Awesome. Every Bible is turning to Matthew chapter number 28. And am I on? Am I on, Brother Jeremy? I'm good. You can hear me? Move it up a little bit? I got you. Thank you, Brother Jeremy. Awesome, Matthew chapter number 28. And I'm excited to be here. I'm always excited to be at my home church. I spend about half my time of the year at college and the other half here, unless I'm somewhere else. That's pretty obvious. And I love it here. This is my favorite place to be. If I had to choose any place to be, it would be here. 10 times out of 10. And so I love it here. I love being here. I love my home church. I love the people. I love every single one of you guys. And I love going to college and coming back and seeing new people here. It thrills my heart with joy when I come back from college and see new people sitting in the pews. And it encourages me. It helps me. And I appreciate it. So Matthew chapter number 28, as I went to go get my lapel, my little microphone tonight, I went up to the town booth and I asked for the lapel. And Brenton gave it to me and he said, oh, you're a runner. And I was like, I laughed like I knew what he was talking about. You know how you want to fit in so you laugh at people's jokes, but you're like, I have no clue what he's talking about. And I'm like, a runner. And him and Randy just sat back there laughing. And I was like, hey. But I had no clue what they were talking about. And it made me mad. And so I just stood up there. And he goes, a runner. Because obviously you could tell by how perplexed I was. I'm like, a runner. He goes, you walk around a lot when you preach. And I was like, oh, I didn't know that. I thought, you know, maybe in my younger days I did, but not any longer. I just stick behind the pulpit now, but no, I'm just kidding. Matthew chapter number 28, I had a few sermons that I wanted to preach that were laid on my heart, and my dad asked me to preach a few weeks ago, and so as I was preparing them, And those of you who might have preached before might understand what I'm saying. As I was preparing each one, there's three different ones, and I would sit down and work on one for a little bit, and I just thought, man, this just isn't it. And so I would move on to the next one, and I'd start working on it, and I was like, this one's just not it either. And it just over and over, and finally, till last night, I was like, man, I just, I was working on one that I had, and I was working and finishing it last night, and I just went to bed, and I was like, ah, this stuff. You know, the outline's fine. It's the Bible, so it's all good. And you just think, man, it looks like it's good, but you just don't have that peace of mind. And I woke up this morning, and I'm doing the same challenge that most of the other people are doing, is reading the Bible, no, reading the New Testament through in a month. So I woke up this morning and read. I'm a little bit behind. And so I'm not as behind as Brother Jeremy. He confessed this morning in Sunday school class. And so it made me feel a little bit better. But I'm a little bit behind. So this morning, I woke up and read something. And as I read it, it was like God told me right there in the moment, this is what you have to preach. And so this is fresh. There you go, right out of the oven. And it's something that I got ready this afternoon. If there's some like, you're like, I don't know if that's true. It's because I got it ready really quickly. So there we go. I'm just throwing that out here just in case anybody has any questions or doubts. Some of you guys are smarter than I am. And so I might say some stupid things. That's all the time, not just behind the pulpit. That's all the time. If you have any questions, just ignore them and just say, well, Yeah, so that's it. Matthew chapter number 28, and we'll start in verse 1, but we'll end up in verse 17. So in the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn towards the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake. For 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, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angels answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus. And if you have a pen, you can underline that. I'm probably not going to touch on that again for tonight, but that is a fantastic phrase. For I know that she seek Jesus. And Marianne, obviously we know where we're at for context of the passage. We're right here, right after Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross and he was buried, and we're right here at the resurrection morning. Right at the time that Jesus walked out of the tomb. And Mary came to lay ointments, and to go to the tomb, and to pay her respects. And she found out that Jesus wasn't there, and the angel told her, for I know that she seek Jesus. And may that be the story of every one of our lives, that we are constantly just seeking Jesus. I hope that an angel can come to you today and say, I know that you're seeking Jesus. He is not here, for He is risen. As He said, Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell the disciples that He is risen from the dead, and behold, He goeth before you into Galilee. There shall you see Him, lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring His disciples' word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail! And they came and held him by the feet and worshipped him. Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid, go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me. Jump down to verse 16, it says, Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they worshipped him, but some doubted. And if you have a pen, I'd like you to underline this phrase. And this is the key thought this evening is, but some doubted. Let's pray and we'll jump right into it. Lord, I thank you just for the privilege of being here tonight. God, I pray that you would just help me. And Lord, I pray that you'd use my words tonight as I preach. God, I pray, Lord, that you would anoint each and every single one. And I pray that you'd be evident tonight. I pray that you would be here, God. And I'd hate to preach a sermon where you're not in it. Lord, I pray that you'd just be with me. Help me, God. Lord, I pray for all the listeners. I pray that you would just help them to understand through whatever I'm trying to say, God, that what I'm trying to get across. God, I pray that you'd just be in it as well. Lord, I pray that you'd just be with us. Help us all to be safe. And I pray this in your name. Amen. It striked me kind of odd as I was reading this this morning that or at the resurrection morning, or maybe it was a few days after, maybe it was just that week, the resurrection had just happened. And the disciples had just seen Jesus, and He had just appeared to them in a room, and He told them to feel His side, and they felt His side, and they physically touched Him. And they felt Him, and they saw Him, and they talked to Him. Jesus gave them some commandments and they said okay and so they went to Galilee and they waited for him and finally he came and then they met with him again and it says they saw him, they worshipped him but some doubted and that just hit me and it jumped off the page and I thought why would you doubt that? You just saw Jesus Christ. You just saw Him in the flesh after He had been crucified. You watched Him beaten. You watched Him as He was hanging on the cross. And you watched Him as He died, as He gave up the ghost. And you've seen Him be put into a grave. And three days later, you see him again as he's standing in front of you with a new body. And he's got his marks in his hands and his feet. And he says that he's here. And so, wow, what an emotional weekend that you would have had seeing all of this unfold in front of you. And to me, I would like to say that I would have been so overwhelmed. There's this man that I've just been following for the past 3 and 1�2 years. And I loved him. And I did everything with him. And I trusted Him with my life, and then I seen Him die, but now He's back, and it would just be a sea of emotions. And so I'm sitting here trying to gather what would the disciples be thinking, but I can tell you right now that the last thing that I had on my mind that the disciples would be thinking is that they're doubting it. The last thing that I'm thinking right now that the disciples are thinking is that this didn't actually just happen, did it? Jesus Christ actually didn't rise from the dead, did He? And if you're totally honest with yourself, raising from the dead is a completely foreign thing to man. It is a completely foreign thing that it doesn't just happen. People don't just raise from the dead. Nobody does. There was a few instances in the Old Testament with Elisha as he came by and he raised a few people from the dead, but that was with the power of God. And there was a few instances as Jesus walked on this earth and He raised people from the dead, but there had never been an instance of a man raising himself from the dead. Because that's a foreign thing that doesn't happen, that's unnatural. That is supernatural. But I serve a God that is supernatural. And He does supernatural things like that. And so I can imagine now, it makes kind of a little bit more sense that you're... as a man, and you just followed this man, and you've seen him die, and you've seen him die a horrific death, it's not a nice death, and no way of dying really is a good way to die, but it was an awful way to die, maybe the worst way to die, and then put in a grave, and then you see him again, and you just, man, I can kind of understand now, okay, maybe that's, okay, maybe they doubted. But I'm still sitting here questioning, why would you doubt at a time like this? And there's times in life that I think you can give exceptions for doubting. When you see somebody doubt, and maybe you doubt when God tells you to do something that seems impossible. And surely that was the case for Abraham and Sarah as God appeared to them and said, you're going to have a son. And you remember what Sarah said, therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have my pleasure, my Lord being old also? And there was a time in Abraham and Sarah's life when they doubted and they said, God, that's not, that's almost impossible. And that's, you know, a reasonable time to doubt. You think, okay, that makes sense that they're doubting that God is going to do a miracle because it seems impossible. And you think, okay, maybe you can doubt when you go through a tremendous trial in your life like Job did. You remember the story of what happened to Job as time after time his servants came to him and said, hey, your kids are gone. Hey, your crops are all gone. Hey, your family's gone. Everything's gone. Your house is gone. Your health is gone. And again, it says Job never cursed the Lord, but I would venture to say that Job had some doubts. You can look in Job 10, it says, my soul is weary of my life. I will leave my complaint upon myself. