Resurrection Day

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From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland. After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, and the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it.

And his countenance was like lightning, his clothing white as the snow, and the guards scattered. And the angel says, in verse 5 of Matthew 28, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. And now the first evidential apologetic ever, Matthew 28, 6. Come, see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and indeed he is going before you into Galilee.

So the women went quickly and told the others. And while they were going, verse 9 of Matthew 28, Jesus met them and said, Rejoice. So they came, and they held him by the feet and worshipped him. And he said, Do not be afraid, go and tell my brethren, go to Galilee, and there they will see me.

Welcome to the program, Alex McFarland here. So glad to have you with us on this Easter weekend program of Truth for a New Generation. And obviously the subject of the day is the resurrection of Christ, how Jesus rose from the grave. And the world over, Christians are celebrating what might be the most uniquely observed Easter in two millennia of Christendom, because for the first time ever, the churches, the cathedrals, the sunrise services, they won't be filled with millions of worshippers around the world.

People are going to be watching services online or listening to the radio or hearing podcasts and apps and things on the internet, obviously because of the worldwide COVID-19 situation. And let me say as we celebrate the resurrection this weekend and the reality that mortality, sin, death, disease, our guilt before God, all of the things that have contributed to the downfall of the human condition and the lostness of souls, the spiritual and physical bondage that has permeated the human race throughout all of history, Jesus resolved it by paying our sin debt on the cross and rising from the grave and how we praise his name for that. And on this program this morning, we want to take a few minutes to talk about the resurrection.

And I want to talk about some things that the resurrection guarantees the believer, the promises, the secure, absolute things that you can know with certainty if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, H.G. Wells in his World History, he said, we understand that we're trying to write as if this book would be read by as many Jews, Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists and secular Americans and Western Europeans as anybody else. And he goes on and Wells says, basically, we're going to have to apologize for making Jesus Christ such a central figure throughout history. And he says, the Gospel writers Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, he says they were, quote, Christian propagandists.

So clearly, you can tell that H.G. Wells, while he's a good historian, he doesn't have any special favoritism toward Christianity, in fact, quite the opposite. And yet he basically says to his non-Christian readers, hey, forgive me for making Jesus Christ such a focal point of history, but the undeniable reality is that Christ is the focal point of history.

Isn't that amazing? More recently, John Meacham, who's a historian, he's a Pulitzer Prize winning historian, he's an invited fellow of the Society of American Historians, and he's a born again Christian, and he's a believer in Jesus Christ. And he quotes Albert Schweitzer, who, again, was not all that accurate in his handling of scripture, and Schweitzer, while he did some good things in the medical world, but in terms of his book, The Quest for the Historical Jesus, Schweitzer, quoted by Meacham, says, this fact cannot be denied, that Jesus and his resurrection are not only the focal points of the Christian faith, they are the focal points of history. A.N. Wilson is an English biographer and respected writer and scholar.

And A.N. Wilson talks about this, regarding the secularism of the modern world and the drift away from morality in Europe and America. But Wilson says this, the strange fact is that Jesus remains. Even in a world where institutional Christianity would appear to be on its last legs, where religious belief, in the West at least, would appear to be rapidly on the decline, Jesus remains doggedly there.

And we remain aware of him, not as a mystical presence, not as a figure of legend. Jesus is more real than Robin Hood or King Arthur. And indeed, he is real, because he is risen. And Jesus' resurrection is the great proof, the cornerstone, the foundation, the guarantee of all that we believe. Now Paul, in 1 Corinthians 15, 12-19, Paul says, If Christ be not risen, we of all men are most miserable, we have no hope. And Paul points to the resurrection being really the crux, the kingpin of the Christian faith.

Because, why? Paul says, If Christ is not risen, our preaching is vain, we are false witnesses, our dead loved ones that we thought were saved weren't, we have no hope, and we are most miserable. But, Christ is risen. And he says, For those that live and believe in me, you too will live again. Stay tuned. We've got to take a brief break. We're going to come back and talk more about the things that Christ's resurrection promises, guarantees the believer.

Don't go away. You are loved, anointed, gifted, and saved to serve. The world may say you can't, or you're not worthy, or you're not trained, but remember it is God, not the world who called you. God loves you and wants to move through you. A darkness is falling on this world.

