John chapter 20 and as we spoke this morning and intent to finish up the third point of what we started in the service let me just very quickly review for you a couple things from John chapter 19 and I've pointed out that John's gospel, I think, gives us the overview and insight concerning John's statement when he looked into the tomb. The tomb, and we often make the statement, and it's sort of a broad-brush statement, it really technically is not true. The tomb was not empty. It was not empty. It was empty of Christ. He wasn't there. But what he was wrapped in was sitting right there. And that's important because that's what John saw. And when John saw it, John believed. And that's important. So if we say it was totally empty, then we take away John's perception of what was there and understanding what went with it. And therefore the whole statement of his salvation or his statement, not about John's salvation, but the statement concerning Christ being risen from the dead is all stripped from John. So I say to you that it's not empty. It was just empty of Christ. Christ was gone. And Oh, by the way, uh, the idea that, uh, you know, the stone was rolled away so Jesus could get out, obviously is one of the liberal statements made in one of the books that talk about Christ wasn't dead when he was put in there and so forth, and they had to remove the stone, even that, to get him out. That's just not true. Matthew's explanation of that makes that very clear. The angel came down and sat on the thing so everybody coming could get inside of it, but it was not rolled away so Christ could get out, and he proved that by virtue when the disciples met and they were in that room, and he appeared, the door being shut, the Bible says, and he was right there. Believe you me, if you can go through a door and it's shut, you can go through a stone and it thick. Either way you go at it, there wasn't a problem. So don't let the liberals throw you a curve, and don't let it become a thing where it'd be problematic to you to understand that these things were all put in there so you and I, our faith would be strengthened by it, not distracted by it. So in chapter 19, I remind you in verse number 30, the thing that John witnessed, I remind you, John is the only disciple that the scripture set forth was present at the crucifixion. So in verse number 30, when Jesus therefore received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. He bowed his head and he gave up the ghost. John records that to tell us that Jesus Christ finished on the cross what he came to earth to accomplish when he was sent from the Father in heaven. So that verse of scripture, and we said this morning that the top priority of him finishing and what he finished was the atonement. And, oh, by the way, in the service this morning, as the Lord would have it to be so, as I told you also about how all the things that John scripted concerning said, you know, this was done, it might be fulfilled in the scriptures, and I'll reiterate that list in a moment, but the fact is, You know, I started on this sermon one year ago from this date soon as year goes Resurrection Sun is over I started making notes about the next one and I saw things and I wrote them down So this is just an overflow what I had last year while I'm sitting and doing that all these months and just six months ago I added that pace piece I took out of a book about atonement and it Incorporated the Catholic Church and this and so forth as the Lord would have it. There was a Catholic in the service this morning as the Lord would have it. So he scripted it, and I just did what I was going to do, and he brought this person here, and now they want to talk to me. Now, I've set up times for that, and the time I've set is they can be here at 9.30 on Sunday morning, they can be here at 10.30 worship, or they can be here at 6 o'clock in the evening. I'll be glad to explain to them from the pulpit everything I needed to explain to them. But here's the point, that this is to say that John recognized this truth, that Jesus Christ had finished what he came to do. That's important by virtue of the fact that he recognizes then this issue based on what he knew of Christ's purpose and mission. And then when he saw what he saw, then it was for him to believe all the lights came on. That's the idea. So John just didn't at the moment just then believe just in the resurrection. I believe John's telling you, I put it all together And then when he sat down to write it, and by the way, the Gospel of John is the one gospel that was done later, not earlier. Matthew, Mark, and Luke were done early. John didn't write his until much later. Those men, and many of them are all off the scene, had already gone to be with the Lord, and John sits down and writes what he recalled under inspiration, what happened. And the things that he incorporated are strategic. And this one is a big one. It is finished. When Christ said that, I said this morning, it's that Greek word, to tell a tale. And it is to say that it is done, completed. It is a final matter set aside. It's done. And so I say to you that John noted, and he puts it in a record so we can know, and that's to say, first of all, the completeness of the Lord's mission. The second thing that John hammered at was the certainty that he died. And that's important. In chapter number 19 in verse 31, the Jews, therefore, because it was a preparation day, that's the day before the Passover, that the body should not remain up on the cross. The Sabbath day, for it was a Sabbath day, was a high day. And so they went to Pilate and they asked him that he'd send some soldiers out. They'd break the legs of those men on the cross so they would die quickly. so they could get them off the cross and put them away, and so they wouldn't be an offense to people coming into the city on the day of Passover. So happened, verse 32, they came the soldiers, they break the legs of the first two, and then it came to the Lord Jesus Christ, and they found in verse 33 that he was already dead. It's important that John is putting