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. And you've got to imagine that Job going through that is, man, he's got a doubt. Hey, is this what God has me to do? Am I doing what's right? And his friends keep coming by and saying, man, you're an awful person. You've done this, you've done that. And there's no reason that God would do this to a just person. And you gotta think, Job went through some doubt. You think about maybe doubt can come when persecution comes. You look at John the Baptist as he's going around, and he's being the voice of one that crieth in the wilderness, saying, prepare ye the way of the Lord. And God had prepared John the Baptist to come by and to pave the way for Jesus to come by. Jesus calls John the Baptist that there was not a greater man than John the Baptist. He was the man. He came by and he was the prophet that told that Jesus was coming soon. But there was a time in John the Baptist's life as he sat in prison for preaching the gospel. And he told two servants, he said, go to Jesus. Now when John had heard in prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said unto them, art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? John the Baptist, the man that Jesus said was the greatest among prophets, the man that was sent specifically to tell people that, hey, Jesus is coming and he's coming soon. Now, John the Baptist, that very man is sitting in a prison and he's telling two of his disciples, hey, go to that Jesus guy and tell him, are you actually the guy? Are you the one that I'm supposed to be preaching about? And there was this dark cloud in John the Baptist's life as he's saying, I don't know if this is what I should be doing. That seems like a reasonable time to doubt as you sit in a prison for doing something that you were told to do. Maybe you can doubt when it feels like you're all alone. Remember Jeremiah, as he was sent to preach to the Israelites and to tell them to stop doing what they're doing, because if they keep doing what they're doing, then they're gonna head to captivity. And God had came to Jeremiah and said, I formed thee in the belly and I've prepared you and made you to go send a message to the Israelites. You know, Jeremiah probably felt all alone. And Jeremiah says in Jeremiah 20, O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived. Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed. I am in derision daily. Everyone mocketh me. For since I spake, I cried out. I cried violence and spoil, because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision. Daily then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name." You know, Jeremiah, as he went to the people of Israel and said, you need to stop sinning, you need to stop giving in to idolatry, you need to stop marrying people that aren't from the Israelites. As he was going through preaching this and telling people that, he began to doubt. He began to say, is this what I'm really supposed to be doing? I'm the only one who's doing right. I'm the only one who's serving the Lord. And that seems like a reasonable time to doubt as Jeremiah is proclaiming the word of the Lord all by himself. You might say it's a reasonable time to doubt, and we talked about this in Sunday school this morning with Brother Jeremy, is when you get your focus on the wrong things. And you look at Asaph in Psalms chapter number 73 in verse 1, it says, You know what happened to Asaph is he started looking at the wrong things, and he started looking at the people in the world, and he started to see them prosper, and he started to see how well they did, and he started looking at his life, and he's saying, man, why is this happening to me? Why is my life not as good as other people's life? And his focus got totally off. And you might look at him and say, you know, that's a reasonable time to doubt. You know, all these examples, you might look at them and you say, you know what? I don't really blame him for doubting at such a time because it was such a hard time. It's hard to believe through something that God says is impossible. You know, it's hard to believe when you're the only one doing what you think is to be right. You know, it's hard to believe when you're doing right and you get in trouble for it. It's, you know, it's hard to believe through those circumstances. And I would agree with you this evening that it is hard to believe as you go through those trials, as you go through those things, and there certainly is some doubt in your life that creeps in. But I'd like to submit to you one more reason, one more time that somebody doubted, and realistically, from our perspective, it doesn't make sense. that right here in Matthew chapter number 28, we see that Jesus Christ is just raised from the dead, that He lives again, but some doubted. You know, doubt can come in many forms and many ways as we just looked at, but this is a weird one to me. Like, why would I doubt? Why would I doubt God? Why would I doubt the faithfulness of God? Why would I doubt the mercy of God? Why would I doubt the grace of God? Why would I doubt the power of God after I just seen him conquer death, hell, and the grave? Why would I doubt that? To be honest with you, I don't know many of you very well. I know a lot of you on a surface level. I wish I knew some of you more, but I can say that I could probably say with enough confidence that some of you in here have dealt with some doubt. And maybe it had something to do with, maybe you had to do some, God told you to do something that might have felt impossible. Maybe it was because you were dealing with some tough persecution. Maybe it was because you had your focus in the wrong spot. Maybe you dealt with doubt just because. You know, maybe nothing bad has been happening to you. Maybe nothing bad has happened to you recently. Maybe you're not going through persecution. Maybe you haven't gone through some tough trials. Maybe God hasn't asked you to do something crazy. But maybe you're just dealing with doubt just because. You know, the devil likes to come by at those times. I was talking to somebody the other day, and I don't remember what, but they asked me how I was doing. And I said, honestly, I'm doing pretty good. It's almost scary. Like, you know, if everything