The Church of Eleven22 - Easter 2018

Episode Date: April 1, 2018

Through the cross and resurrection Jesus has conquered all of our fears. Are you ready to trade in your fears for FAITH in the Risen Savior? The presence of Jesus can calm all of our fears.

Amen and amen. He is alive. He is alive. He is alive. Amen, church. How are we doing? You looking good? Way better than you looked last year. So, congratulations yourself for that. So glad you're here. If you got your Bible, grab them. Matthew chapter 28. That's where we're going to be. Matthew chapter 28. If you're a regular here, you know that this is a break. And after the last two weeks, we kind of need a little breath from Romans. That's kind of heavy. And so we're going to dive into the account of the resurrection of Jesus in Matthew chapter 28. If you don't have a Bible, we have one for you. You could just grab the one in the seat back in front of you. And if you don't have a Bible of your very own, that's our gift to you. Feel free to take that home. If you've got like 12 of our gifts at your house, we'd love for you to bring like 11 of those back. That'd be awesome. Okay.

Hey, listen, and if you're a guest here, if you normally don't do the church thing, or maybe you're very committed, like every Easter you're here, but you're kind of an only an Easter person. I am so glad that you're here. And I want to share something with you that may scare you. I hope it does. Up until about high school, the only time I would, went to church was Easter. Now look what I do for a living. So you never know, okay? You better

watch out. If it gets on you, you're in trouble. So, but we are so glad every single person is here. And so at the end of that, in that video, this question was asked, what if today we traded in our fear? Would if today we traded in our fear for faith? We're going to spend our time together talking about fear because fear is one of the greatest inhibitors to us. Fear can be the thing that paralyzes us. And I know that some of you, fear is not just sort of like psychological idea, but you are walking in the valley of the shadow of death. And you do fear, all kind of stuff around you.

And you say, hey, listen, I get it, I get it. But if you knew my story, then you would know that, man, I'm in an impossible situation. And the good news of Easter is this. If the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. Amen? Every year when they talk about fear, they do this. survey and they list the top five or top ten fears. I like looking at this little list. And this year, it's very similar to all the years. The number five fear in America is the fear

of tight spaces like claustrophobia. That makes sense. Number four is the fear of flying. Anybody afraid of flying? Raise your hand if you're afraid of flying. Okay, all right? Liars. My wife is afraid of flying. She's better now. She would never let it like keep her from where we're going or whatever. But she's kind of maybe overcome it. But early on, we first got married, and especially we first had kids, she was, like, deathly afraid. And wherever we would go, she'd get real quiet at the airport, and she would white-knuckle that thing and just get real nervous, and it just wasn't awesome. And then my son, who's 12 now, he's about three months old at the time, and we're getting on the plane, and we're going to Ohio. And it's not even deer season,

so I have no idea while we're going up there. But anyway, we're about to go, JP's three months old, and I'm holding him, and, you know, the pilot's like, all right, here we go, go. And we're about to take off, and then J.P. starts crying. And he's three months. And I look over, and then Gretchen, my wife, she starts crying. You ever have a thought? And you know you should just keep this in here, but I've been told I lack what is called a filter. And sometimes my thoughts just come out. And I said, out loud, without thinking about it, I said, great. Now I have two babies to take care of. That's what I said. Which leads to the number three fear is your wife. No, I'm just kidding. That's not. This should be. Now, the number three fear is drowning.

the number two fair is bugs, and I don't think it's bugs in themselves, I think it's just bugs when they get on you. Or when you don't know where the bug is, I spend a lot of time in the woods and you ever walk through a spider web, and it's not the web. It's the problem. You're like, oh, my God, where is he on me? Or if a bug has the gift of flight, you know, at any minute he could like invade your space. And then the number one fear, public speaking. Every year is the number one fear. The thing that I'm about to do for the next three or four hours of your day is is the, I'm just kidding. Which means this.

Most of you would rather be in a plane that goes down in the ocean and while you're drowning be eat to death by some sort of ocean bug than do what I'm about to do. Now you may ask yourself, so every this is Easter. Why are we talking about fear? Here's why. Because in Matthew 28, the text that we're going to study, and if you're new here, that's what we do.

We just open the Bible, read it. It's going to talk about fear a lot. In fact, in 10 verses, the word fear comes up over and over and over and over. And we're going to see what Jesus has to say about faith and fear. So Matthew chapter 28, beginning in verse 1, says now, after the Sabbath towards the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. Now, why did these women go see the tomb? One, they believe Jesus is still dead.

And then two, men took Jesus off the tomb and they wrapped his body. And so the women have to go like double check and make sure because they know they messed it up. Anyway, verse 2. And behold, there was a great earthquake. for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and he sat on it. And his appearance was like lightning and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him, this is the first one. And for fear of him, the guards trembled and they became like dead men.

They weren't dead men, but fear paralyzes. And they are so afraid of these angels that they lay down like dead people. Verse five. But the angels said to the women, do not be afraid. This is the second time. Two verses, don't be afraid. You see, I don't know if you realize this, that pretty much every single time, at least every time I can remember, that the angels show up anywhere in the scriptures to announce Jesus being born, to talk to Mary, to talk to Joseph.

Anytime angels showed up on the scene, they always said the same thing. You know what it is? Don't be afraid. Why? Because apparently, the biblical reality of a messenger from God is that. different than our little idea of angels. Apparently, they're not little chubby babies in a diaper with a bow and error trying to get you a date in February. Apparently, that ain't, because that ain't scary.