this in here because John, I repeat, was the only disciple present when Christ died on the cross. So John says, don't miss this, he really did die on the cross, but when they came to him and they did not break his bones, they put a spear in his side to make sure that he was dead because the soldier is responsible for the guy that he brought to be crucified. And if he got away somehow because he wasn't really dead, then the soldier would be held accountable. So the soldier sticks a sword or spear into his side, and one of the other Gospels tells us that forthwith came water and blood. What's important here is, in verse 35, John testifies to this as if to certify it. And I remind you, that's important. He that saw it bear record, and his record, verse 35 says, is true, and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. And that's important. Before we close the message, I'll show you where John says that again, that people might believe. And what he recorded, he recorded so they could trust or believe on the Lord Jesus. Also in this is, and the important factor is, that when Jesus gave up the ghost in verse number 30, it is a matter that that fulfilled what the Lord Jesus Christ had said in John chapter 10. We read that to you, and if you need to research, you can check chapter 10, verse 11, 15, 17, and 18. He simply says, no man taketh my life, I lay it down. And he did. He gave it up. I repeated that anybody in this room could commit suicide, but you can't dismiss your spirit. You can die because you blow your head off, but you cannot say to yourself without a weapon, I submit myself to die. I lay my spirit in the hand of God, and I right here dismiss my spirit. You can say that all day long, but you'll never get it done. Jesus could, and the reason is because he has the power to lay it down, and he has the power to raise it up. No other human being does, not even this foolish magician up in New York who's going to try it. And I say to you, it's a joke from that perspective, but in the case with John, he records it so you and I can be sure of this fact. Christ died on the cross. That's part of the gospel. He died on the cross. That's important because he died as the Lamb of God, the sacrificial Lamb of God, and he needed to die on the altar. not die somewhere else, you know, not die of his wounds that he got on the cross and went over in a cave somewhere and died over there, because the Bible sets up, and John's recording it, about the Bible passages in Scripture that fulfilled everything that Jesus Christ did concerning his death. And one of them was to certify what kind of death he would die. Jesus Christ could not have just died because somebody saw him and threw a spear at him or hit him with a stone in the head. The Bible set forth that he had to be crucified. Jews don't crucify, so somehow we've got to get this authority away from the Jews and turn it over to somebody else who does. Romans crucify. Carthaginians, they crucify. Persians, they crucify, but not Jews. So the Romans, under which the authority was that pilot, was the one who issued all the orders and the rules of law. The Jews go to him and get him to do what needs to be done. Let me reiterate very quickly the passages of Scripture in John. If you didn't get them, you can look at them later. The case about the betrayal is set forth in John 13, 18 and 21. and john fifteen in verse twenty five it set up the basis for the crucifixion and that is that they hated me without a cause uh... the jews uh... had no basis for which christ should have died and pilot bears that out with five witnesses about the fact i find no fault in him there's no fault in this guy i find no fault in this man there's no reason for him to die and then on top of that when he or turns him over to be crucified the text of the bible says very simply Pilate sought yet, as it were, to release him. And I say to you that it's obvious Pilate didn't see any reason to do it and really was even as unethical as Pilate was because he's manipulated in politics. He wanted to keep his governorship. And if he let the Jews get out of hand and they made a big turmoil over this thing, he'd lose his role. He'd lose his position and no telling where he'd end up. So the need was that he keep them happy. To keep them happy, if you've got to crucify this Jew, then crucify the Jew. But even that he didn't want to do. He just did not want to do that. The other thing is, not only it sets up the basis of crucifixion in John 15, but John chapter 18, the Jews would have to get the Romans, the Gentiles, to do their dirty work. And John 18, 31, 32, and back to Matthew 20, 18 and 19, set it up that from a human perspective, they went to the Roman government to get their approval to crucify Christ. John 19.24, it even talks about the simplest thing, that they cast lots for Christ's seamless coat. And the Bible says that was going to happen long before it did. John 19.28, the fact that Jesus Christ thirsted on the cross was no incidental thing. It was recorded that when He's on the cross, He will thirst. And the fact is, that's what He did in John 19.28. John 19.36-37, it indicated that there'd be no bone broken and that They would look upon him whom they pierced. I said in Exodus 12, 46, that's about the Passover lamb. And it's a crazy thing. There's no reason whatsoever that the Passover lamb, when it was roasted, why you wouldn't break its leg. That is to say, who cares whether you break its leg or not? But in Exodus chapter 12, verse 46, the law concerning that lamb, when they kept it up three days in their house, they were not to break its leg. And the Lord set that down through the Mosaic law. Who would have thought that the Heavenly Father was looking ahead and said, look, this is the Passover lamb, and my son is going to be the Passover sacrifice one day. Oh, oh, and by the way, he's just going to happen to die at Passover, the same time they're going to sacrifice these lambs. And he says, I don't want his leg broken. I don't want any bone in his body broken. And so he sets it down as a standard for a little