The First Easter Part 3 - Christ Appears to His Disciples

Go ahead and take your Bible and turn back with me to John chapter 20. John chapter 20 should be a familiar place in your Bible. Of course, all of John should be familiar with you because we have been in the gospel of John for quite some time. We're just going verse by verse, sometimes phrase by phrase, allowing God's Word to speak to us. And as I said earlier, we'll be dividing verses 19 to 23, John chapter 20. Now we're progressing along in our study of the resurrection, and we are here in John's account of the resurrection. So far we have enjoyed two messages. In verses 1 to 10 we studied what I called the first Easter morning.

We looked at Mary Magdalene, we looked at Simon Peter, we looked at John. And how they discovered the empty tomb. And then in verses 11 to 18 we studied the first Easter morning, part two. This is Christ's appearance to Mary. And we examine how Christ revealed Himself to Mary at the tomb, and how she reported back to the disciples that Jesus was indeed alive. Now I believe we are solidly fixed in our understanding of the two parallel stories that are running through this chapter, John chapter 20. The first narrative is the resurrection story. I think that is obvious to us all.

We've learned that this is both historical and spiritual in nature. And then the second narrative, that is the story of the people, God's people who are involved. We have been learning a lot from the different peoples involved in these events. We've seen ourselves in Mary, maybe even Peter, maybe even John. We've seen ourselves in their personalities, in their reactions, and their differences. But more important, we are learning from the most important story, that being the resurrection story. The resurrection is the victory parade down the highway of all of human history.

The resurrection is the victory parade throughout the corridors of time and eternity. The main event of this victory parade is Jesus parading Satan and sin, death, and the grave as shackled and defeated foes. The victory is the climax of the gospel story, and we must exalt this victory in every way. It is wonderful that we are learning from the people involved here in the resurrection story. But we must keep the resurrection the high point of our study here in John chapter 20. Now in our introduction last week, the introduction to the message, I gave us a long list of the different peoples who were caught up.

And I use that word "caught up" purposely because they did not have a clue what was before them. This long list of those people caught up in the resurrection story. We saw that after the resurrection, Jesus revealed himself to many, many peoples. Now in John's gospel, we have a smaller list. He revealed himself to Mary. We learned about this in verses 1 to 18. That was two sermons that we had that covered that material. Next, he reveals himself to the disciples starting in verse 19. This is what we're looking at this morning. Then he reveals himself to Thomas starting in verse 24 on down to verse 29.

And then last, Jesus reveals himself to all of the disciples and that is found in John chapter 21. Now this morning we find ourselves almost in the middle of John's list. That is Christ revealing himself to the disciples. We're going to be looking at the first Easter part 3. This is Christ appears to his disciples. You see how we will divide these verses. There are five major truths out of verses 19 to 23. Some of these will be longer. Some will be shorter. So don't let five intimidate you. We'll have an adequate amount of time to cover this material. Well, let's go back and let's read these verses. I want us to read verses 19 to 23 again.

So the verses will be fixed in our minds properly. Verse 19. "When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut or locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and he stood in their midst and he said to them, 'Peace be with you.' When he had said this, he showed them both his hands and his side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus therefore said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I also send you.'" Verse 22. "And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and he said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.'" So you see how we'll divide these verses. Number one, we will look at the disciples there in the upper room in verse 19. Christ reveals himself to them starting in verse 19 over into verse 20. The disciples and their rejoicing in verse 20. Christ commissions the disciples in verse 21 and then last Christ and his promises in verse 22 and 23. We always encourage you to take notes so that you'll retain what the Lord wants to give us. We want to be good students of the message that is before us.

So let's look at our first major truth in our outline. The disciples there in the upper room. We see this in verse 19. "When therefore it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews." Now for me, besides Jesus, the main character back in verses 1 to 18, that was Mary. She was the first to the tomb. She was the first to see the resurrected Christ and she reported these events to the disciples. But starting in verse 19, we see a shift. We begin to see that the disciples, they are the main characters within this resurrection story.

