Its hard to believe, but we are on Week 11 of this series on apologetics. Apologetics means defending your faith. We have spent two weeks on the Nature of Truth; three weeks on the Existence of God; two weeks on the Problem of Evil; one week on Science; one week on the Credibility of the New Testament; a week on the Deity of Christ; and this week on the Resurrection. If you missed any of those weeks, remember we have a tape ministry that is available. All you do is you go out to the patio. On the counter there is a form. You just fill it out and leave it on the table. There is a little box for a freewill donation if you want to make one of those. Chip Jacobs will make sure its there for you the next week-a tape or a CD. Of course, theyre always available online. Then you should have received a Faith News. Did you receive that, a little slip of paper? If you are not on faith news or youve changed your email, this is an update we send out a couple times a month to let you know whats going on at Faith. Maybe its to move your clocks ahead, or maybe its some event thats transpiring like the Good Friday service this past Friday. Thats our way of communicating-one of the ways we do, so just fill this out and drop it in the offering box on the way out this morning. Would you turn with me please to the Gospel of Luke 23 (page 1046 of pew Bibles)? Since were going to be eating today quite a bit, lets work some of that off; lets stand up. You are going to play the part of the angels this morning since you all look like a bunch of angels to me. Im buttering you up, so youll like the sermon, see? Were going to read together 24:1-12, and you will read the part of the angels. We are talking about the Resurrection since it is Easter. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightening stood beside them. In their fright, the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, Why do you look for living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how He told you, while He was still with you in Galilee. The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again Then they remembered His words. When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the Apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened. Please be seated. We talked in our series several times about a naturalist point of view. In the naturalists point of view, the universe is a closed system. There is nothing that comes in and nothing that goes out. Everything that we see is all there is. There is no spiritual; there is only the physical. Life as we know it came as a result of random chance and evolution, survival of the fittest; so you and I, when we die, thats the end of our existence. We return to the dust from which we came, and everyone that has gone before us, our loved ones, they exist only in our memories. Those who will go after us when they pass away, that is the end of them as well. Thats a naturalists point of view. Thats difficult, so you have to find some sort of meaning in your existence because this is all that there is. Ultimately, if we are the product of random chance, there is no real meaning to our lives. We are accidents. We know that there has to be something more than just this natural stuff that we look at. We know there is something more to us than the face that we look at in the mirror. The Bible teaches that there is a spiritual reality to this life as well, so we have to make a decision about Christianity. Is Christianity just wishful thinking? Is it just a superstitious relic of the past that we try to hold on to or is there sufficient evidence to believe that Christ is who He said He was and that He did in fact rise from the dead? One thing we must keep in mind as we ponder this question is these events at this point in time in history; Jesus of Nazareth walked this earth; He walked the streets of Palestine; that we read about kings and governors; we read about places that we can go to and visit today. The Bible tells in detail, so these things are not described in mythical manner. These are events that happened in history. Twenty-five thousand surviving manuscripts of the New Testament testify to the accuracy of this account. Now here is some common ground. Those who lived at the time Christ was crucified all had agreement on several major things, truths. Number one, that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified under Pontius Pilate by Rome. Thats historical fact thats agreed upon, number one. Number two, He was buried in a tomb after He died. Number three, somehow the tomb became empty. The enemies of Christ-the Jewish leadership, the Romans, the Christians-all agree on those three facts. Thats very important for us to understand. There was no debate that Christ had died on the cross, that He was buried and that the tomb was empty. The debate is how did the tomb come to be empty? Thats the debate. That's what all the bru-haha is about. Im going to read to you quickly an account from Josephus. Im going to read this entire book this morning-no (congregation laughing). Im just going to read a quote. Josephus is very important because much of the history that we have about what happened in Palestine and about what happened in the history of the Jewish nation comes from Josephus. He was an historian extraordinaire. He was born in 37 A.D., just four years after Christ was crucified. He began life as a Jew, and then he fought the Romans in 66. He was captured, survived the war and eventually became a Roman citizen. He was commissioned by the Vespasian to write histories; so for the next two, almost three, decades, he recorded the histories of the Jews. There is an excerpt I want you to read. I think its important to understand this: Josephus is not a Christian. In fact, when he lived in Jerusalem, he was a Pharisee. Hes recording about Christ, but he himself is not a Christian. Heres what he says in Chapter 3:3, Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call Him a man; for He was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He dew over to Him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of principal men amongst us, had condemned Him to the