lamb that's roasted, though it's already dead. He doesn't want the legs broken. He doesn't want any bone broken. When it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, he was already dead when the soldiers came to see him. And they did not break his legs. Oh, they did fulfill the scripture. They looked upon him whom they pierced. They took a spear, rammed it into his side, and looked at him to make sure he was dead. And John says, when Jesus Christ, in effect, rises from the grave, we don't want anybody saying, well, he really wasn't dead. He was just sort of in a comatose position. John said, I was there, and I'm your witness, and I tell you the truth. He died on the cross. So there's a certification that the work of Christ was finished, that's the completeness of his mission. There's the certainty of his death, and John testifies to that. The third thing is that finally, I think, as I call it, the clincher of his promises. Look, if you would, in Matthew, beginning Matthew chapter number 20. Matthew chapter 20, look down to verse number 17. Matthew 20 verse 17, Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart. And that's important, took him away from the crowd. And he said unto them, here's what he said, he's going up to Jerusalem and he says to them, behold, we go up to Jerusalem and the son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priest and unto the scribes, they shall condemn him to death. Verse 19, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge and to crucify him. And the third day he shall rise again. Now skip from Matthew chapter 20, look over to Luke chapter number 24. Luke chapter number 24. Luke 24, look down to verse number, well, start in verse number three. Luke 24, verse three, and they entered in and found not the body of the Lord Jesus, verse four, and it came to pass as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. And as they were afraid and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember, and that's important, how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee. Verse 7, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, that's Gentiles, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. Verse 8, they remembered his words. The fact of the matter is that Interestingly, as it seems, both in the case with Mary Magdalene and the case with the disciples, comprehending and understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ told them specifically and succinctly that he was going to rise from the grave, and here it is that Mary Magdalene's there, and instead of supposing that he's risen from the dead, she fears somebody stole his body, and she's weeping. The angel says, Why weepest thou, thou woman? And Jesus, in the next second verse in John, says to her, Woman, why weepest thou? The fact is, they didn't believe what they were told. Now, here's the deal about that, and it's a big deal, so to speak. It is a matter that a lot of people heard a lot of things when Jesus was on earth that he said, and they just let it go in one ear and out the other. A lot of people today hear a lot of Bible preaching, a lot of Bible teaching, and it goes in one ear and out the other. So we're no different than they were. The difference is, is who said it. He stood up and he said what he said, and it would have been expected that they would have embraced it and believed it and grabbed it and taken a hold on it, but they didn't. Here's a case in point. Look from where you are in Luke. Look over to John chapter 20. John chapter 20 again. In John chapter 20, look down to verse number 24. John 20, verse 24, the Bible says, But Thomas, one of the twelve called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. This is after the resurrection, after he's already appeared to many, and he's even appeared to his disciples, and when he did, Thomas was not there. Verse 25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord, but he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hand the print, the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again the disciples were within, and Thomas was with them, came Jesus. Then came Jesus, the door being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Verse 27, And then saith he unto Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And verse 28, And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. And Jesus saith unto Thomas, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. And verse number 29 continues, something for you and me. Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. Now this fits with John who looked into the tomb, the writer of the Gospel of John. When John looked into the empty tomb except for the napkin and for the folded cloth, the Bible indicates very clearly, John saw and John believed. He is the only one of the disciples who did not wait until he saw Jesus to believe him. John saw what he saw in the empty tomb except for those clothing issues, and when he saw that, the Bible says he saw and he believed. He's the only one. He's the only exception to the whole rule. Everybody else had to wait until they could see him and they could, like Thomas, could touch him, but not John. John had a heart for the Lord so such and so deeply connected to him that I believe John believed every word he spoke. Maybe slow to some degree about receiving and believing early, but the fact is I believe with all of my heart that John was his most loyal follower. And he loved him. I mean, when the Lord spoke, John's ears opened to high volume reception. And in cases of this nature, I believe what we have in John chapter 20 and the verse number 29 especially, I believe is written for you and me. I believe it says, as much as we read the scriptures and we believe all that we read about the Lord Jesus Christ, He says to us, if you believe that, and I mean by believing it, I mean you've embraced it, no question about it, this is what He said and this is what it'll be, He says, blessed are you. Blessed is the person who believes but has not first seen. When we used to read that verse, we used to say