The date might be, but the angel baby ain't. And they're not like skinny chicks walking around in their underwear during halftime that need a eat a hamburger. That's not what angels are, okay? Apparently, these angels are these, I mean, these cosmic heavenly messengers, and every single time they show up on the scene, they have a message and they're excited, and they show up and people are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold, come down. Here's a wet wipe. Hey, listen, listen, do not be a first.

every single time. And they tell them women don't be afraid. A couple of reasons. The women show up not only to this angelic being, but also to an empty tomb. And they're afraid. Maybe somebody took the body or what is going on here. And they say, do not be afraid. For I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

Now I know this is kind of obvious, but we need to talk about it. There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. There is no resurrection without the crucifixion. And if you're new to Bible study in church and this whole Christianity thing, one of the things that is distinctly different about being a Jesus follower is that we do not put our faith in faith. We do not put our faith in a set of ideals or beliefs. We believe in the reality that something happened.

That a man showed up on the scene and claimed to be one with God, claimed to be the way, the truth in the life, and no one came to the Father except through him. And he was a historical figure, and he died. on a cross, he was crucified. It happened. Here's five things about the crucifixion you should know. Number one, it was public.

It was public. It didn't happen in front of a whole bunch of people in a very big city. It happened just outside the gates of Jerusalem. This isn't a thing that happened a long time ago in a land far away. In other words, it's not a myth that built over time. It was a public event that people saw. And it was in Jerusalem, the capital city of Israel. It's not like it happened like in Palacca and you're like, I don't even know where that is, okay?

And if you're from Palacca, welcome. It's nice here, isn't it? So, and non-biblical historians talk about the event of the crucifixion. You see, men like Tacitus. You don't remember him, but you learned about him in 10th grade history. A Hebrew scholar named Josephus writes about it. Plenty the younger, you don't know him, but he talked about it too. This was an event, and it was public.

In fact, I could take you to the place where most theologians believe the crucifixion happened. And today it's an Arab bus station outside the city of Jerusalem. And you go and you see that and you think, well, God, that's kind of a bummer. Our Savior died here. And in actuality, that's probably a more accurate representation of what it actually was in the first century. Because they probably did not crucify Jesus on a hill far away, like you see at the Baptist bookstore. that he was just outside the city gate, ground level, so that everybody leaving and going on that road

would come eyeball to eyeball with him. The reason I tell you this is this is not a myth that developed over time. This was an actual event. The crucifixion was public, and the crucifixion was planned. This is not just some sort of historical happenstance, and God took his eye off the ball, and he looked back and said, you did what, and then had to rework this whole plan of salvation together. In fact, it was the plan of salvation.

Even if you don't know a bunch of Bible verses, I'm betting, especially in the state of Florida, that you know John 316. For God so loved the world that he gave. This was not an accident. Isaiah chapter 53 says that God was pleased to crush his son. Ephesus chapter 2 tells us that the crucifixion was predestined, that the Lamb was slain before the beginning of time. This was no accident that the crucifixion was planned. In fact, my number one favorite preacher of all time, Joseph Perry Martin IV, my son. Now, he's only preached one sermon.

But if you kill one guy, you're a murderer. So if you preach one sermon, you're a preacher, okay? And so when we did our 24 hours of preaching this fall, he was inspired. So he wrote a sermon called God's plan. And then one week we weren't able to meet here because of one of the hurricanes. And so we did church at my house, and he preached the sermon on the plan of God. And this was his point. He said the execution of God's son was the execution of God's plan.

That'll preach. You see, the crucifixion was public and it was planned and it was painful. For hundreds of years, artists really did a disservice to us in their renderings of the crucifixion. Because most of you that grew up with a crucifix in your church or house, that is not what it looked like. First of all, Jesus wasn't Swedish and he didn't have hair like blowing in the wind. And it wasn't just nice and clean and on the cross with a couple of little piercings in his hand and great abs. That's not how it went down at all. In fact, I think the movie The Passion of a Christ is probably a great service to believers

because we could see the brutality of what a first century crucifixion would be. You see, Rome is the largest government to ever exist, and they ruled more territory than you can get your mind around. And the only way that you can do that is with an iron fist. So you let anyone, you let anyone get out of line, and they would bring death and destruction upon you. And they were experts at pain and torture. And that's what crucifixion was about.

You see, before Jesus ever makes it to the cross, he goes to Pontius Pilate, and he's put on trial. And they put a cloth over his head, and they punch him in the face, and they say, okay, prophet, tell us who did that. And then they pluck his beard out. And they put him in what's called Pilots Praetorium. It's a courtyard. and they flog him.

And this doesn't mean just like a little whip. It's a cat of nine tails. And every time these Roman soldiers, who are experts in pain, every time they hit him with the cat of nine tails, the bone and the metal grab him into his flesh and they rip it off of him. Historians tell us that sometimes people would lose ribs, that organs would be exposed. Most people didn't make it through the flogging.