is, like, doing well, you're like, what's next? You know, what's going to happen? And maybe the devil likes to come at you at that time where you feel like, you know, I'm doing pretty good right now. I just got that job promotion I was working for. You know, I just bought that new car that I've been wanting. Maybe I just finished that project that I've been working on. Maybe I just fulfilled my missions giving for the year. Maybe I just came out of church. Maybe I'm driving on my way home from church, and there's just that seed of doubt in your mind. Is this really what I'm supposed to be doing? When life gets hard, it's understandable to start doubting, but it's here at the supposed peak that we see people are still doubting. I'd like you to notice that it doesn't say who was doubting. And to be honest with you, I don't really care. I'd assume it's Thomas. But, you know, I don't care who was doubting. And it doesn't go into specifics, it doesn't give names, it doesn't do anything, but it says, but some doubted. And you know, I think it kind of does that on purpose. I believe in the Bible, I believe in the sufficiency of Scripture, I believe in the inspiration of the Word of God, that every word that is in this King James Bible that I hold today is inspired by the Word of God, inspired by the Spirit, and I believe it's all in there for a purpose. I believe that if there were some names of people who doubted, then we would know. But I believe there's a secrecy, but some doubt it. And you know why I believe that? I believe some people in here doubt. I believe that I can say, but some doubted. And I'm not talking about the scripture, I'm talking about the people who are hearing my voice this evening. That there are some people in here who are doubting. And to be honest with you, I don't really care to know who. I don't care to know who in the scripture is doubting. I don't care to know who out here is doubting. And I'm not saying that to be harsh, I'm just saying that to be realistic. Some people just doubt. And in secret, they don't know. They don't really want to tell anybody, but they just doubt. And there's a secrecy to it, there's a secret, there's almost like, it's almost like, you know, it's not a, it's not a, I don't think it's necessarily a sin to doubt, but I do think there's a lack of faith in that, when you don't believe in God, when you don't believe that what he's gonna do, and it's almost like you don't wanna tell people, and it's kind of a secret, something that you hold on to, that you kind of hold in secret, that when you go home, you think about it, and you doubt, or when you're in your car, you doubt, or when you're getting off work, you doubt. Why would you start doubting right after seeing someone who was crucified and killed on a cross, risen from the dead? This seems like an odd time to start doubting. But I promise you, there's people who doubt through good times. The devil picks the oddest times to attack. We must remember to be ready at all times. The Bible says, be sober, be vigilant. And we use that a lot of times in context to the devil attacking us in specific ways, such as vices. But I think it applies just as much to faith. Be sober, be vigilant, have faith in God at all times. This evening I have three points really. I don't plan on going long, but you know how that goes. I have three reasons why you shouldn't doubt. why you shouldn't doubt, and they're all found in this chapter, and I'd like you to go to the first verse again, Matthew chapter number 28 and verse 1, and we'll look through it. In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow, and for fear of him the keepers did shake and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the woman, Fear not ye, for I know that ye seek Jesus which was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen. As He said, come and see the place where the Lord lay. I want to tell you this evening that you might be doubting, and I don't know who is and who isn't in here, but I can tell you the first reason for why you shouldn't be doubting. Number one is eternal life. I don't know about you, but sometimes I start doubting what God has done in my life. I'll start thinking, God, there's been many times at Bible college where I've sat and looked at, you know, maybe the bill that they just sent me, or I sat and looked at the hours that I have to work this semester, this week, and also my workload of homework, and maybe it's during finals week, I'll sit at like 2 a.m. in the morning writing a paper and think, is this really what God wants me to do? And there's some doubt. But I can always remind myself and go back to that time where I trusted in the Lord and Savior as my Savior. And I can always remember that beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I have eternal life. And it clears all my doubt. It clears everything that I have. Any thought that I have, I can say, hey, I know one thing. and that I am saved, that I have eternal life, that Jesus Christ has risen from the grave, that I can believe on Him. And I'd like you to notice that There are some people in this chapter who just doubted. They're saying, man, I don't know if I can entirely believe this, but I can just tell them, hey, you can just tell them, go back to the beginning. Go back to that Sunday morning where Mary and the other Mary went to the sepulcher only to find that the stone was rolled away. And what did that mean? Eternal life. We all know, and it's been such a popular story throughout the history of mankind, is that Jesus Christ came to this earth to be born of a virgin, which is important. And we just finished the Christmas season, and we still have our Christmas decorations up, and they're coming down after. But we talked about