cross, those that loved Him at the first did not forsake him; for He appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine Prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning Him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from Him, are not extinct at this day. So he calls us a tribe. Josephus there verifies that He died under Pilate on the cross, was buried, and that the account was that He was alive again-that was the rumor that was circulating; so what are the theories? Lets take a look quickly at some of the theories that are out there. The first one is really far-fetched. Since everyone in Biblical times was in agreement that Christ died on the cross, this theory didnt come into play until centuries later. Its whats called the swoon theory, and that is that Jesus didnt really die on the cross. Somehow He survived the cross and later in the coolness of the tomb revived. So heres what were supposed to believe in the swoon theory. First of all, the Romans had every interest in killing Jesus because that was their job. Just as if somebody is commissioned to carry out capital punishment, you better believe that theyre going to make sure whether its through the gas chamber, the electric chair or a chemical injection, their job is to make sure that prisoner is dead. The Romans job was to make sure that their prisoner was dead. Thats why they thrust the spear into His side, and out flew the blood and the plasma, indicating that He had already died. I guarantee you the enemies of Christ were going to make sure Jesus was dead. They wanted to rid their region of this scourge, this man who had taken so many of their flock; this man who had contradicted their teachings. He had been under their skin; He had been a thorn in their sides, and they were so tired of Him, so sick of Him. He had embarrassed them; He had outthought them. He had acted in a blasphemous way as a heretic claiming to be the Son of God. They wanted Him dead, and I guarantee you they were going to make sure that He didnt come down from that cross alive. Lets say for the sake of the swoon theorists that their theory is correct-that Christ survived. Heres what I am led to believe then: Christ is going to take 39 lashes with a cat of nine tails; and glass, bone, metal are going to come against His back, rip His flesh. Many people did not survive that part of the torture, but then lets say He does, and He goes to the cross. Hes going to be crucified on the cross. Hes going to hang on the cross for hours. Most people would die quickly from affixation because they couldnt breathe. Somehow, He survives that. He is then stuck in the side with a spear, and somehow He survives that too. He is then wrapped up like a mummy by Joseph and Nicodemus, wrapped up with linen; and then this sticky, gooey substance with perfumes and spices is wrapped around that so He is like sealed in this cocoon. He survives that. He is then put in a tomb and sealed without air for three days, without food, without water, and without medical attention. He revives Himself, undoes the bandages, moves a one-ton stone and presents Himself alive to His Disciples as the conqueror of death. To me, that takes more faith to believe than Him being raised from the dead and Hes Lord. There is another theory. The theory is that the women went to the wrong tomb. You know men thought of that one; lets blame it on the ladies to go to the wrong tomb. First of all, thats hard to do because its the only tomb with guards around it. Secondly, in Luke 23:55 (page 1047), it says, The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how His body was laid in it. So they followed them. They saw where the tomb was. They went home and rested on the Sabbath and came back the next morning. There was no mistaking where the tomb was. Besides that, the tomb belongs to Joseph of Arimathea. He is rich, and he is a member of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the elite. That was the top of the food chain. These guys-there were 71 of them. They were like our Congress and our Supreme Court combined into one. Do you think it would make the news today if one of the Supreme Court justices gave their cemetery plot to a convicted criminal who was executed by the state? Would that make the news? If they said, You know, I really love this criminal. I think this criminal has been unjustly sentenced to execution, and to show my love, Im going to give them my family burial plot. Would that make CNN? Yeah. This was no secret tomb. This was a prominent tomb in a garden, so everyone knew where the tomb of Jesus was. It was no secret place. That theory does not hold a lot of water. The third theory is that the Jews took the body of Jesus-the enemies of Christ took the body of Jesus. Well, listen friends, thats the last thing they wanted to do. They wanted to end this rumor once and for all. In the Book of Matthew 27:62 (page 989 of pew Bibles), it says, The next day after Christ had died… The Jews are going to just make sure Hes dead, number one; but number two, were going to make sure that we never have to hear anything more about this Jesus and that this movement comes to an end. …the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. Sir, they said, we remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, After three days I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, His Disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. The first deception is that He was the Son of God. The second deception, that He is risen from the dead, is much worse. Then Pilate agrees. Take a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. Thats their job. Theyre guards; theyre professionals. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. So the Roman guards post, and the seal of Rome is put over the tomb. That is something you dont want to break. That is something you dont want to tamper with because you do so at the risk of your very life. The Jews made every effort they could to prevent this rumor from happening. Its the last thing that they wanted. Theres a fourth theory, and this is probably the most prominent: that is the Disciples stole the body. The followers of Christ came into the tomb and stole the body of Jesus. Matthew 28:11, after Christ has risen from the dead, the soldiers now fearing for their very lives leave their post and go and report what had happened. Verse 11, While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. These guys are panicking. Theyre like white as ghosts. Theyre like, There was an angel, a stone and an earthquake, and they rolled back the stone. Theyre just trying to cover their tracks as best as they can. When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, You are to say, His Disciples came during the night and stole Him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Well, lets talk about that. Lets begin to pick apart that argument because this one has the most teeth, and its the most believed or the most prevalent argument-the alternate alternative to the fact that He rose from the dead. So, its a conspiracy. These guys fabricated this story about Christ being risen from the dead when they knew in fact He was not because they are the ones who started it. They perpetrated this lie that they stole the body. Number one-lets begin to look at some of these things. What happens to a group, especially a group thats dependent upon a very charismatic individual-that individual when he dies, what usually happens to that group? It disbands, doesnt it? It goes away. Well, were going to find that this particular following is going to increase in its influence; increase in its power; increase in its numbers after its very charismatic leader is executed. Its an unheard of thing to happen. The second reason: Are we to believe that these men were going to be transformed by a lie? Are these men who have been cowards, who have been hiding in secret, are going to be so transformed by this hoax, theyre going to go out in the streets and preach the Gospel to thousands of people while risking their very lives. The Sanhedrin-the most powerful group of men-was going to call them and say, Were going to imprison you. Were going to beat you. Were going to torture you. Were going to even kill you if you continue to talk about the Resurrection. Knowing its a lie, they say, Beat us! Imprison us! Kill us if you have to! We cannot stop talking about what we have seen and heard. Do you know how hard it is to keep a conspiracy or a cover-up? You dont have to go back very far in history. Think of the Watergate cover-up. It didnt last very long. Those men started to crack under pressure, and everyone gives the other one up as soon as they start talking about jail. Yeah, Ill talk. Ill talk. These men went to their deaths refusing to change their story. You know people will die for something they think is true thats not. Terrorists blow themselves up because they think its an instant ticket to paradise. How many people will die for something they know is a lie? These men would have known the truth. Yet, one after another… Peter will be crucified upside down. Paul will lay his head on a chopping block. None of them will change their story, and their stories are all the same. He was crucified. Hes alive, and weve seen Him. Kill us if you have to. We must obey God more than men. Lies are things that make us ashamed. Lies make us hang our heads. Lies arent things that make us bolder, stronger and more courageous; but they will be punished and die for it. Lets go ahead and look to the next point I want to make. These are cowards for a time being until the Holy Spirit comes on them. Theyre going to break a Roman seal. It would take some nerve for you if while youre in Washington D.C., you see something that says Top Secret, Property of the United States Government, and you go ahead and violate that. For these men to risk their lives for this lie is quite extraordinary. What is the reason to do that? Think about this. When Jesus was alive and He was doing these great miracles and teaching, it was still difficult for people to believe He was the Messiah. Why? Because He was not acting as a Messiah should act. He was not defeating the Roman Government. He was not gathering up a following or an army to rebel. He was not doing that at all. Hes reaching out to people like lepers and Samaritans. He was healing the sick; He was preaching love, forgiveness and grace. Thats not how a Messiah is supposed to be. It was really a tough sell when Jesus Himself was proclaiming who He was and doing wonderful miracles. Now, youre going to try to market a dead Messiah to the people? Now youre going to try to tell them this Man who was a criminal, was crucified on the cross and died this humiliating death is really, truly the Son of God? You need to come up with a different marketing strategy because that one is not going to work! It was one thing when Jesus was alive to believe He was the Messiah, and they struggled with that. Now that Hes dead and considering the manner in which He died, youre going to now convince these people that He is the divine Son of God? That's not going to work unless that plan really is from God, unless it is the truth. Lets play along with their story here. Lets imagine for a moment that theyre going to overpower the guards. Theyre going to steal it [with them there] because thats the alternative. Either the guards are sleeping or the guards are awake. Lets say the guards are awake. Can you imagine this group of unarmed men overpowering Roman guards with their spears, their swords and their knives? These are non-violent Disciples of Christ, and were expected to believe theyre going to overpower Roman soldiers? Highly unlikely. What about the fact that theyre sleeping? Would you fall asleep if your life depended on it? If this was your job and if you fell asleep, it meant you died, would you fall asleep? I dont think you would. Now you might sleep, but youd trade off, right? Youd take a session and youd sleep, then Ill sleep and so forth; but if your life depends on it, youre not going to fall asleep. In the Book of Acts 12, Herod Agrippa has Peter in prison. He has already killed James, the brother of John; and the Jews liked it. He wants to be popular, and he likes the response; so he decides hes going to kill Peter too. He