Now three observations I want to make out of this beginning portion of verse 19. First of all, notice the day. Notice the day. Two references to the day here. John says it was evening on that day and then he says it was the first day of the week. That's right there in verse 19. Now this tells us that it was evening on this first day, this first Easter day. That is why I altered the title of the message. If you remember correctly, verses 1 to 18 were titled the first Easter morning. Whereas verses 19 to 23, I titled them the first Easter. But more than that, John again, he says this is the first day of the week.

Now we examine the significance of this phrase the first day of the week when we started in chapter 20 in verse 1. This first day of the week was Sunday. This was the beginning of a change, a massive shift in God's people. The Jewish day of worship was Saturday. That was the Jewish Sabbath. But the New Testament plainly records that Sunday would be the Christian day of worship. I do not think that it is mere coincidence or happenstance that John repeats in verse 19 what he said in verse 1. This is the first day of the week which would become the Christian day of worship. But second, notice their location. Notice their location.

Here we see that the disciples were not at the tomb as Mary had been at the tomb. But they were meeting in a particular place. Now some Bible commentators say that this was the familiar upper room. I do not have a problem with that. I believe that is a safe conclusion. What is important to note is that they were behind shut or locked doors. Go back to the verse. "And when the doors were shut where the disciples were for fear of the Jews." Now the original language here, it can read shut doors and it can accurately mean locked doors. Simply they were meeting away from the tomb in a familiar and safe meeting place.

But then third, notice their condition. Notice their condition. Go back to the verse. "When therefore it was evening on that day." That is the first Easter day. The first day of the week. "When the doors were shut, they were locked, the disciples were for fear of the Jews." Here we see the disciples were in a very fearful state. It was just a few days earlier that the Jewish authorities had conspired to have Jesus arrested and crucified. It was just a few days earlier that Jesus was nailed to a Roman cross. They knew that the Jewish authorities knew who they were.

And in their hearts they assumed that the temple police could come and arrest them at any moment. They assumed that the temple police could turn them over even to the Roman authorities as well. This was a real fear which had seized them in their hearts and it had paralyzed them in every way. So in summary, what do we see here in the beginning of verse 19? The disciples were quite different than Mary. We learned that she had been waiting at the tomb. She had been weeping out of a great grief and loss. But these men were hiding behind locked doors in fear for their lives. All of this was taking place later in the evening on that very same day.

This was resurrection day, the first day of the week. Now an application, we need to see that we as born again Christians today, we can be in a place of fear as well. This can be a normal reaction for us as Christians. But we must see that fear always paralyzes Christians. Mary was in a much better place than the disciples. Now a question, what must we do when we find ourselves paralyzed with fear? We have a great lesson in Mary. We must do as she did. And that is to get as close to Jesus as we can.

For us, this involves prayer, this involves being in the Word, this involves being with God's people, and this involves assembling together as we assemble as a church. So we must see that as Christians, we can be paralyzed with fear as well. And Mary got as close to Jesus as she could. And we must do the same thing. Because lots of trials, lots of circumstances, and lots of heartache can render us fearful and paralyzed. So that is the great lesson here. But also, we must see the reminder again of the importance of the first day of the week. I said earlier, it wasn't a coincidence. It wasn't happenstance. John wasn't just being repetitive.

When the Word of God repeats itself, it is for a purpose. And this is a reminder of the importance of the first day, Sunday. It later became the Lord's Day. We understand that Sunday is the Lord's Day. And we must, must set it aside as a day of worship. And I'm going to tell you people, there's always something that will come into your life to relegate the Lord's Day to a normal day, an average day. Just any old day. There's always someone that comes calling. There's always some temptation that beckons. And we must be careful not to let Sunday become any other day. It is the Lord's Day.

Now let's continue on in our second major truth in our outline. Christ reveals Himself to them. Christ reveals Himself to them. That is the disciples. Let's go back to the middle of verse 19. Jesus came and stood in their midst. And He said to them, "Peace be with you." And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. Here we begin to see the faithful and patient work of Christ in these disciples, His people. We've already seen this work in Mary. Christ was faithful to reveal Himself to Mary there at the tomb. He was patient with her when she had everything all wrong.

