting joy…why would they go to such extremes to perpetuate a foolish lie…because they had joy…

you can have this same kind of joy when the seas are calm and when the seas are raging…you can have this kind of joy when the medical report is good and even when its not…you can have this kind of joy when your friend or your spouse is treating you well and when they are treating you poorly…in fact, here’s the amazing thing.....

Sometimes the greatest joy in Christ comes in the midst of the worst circumstances!

only God can do that.

that’s why believers can even rejoice during trials, because we know that great joy can come as our knowledge of God expands, and our relationship with God increases as we walk though that trial together.

3. It is a Life Renewed with Purpose (21-23)

What we see happening here is Jesus commissioning his disciples (and us) with a very specific message…the message of forgiveness

Jesus temporarily empowers his disciples here to carry on the mission and then would fully empower all his people by sending the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, some 40 days into the future…

Until the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers, He would often empower them for service…that is why you read in the OT of God’s people praying “Do not take your Spirit from me”...

40 days later…the Holy Spirit would come, indwell His people permanently and would continually empower them to carry out the mission Jesus was giving them.

Jesus is not giving authority to Christians to forgive sins.

Nowhere in Scripture does He give His people the authority to absolve people of sin…

He was saying that the believer can boldly declare the certainty of a sinner’s forgiveness by the Father because of the work Jesus accomplished on the cross.

The message is that those who repent and believe the gospel are guaranteed forgiveness…

that can and must be proclaimed without reservation…He who has the Son has life…He who does not have the Son, does not have life…

I can stand before you now and boldly tell you as God’s representative…if you have repented of your sin and believed in Jesus Christ…your sins are forgiven.

I can also say with that same boldness, that if you do not repent of your sins, and you do not believe in Jesus Christ then your sins are not forgiven, the war is still raging between you and God and there is nothing in you that can cause the war to cease…

only by appropriating what Jesus did on the cross on your behalf will satisfy the demands of God…

Since God does not give us authority to forgive sins, he does give us authority as His ambassadors…we are authorized to be His ambassadors to proclaim the message of reconciliation

2 Cor. 5:17-20 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”

From the moment we place our faith in Christ alone, it is at that moment our life takes on a new purpose!

All things become new for us so that we could represent Him to the world…as His representatives we are to take the message of the cross to every generation, to every nation and proclaim with boldness that forgiveness is found only in Christ…

Mt. 28:19-20 ““Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””

Yes Jesus = forgiven

No Jesus = unforgiven

Perhaps you are here this morning and you are struggling to find purpose

Have you been renewed…

If you have been renewed then how much of your life have you devoted to proclaiming that life changing message with boldness…

Life Lesson – Let Jesus Make a Difference in You!

Your eternity is not fake news…it is nothing to fool around with...you need to get serious about your eternity

What keeps you from experiencing the peace of God, or from finding joy in your struggles, or from living a life with purpose?

The resurrection is real…it results in life change…Have you experienced that life change…