And then they put the cross on his back, and he carried it from Pilots Pretoria to Galgoth. the place of the skull. And then when they got there, they put a crown over his head and they pushed it down and blood flowed down his face. And they took nails, not three to make like a necklace with, but like what would look like railroad spikes to us. And they would drive it through this part of his hand, by the way in the first century, anything from the tip of your finger to your elbow was your hand. And they would drive it through his hand and they would drive it through his feet and hoist him up to be exposed to the sun. strip naked. And the thing is about crucifixion is people didn't die from the blood loss and people didn't

die from the pain. Most people it took 48 hours to expire and they would asphyxiate. They would basically drown on their own fluid. In fact, the English word excruciating comes from the word crucifixion because it was painful. And the crucifixion was punishment. Not just Roman punishment for this guy causing trouble down somewhere around Galilee. But the crucifixion was punishment, punishment for sin. Now here's the good news. The crucifixion was also propitiation. Now that's a theology word. That's a Bible word. Everybody

say propitiation. So when you're hanging out at lunch this afternoon and people are like, what was Easter about? You say propitiation. They'll be like, oh, you'll go to smart church. We thought we were done at Walmart. Propeciation means this, a payment that satisfies. The The crucifixion was punishment for sin, but it was not Jesus of sin because Jesus was perfect. It was a punishment for our sin. Here's what John says about propitiation in 1 John chapter 4, verse 10, in this is love. Not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation for our sin. In other words, when Jesus pushes up on the cross on his nail-piers feet and he says, it is finished.

means the holiness, the justice, the perfection, the law of God has been dealt with and paid for at the cross that it is finished. And here's why this is so important, not just theologically. Here's why this is important for you personally. Because as Jesus is the payment that satisfies and if you are in Christ, this means that God is not dissatisfied in you. That's good news. because most of us think that God is just kind of like slightly annoyed with us, that God's in love with some future version of us, that one day when we get our act together and come to church three times in a row and quit drinking so much during the week and quit saying bad words,

then God will really love me. And in the meantime, he's just putting up with me. That could not be further from the truth. God knew exactly what he was getting with you, and he chose to adopt you anyway. Why? Because Jesus is the propitiation, the payment that satisfies. See how much that word matters? See, I was told that at a growing church, we shouldn't use big theological terms, especially

here in Jacksonville. But I think that if you can order a venti-carmo macchiato, then you should know what propitiation is. And by the way, if you're a grown man, just get a cocoa like a baby. All right, anyway, you should order it black and nasty. But propitiation means a payment that satisfies, which means this, man. God's not dissatisfied in you. He's not.

This also means that God's not going to call a mulligan on your salvation. He knew exactly what he was getting and he paid full price for you anyway. This means that when you screw up tonight, God's not going to look at you and be like, I don't know if I should do this. He's not going to see you surrender your life to Christ here at church on a Sunday and then see you at TPC and be like, never mind, give it back. I did not see this coming. Give it back.

That is not how it goes down. And it matters because, because he said his sin. son to be the propitiation for our sin. You see, the crucifixion happened. It was public. It was planned. It was painful. It was punishment for our sin.

But it was also propitiation. It was an actual event, as is the resurrection. Now, we're not going to spend time on this text, but if you'll look in verses 11 through 15, there's a group of people here that want to discredit what we know as Christianity. They want to discount and discredit the gospel. And if you're going to do this, you've got to do something about the crucifference. fiction and resurrection. So the first story that came up is this. They pay off the soldiers and they say, hey, just tell everybody the body was stolen. In fact, if you watch the History Channel and Discovery

channel this weekend, in order to discount and discredit Christianity, people have to come up with all of these ideas or theories to explain what happened 2,000 years ago. And again, these guys said, well, maybe we'll tell everybody the body is stolen. Come on. Are you being serious? Because where are the right now. Do you know what happens when Jesus is crucified? The disciples hide, lied, and denied. That's what they did. It was duck, ditched duck. That's what they are doing. We are out of here. And you mean to tell me this band of 11 guys who were as afraid to even be at the crucifixion, somehow they mustered up the courage, and then they showed up and there was a Roman guard there and they put the Jackie Chan on them somehow. And then they rolled the stone away and they took

Jesus's body and they know that he's dead and they hit him out somewhere and for the rest of their lives, the rest of their lives, they kept claiming that he was alive, he was alive, he was alive. Come on, you got to be kidding me. Because I tell you this, did you know that every single one of the disciples died? Not for what they believed in. People die for what they believe in all the time. Crazy people do. But they died because of what they said they saw and heard. And who would die for a lie? I mean, Matthew, Matthew was martyred in Ethiopia by a sword. Mark died in Egypt, and he was drugged to death by horses. Luke was hung in Greece.

John, John is the only disciple that didn't die. They tried to kill him. They tried to boil him to death, and he just was like poached. He wouldn't die. And the reason is because Jesus wasn't finished with him. He still had to give him the book of Revelation. That book in the end of your Bible is kind of scary. And so they took him and they put him on the island of Patmos.

to let him grow old there. The Apostle Peter, remember him, the loudmouth, the one that was scared to admit that he knew who Jesus was on the night Jesus was betrayed. The Apostle Peter was crucified upside down. You mean to tell me that Peter would die for a lie? I'm telling you, all he had to do, all he had to say is like, okay, never mind, never mind.

Yep, you made it up. We made it up. He's in my bedroom right now. Let me go get him, okay? But it's not true because he saw a dead man walking. That James, they took James up to the temple and they said, all you have to do is recant your faith. And he's like, I can't.