Now we will see the same work in the disciples, the same patience, the same work of revealing Himself to His people. Three observations I want to make here as well. Notice first His entrance. First His entrance. What does it say? He came and He stood in their midst. Now the text does not say how Jesus entered the room. We know that the doors were shut. They were locked. They were bolted. The disciples, they felt secure behind their locked doors. But it seems that suddenly Jesus appeared in the room with the disciples. We must see that locked doors were no problem for Jesus.

It seems that in His glorified body, Jesus simply passed through the locked door or passed through the walls. So we have this entrance. But then second, notice His greeting. What does He say? He says, "Peace be with you." Now this was a common everyday Jewish greeting. Jesus' purpose was to assure and to comfort His disciples. Now there are two reasons why the disciples would have been afraid and in despair. First, the already mentioned fear of the Jewish leadership. That's obvious from the text. But second, they would have been disturbed because of their behavior a few days earlier.

All of the disciples abandoned Jesus except for the Apostle John. So Jesus' greeting was meant to comfort His disciples on many levels and in many ways. But then third, notice His revelation. Notice His revelation. The end of verse 20, what does it say? He showed them both His hands and His side. Now there was no doubt that Jesus was revealing His wounds to His disciples. This was a part of comforting them. But this was much more. First, this would have proved to them that He was not a ghost or a spirit. If we go to Luke's account, we see that the disciples were terrified when they saw Jesus.

They thought He was a ghost or a spirit according to Luke 24, 37. Second, this would have proven that He most certainly was alive. By revealing His wounds, He was proving that the same body that died on the cross was alive and before them. Luke's account says that Jesus even called them to touch His wounds. So this was a great work of revelation of Himself to the disciples. Now in summary, what do we see here? Jesus appears to His disciples to comfort them and to assure them. Through the fear they had of the Jewish authorities, He comfort them. Through the guilt and shame they must have felt for abandoning Him, He assured them.

Through their confusion and doubts, He came to them. Jesus cast all doubts and fears aside by calling them to see and to touch His wounds. This was the personal revelation that these men needed. Now in application, we must see that the same Jesus who patiently revealed Himself to these disciples in their time of fear, in their time of despair, is the same Jesus who can come and do the very same thing for us. See, this is when we get into the personal and experiential work of the Spirit of God within the believer.

We must see that there is a personal work that the Spirit does within us when we are broken, when we are fearful, when we are in despair. Oh look, we know that trials and temptations come our way. We learned that way back in our study of James. And so when we are broken, when we are fearful, when we are in despair, our Lord can come to us and reveal Himself to us and do what? Dispel our fears, dispel our despair and help us in our time of brokenness. This is the personal revelation of the work of God in our own lives. Let's move on to our third major truth in our outline. The disciples, they rejoice. The disciples, they rejoice.

Go back to verse 20. "And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side." And notice, "The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord." Now there is a transition here that is important for us to see. The new American that I'm reading from uses the word "therefore," but the English Standard Version in the King James, it says, "Then the disciples." Now this shows us that seeing His wounds and His hands, His side, this enabled the disciples to move from fear, move from doubt, and move from confusion to rejoicing. Their fear, it was turned to joy. Their doubting was turned to belief. Their confusion, it was dispelled.

And this was a fulfillment of what Jesus had said back in John 16, verses 20 through 22. Let me read these verses for you. "Jesus had said to them earlier, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.'" He's speaking of the cross. "You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy." Now here in verse 21, Jesus then uses a parable to teach the truth. He's trying to teach them. Verse 21, "When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come.

But when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been brought into the world." And then He goes on with verse 22, "So also, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." And that is what we see here in the disciples. Their fear, it was turned to joy. Their doubting had been turned to belief. Their confusion had been turned into rejoicing. A question. Why take the time to examine just this small portion of verse 20?

To be honest with you, many of the Bible commentators that I studied lump verse 20 into other verses, go back to the verse, "The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord." Why the time with this one small portion of Scripture? It is important to see that Jesus did not leave His disciples in fear, in doubt, in confusion. He purposefully worked to dispel their fear, to do away with their doubt, and to overcome their confusion. He did the same for Mary earlier in the day. Jesus was faithful to persevere in His disciples just as He was faithful to persevere in Mary earlier in the day. Now, one more observation I want to make here.