There is much hurt and despair. There's a great need for believers, for watchmen to make a difference by helping and serving, by watching and warning, and by sharing and loving. Visit I'm a Watchman dot com for free resources to help you grow in your spiritual walk. Be bold, be faithful, be a watchman.

I am a watchman dot com. We care about justice and aren't afraid to ask hard questions. In fact, we care about a lot of things. We have passion for truth. We are Engage Magazine dot net, an online group of millennials brought together by a common goal to share truth, apply scripture, and to get involved in our lost and hurting world. Engage Magazine dot net hosts discussions that help you apply a biblical worldview to your daily life.

Engage Magazine dot net. You know, Alex has been writing for many years, and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith. It's called Stand Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith. This book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground. You'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity. They are one, inspiration of the Bible, two, the virgin birth, three, the deity of Christ, four, atonement, five, Christ's resurrection, and six, Christ's return. You know, Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ. Simple and straightforward, Stand Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith, available wherever Christian books are sold. You don't need to have a Bible degree from Liberty University to love, serve, pray, worship, or obey God, but it can make life more vibrant when you do. When you're ready for a religious studies degree, you'll find more than 60 ministry degree options from a bachelor's to a doctorate of ministry, and you'll pay one low block rate for divinity courses at Liberty University, where we train champions for Christ. Go to liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more.

That's liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more. Timeless truths in a soundbite culture. Truth for a new generation radio. Welcome back to the program. As we record this, I do want to say our hearts go out to the people around the world bereaved. So many people having died from the complications related to the coronavirus. And, you know, in the West, in much of the world, certainly in America, people are under a quarantine, and I'm hearing around the country the quarantines are extending through the middle of May, the end of May in many places.

And people are talking about being stir-crazy and things like that. Let me encourage you to use this time to read and to pray. Read God's Word, but read good books. And, you know, myself, keep us in prayer if you would, because I had a little over two dozen speaking engagements from the end of February to the end of June that are gone and not going to happen. And that's ministry we wanted to do. It's also income that is not going to come into our household, so please keep us in prayer and maybe consider a gift to help us.

I will say this. We've gone to doing many things online Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10 a.m. Central time, 11 a.m. Eastern time. We're doing live webcasts on our Facebook page, Rev Alex McFarland, R-E-V, Rev Alex McFarland, and I'm doing much media. And we probably, just interestingly because of doing so much online, in the month of March we were able to correspond with as many people and send them material, help people that were coming to Christ or coming back to Christ. In the month of March we saw as many people receive Jesus as their Savior, as we may have seen in the entire year, because we were doing so much online and everything the ministry is about right now, because we don't know when the speaking schedule can open back up. Publishing we can do. Broadcasting we can do.

Events right now we can't do. We'll resume our event schedule as soon as possible, but pray for us, contemplate supporting what we're doing if you would, and rejoice with us that the gospel will not be hindered. And we live in such a time that we have the internet and the capabilities with media and apps and software to continue to proclaim the gospel, win the lost, and equip the church. But let me say a word about how the resurrection of Christ overcomes human feelings of futility and hopelessness. G.K. Chesterton, he once said, the one thing in the world that never makes any progress is progress. Now think about this, a lot of people are saying that they're going stir crazy and our hearts go out to those that can't get their hours in and aren't able to work. But think about this, everything in this world points to some kind of a future.

A river drifts along and goes toward the sea. Children dream about what they're going to do when they grow up. We make plans, we make New Year's resolutions, and we think about what we're going to do in our day, tomorrow.

Buds come on the plants at spring and they grow leaves. Everything about this world points to what is called a teleos, or a design, a purpose. In the Word of God in Jeremiah 29, 11-13, God was speaking to Israel, but I believe this is applicable to all people. He said, I know the thoughts I think toward you. Thoughts of good, not of evil, to bring you to a predetermined goal. Everything about this world has a teleos, a purpose, and there's nothing in life that makes people more frustrated than the sense of futility, or hopelessness, or meaninglessness.

I've often said if you want to torture a man, set him on a shelf. That's why unemployment is so hard and so demoralizing. That's why I would say a welfare state is just so dehumanizing and debasing. When people have nothing to do, and they just sit around, and they're dependent on something else, it can be very disheartening and very depressing. It's bad enough if we feel like a day is wasted, but what about if you had the feeling that life had no purpose? Life is not going anywhere. Life is hopelessness.