So they threw him off the top of the temple and he didn't die at first. He just broke his legs. So they went down and they beat him to death with a club. Bartholomew, he was whipped to death. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Historians tell us that it took him two days to die. And on the cross for two days, he would not stop preaching the gospel. Thomas

Remember doubting Thomas? The one that said, unless I see with my eyes his hands and feet, unless I, he's kind of a weird cat, unless I put my hand into his side. I don't know why you'd want to do that, but that's what he did. Then I won't believe,

and then Jesus showed up and proved himself that one. He took the gospel to India, and there he was stabbed with a spear. Jude was killed with arrows. Matthias, I don't know if you know this, but Matthias is like the, he was like the undrafted free agent. They got late after they lost Judas.

He was stoned and beheaded. Paul was beheaded by the Emperor Nero at AD 67. Maybe my favorite is James the son of Zebedee. His nickname was the son of thunder. He was on trial and he would not stop talking about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And it was so influential to the Roman Guard that was watching guard over him that on the day of his execution, the Roman Guard took James down to the gallows to be beheaded. And James lays his head down.

And then the Roman guard says, I too believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. And he knelt down and he gave his head too. You see, who would die for a lie? Not only did the disciples all die, but some people will say, yeah, it's just a story that grew over time. And these disciples, they made it all up. Okay, have you read the Bible? I'm just going to tell you, if you're going to create a religion and you're going to write about yourself in the religion, aren't you going to write yourself in as a hero?

And why would you make something up that's so hard? I'm telling you, if I start a religion, you know what gets you to heaven? Chicken wings and beer, and we're in, okay? And these guys, they were jokes in their faith. I mean, it's like the island of misfit toys the disciples are. In fact, if you have a real hard time believing and following, then I've got good news, you can make a really, really good disciple. And then there's this other theory.

It's my favorite one, and my favorite, I think it's the silliest one of all. It's called the swoon theory. And the reason people came up with the swoon theory is they could not deny that there was a man named Jesus who was crucified on the cross. And then later people saw him walking around town. So they say, how do you explain that if he did not die and was resurrected? And people say, oh, he swooned. In other words, because of the beating and because of the torture and because of the crucifixion, he didn't die, but he like went into a coma.

And they took him down on Friday and they wrapped his body in like 100 pounds of burial cloth. and they put him in an empty tomb and they rolled a stone over it, but it's dark and it's damp in there and it's cool. And after three days, he woke up feeling like he'd stayed in a holiday and express. And he took off the burial cloth and he rolled away the stone and somehow he tiptoed by the soldiers and then he jogged to Emmaus, which is seven miles away.

Now listen, I'm a little skeptical of this one, and here's why. I'm 44 years old. And if I sleep wrong at night for a minute, I need like an Advil smoothie to go to work the next day. So I do not think that the man who is beaten and crucified three days later is just jogging around Jerusalem. So what happened? I'll tell you what happened. Jesus Christ rose from the grave.

That is what happened. Amen? Amen. And so the angels say, don't be afraid. We know you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. For he has risen as he said. I think the angels are confused.

So why are you looking for him? Did you not pay attention? You should take notes when people are preaching. That's what they're saying. He told you he was going to do this. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. And behold, he is going before you to Galilee.

There you will see him. See, I have told you. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear. Here's the third one. And great joy. You ever notice the thing about fear is it can overtake all your other emotions? You see, they are overjoyed because the angel says that he is alive and yet still somehow fear continues to creep in. I think that can be a lot of us, especially if you've been a Christian a minute and you want to believe the promises of God,

and you want to believe if the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And yet when you look at the circumstances around you, it's like this weird mix of fear and joy. And that's what's going on here. And they ran to tell the disciples and behold, Jesus met them. And he said, greetings. came up and they took hold of his feet and they worshipped him. Now I'm no doctor, but I tell you this, you cannot take hold of the feet of a ghost or of a hallucination or of a spirit. The Bible is very, very clear. This is a physical bodily resurrection. Verse 10. And then Jesus says to them, do not

be afraid. This is the fourth time in 10 verses. Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee and there they will see me. Now listen, I am just of the opinion that if the creator of the that spoke everything into existence with a word, if he decides to repeat himself over and over and over, it may be something that you want to pay attention to. And so why? Why would the angel say don't be afraid? And why does Jesus say don't be afraid?

You see, because on the very first Easter, there's a lot of fear going on here. I mean, imagine if you're a disciple. A disciple, it literally just means a follower. And by definition, if you follow somebody, that means you end up where they are and Jesus ended up on the cross. And can you imagine the fear that is gripping the disciples and they think, oh, no, are they coming for us next? I mean, if we followed after him and they killed him, are they going to kill us next?

And maybe for some of them, it's not a physical fear. Maybe it's a theological fear. They still don't know what's happening yet. The Spirit of God has not descended at the southern steps and Pentecost hasn't happened. Jesus hasn't given them the Great Commission. They're not sure what the plan is, but they know this. If the son of God died, what does that mean for the world? And then if we're honest, most people don't think about the world.

We just think about our world. And maybe they're afraid because they think, uh-oh, have we chosen poorly? I mean, we dropped everything to follow after this man. And now they say that he's risen from the grave, but what does this mean for us? Because the fishing business was going great, and now we're going to do this. I think Peter's probably thinking, uh-oh. am I even still in the group? I mean, are they going blackball me?

Because the last thing I said to Jesus is, I would never leave you, I would never forsake you, I would lay down my life for you. You ever made God a promise that you didn't keep? And then Jesus is like, hold on, Scooter, before the alarm clock goes off tomorrow, three times you're going to deny me. It's not word for word that way. Don't look up Scooter in the Bible, okay?

