Everyone just about in the church preaches on the subject of the resurrection, and I'll not do any differently. I've been taught that the empty tomb is no cartoon. The empty tomb is no cartoon. I don't know about you, but I still, regardless of my age, read the funny papers. Now, I don't read very many of them, that is just a few strips I read, but I feel like we live in a funny paper comic book cartoon strip environment. It's all around us. And no matter what age you are, I believe all of us in the past have owned what I call in my day, funny books. But I remember as a young boy, my parents visiting my aunt in Lake Charles, Louisiana. While we were staying there to entertain me, she let me have her son's comic books, and they were really books. It's been years ago now, and her son had grown up and married and left home, and he left these comic books, and they were big thick books. and they were on Buck Rogers, and that's before my day. In my time, it was Flash Gordon. Now today, I guess it might be Star Trek. But the point is, everybody down through the ages has been familiar with comic books. And I guess as far as the one I'm talking about, people have always dreamed of going out in space and what it ought to be like as far as the spaceships and what takes place. But then there is on the market, and it's been on the market for years, and I think they will be on the market in years to come, cartoon books that depict another kind of wishful thinking on the part of Maine. Now they don't come right out and tell you the purpose of these comic books, but I think deep down, even subconsciously and unknowingly, these comics are put out expressing man's greatest desire. I believe they will last on and on and on because they reflect a desire every man has. And I have chosen this morning three comics that depict what I'm talking about. First is Superman, second is Casper the Friendly Ghost, and three, Wally the Coyote. And you say, what on earth are you preaching about this morning? All three of those comic strips have one great trend in common. that make them popular to adult and child alike. I never get tired of watching the roadrunner. I never do. They all picture a deep, unspoken dream of mortal man. They all picture probably why you are here this morning. All three of those comic strips. What is it? Wouldn't it be super to have a body like Superman? You could fly at will and no bullets could harm you, not even a mosquito bite. Wouldn't it be wonderful and super if you had a body like Superman? What kind of body is it? It's indestructible. Many of the prayers this morning were for people who were sick. What is the one thing they love to have? A body that is sick-proof. Huh? Superman, you see, has what we all would like to have. A body that is sick-proof, bullet-proof, harm-proof, hurt-proof. We'd all like that. But that's just a dream. But it's man's fondest dream. Wouldn't it be exciting to have a body like Casper the Ghost? Nothing could harm you. I mean, a guy could throw a brick bat at you and it would just go right through you. You could pick up a hot pot on the stove and it would just go right through the handle, you hornwood. You see, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a body like Casper the Ghost where everything harmful would just pass right on through? You can drive a car and if somebody hits you, they just go right on through. Wouldn't hurt you a bit. Wouldn't that be fantastic to have a body that could not in any way be harmed by an outside source of threat? Wouldn't it be fantastic to have a body like Wiley the Coyote? I think that guy gets beat up more than anybody I ever saw in cartoons. As he tries to catch Beep Beep the Road Runner, He's run over by trains and trucks and mountains fall on top of him and he gets blown up five or six times in every cartoon. And he always comes back unscratched, unharmed, ready for the next bout with tutu. Wouldn't it be fantastic if we had a body that could recover as quick as he does? Wouldn't that be great? We say, man, that's unreal. It may be unreal, but you want it. And I believe the people who wrote those three comic strips understand that deep down that's what man really has a longing for. Much of our scientific discovery is aimed at bringing about as close as possible that benefit of a body that's free from harm and destruction and pain and hurt and disease and misery. Those cartoons speak of great dread that man has and that man does not want to face. The fear of death and what lies beyond. Oh, if we could only figure out a way to be immune from death and harm. How wonderful life would be. It would be like a comic strip. That's what we'd like. You notice that all three of the film strips that I mentioned to you are comic strips, that is. Death is ruled out as a possibility. There's no way Superman can die. Or Casper the Ghost. Or Wile E. Coyote. There's no way. Death is impossible. Secondly, harm is really ruled out. What you might say is the exception of Wile E., but he recovers in a couple of snaps like that. So really, harm is ruled out as a possibility in these comic strips. Here I find the deepest longing within a man's life. That is, number one, to find a way to be removed from all bodily harm, and number two, to find a way to be removed from bodily death. It was these very same two longings that caused people to flock to the man Jesus Christ. You stop and think of that. Jesus seemed to the people like a comic strip character. He had the solution that man wanted. That is, free from harm to the body and free from death. Jesus seemed to hold out to mankind what those comic strips give to those cartoon characters. Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus. and said, tell Jesus to come or our brother is going to die. Jesus was seen as a solution that would make death impossible. Secondly, we find the many hundreds and probably thousands that crowd around Jesus with afflictions. What were they doing? Jesus has a solution to removing all bodily harm. If I was born afflicted, He can remove. If I have disease, blindness, deafness, whatever it might be, He can remove. Jesus somehow has the ability to remove death and harm from the physical body, and so the people flock to Him. So man still has that great desire. It hasn't changed. I think the Easter story has the same appeal to man's mind as does Superman and Casper and Wiley. Has the same kind of appeal. It's the same kind of story. Offers the same kind of assurances. But the empty tomb is no cartoon. Jesus Christ is no comic character. He's for real. It's not wishful thinking and it's an actual event. That's what makes the difference. Now, Christianity is not the only religion that claims there's life beyond the grave. They can't prove it, but a lot of them claim it. The Indians had their happy hunting ground. They may not ever make it, but that means they claim to have it. One of the upcoming religions now is the Hindu religion. The struggle in Iran has made it quite apparent as a world religious force. Now, the Hindus believe in life after death. But they don't celebrate any resurrection day because nobody was ever resurrected. What they claim is that life after death is a reincarnation. That is, you die and then you come back another person or something else. Being my misfortune, if I died as a Hindu, I'd come back as a cockroach. I had to eat garbage all the time, and then somebody come along and spray me with real keel. Then what would I come back as? Well, I'd come back as a cuckoo bird. Then what would I come back as? Well, you might come back as a guy on a slave ship. Then what would I come back as? You just keep on, you know. Finally, you might hit the jackpot and come back as something good. Well, you die, and you lose that, and you come back as something else. That's not true. There's no such thing as reincarnation. But that's what the Hindus hold out as their great hope. Now reincarnation doesn't appeal very much to me. It sure doesn't give you a new body free from harm where you're going to die and come back as something else. So it doesn't give you a body free from harm while you live and doesn't guarantee you won't die. So really I don't see how it holds out much prospect for the future. So it doesn't offer man what he really wants. The Hindus can't measure up to Superman and Casper and Coyote. Well, you can't do that. I mean, it's a second rate offer. I'm not interested in coming back to something else and going through life all over again, maybe in a lesser state than I am right now. You see, Christ's resurrection is offering man exactly what he wants. He's offering man exactly what Superman has and Casper has and Wiley has. The resurrection of Christ is really a fantastic offer that we can only find in comic books. But Christ says, man, get out of the comic book. Here's the real strip of life. I got the real thing. This is no joke. This is real. So I think that's one of the reasons a lot of people come to church on Easter morning. They want to hear about the real thing that's not a comic strip. Now, before the resurrection, the body of Jesus was capable of harm and death. And I think all you have to do to prove that is just look at the cross. Before Christ was resurrected, his body endured harm and death, just like ours is. During his lifetime, it often says he took caution to escape the stones that were thrown at him and to escape the danger to his life that he was put under. Finally, of course, he did not escape the cross because that was his desire to save mankind. But following the resurrection, the enemies of Jesus never again could harm him. For the Bible says he came forth with a new body. A body that was immune from death and harm. It wasn't the same body he was born with from his mother Mary. He came forth from the tomb with a totally different kind of body. The kind the comic strips portray. Now they could