That's why so many of the atheists, like Friedrich Nietzsche, said near the time of his death, he said the days are intolerable, hopeless. But let me say this folks, and I wish I could shout it from every mountaintop on the continent, the resurrection of Christ. Jesus is, as the old writers would say, spoiling of the grave.

He came out of the grave alive. That shows that there is hope. There is meaning.

There is purpose. There's every reason to be excited, encouraged, and as the early disciples were at that empty tomb, joyful. Because what do we know? If Jesus rose from the dead, what can we know?

For one thing, we have redemption. 1 Corinthians 15, Paul said Jesus was crucified for our sins. And it's been said that that stone was not rolled away so Jesus could be let out, but so that we could look in. If Jesus really rose, and it is the most documentable fact of the ancient world, of the things that are recorded about antiquity, one of the things we can know for certain, the best explanation in light of all the known facts is that Jesus rose from the dead. And if Jesus rose, your life has purpose and meaning. It's not futility. And it's not just we live, we die, as Macbeth said, sound and fury, full of sparks, signifying nothing. No.

No. Life has meaning and purpose. And you can be saved. And let me say, I know many listening to this broadcast are believers and followers of Jesus.

The Bible calls that a disciple. But if you're not saved, then we would say turn to Christ today. Be born again and know the Lord. And as soon as you hear these words, understand that Jesus loves you, Christ died for you, and you can be born again.

And we urge you to do that today. Now stay tuned, because we're going to talk about five other things the resurrection guarantees the believer. Because of Psalm 16 10, quoted by Peter in Acts chapter 2, that the Holy One of God would not be abandoned to the grave, and the Holy One, the Messiah, would not see decay or decomposition. Jesus' resurrection was predicted in the Psalms, preached by Peter at Pentecost, Acts 2 29-32, and proclaimed today. It's one of the great truths of reality, and it can be a great truth in your life as well, that Christ is alive.

Stay tuned. We're back after this. Christians don't necessarily agree with one another when it comes to questions of religious pluralism, homosexuality, the role of government, abortion and war. Too often we manage these disagreements by ignoring them. Yet we're called to engage the world for the sake of Christ. How can we be effective if we avoid society's most pressing questions in 10 issues that divide Christians? Alex McFarland challenges us to drill down to the biblical core of 10 current issues, such as social justice, evil and suffering, pornography and environmentalism. As he echoes the biblical invitation, Come, let us reason together. Only by engaging the scriptures deeply, thinking clearly and speaking truthfully, can we in God's family address our differences and discover the peace that comes with unity of purpose. 10 issues that divide Christians. Find this book and many others at AlexMcFarland.com If you're a Christian parent, you of course want to instill a biblical view of life in the hearts of your children. If you're a pastor, you want to offer ministry that draws young families to your church. This is Alex McFarland encouraging you to check out my new book and video curriculum, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. Why do bad things happen? I interviewed hundreds of children ages 5 to 12 and we address actual questions from actual children, the spiritual issues that are on the minds of your kids.

Did Jesus ever sin? The book and video lessons are great for groups of any size and was produced with the goal of equipping kids to stand strong for Christ in any situation. The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, the book, study guide and video series. You'll find it at AFASTORE.NET.

That's AFASTORE.NET. Joy to the world, He has risen, Alleluia! He's risen, Alleluia! He's risen, Alleluia! Alleluia! Welcome back.

Alex McFarland here. So glad you're with us on this day that we commemorate Christ's resurrection from the grave. And you know, over and over we've done shows, written books, written articles, done interviews about how none of the naturalistic theories that have ever been set forth to try to disprove the resurrection really accounts for all the known historical facts. Some people have said, well, the disciples stole the body, or the disciples mistakenly went to the wrong tomb, or Jesus lied and faked his own death and wasn't really dead but pretended to have risen from the grave. Which none of these naturalistic explanations take into account all the known facts.

And in fact, they really implode on each other. I mean, think about Jesus having been arrested, beaten, dehydrated probably three days, three to five days without food and water. And he's put in the tomb, sealed with a one and a half to two ton stone guarded by a dozen Roman soldiers in peak physical condition at their post, guarding the tomb under penalty of death if they were to fail at their assignment. Jesus, in his weakened, beaten, bloodied, wounded condition, revives himself in the tomb, shakes off roughly 75 pounds of cloth and burial spices, moves that heavy rock by himself, overcomes a cadre, a dozen Roman soldiers, gets across Jerusalem incognito, regathers his scattered followers, and there in his bruised, beaten condition says, I am the resurrection and the life, and they're willing to go out and die for him, it just doesn't make sense. Plus, it makes the greatest moral teacher in history out to be a deceiver.