But that's what he's saying. And then he denies Christ three times, and he's probably afraid. Maybe I'm out. You see, there's a whole bunch of fear. going on there. And if we're honest, and I know this is church, it's no place for this, but if you're honest, some of you are dealing with some real fear. And I'm not talking about spiders. I'm talking about like a health fear, like a future fear, like a marriage fear, a kid fear, or finance fear,

and you're afraid. And then there's always that one big burly man, he's like, I ain't afraid. Oh, yeah, then why do you have to control everything, hoss? You see, because control is the first cousin of fear. And you're afraid if you let go, then your whole world will be out of control. Some of you're afraid you're going to be alone forever. And how about this? This is how kooky we are.

You ever look back over the last few months and think, and the reason that you're afraid is because things have been going good too long? And you think, something's got to be happening. Or you really have no reason to fear. Your circumstances don't necessarily. necessarily dictate fear, and yet every single day you wake up and you're full of fear and it's paralyzing to you. And you look at your situation and you say, hey, listen, man, there's no way I cannot be

afraid. If you were in the situation I am or if I could just get the face mic for a minute, and if you would let me explain to everyone my situation, then you would say, okay, okay, then you get a pass. Everyone else is not supposed to be afraid, but you could get a pass. because you feel like your situation is impossible. And I would say to you, if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. And if you're carrying around some fears in your life, some legit fears,

I would say you're in good company. The very first disciples of Jesus, the reason Jesus has to tell them over and over and over to not be afraid is because they had a whole bunch of fear. It's okay to start there. You just can't stay there. Because here's what our fears do. Our fears often reveal where we trust God the least and what on earth we value the most. That's what our fears do.

And faith is when we trust God the most. You see, if you've been around 1122 for a while, maybe you've heard me say this, but do you know the most commanded thing in all the scriptures is this? Do not be afraid. Fear not. Be anxious for nothing. Be strong and courageous. If you put all those different versions of don't be afraid,

together. There's at least 365 times in the scripture where God commands us to not be afraid. Which means, I don't know about you, but I think I need to hear every day of my life, do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. Because me, just like you, we're tempted to look around at our circumstances and situations and let it cripple us and paralyze us with fear. You see, the Bible says, without faith that is impossible to please God. And I've been saying for a long time, did you know that the opposite of faith is not doubt? It's not. Did you know if you have a lot of doubts?

You can make a great disciple. In fact, look, in the text that we're looking at, what did the early disciples doubt? They doubted the resurrection. It's like the main thing. In fact, there's one brother called Doubting Thomas, and he's in. So you could be in too. So what do you do if you have doubts? And what do you do if you have unanswered questions?

You got unanswered questions? Some of it are like, hey, okay, I get the Jesus thing, but, Six days creation and two by two on Noah's Ark and where did Kane's wife come from and why do to bad things? So you got a bunch of questions? Great. Great. Did you know you can fully believe without fully understanding? Here's what you do.

You just pick up your doubts. You pick them up. You pick up all your questions and you surrender your life to Jesus. You follow after Jesus because I promise you this. If you are a Jesus follower, if you surrender your life to Jesus, one day all of your doubts go away. Not next Tuesday, but when you're in heaven. You know what you're going to doubt in heaven? heaven? Nothing. You know what? No one in heaven's going to ask you? Nobody's going to come up and you

and be like, all right, I got a question. Do you believe in Jesus? He'd be like, uh, he's sitting right there. Want to ask him? The bright one on the throne, okay? Then all of those doubts go away. So the opposite of faith is not doubt, but the opposite of faith is fear. Because fear paralyzes and faith produces action. You see, here's what fear is. Fear believes most in our That's what fear is. Fear is when you take your hope and you take your trust and you take your belief and you put them in your temporary circumstances. You take your hope and you put it in yourselves and you're like, all right, if this treatment

doesn't work, man, I've got no hope. Or you take your hope and you put it in a relationship as if it's the most important thing in this world. Or you take your belief and you take your trust and you take your hope and you put it in your bank account. And every time you log on, if it goes up, you feel good. If it goes down, you don't feel good. And you take your hope and your trust and your faith,

and you put them in the temporary circumstances of this world. And when you do that, you begin to ask the question. When things begin to fall apart, you begin to ask the question, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? In faith? Faith is not putting your hope and your trust in your circumstances. Faith is believing most in your sovereign and savior.

And instead of asking, what am I going to do? Faith begins to ask, okay, what is God going to do now? You see, faith believes most in the sovereign Savior. Now again, you can be scared. Scared's okay. Scares is just a feeling. Fear is like a prison.

So you get the emotion of scared. Scared's okay. Scared will keep you alive sometimes, right? But when you're scared and yet by faith, you move through that situation anyway, that is spirit-led courage. Praise God. But it is time. What if today was the day that you traded in your fear from faith?

You traded in your fear for faith, and you're like, I don't have a lot of faith. I got a whole bunch of fear. I got a little tiny bit of faith. I got really good news. Jesus says that even if you have a mustard seed amount of faith, you know how little a mustard seed is? Any mustard farmers in the house?

