For some people, life is nothing but a series of hopeless, bad choices…
Illustration
This is a story about a man named Fred, who inherited 10 million dollars,
but there was some catches, he had to make some choices, and he made the wrong
ones. The will provided that he had to accept the 10 million either in Brazil
or in Chile.
Well, he chose Brazil,
unfortunately it turned out that in Chile
he would have received his inheritance in land on which uranium, gold and
silver had just been discovered. Once in Brazil
he had to choose between receiving his inheritance in coffee or nuts. Well, he
chose the nuts. And that was too bad, because the bottom fell out of the nut
market, but coffee went up to 5.34 a pound wholesale. And poor Fred lost
everything he had to his name, he went out and sold his gold watch for money,
and he did that so that he could get enough money to fly home. It seems that he
had enough money to buy a ticket to either New York
or Boston. But he chose Boston.
When the plane for New York
taxied up, he noticed that it was a brand new super 747 jet with red carpet and
chic people and wine popping hostesses. The plane for Boston
arrived and it was a 1928 Ford tri motor with a swayback, it took a full day to
get off the ground. And it was filled with crying children and tethered goats.
Well, over the Andes, one of the engines had fallen off.
And our man Fred had made his way up to the cockpit and captain said, Look I’m
a jinx on this plane, let me out it you want to save your lives, give me a
parachute. And the pilot agreed and looking at him said, Okay, but on this
plane, anybody who bales out must wear two chutes. And so Fred jumped out of
the plane whirling through the air, trying to make up his mind, which ripcord
to pull. Finally he chose the one on the left, it was rusty and the wire pulled
loose. So he pulled the other handle, the parachute opened but the shroud lines
snapped. In desperation, the poor fellow cried out, “St. Francis, save me!!”A large hand reached out of Heaven and
seized the poor fellow by the wrist and let him dangle in mid-air. And a gentle
but acquisitive voice asked, “St. Francis of Xavier or St. Francis of Assisi?”
For some of us, it seems that nothing we do ever turns out right.Life only gets worse as it goes on.And frankly we have no hope.
For some of us, it’s not about choices we’ve intentionally made – for some
of us it’s simply the way things have turned out in life.Life stinks.
I’m sure for the disciples it was a pretty “bad” weekend.
They had spent three years living with Jesus.They had seen Him.They had touched Him.They had heard Him teach.They knew the smell of His breath and the
touch of His hand.Peter knew Jesus was
special.When Jesus asked the disciples
who they thought He was,
(Mat 16:16
NKJV)Simon Peter answered and said,
"You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Sure Jesus had talked about dying.But I’m not sure they really understood what was going to happen. The
fact that they all fled when Jesus was arrested tells you a bit about the
condition of their hearts.
When the ladies went to the tomb on Sunday morning, they were expecting to
see the dead, lifeless body of their beloved teacher.They weren’t expecting to see a Risen Lord.
On the road to Emmaus, two disciples ran into a ..
(Luke 24:17-21 NKJV)And He
said to them, "What kind of conversation is this that you have with one
another as you walk and are sad?" {18} Then the one whose name was Cleopas
answered and said to Him, "Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You
not known the things which happened there in these days?" {19} And He said
to them, "What things?" So they said to Him, "The things
concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before
God and all the people, {20} "and how the chief priests and our rulers
delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. {21} "But we
were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel.
Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened.
Their hopes were dashed when Jesus was put to death.
But Jesus didn’t stay dead.He came
back to life.
A few reasons to believe Jesus rose
from the dead:
1. A Public Execution Assured His
Death
During the Jewish Feast of Passover, Jesus was swept away by an angry crowd
into a Roman hall of justice. As He stood before Pilate, the governor of Judea,
religious leaders accused Jesus of claiming to be the king of the Jews. The
crowd demanded His death. Jesus was beaten, whipped, and sentenced to a public
execution. On a hill outside of Jerusalem,
He was crucified between two criminals. Brokenhearted friends and mocking
enemies shared in His deathwatch. As the Sabbath neared, Roman soldiers were
sent to finish the execution. To quicken death, they broke the legs of the two
criminals. But when they came to Jesus they did not break His legs, because
from experience they knew He was already dead. As a final precaution, however, they
thrust a spear into His side. It would take more than resuscitation for Him to
ever trouble them again.