And it attributes a very high stupidity quotient to the disciples because while the disciples may not have had electricity and many of the modern technological inventions that we've got, they weren't stupid. They knew the difference between a dead body and a person who was alive. The fact that they were willing to go out and preach the gospel and give their lives and die is because he really, honestly, truly had risen from the dead. And so the resurrection of Christ, if it happened, and the evidence is clear, compelling that it did, then what do we have? We have redemption. We have righteousness. Romans chapter 4 says that in the eyes of God, the one who turns from sin to Christ, the believer, is declared righteous.

Think about that. You may have lived a life of sin, and we're all sinners, but maybe someone hearing this broadcast has for years been really doing things you know are wrong. Sin has had a hold on your life. If you will turn to Christ because of this resurrection, not only are your past sins forgiven, not only presently you're in right relationship with God, but when you stand before the Father one day, as we all will, in the eyes of Almighty God, God will see you as a saint, righteous. Why? Because we earned it or deserved it?

No. But the righteousness of Christ is accredited to you if you believe in Jesus because he rose from the dead. But do you know with redemption and righteousness and the reassurance that we have, there's a responsibility. In Mark 16, 7, after the empty tomb was discovered, the angel said, Go and tell. Jesus told his disciples, Go into all the world. And so with redemption comes a responsibility.

But do you know what? There's a reward in heaven for serving Jesus Christ. If Jesus rose, there's not only meaning and purpose in this life, there's encouragement through the tough times, the dark times, but there's understanding that there's going to be reward in heaven. You might think sometimes your life is very hard and things don't go right and hope deferred makes the heart sick, as the Bible says. But do you know what 1 Corinthians 15, 58 says? This is the great chapter on the resurrection. Paul says, Because Christ rose, be steadfast. Stay at it, dear friend. Hang in there. It's worth it for Christ.

He arose. The tomb was left empty so that your life could be made full. And Paul says, For as much as you know, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. It really matters.

Now think about this. It's worth it. Your walk, your witness. And you'll be rewarded in heaven.

You will. And one day, all together, the believers throughout the centuries will lay their crowns at the feet of Jesus and will say all glory and honor to the Lamb who gave his life for us. So there'll be rewards in heaven. Now I want you to think about this.

We talk about this often. But doctrine and destiny. Doctrine are truths we believe.

Destiny is where we're headed. If Christ rose, what can we know? Well, God exists. God has acted in history.

Jesus is God incarnate. He said that we would know this by his resurrection from the dead. Scripture is inspired. Remember, Jesus affirmed the old.

He made provision for the new. He told his disciples in John 14, 26, and 27, You are my appointed witnesses and the Holy Spirit will remind you of all things whatsoever I have told you. John 10, 35, Jesus said the scripture cannot be broken. So the Bible is God's true word. And Jesus' resurrection proves that the assessment of scripture by the only man who ever rose from the grave means the scripture must be authentic. I mean, to the critic, the skeptic, the atheist, the doubter, the denier of scripture, I think we can rightly say, well, conquer your grave and then I might consider your dismissal of scripture.

But until you can walk on water, heal the sick, and rise from the dead, I'm going to go with the assessment of the only one who ever did. I want to read this poem. So beautiful. It's called The Name. A very old poem, nearly 100 years old. O that thy name may be sounded over all the earth and sea, Till the dead awaken and praise thee, And the dumb lips sing to thee. Sound forth as a song of triumph Wherever man's foot has trod, The despised derided message, The foolishness of God, Jesus dishonored and dying, A felon on either side, Jesus the song of the drunkards, Jesus the crucified, Name of God's tender comfort, Name of his glorious power, Name that is song and sweetness, The strong everlasting tower, Jesus the Lamb accepted, Jesus the priest on his throne, Jesus the King is coming, Jesus, thy name alone. That's 877-YES-GOD-1.

That's 877-YES-GOD and the number 1. Or give online at alexmcfarland.com. While you're there, listen to Program Archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event, or contact Alex with a question or comment, alexmcfarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG Radio.