Back to our palaca crowd, no? Okay, so. It's teeny, itty-bitty. Like, if I had a mustard seed right here, you wouldn't be able to see it, especially if you're at Bay Meadows. You know what I mean? like you could not see it from where you are and Jesus is like okay plenty that's plenty like are you

sure because I got a whole bunch of fear I just got this eity bit little tiny amount of faith and what Jesus is saying is a tiny little bit of faith in an infinitely powerful God is infinitely more powerful than a whole bunch of faith than something weak like you and your temporary circumstances that's what it means to take back our fear and put our faith in him I was reading in a I read an article this week about fear. Psychologists say we only have five basic fears. It's it. There's like this pyramid of fear.

There are five basic fears that all of us struggle with. The most basic, like the ground floor of it all, is the fear of death or extinction. So in other words, if you were to say, hey, I'm afraid of heights. The psychologist would say, actually, you're not afraid of being high and you're not afraid of that fall. You're just afraid of that sudden stop at the end. That's ultimately what you're afraid of. That's what it is. The second one is this.

It's the fear of mutilation or bodily invasion. That makes me uncomfortable just reading it as a 40-plus-year-old man, but whatever. This is like the fear of pain. So you're not afraid of a shark. You're afraid a shark might bite your face. That's what you're afraid of. Like a couple weeks a month ago or so, I'm traveling somewhere, and I'm in Atlanta. Because, you know, from here you can't get to heaven without a layover in Atlanta.

That's just how it. And so there I am. I'm in Atlanta. I go into this room, and I'm walking by. And there's a guy sitting there, it's sitting next to me, and I'm like, God, this guy looks like Mike Tyson. Well, the good news, if you think somebody looks like Mike Tyson, is you can look at his face because he's got a face tattoo.

And so I look over there, sure enough, it's Mike Tyson. Now, if you're younger, you don't know who Mike Tyson is. He was an evangelist back in the 90s. It was really. So I just wanted to talk to him. I don't know. Well, I just did. So I walked by, and I just go, hey, what's up, champ?

That's all I said. And he stood up, and he go, hey, how you doing? You know, he's talking to me. with his big giant hand. And so I'm just shaking. He's very, he's just really polite and nice. And I can't stop, like, staring at his tattoo and his face. And I had these, like, I had these, like, compete.

It was like, it was like petting a pit bull. You're like, this is awesome. I could die. That's what it felt like. So what psychologists would say is, no, no, you're not afraid of Mike Tyson. You're afraid he'll eat your ear off. That's what you're afraid. Mutilation.

I hope he doesn't listen to this. The third one is the loss of all. autonomy. This is like the fear of being kidnapped or the fear of claustrophobia or like you're not in control. The fourth one is the fear of abandonment. Somebody would let you down, leave you. And again, you're not afraid they'll leave. You're afraid you'll be alone. And the last one, like the peak of the pyramid is the fear of humiliation or shame. So like the number one fear, public speaking, you're not afraid of the public or speaking. You're afraid you will look like a fool. And so this is like the pyramid of our basic fears. And you're probably like, pastor,

so this is the worst Easter I've ever had in my life. So what are you talking about this for? Here's why. Because as I'm reading through this in light of what Jesus talks about in Matthew 28, I saw it like I've never seen before, that if these are our five basic fears, death, mutilation, loss of autonomy, abandonment, and shame, then at the cross, Jesus' Christ endures and overcomes all of our fear. I mean, look at it. The fear of humiliation. Are you kidding me? The creator of all things, the one by whom all things were created for him, by him, through him, and to him, that he created all that is. And then on the cross, his creation is spitting in their creator's face. This Jewish man is stripped naked in front of everybody.

people are jeering to him and mocking him and do you know how he responds to just the fear of shame and humiliation he says Father forgive them for they know not what they do and what about the fear of abandonment

or separation or rejection you ever been there ever been divorced you ever been somebody let you down ever feel like you're all alone Jesus knows exactly how you feel because on the cross He says, Aloi, Aloi, La Mabat Shabaktani.

It means, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? He's quoting Psalm chapter 22. You should read it this afternoon. It's a play-by-play of the crucifixion 700 years before it ever happens. And he says, God, I'm abandoned here. Why? Because when Jesus went to the cross, the Bible says that God made him who was without sin to be sin. That Jesus did not simply take our punishment.

Jesus took our sin. And the almighty, righteous, perfect, and holy God rejects. Actually, he pours the full wrath of his justice and judgment upon Jesus at the cross. Jesus knows abandonment and separation. The loss of autonomy, Jesus is bound up. He is literally nailed to a cross. So when on the cross Jesus says, I thirst, it's because he hasn't not had their freedom anymore to reach his hand out and grab a cup of water

and do something about it. He can't wipe the blood and the sweat off of his brow. He gives up his own autonomy. In fact, he goes into the Garden of Gassimony, the place of crushing, and he prays, Father, if there be any other way, let this cup of wrath pass from me. Not my will, but your will be done. Jesus stares down the fear of the loss of autonomy. And the fear of mutilation, Jesus is flogged.

The crown of thorns is. pressed upon his brow, his beard is pulled out, he is nailed to a cross. And literally, he dies of a broken heart. A Roman soldier stabs him through the heart and blood and water flows. And whatever pain you have ever gone through, Jesus has faced down that pain. And then the fear of death, the fear of extinction, Jesus pushes up on those nail-pierced feet, and he says, it is finished. And then Luke tells us that in a loud voice, he cries out, Father, into thy hands, I commit my spirit, and God dies. The fear of death, and he walks right into it.