2. A High Official Secured The
Gravesite
The next day, religious leaders again met with Pilate. They said Jesus had
predicted He would rise in 3 days. To assure that the disciples could not
conspire in a resurrection hoax, Pilate ordered the official seal of Rome
to be attached to the tomb to put graverobbers on notice. To enforce the order,
soldiers stood guard. Any disciple who wanted to tamper with the body would
have had to get by them, which wouldn't have been easy. The Roman guards had
good reason for staying alert—the penalty for falling asleep while on watch was
death.
3. In Spite Of Guards, The Grave Was
Found Empty
On the morning after the Sabbath, some of Jesus' followers went to the
grave to anoint His body. But when they arrived, they were surprised at what
they found. The huge stone that had been rolled into place over the entrance to
the tomb had been moved, and Jesus' body was gone. As word got out, two
disciples rushed to the burial site. The tomb was empty except for Jesus'
burial wrappings, which were lying neatly in place. In the meantime, some of
the guards had gone into Jerusalem
to tell the Jewish officials that they had fainted in the presence of a
supernatural being that rolled the stone away. And when they woke up, the tomb
was empty. The officials paid the guards a large sum of money to lie and say
that the disciples stole the body while the soldiers slept. They assured the guards
that if the report of the missing body got back to the governor they would
intercede on their behalf.
4. Many People Claimed To Have Seen
Him Alive
About AD 55, the apostle Paul wrote that the resurrected Christ had been
seen by Peter, the 12 apostles, more than 500 people (many of whom were still
alive at the time of his writing), James, and himself (1 Corinthians 15:5-8). By making such a public statement,
he gave critics a chance to check out his claims for themselves. In addition,
the New Testament begins its history of the followers of Christ by saying that
Jesus "presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible
proofs, being seen by [the apostles] during forty days and speaking of the
things pertaining to the kingdom of God"
(Acts 1:3).
5. His Apostles Were Dramatically
Changed
When one of Jesus' inner circle defected and betrayed Him, the other
apostles ran for their lives. Even Peter, who earlier had insisted that he was
ready to die for his teacher, lost heart and denied that he even knew Jesus.
But the apostles went through a dramatic change. Within a few weeks, they were
standing face to face with the ones who had crucified their leader. Their
spirit was like iron. They became unstoppable in their determination to
sacrifice everything for the one they called Savior and Lord. Even after they were
imprisoned, threatened, and forbidden to speak in the name of Jesus, the
apostles said to the Jewish leaders, "We ought to obey God rather than
men" (Acts 5:29). After they were beaten for disobeying the
orders of the Jewish council, these once-cowardly apostles "did not cease
teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ" (Acts 5:42).
6. Witnesses Were Willing To Die For
Their Claims
History is full of martyrs. Countless men and women have died for their
beliefs. For that reason, it is not that significant to point out that the
first disciples were willing to suffer and die for their faith. But it is
significant that while many will die for what they believe to be the truth, few
if any will die for what they know to be a lie. That psychological fact is
important because the disciples of Christ did not die for deeply held beliefs about
which they could have been honestly mistaken. They died for their claims to
have seen Jesus alive and well after His resurrection. They died for their
claim that Jesus Christ had not only died for their sins but that He had risen
bodily from the dead to show that He was like no other spiritual leader who had
ever lived.
7. Jewish Believers Changed Their
Day Of Worship
Instead of worshipping on Saturday, the early church, made up of Jewish
believers began to worship on Sunday in honor of the day of the Resurrection.
8. Although It Was Unexpected, It
Was Clearly Predicted
9. It Was A Fitting Climax To A
Miraculous Life
Jesus lived an amazing life and did amazing miracles.Is it so unbelievable that He could do
something miraculous at His own death?