I want to take a step back. I want us to take a step back at this point in the message, and I want us to see the progression of these events. The disciples were hiding. They were in fear. They were in despair. Oh, behind locked doors, I believe. Jesus reveals Himself to them. Miraculously, I believe. And He speaks words of comfort, even calling them to touch His wounds, to prove that He was alive. This work of revelation, this work in them, produced what? A great joy. We might even say it like this. They had a hallelujah shouting time. Now, for us, an application we must see that the completed work of Christ in us always brings joy.

It always produces rejoicing, and that leads to worship. Isn't that what Mary did? She just worshiped the Lord. And so for you, for us, we must see that when life circumstances come our way, when trial comes our way, when the greatest of tragedies come our way, and we find ourselves in fear and in despair and doubting and confusion, and the list just goes on and on and on, we don't feel like we can hear Christ or see Christ or understand our circumstances. Listen, if we remain true to being near Christ, oh, be like Mary. Be as close to Christ as we know how to be.

When Christ comes, and He will, and when He works, and He does, and when He does this full work in us, it always brings us to a place of rejoicing. And look, folks, that's where the testimony comes. That's when you look at brothers and sisters and you say, "You know, this trial's been lasting for five, six, ten years, but oh, I finally come to the end, and what great joy and rejoicing I have in my Lord Jesus Christ." Now, I'll say this, and then we move on. The Lord Jesus has taught us here that our personal trials, our personal struggles are first for the body of Christ. God's taught us that.

Listen, church, when we go through trials and difficulties, it's first for the body to be used in the body of Christ, the local church. And look, our rejoicing and our rejoicing and the finished work that God has done within us, that is to be used in the local church as well. It's not for you, it's not for me, it's for us. So the disciples, they were rejoicing. Let's move on. Let's notice our fourth major truth in our outline. Christ commissions these disciples. Christ, He commissions these disciples. Look at verse 21.

"Jesus therefore said to them again, 'Peace be with you.' And now He changes, 'As the Father has sent me, I also send you.'" Here we see a transition in Jesus' interaction with His disciples. This is a similar work that He did when He revealed Himself to Mary. He moves from dispelling fears and despairing doubts to calling them to purpose. We will see a continuation of this work in the disciples even as we progress into chapter 21. Now the two observations are specifics I want us to see here in verse 21. First, notice His affirmation. What does He say?

"Peace be with you." Here Jesus affirms what He had done for the disciples just moments earlier. He gives them the same familiar greeting. He is simply reiterating His desire to comfort them. This additional comfort is just what I call the next step. He is assuring them and then He's moving to the next step and that is to call them to their purpose. Notice this second specific. Notice this commissioning. Go back to the verse. "Peace be with you. As the Father sent me, I also send you." Here we see Jesus repeat information which He had given the disciples before. First that the Father had sent Him and second that He the Son is sending them.

We saw this plainly in the high priestly prayer of Jesus back in John 17. Remember during that prayer He is praying to the Father. And in verse 18 as Jesus was praying, what does He say? "As you sent Me into the world, so I have sent them into the world." We also saw this commissioning much earlier in John's Gospel. In John 13 verse 20 Jesus says to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me. And whoever receives Me receives the one whom sent Me." So here we see that Jesus is repeating a commission which had been given often and we will see this commissioning reiterated more in chapter 21.

So in summary what are we seeing here in verse 21? We see a twofold work. First Jesus is reminding the disciples of His origin. He was sent by the Father. And then second Jesus is commissioning His disciples. Now a question. What about verse 21 is similar to the work that Christ did in Mary? Christ revealed Himself to Mary and the disciples and then He calls them to their unique and specific work. In Mary He called her to report back to the disciples, did He not? But in the disciples He revealed Himself and then He called them to their what? Their apostolic work that was before them. This was a commission that they had heard very often.

Now an application we must see that Christ has work for us to do. Yes, for us. When we are born again, we are born again into the family of God and we become true Christians. Our work is centered around Kingdom work and Kingdom work in this day and time is the Church. Yes, we have jobs to do. God never saves any of us to sit still. Yes, we are all the same. We do have homes. Yes, we are all the same. We do have jobs. We are all the same. We have vehicles and properties to maintain. We have families to care for but yet we are all the same. Our true work is the local church. Now I want to give you a pastoral warning here.