that. In the economy of God, it's not seeing is believing, it's believing and then you see. By the way, that is still 95% of the occasion. But in this case, with the resurrection, John saw the evidence that Jesus Christ has risen from the grave. The reason for that is, and somebody asked me this morning, why was it what he saw said that? Well, first off, if what was being told that somebody came and stole his body, do you think they would have unwrapped all of that stuff? I mean, this is a dead body. Do you think these thieves would have taken that body and lifted it up and taken all the wrapping off of it with all the the nice smelling fragrance and the herbs and everything that it was wrapped in as a means of making a dead body smell better. You think they would have taken the time to unwrap all that stuff? And you think that they would have then, once they unwrapped it, you think they would have folded it and put it in its place in such unbelievable fashion? No, they wouldn't have done that. If they were going to steal the body, they'd have grabbed the thing up, threw it over their shoulders, and they'd have gone like a streak of lightning. John knew that Whoever took, whoever got this body out of here didn't need any rush to it. It happened in simple, slow motion effect. Unwrap it, put it in its place, and it could have been, he could have just gone out through all of the wrapping that it was, and all of it could have been left just like it was wound, but it was not. It was unwrapped, and it was folded, and it was, the Bible says, in its place. I say to you that all these things make a great statement, but there's one that maybe is made beyond even these about directly the resurrection. Let me read it to you. It was Job, the oldest book in the Bible. He said, For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me." Think about that. Here's Job who hadn't even read a text, not the first text, about the Lord Jesus Christ. The fact of the matter is, at this point, Jesus Christ hadn't even come to earth. All these things are unbelievable that Job had seen all this and believed all this before it ever happened. Oh boy, bless it. If it's you and I get a blessing and are called blessed because we believe without seeing, then Job must be a whole hundred yards ahead of us. Because all he had was evidently some men who were spokesmen for God that are not even referenced as prophets in his book, but they were men who got something from God. And evidently Job had gotten enough, because he didn't just say, I believe this. Job said, I know this. I know. I say to you, if Job could make such a statement, having never had all the evidence that you and I have now been accessed with, I say to you that Job's faith was a great faith. But the question is, what kind of faith do you have? Do you and can you say that I know that my Redeemer liveth? I know that indeed Jesus Christ was crucified. I know he died. John says he did and explains it well. And I also know that he was resurrected. He rose from the grave. And he has been victorious over death, hell, and the grave. I say to you that, uh, the whole thing about John's gospel sets it forth in such simple, understandable terms that I believe he covers all, all the, what we call the landscape. One, he makes a clear point, and I use the one word to tell us, as a singular word, finished. And then the second thing John would tell you is died. And the third word that John would use in a simple usage of simple words to make a make point was risen. He finished his work. He really did die and he really does live. Three simple things, but three things that the Bible indicates a person had have to believe in order to be saved. The gospel of Jesus Christ. Believing that he is the son of God that was his mission that he died on the cross for the salvation of man's souls He was buried and he rose again the third day The question is whether we believe that or not, but like John, it's more than that. John had such established relationship with the Lord that I believe John's gospel is the one, even as he closes the book, said all of these things have written that you might believe that Jesus is the Son of God, in effect, the Savior of the world, and that believing you may have eternal life. I say to you, John was saying to everybody else, what I saw at the cross, I know he died. I know he finished what he started, and I also know what I saw inside that tomb. He is risen. He's alive forevermore. I want you to take your hymn book if you have it before you. I want you to turn it to 128. I've asked Brother Mike to lead us in this. It's a song that I think it just has a truth to it, and we're not lingering, but I just want to quickly share with you. It only has in our songbook here has three verses and some others I think have four or five, but I want you to ask yourself this question as you read it. Is this the kind of description of the relationship that I have with the Lord and what that relationship brings to my heart? Loved with everlasting love, led by grace that love to know, spirit breathing from above, Thou hast taught me it is so. O this full and perfect peace! O this transport all divine! In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine. In a love which cannot cease, I am His, and He is mine. Heaven above is softer blue, earth around is sweeter green. Something lives in every hue. Christless eyes have never seen. Birds with gladder songs o'erflow, flowers with deeper beauties shine. Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine. Since I know, as now I know, I am His, and He is mine. His for ever only His, who the Lord and me shall part. And that's a question. Ah, with what a rest of bliss Christ can fill the loving heart! Heaven and earth may fade and flee. Firstborn light in gloom decline. But while God and I shall be, I am His, and He is mine. But while God and I shall be, I am His and He is mine. Would you stand with me, please? And I want you to sing it, and Brother Mike will lead us, and I want you to sing it like that's the kind of relationship you have with the Lord.