crucify the body of Jesus that was given to him by his mother Mary, but there was nothing they could do to touch that body that he was resurrected with. Now from the account in the Bible of the resurrection of Christ's body, we learn that it had unheard of power. So how's that? In one account it says that Jesus who was wrapped, you know how you see mummies wrapped in all these little strips of cloth? Well the body of Jesus was wrapped in that cloth when He was dead. and they placed him in the tomb and he sealed it up with a great big old stone, the fifth one being the roll of stone shut, and that's where they left Christ, wrapped up in that cloth. The Bible says that when they went inside that tomb to see if Christ was there, there was that grave closed, all wrapped up. Hadn't been unwrapped, but there wasn't any body in it. The body of Christ took on such new nature that it just floated out of those gray cloth wrappings, leaving them still wrapped. How'd he get to that clock? Oh, there's the Casper aspect. Then the Bible says he was in this big old stone cave. And the door of the cave was a big old stone where the guards stood. And that stone wasn't rolled away, but Jesus got outside that tomb. How'd he do that? Like Casper, he passed through the stone wall. And what kind of body does he have? That's pretty good. Then the disciples were meeting in a room because they were scared to death what was going to happen to them since Jesus had been killed. They didn't know what to do and so the door was shut and was locked and Jesus just passed through the locked door. It's like Casper. How'd He do that? He had a new kind of body. You say, man, that's unreal. You got that right. It is unreal. So is Superman unreal. So is Casper unreal. So is Wally unreal. But Jesus is real. How'd He do that? I don't know how He did it. No idea how He did it. Now, one of the disciples or probably most of them said, hey, Jesus is a ghost. He's not a Casper. No, no, don't get me wrong folks. So somebody said, hey, he's a ghost. Look if you will at Luke 24. Luke 24 verse 39. Jesus said, behold my hands and behold my feet. See for yourself that it's me. Now notice, come over here and handle me. Put your hand on my body. You can't touch old Casper. You go right through him. He says, handle me and see for yourself. I'm real. Then he says, a spirit or a ghost does not have flesh and bone as you see I still have. They reached up and they touched him and there was flesh. And beneath that flesh was a bone. And Jesus said, I'm no ghost. I'm for real, man. Feel me. And he said, well, what kind of body is that? It can go through grave clothes. It can pass through rock. It can pass through locked doors. What kind of flesh and bone do you have? He said, I'm not going to tell you that. But brother, it's real. And it can do things you never dreamed possible for a body to do. He could have said, you can touch me. But you can't hold me or if I desire my body can just pass right through your hand grip and leave you standing there holding an empty hand. How are you going to do that? I don't know. Superman's fictitious, but Christ can do it for real. Wouldn't it be something for his old enemies to say, hey, let's crucify him again. That'd be a neat trick. How would you ever crucify Christ a second time? You may try to put a nail through his hand, but his hand would just pass right off the nail. You couldn't hold Him up there. You might put a spear in His side before He was resurrected, but you might put a spear there and He just walked right off Him, right in the middle. Now I'm not talking about a ghost. I'm talking about a body that's different than anything man has ever known. But it's the kind of body that you're going to have to have to make the Superman, Casper, Wally dream come true. Only that kind of body will ever be free of harm and death. You see, the body of Christ after the resurrection had the power man wants for his body. The kind of power that's depicted by the comic strips I've referred to. Folks, if you're a Christian this morning, I got good news for you. You're going to have a body just like that. Just like that. If you're a Christian. I don't want to say that. Just like that. if you're a Christian. The same kind of body that Christ was given in his resurrection will be given God's people when they are resurrected from this earth and their body is changed and made into a body just like Christ. It'll not be a body of flesh and blood, but a body of flesh and bone. A kind of flesh and a kind of bone that you have no comprehension of. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15, beginning at verse 42. So also shall be the resurrection of the dead. He's talking here about the Christians. The Christian's body is sown in corruption. We don't have power over death. We don't have power over harm. We can't stop it. So it's sown in corruption. But when it's raised, it shall be raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it shall be raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, but it shall be raised in power. It is sown a natural body. From your mother's womb it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. 