Every now and then I have to tell you to be on guard. And I want to urge you to be on guard against a misplaced commissioning. Any work, any call, any commissioning that takes you out of the local church, it is sin. Mark it down, it is sin. And look, many times Satan will trick Christians into a misplaced commissioning with something good. Yeah, Satan can take something that is good and pull you out of the local church. Sad to say, I have seen people elevate even family above and beyond the work of the local church. I have seen people take jobs and let that pull them out of work in the local church. The list just goes on and on and on.

And what we must see is our lives are to be poured into the work of the local church. Every now and then I have conversations with people. And they will describe to me how they are pulled out of the work of the local church. Why? Because they are commissioned, so called, to this other good work over here. Well, that is far into the teaching of the Scriptures. So let's move on. I want us to see our fifth major truth in our outline. That is Christ and His promises. Christ and His promises. Let's go to verse 22 and 23. And when He had said this, He breathed on them and He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive the sins of any, their sins, they have been forgiven them. If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained." Now, within these two verses we have two rather large debates. You know, every now and then when we are going verse by verse, we come to a portion of Scripture that scholars and theologians debate over the meaning. And sometimes it is difficult to come to a concrete place of understanding. There are debates here about what these verses mean. Now, the first debate centers around verse 22. Some believe that Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to these disciples at this very time.

Now, there are others believe that this is prophetic. They see this verse as symbolic and prophetic of what would take place in the future. With that view, they believe that the Holy Spirit was given to these disciples at Acts chapter 20. They are at the day of Pentecost. Now, the second debate centers around verse 23. Some say the disciples were given the power to forgive sin. Now, this interpretation, this is the interpretation that the Roman Catholic Church adopted. Simply, they believe that Jesus gave the apostles authority to forgive sin. And this authority was passed down to the church, that being the Roman Catholic Church.

Others say that Christ was declaring that the apostles could declare those who genuinely repent of their sin and believe in the gospel as forgiven. That they can warn those who reject Christ and his gospel that they would die and be lost in their sin. Now, we will look at these two verses, two observations that come out of these verses. And I will share with you, obviously, how I view or interpret these passages. First, or the first observation. Notice Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. Go back to verse 22.

And when he had said this, he breathed on them and he said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Now, with my statement, notice that Jesus promises the Holy Spirit. You know my opinion within the debate. It's obvious. I have read several, several opinions throughout the week. And I have settled on verse 22 being a promise of what was to come. Now, to understand this view, we must see that the disciples were actually in between the Old Covenant era and the New Covenant era. The Holy Spirit related differently to people in the Old Testament era than in the New Testament era. Now, I ran across a great explanation of this position.

And it happened to come from the Bible commentator John MacArthur. And I will read you what he says about this position. Now, be patient with me as I read a portion of his work. But truthfully, I cannot put it in my words any better. Again, he's speaking to the interpretation of verse 22. Now, we know that these men were regenerate. They were born again. We know that because in John 15 verse 3, Jesus states that.

But notice what MacArthur says, and I'm quoting, "The fact that they were still waiting to receive the Holy Spirit indicates that the Spirit's relationship to individual believers in the New Covenant era is profoundly different from his Old Testament ministry. Under the New Covenant, every believer is permanently in dwelt, 1 Corinthians 6, 19. They are empowered, Acts chapter 1 verse 8, and they are gifted, 1 Corinthians 12 verses 4 to 11, by the Holy Spirit. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit's ministry to individual saints was not so universally personal and prominent.

Jesus' actions here indicated the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that was about to occur, completing the transition between the two covenants, that being the Old and the New. He goes on to say, "The Holy Spirit's New Covenant work did not actually commence until Pentecost." All of the scripture affirms this chronology. Jesus himself expressly said that the Spirit would not be given until after his ascension in John 16, 17. But when he ascended on high, he gave gifts to men. Again, another reference in Ephesians 4a. The Spirit, and I'm quoting still, "The Spirit was poured out upon us from on high," according to Isaiah 32, 15.