Now, if this is the end of the story, I got really bad news, because when God dies, all of our greatest fear come true. But words didn't report it. Words matter a bunch. And what Jesus says, maybe the three most important words of all eternity, Jesus says this, it is finished. You know what he didn't say? He didn't say, I am finished.

Because he wasn't finished. You see, when he says it, the it matters. What is finished? You see, what is finished is that Jesus is the propitiation for our sin. That Jesus has made the full payment to cover our sin debt. That the law has been met. That the justice of God has been met. That the full wrath of God has been poured out on Jesus.

And he is the payment that. satisfies. And so it is finished, but Jesus is not finished. Because on the third day, Jesus conquers sin and death. And at the empty tomb, Jesus overcomes all of our fears, and he has the scars to prove it. Here's what this means for me and you, that he puts shame to death, he puts loneliness to death, he puts the shackles of our selfish desires to death, he puts pain to death, and he puts death to death. Jesus puts the wages of sin to death. But, but because he is alive, amen? And then he's still not done.

If you get to the end of Matthew chapter 28, he gathers his disciples together on this mountain where he told him he was going to meet him. And I still think he has this whole fear deal in mind. And here's what he says. It says, now the 11 disciples went to Galilee. So get this, this is the resurrected Jesus. Like six weeks ago, he's in a grave.

And now he's standing on this mountain just outside of Jerusalem. It says, the 11 disciples went to Galilee to the mountainside to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. Just that this is for free. That's one of the most encouraging verses in my whole world. I just needed you to know this.

And here's why. At this point in Jesus' ministry, there's about 120 followers. And the resurrected Jesus gathers them together. And he's about to give the great commission. You Baptist know this really well. and the resurrected Jesus is standing before people. What he's about to do is he's going to ascend to the right hand of God the Father. These people saw Jesus crucified six weeks ago.

And now they see him alive again with the scars in his hands and his feet and his side. And he's going to ascend to the right hand of God the Father. And here's what it says. And some worshipped him. Some see the resurrected Savior and they worship him as the king of glory that he is. And other people, they doubt it. Other people are like, I don't know, man. I mean, I'm not sure.

That's crazy. Here's why it encourages me. There are times when I'm up here preaching my face off. I mean, I am. And I don't know if you like or not. I don't care. I'm up here and I'm slinging fire. I mean, sometimes I hear me and I'm like, that's good.

I'm like, amen, I'm my own self. Amen, glory. I mean, it's like going. And I'm up here fired up and some of you, some of you get into it. I see you. You know, somebody will say, amen. It's usually just Frank. He was at the 9 o'clock, all right?

And then some of you nod, you're like, some of you elbow, some people, and all you Presbyterians will just vigorously take notes. That's the way you try to encourage me. And then sometimes you'll moo. You ever sit next to a mooer? Like, I'll say something, and you'll be like, eh.

I think that's how white folks are starting to try to say amen. So y'all going to, you know, you can kind of help a little bit if you want to. But I'm up here like just spitting it, man. It's awesome. And you'd be into it. I can see it. leaning in, ha, ha, and then right next to him, be this guy like this. I'm like, what is wrong with you, man? We're ever preaching a word of God. God is saving people and doing something, and

wake up, but here's what I know. If the resurrected Christ ascending the right hand of God to Father came, if he don't do it, then a redneck from Dylan's got no choice, okay? So that makes me feel good. That's what's happening right here. He says all, he goes on to say this, after some doubt. And Jesus came, and he says what he says. There's like 120 people hanging out right here. He says, all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me. How much authority? All authority. Thanks, front row.

All authority has been given unto me. You know what this means? The authority over your finances rests in Jesus. The authority over your marriage rests in Jesus. The authority over your cancer rests in Jesus. The authority over our economy rests in Jesus. The authority over your marriage. The authority over your safety.

the authority over that prodigal son that hasn't come home yet, the authority over the forgiveness of your sins, the authority over God's imputed righteousness upon you, that the authority for Jesus to look at his father and say, hey, hey, I know that one's a rebel, but let's adopt that one into the family as an heir of the most high king. All authority in heaven and earth has been given unto Jesus. And then there's a therefore.

Go, therefore. Since all authority in heaven and earth has been, given to him, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And what do you think the disciples felt like right then? I think they're sitting there and they're thinking, what? So plan, your plan, after ministering here for three years and then dying on the cross for our Semi and resurrected from the grave. And now the plan for the whole world is us. us. I mean, Bartholomew's never been out of Israel. How's he going to go to the whole world?

Peter gets us in trouble every time he talks out loud. There's one guy called Doubting Thomas. Are you kidding me? And that's just the believers. There's still a group of the doubters. And they're like, you know, if you leave during the last song, you can get your kids and beat the traffic. You know, that's what they're doing. You should read it. And here's what I think. I think they're afraid. I think they're afraid because the obstacles look insurmountable. They look impossible. But the good news is that the tomb is empty, anything is possible. And see, here's the thing. I know most of you didn't grow up Orthodox Jews, but if you did, there's so much language here that crosses over to this event in the Old Testament. That Matthew 28 points directly to Joshua chapter 1.

And here's why I say this, because Joshua's name in Hebrew, you know how you say it? Yeshua. You know how you say Jesus in Hebrew? Yeshua. It's the same name. and we sang that song, You are worthy of your name? That Jesus' name means God saves.