imprisons Peter, and Peter is in jail and the church is praying. An angel comes and releases Peter from his bonds, and Peter walks out free. When the soldiers wake up in the morning, they find that Peter is no longer in the prison. They know their lives are at stake. We find the story in Acts 12:18 (page 1091), In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. That was the punishment. Earlier in the Book of Acts in that chapter, we know that there are 16 of those guards from the Greek-16 men are killed at Herods hands. Herod can do anything he wants. He is the close friend of Emperor Caligula-childhood friends. So he has carblanche-do whatever you want. Hes like a little mini-dictator there. King Herod has those men killed. Why? Because they usurped their responsibility, and they let the prisoner go free. These men are not going to fall asleep. Lets say they did. Lets play along. You know, how hard would it be to move a one-ton plus stone in the middle of the night and not wake up the guards? Think about the ridiculousness of their story. My wife goes to bed early. Shes an early riser; Im a night owl, so invariably when I go to bed, shes sleeping. Shes also a light sleeper, so I try not to wake her up; but we have a board that when I step on it, it squeaks all the time. Ill come in the room and be really quiet and creak. Then shell start to stir. Ill go to the restroom real quick, and Ill try to shut the door. Shell wake up. Im trying to be as quiet as I possibly can. Its just me walking in the bedroom to go to bed, not saying a word and trying to tiptoe. Am I really supposed to believe that the Apostles are going to come, find the guards sleeping and theyre going to ever so quietly move a one-ton stone? You try that. Get a one-ton stone and try to quietly move it. Its so easy. Those one-ton stones just roll so smoothly and quietly. Come on! Lets be real! You know what the best explanation is? Its not that the ladies went to the wrong tomb. Its not that Jesus didnt really die from the sufferings and torture. Its not that the Jews took Him. Its not that the Disciples took Him. The explanation that makes by far the most sense-the only one thats rational-is that He rose from the dead, that He was who He said He was. With that promise, we have the hope of the Resurrection because if Christ did in fact rise from the dead, then the world and human beings are more than just physical; we are also spiritual. There is a part of us that will survive death. Paul talks about this in the Book of 1 Corinthians. He talks about the fact that the Resurrection of Jesus was not just the resuscitation of a corpse. Jesus resurrected body was different. He was still Jesus; He was still recognizable as Jesus, but He had changed. His body was now a body that could inhabit eternity. Paul writes and says that you and I one day will have a body like Jesus. Verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 15 (page 1139), Paul says, But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then now even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead. But He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. Thats it; its done. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. A new and improved you. My computer went on the fritz, and I depend a lot on my computer. It started to make a funny movement. It started to fade in and out; it took longer to boot up every time, and it would go off quickly. Over the period of days, it would boot up and go off real fast, and then it wouldnt even boot up at all. I said, My computer is sick. Then I finally said, My computer is dead. I took it to Apple to see the computer doctor. He took it in the back room. He came out after a few minutes, and he said, Your computer is dead. You need a new logic board. He said, Thats pretty expensive. Youre better off just getting a brand new laptop. My concern was this: I said, Listen, I understand that, but I just feel so bad. I started venting. I started pouring out my heart to this guy. I was like, I had my files on there. I had all the sites that I liked bookmarked. I had sermons on there. I had papers that Ive written on there. I had everything the way I wanted it, emails and everything. Im just sick about it. He said, Oh, we got all of those. We got all of those. He says, No problem. In this new computer, this desktop is going to look the same. All your bookmarks will still be there. All your scans will be there. All your files will be there; all your papers will be there. All your emails will be there. Itll just be a better computer. I was like, Slick. I took it home, I had sharper graphics. I had faster speed; I had a newer version, but I had the same old stuff that made it feel like it was my computer. No analogy is perfect, but the Bible says were going to get a new body, A new and improved you. A body that can inhabit eternity, but it will still be you. Jesus was still Jesus. You will still be you-your personality; your memories; the things that make you will still be you, but you will have a body like Christ that can inhabit eternity and live in the presence of God; a body without sin; a body that will not know pain or death. Its because of Christ; because of His obedience; His suffering; and His Resurrection. Were going to sing about that right now as we prepare to close out our service, Our God is Mighty to Save. (Here is a link to the lyrics: http://www.keepandshare.com/htm/music_lyrics/christian/mighty_to_save.php). Im going to ask if our team would come forward and lead us. Im going to ask if you would stand and prepare to sing to the Lord. As soon as were done, Ill come back and dismiss us in prayer and give a couple of announcements before we go home. Lord, were so thankful for Your Truth. It was no debate that the tomb was empty. The debate was why it was empty. When we lay out the facts, the only one that makes sense is that He is risen, that He is Lord. Because we have put our hope and trust in You, we have hope beyond the grave. The firstfruits have come, and we will live with You for all eternity through Jesus Christ our Lord. In the name of the risen Savior, we pray. All Gods people said, Amen.