The fact that on the very day of his ascension, Jesus told the apostles to wait for the Spirit to come upon them in Acts 1a. When they finally did receive the Spirit, the result was an immediate public and dramatic outpouring of miraculous power. Simplistically, this action by Jesus here in verse 22 was a symbol of what was to take place in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost. Second observation, notice Jesus promises them authority. Verse 23, "If you are forgiven the sins of any, their sins have been forgiven them." If you retain the sins of any, they have been retained.

Now, this authority was not to forgive sin, but to pronounce that sin and forgiveness have been given by God. The Scriptures teach that only God can forgive sin. This is taught back in the Old Testament in Daniel 9, verse 9. And in Mark 2, verse 7, Jesus is actually saying that these men can declare that those who genuinely repent of sin and believe in the gospel, they are forgiven. And conversely, these men can declare that those who reject Christ and reject His gospel, they will die in their sin and be judged. So in summary, what are we seeing here? Jesus is promising these men what He had been promising all along.

And we see this in John 14, starting in verse 16 to verse 18. What does He say? I said to them, He said to them, "I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you." Jesus made the same promise in John 16, 17, "A little while and you will not see Me, and again a little while and you shall see Me. And because I am going to the Father." Jesus repeats this same promise in Acts 1, 8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." Jesus is also promising them the spiritual authority not to forgive, but to pronounce what is forgiven and not forgiven.

Now, I know I've taken a short time to deal with some very difficult passages, but what do we see? Christ and His promises. Now, how does this apply to you and to me? I think the most important thing for us to see that for us when we are born of God, we are born of God in this New Testament era, and we receive the Holy Spirit of God upon our spiritual birth. We learned all about the Holy Spirit in our study in John chapter 14, 15, and 16. He comes to live within us, and He comes to convict us and to lead us and to counsel us and to guide us, and to remind us of all the things that Christ has taught us.

We have that counselor, that comforter, that one to come alongside that lives within us, and Jesus is just speaking of those things that will come to pass. Now, as we draw the message to a conclusion, what have we seen here? I think you know me by now that I like to summarize what we have learned. We have seen that the disciples were hidden away in fear and in despair, but Jesus lovingly and patiently reveals Himself to them. He offers words of comfort.

He calls them to see His wounds, proving that He was alive, and after their celebration, Jesus reminds them of their commission and promises them the gift of the Holy Spirit that will enable them to do what they cannot do. Simply, they go from hiding in fear and despair to rejoicing that Christ was alive. They go from fear and despair to being restored to their original purpose in Christ. Now, in my imagination, I wonder what their rejoicing looked like. Go back to that verse, the end of verse 20. The disciples therefore rejoiced. They rejoiced when they saw the Lord. I wonder what that rejoicing looked like.

I bet their rejoicing could have sound something like this. We serve a risen Savior. He's in the world today. We know that He is living whatever men may say. We see His hand of mercy. We hear His voice of cheer. And just the time we need Him, He's always near. He lives. He lives. Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with us, and He talks with us along this narrow way. He lives. He lives. Salvation to impart. You ask me now, I know He lives. He lives within our heart. Some of you have noticed that I changed the words of that song. I didn't say I. I said we. Remember they were having a celebration.

Now, I sure hope that you can sing that song with us. See, those of us who are redeemed, we can sing that song. We serve a risen Savior. And listen, I hope and pray that you can sing that song with us. Some of you here today, you cannot honestly sing that song of rejoicing. It is because you do not know the risen Savior. He is not in your heart. He is not in your life. You're estranged from the love and the grace of God. I urge you to come to Christ today. I plead for you. Please come to Christ today. Come in repentance. Come placing your trust in Christ. He is your only hope. He's my only hope. He's our only hope. Come to Christ today.

Let's pray. Lord, I thank You for the twofold revelation that's going on here. The twofold teaching, the two sides of all that we're seeing. Lord, we're learning from these men. We're learning from Mary. We're learning so much. But I also thank You that we're learning of the great and glorious work that You did. You didn't stay in the tomb. You did what You said You would do. The prophets foretold, You foretold, and the grave could not contain. Lord, just as we have this twofold lesson in these pages, I ask You to do a twofold work today.