And what God tells Joshua to do in Joshua chapter 1, he says, look, Joshua, you're going to take my people and you're going to cross over the Jordan and you're going to take them into the promised land. And three times in nine verses in Joshua chapter 1, God says to Joshua, be strong and courageous, be strong and courageous, be strong and courageous. Why is God repeating himself?

Because Joshua is weak and afraid, weak and afraid, weak and afraid. And in Joshua chapter 1, verse 9, God gives Joshua the reason that he can be strong and courageous. He says, look, you have a lot to be afraid of. You got to get over to Jordan, then you're going into a land of giants that are going to fight against you, and you are going to lead to people that historically have not been good followers. But be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be afraid, for I am with you. That's the assurance that he gives Joshua.

Now, look what Jesus does. Jesus is saying to his band of followers, he gives all authority in heaven. heaven and earth has been given unto me. Now go. Go and make disciples. You see, you're not just going to take my people from this piece of real estate over the river to this other piece of real estate. You, by the message of the gospel, you are going to be used to take people from this ball of dirt to the streets of gold in the glory of God. That is the promised land. And are you going to face obstacles? Oh, you think the giants in Joshua's day were big? I promise you this. In this world, you will face trials of many kind. But take heart. I have overcome the world. And he says,

therefore go and make disciples. When it says all nations, it literally means all people groups, all ethnos. And then here's the promise. Here's the promise. He never promises to change our situation. Here's the promise. And behold, that means pay attention. King James says, and lo, I am with you always to the end of the age. So are you afraid? Okay. Jesus says, here is the cure for fear. It is not a change of circumstances. But the cure for fear is the promised presence of our risen Savior. And maybe this day you face some sort of fear in your life, some sort of obstacle that seems impossible. See, where fear comes from is when we put our faith in temporary things.

Some of you put your faith in your health or your faith in a relationship or your faith in your status at work or your faith in your financial status or maybe the scariest one of all. some of you have put your faith in your religious performance and when you put your faith in any of these temporary things it will always equal fear because our circumstances sometimes are just out of control and what jesus invites us to do is to take it back even if it's just a mustard seat amount and say okay jesus i'm going to put my faith in you because the cure for fear is not a change in my circumstances the cure for fear is you and he He promises for anybody who believes that he would never leave us, he would never forsake us. Here's the point. I wrote it in your notes so you could take it home with you. Through the cross and resurrection, Jesus has conquered all of our fears. So here's the most important question you will ever ask yourself. So are you ready to trade in your fears for faith in the risen Savior?

And you say, even me? Yeah, especially you. You're like, ah, that's impossible. You're like, all right. If it's up to you, it's impossible. but if the tomb is empty, then anything is possible. Even you, trade in your fear for faith. You see, Jesus wasn't finished.

Remember that guy, they tried to boil and they put him on the Isle of Patmos? Well, Jesus shows up to him. His name is John. He shows up to him in a dream, and he says, write this down. It's called the Book of Revelation. If you knew of the Bible study, I would not necessarily encourage you to start there, but I'm a professional.

I'll get us there and out in just a minute. And in Revelation chapter 3, verse 20, Jesus is talking to people at church and he says this Behold, that means pay attention Behold, I stand at the door and knock And if anyone And you say even me

Are you in anyone? If anyone would hear my voice And open the door I would come in and eat with him and he with me This is Jesus' way of saying This is not about religious performance This is about a relationship initiated by Jesus.

So I would ask, is that you? Did you know this very day? Not because of anything that I have said, but because of the wooing of the Holy Spirit in your life. Maybe for the very first time, this makes sense to you. And you say, okay, how do I do this? How do I trade in my fear of my circumstances to faith in Jesus? It's as simple as ABC.

First of all, you admit it. You admit it. I admit it. I'm a sinner in need of a Savior, not a mistakeer in need of a life coach. I'm not a bad person that needs to be better. I'm a spiritually dead person that needs life. I admit it.

Jesus, I need your help. And then B, that you believe. And again, you don't have to fully understand to fully believe. If you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, when he says, it is finished. Somehow, that counted for you. And then, see, you confess. You confess.

The Bible says that if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you will be said. that you admit it I'm a sinner in need of his Savior, that you believe that when Jesus died on the cross, somehow that counted for me. And in this moment, you were ready to confess that, confess Jesus as your Lord and Savior for the very first time.

Then you could do that in this moment right now. Just like inviting somebody into your house, in a moment in time, you heard the door, you opened it up, and you say, come on in to my entire life. That's what salvation is. And I'm going to give you a chance to do it this resurrection day. So at all of our campuses, if you would bow your head and close your eyes, and if you were ready to admit that you were a sinner in need of his Savior,

that you believe somehow that when Jesus died on the cross, that counted for you. And right now, you were ready to confess your faith in Jesus. Then when I count to three, I want you to lift your hand. One, two, three, go. If you were committing your life to Christ, surrendering your life to Christ, you raise it high as a prayer to God. Our good and gracious Heavenly Father God, we love you.

And this is love. that we love you, but you loved us first and sent your son as a payment that satisfies for our sin. And God, I thank you for your pursuit of your rebellious children. God, I thank you that even on this day, this Easter Sunday, that people still continue to hear you not. They hear your voice. And I thank you and I praise you for the doors that have been opened up to surrender their life unto you. God, we love you more than anything because you demonstrated your love for. for us to the cross. And we pray this in the good, strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and all God's people said,

amen.