10. It Fits The Experience Of Those
Who Trust Him
For two thousand years, people have trusted in Jesus and the power of the
Resurrected Jesus has changed their lives.Some of you are here today and can share that Jesus has changed your
life.
Why is all this so important?
Not only does your ticket to heaven depend upon Jesus rising from the dead,
but it should affect the course of your daily life.
The truth of the resurrection gives us hope.It shows us that this life isn’t all there
is.It shows us that we too will one day
live after we die, and that there’s a reason for all that goes on in this life.
(2 Cor 4:8-18 NKJV)We are hard pressed on every side, yet not
crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; {9} persecuted, but not
forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; {10} always carrying about in the
body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested
in our body. {11} For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus'
sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. {12}
So then death is working in us, but life in you. {13} And since we have the
same spirit of faith, according to what is written, "I believed and
therefore I spoke," we also believe and therefore speak, {14} knowing that
He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will
present us with you.
God raised Jesus from the dead.God
will raise you from the dead.
{15} For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread
through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God. {16}
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet
the inward man is being renewed day by day. {17} For our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory, {18} while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at
the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but
the things which are not seen are eternal.
This life isn’t all there is.This
life is only getting us ready for the next life.The difficult things you go through in this
life aren’t for no reason.God uses
those difficulties to both to refine us, as well as to show others that there
is more to life – there is a life in heaven that we are aiming for.
For many people, their goal in life is to retire.And then they die.I’m not against retirement, I think it’s
great for a person to be able to put their work aside and focus on what they
want to do.
But as a Christian, our goal isn’t retirement.Our goal is heaven.We don’t work hard and serve the Lord so we
can retire for a few years and then die.We work hard for the Lord for the reward we will get in heaven.We don’t “retire” until we get to heaven.
Illustration
Tony Campolo tells the story of a black Baptist preacher in the inner city
of Philadelphia who preached a
sermon Tony says he’ll never forget. Tony preached first. He was “hot,” so “hot”
he says, that he even stopped and listened to himself. He sat down and said to this
pastor: “Now see if you can top that one!”“Son,” said the black pastor, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” For an hour
and a half the pastor repeated these words over and over again: “It’s Friday,
but Sunday’s a comin’.”“I’ve never
heard anything like it,” Tony said. “He just kept saying it. The congregation
was spellbound by the power of it.”“It’s
Friday. Mary, Jesus’ mother is crying her eyes out. That’s her son up there on
the cross. He’s dying the agonizing death of crucifixion as a criminal. But it’s
only Friday,” the preacher said. “Sunday’s a comin’.”“The apostles were really down and out.
Jesus, their leader, was being killed by evil men. But it was only Friday.
Sunday is a comin’.“The Devil thought
he had won. ‘You thought you could outwit me,’ he said, ‘but I’ve got you now.’
But it was only Friday. Sunday is a comin’.”“He went on like that for 30 minutes, 40 minutes, an hour. Each time he
said, ‘It’s Friday,’ the crowd began to respond, ‘but Sunday’s comin’. An hour
and 15 minutes.“It’s Friday and evil
has triumphed over good. Jesus is dying up there on the cross. The world is
turned upside down. This shouldn’t happen. But it’s only Friday. Sunday’s a
comin’.“It’s Friday. But Sunday is
comin’. Mary Magdalene was out of her mind with grief.Her Lord was being killed. Jesus had turned
her life from sin to grace. Now he was dead. But it’s only Friday. Sunday is a
comin’.”The place was rocking. For an
hour and a half. “Friday! But Sunday is a comin’.Friday. But Sunday is a comin’.“The sisters and the brothers are suffering.
It just isn’t fair...all they have to go through, but it’s only Friday. Sunday
is comin’.”“I was exhausted,” Tony
said. “It was the best sermon I’ve ever heard. The old preacher was saying it
and the people were with him. ‘It’s Friday, but Sunday is a comin’. It was
powerful,” Tony said. “It was personal.”
For many of you who are going through such difficulty in your life – It’s
just Friday.But Sunday’s a comin’.We have the hope of heaven because Jesus rose
from the dead.