Lord, for us as believers, I pray You'll form us into the people You want us to be out of these words and verses and examples. Lord, help us to see that our sanctifying work can be difficult. Our walk with You can be an uphill walk. Help us to see that sometimes it just seems like it's so dark. But I pray, God, that You'll take us as born-again Christians and just move us along that path of sanctification being made more like Your Son Jesus. Lord, the other work that I ask for is that You would convict lost sinners. Lord, do what only You can do. You've taught us to trust in the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit, Your Spirit.

We know that the Holy Spirit is not a thing or an it or an influence. We know that the Spirit is the Spirit of God. And so we trust in You, Holy Spirit, to convict those who are lost of sin, their sin. We trust in You to convict lost sinners of Your righteousness and that judgment that is before them. So, Lord, please bring lost sinners to faith in Christ, this risen Christ, that we may all be able to sing this song together. We serve a risen Savior. So have Your way. And we ask all these things in the glorious and wonderful, precious name of Your Son Jesus. Let's stand to our feet.

Let's sing "He Lives." ♪ He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus lives today. ♪ ♪ He walks with me and talks with me along life's narrow way. ♪ ♪ He lives, He lives, salvation to impart. ♪ ♪ You ask me how I know He lives. ♪ ♪ He lives within my arms. ♪ And you may be seated. I may have altered that song in your memory for some of you for the rest of your life. I hope that that does happen. I pray that wherever you go when you hear that song, you'll think about that alteration. I think it fits with what we've been looking at. Let me make mention of two or three announcements before we dismiss.

Do not forget that this morning we are having, we've not had in a while, a first Sunday fellowship. When we started doing our Sunday night small groups, we didn't want to miss small group too much, but then we also want to be faithful to fellowship over a meal together. So we're trying to strike that balance. Now, if you burn the casserole, or you forgot the rolls, or you just forgot to bring something, please stay. We should have plenty. You can eat my share. I promise you there'll be plenty. There always is. So we're going to fellowship after it.

We're going to say the blessing in a moment when we dismiss, and we're going to stay, and we're going to eat, and we're going to have a good time. Also, don't forget that there are a lot of other events going on in the month of March. We have the 11th. We have a day, a missions day with our teenagers, our students. We've got Bible drill going on. Mark, aren't y'all going to work on Bible drill this afternoon? Okay. So if you're a Bible driller, stick around. Mr. Mark and Ms. Kim are going to work with you. It's creeping up on us. I encourage you to work on it at home. Now, let me say something as your pastor, okay?

We like the competition, but it's great. What the greater work is that you're learning God's Word. If you never compete, it's okay. We're trying to instill in you the discipline of learning God's Word, memorizing God's Word, hiding it in your heart. Now, young people, look at your pastor. Every Wednesday night, while you're in the back learning, in what we call Bible study, Sunday school, whatever you-- we're praying over you, and this is just a part of that. We're praying that God's Word will find its way in your mind and your heart, and we're believing God will form you, even through Bible drill. So it's greater than competition. So Mr.

Mark and Ms. Kim will grab you all when it's time, so you just be aware of that. One more thing I want to announce. I have asked you to mark it on your calendar, March the 17th and 18th. Jeff Noblett will be coming here to preach and teach and to lead us. He'll be teaching on the church. He is the pastor of Grace Life Church in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. We are partnering with them in missions and then some other endeavors. This is a work in progress, and he's coming to teach on the church. We'll meet Sunday morning, Sunday night here, and then Monday night.

I tried to secure him a little bit longer, but then this was really all that we could fit together. Take off work, take a vacation day, personal day, do whatever. Don't call in sick. That'd be a lie. We don't want to do that. But be here. I want you to be here, okay? I can't stress that enough. If you want to invite someone, you're welcome to do that. This will be to us and to the church. This is not as much of an outreach event like we have had in the past with our friend, Brother Ed Lacy, and others. Mark that down. If you have any questions, we can answer those questions. Let's do this. Let's have a blessing.

This will be our blessing for our meal, and then we'll dismiss to the back. It's all wet and nasty, so don't feel like you've got to go out and go around. Let's let people who need to go first go first, and then we'll ease our way back. Chris, will you bless the food and dismisses, please? [inaudible] [inaudible] [inaudible]