49, as we have borne the image of earthly people, we shall now bear the image of the heavenly people. That's the image of Christ. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Neither shall corruption inherit incorruption. The only kind of body I know of requires blood to keep it alive. But Jesus said, I have a body that does not require blood to keep it alive. and flesh and blood, that kind of body will never go to heaven because that kind of body is susceptible to disease and harm and death. The kind of body you're going to have will be a special kind of body and a special kind of bone that requires no blood to keep it alive and it will not be subject to harm nor death. Now the resurrection of Christ not only guarantees that we shall live, but it guarantees that we who are Christians shall have that kind of body that we really need and want. And that to me is a great and exciting thing about it. I might add that those that are not Christians, they will not gain that kind of body. Now the Bible clearly says that the unsaved will be resurrected. Those who are not interested in Christ, could care less whether he lived, died, or comes again, they'll be resurrected. They shall gain a new body. but it will have one unique characteristic. It shall be able to endure flame and not be consumed. Now that's not very exciting to me. It surely will not be free of harm, though it will be free of death. Revelation 20 chapter 10. It makes a difference in what resurrection you share. Revelation 20 verse 10 talks about the devil. The devil was cast into the lake of fire, and notice what it says about his resurrection. He doesn't have a resurrection. He doesn't even have a body. He's a spiritual being. Anyway, it says he's cast into the lake of fire where there is torment day and night forever. Now you get this. The devil's going to be tormented, and we say, well, hooray for that. You know, nobody deserves it more than he does. So let him have it. Let's go on now in that same chapter. We find that there's going to be a resurrection, verse 12, and I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. You know who these folks are? These are the non-Christians. These are the unsaved folks. These are those that wouldn't give God time of day. Well, they all are. Too busy living with themselves. And so, they're going to get themselves a resurrection body. They shall stand before God and they shall be judged. Verse 13, And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and the grave gave up the dead which were in them, and they were judged. And death And verse 15, and whosoever was not found, whoever's name was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the lake of fire. I'm not coming to scare you. I'm just saying, for the unsaved man, his body shall be resurrected. You get it back. And he shall be cast into the lake of fire. And the only thing about that body is it'll be like asbestos, you know? It'll endure the flame, but it won't be consumed. And there shall be torment and harm and hurt and pain forever and ever. It makes a difference which resurrection you get yourself locked into. Now a man of any sense says, man, I don't care about that last resurrection. Amen to that. And so Christ came back from the grave and said, you need my kind of body for eternity. You need one that's free of harm and free of death. One thing you don't need is the kind of body you'll get if you're a non-Christian. So Christ came back and said, I offer unto you what? Life. What kind of life? Resurrected life that I If you'll give your life to me in this world, I'll guarantee that you'll have the resurrection body like I have in the next world. But now, you're going to have to give your life to me and obey me and serve me and become my disciple. In return, you'll have a dream come true and it won't be a comic strip. It won't be a cartoon. It'll be the real thing. And that really is the resurrection story. We've got great things in store for us coming if we be a child of God. If not, you've still got great things coming if you give your life to God. Either way, the only folks that really don't have much hope as far as Easter goes are those that don't want Christ as their Lord and as their Savior. Father, we're thankful this morning for the news that we have promise to us What most natural folks just think is a comic strip cartoon. We're thankful this day for the promise of that kind of resurrection body, which can never again face harm or death. We cannot comprehend that kind of body. We're thankful it awaits us. One day we shall have it, and with it shall endure throughout eternity in the presence of God. Pray again with thanksgiving for this hope that we have in Jesus' name, amen.