it over and over and over again, about how Jesus came to this earth to be born of a virgin. And that is important because Jesus had to be born of a virgin. He had to be pure. He had to be a spotless lamb. And He came, He was born of a virgin, and He lived a life. And the Bible says that He did not sin, that He was spotless, that they had no sin in Him. And what happened? He went to Jerusalem, and the Pharisees accused Him, and they sentenced Him to death, the just for the unjust. And He went to that cross on Calvary, and He stretched His arms out wide, and He paid the penalty for sin. And it says that, for He hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that He might be made the righteousness of God in Him. And I would like to tell you, my friend, Jesus Christ came to this earth to be born of a virgin, to go to the cross, to die on a cross, to pay for the penalty of sin. He was the satisfactory payment for you and me. Although we're full of sin, God had no sin. And God looked at Jesus and saw the sin that I had. God saw the sin that was mine and placed it upon Jesus Christ. So now when God looks at Jesus, He sees me. But when He looks at me, He sees Jesus. And I am free from that penalty of sin, and I'm thankful this evening that I have eternal life. And I'm thankful that Jesus Christ, He wasn't only born of a virgin, He didn't only go to a cross to die and pay for the penalty of sin, but He also raised from the dead on the third day, and He conquered grave, He conquered hell, He conquered everything, and He now sits on the right hand of the Father. And you know what that means? He's conquered everything. Jesus Christ is the conqueror. When I doubt, I look at my eternal life. Understand that when God raised Jesus from the dead, He was removing any doubt that you had. Death could not keep His prey, Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord. Up from the grave He arose. In 1 Corinthians 15 and Let's turn there really quick in 1 Corinthians 15, and this is a fantastic chapter. Here's your homework. Go home and read 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. And then read it again, and then read it again, and then read it again. And read it until you get excited, because I don't know a better topic to read about than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. Look at verse 17. And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are all of men most miserable. You know what Paul's saying? That if Christ never raised from the dead, if he died on a cross, it would be totally vain. You know, we'd have hope in this life only. But I don't want hope in this life only. I want hope for the life that comes after this one. But look at verse number 20. But now is Christ risen from the dead. You know, Paul is saying that He went and He died on a cross, but it wasn't in vain because He conquered death, hell, and the grave. He rose again. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. When I doubt, I look at my eternal life. And I'm thankful for what God did for me on the cross. In Ephesians 2 it says, and you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins, where in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation in time past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. Oh, but this is my favorite part. And I want to get it passed to you tonight. that if you're doubting in any way, and maybe you're doubting in some other way, but I can tell you this, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that if one time in your life you went to Jesus Christ and you said, I'm a dirty, hell-deserving sinner, and I deserve nothing less, and if you went to Jesus Christ and said, but I'm thankful for what you've done for me on the cross, and I put my faith and trust in you, that there's nothing that you can doubt. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And that is your faith, that is the substance of your faith, that Jesus Christ lives again. You might be able to doubt in a lot of things, but my friends, you can't doubt in that. That you are saved, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Can I ask you this evening, if you're not saved, would you do it tonight? That it is the most solidifying thing in your life. You know, life comes by and it's like a storm, and it flows up and down and all around, and there seems to be no constant in your life, especially since COVID. It just seems to be all over the place. But I have one constant in my life, and that's Jesus Christ. I have one foundation, and that's Jesus Christ. I have one thing that I can build upon, and that's Jesus Christ. In John 1, for in Him was life, and the life was the light of men. My friend, if you want life, you can have it. It's in Jesus Christ. If you have any doubt of eternal life, put your faith in Jesus Christ. Don't doubt what He's done for you on the cross. You can doubt a lot, but you can't doubt that God has given you a new life. If you don't get anything else tonight, If you don't get anything else from what I say after this point, I want you to remember this, and I don't ever want you to doubt it again in your life, because there's going to be times where you're going to think, is this really worth it? Is it really worth coming to church? Is it really worth working in my Sunday school class? Is it really worth driving the church van? My friend, yes it is. Why? Because Jesus Christ has raised from the dead. And that gives it a substantial worth. Number one, why you shouldn't doubt, is your eternal life. That you have eternal life. I want you to notice that number two, why you shouldn't doubt, is the evidence of God in your life. If you go back to Matthew chapter number 28, And you look in verse 7 and it says, And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead, and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him. Lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy, and did run to bring his disciples word. And look at what it says in verse 9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail, And they came and held Him by the feet and worshipped Him. Number one, why you shouldn't doubt God is because of the eternal life. But number two, why you shouldn't doubt God is the evidence of God in your life. I want you to notice that as they went to the tomb, they saw that the stone was rolled away. And they looked inside the tomb and there was no bones in there. And I like the phrase, there's no bones about it. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead. And we know that to be true. But can I say that they didn't see Jesus right then and there. So anything could have happened. Anything could have happened. Somebody could have came and there's theories and even the Bible says that there's still theories to this day. What they did with the body of Jesus Christ. I know what happened. If other people don't, that's on them. There's a really good book that you should read, and it's called Who Moved the Stone? And I think it's Robert Morrison or Frankie Morrison. And it goes through, and he goes through systematically, and it's almost like if you're in a court of law, and he just goes through with evidence, and he really doesn't use the Bible verse. He uses Bible verses to explain, but he just goes through and just systematically explains why it's impossible for any other theory to be true except for the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is no other explanation except for the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. That is the only substantial evidence, that's the only thing that could have happened. But you see here, Mary and the other Mary, that's what they call them, Mary and the other Mary, so I'm not trying to be disrespectful, that's just what they say. And Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, so I feel kind of bad for the other Mary. Imagine being known as the other Mary. But it says that they went to the sepulcher and the angel told them, Jesus isn't here, he's risen. And so through faith they had to believe that he was risen. That is faith, is when you believe something that you can't really see. And so they run and the angels tell them, hey, go tell everybody else that you've seen this. And so in faith they believe it and they start running and they start to go tell the disciples. And look what it says in verse 9. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them. You know what happened right there? Something that they believed in faith became true. It became true that they believed Jesus Christ had risen from the dead in faith. That's what I did. I believed when I was a 12-year-old boy sitting right here on the front pew where my dad would be sitting in our church in Peru. And I remember my dad preaching, and I remember feeling convicted as if, and I remember he was preaching on hell, and I remember it vividly, feeling as if, that if I died right then and there, I would go straight to hell. And I knew it, and I put my hand up when my dad asked if anybody wanted to be saved, and I got saved that morning. You know what I did? I didn't have a lot of evidence right in front of me, but I had faith. I said, man, I don't know how all of this works, to be honest with you, but I'm just going to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and paid for the penalty of my sin, and now I'm free, and I'm cleansed, and I'm living a new life, and I believed all that by faith. But can I say that I was 12 years old, I'm 21 now, I'm not that old, but through 9, 10 years of living, There's been evidence of God in my life. And I've seen His hand move in my life and guide me and tell me what He wants me to do and where He wants me to go. And it's almost like I believed in Jesus Christ, I received Him by faith, and then Jesus met me on the way. And Jesus came to me and said, I'm glad you received me by faith. Here's what I want you to do. And I think it's just, it's a beautiful picture of salvation that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary received him by faith. And they went to go tell other people about him. And to be honest with you, they took it by faith. They didn't know if he had risen from the dead or not. They believed what he said, but they didn't see him rise from the dead. But then they went and told other people about it. And Jesus came to them and said, I'm right here. I am risen from the dead. Reasons why you can't doubt God is the evidence of God in your life. I'd like to draw your attention to any time that you've had doubt in your life. Just remember, whether an old Christian or a new Christian, that God has worked miracles in your life. I can just remember even just a personal example recently as I was at college and we have on Wednesdays, we have our student-led chapels and so We have a senior guy get up and he gives a devotion and it's usually only 30 minutes long and it's not too long and I remember one Wednesday I woke up At the end of that week, I was just praying that God would provide financially for some things. I was just kind of annoyed, kind of struggling, kind of doubting. I had some bills I needed to pay, and I didn't really have the money for it. I was kind of praying to God that morning, saying, God, I just need you to provide. I don't know where the money is going to come from. I don't know how it's going to work, but I just need you to provide. I remember going to the student-led chapel after that and sitting and listening to a senior guy preach out of Acts. When Peter was out of the prison and he went and he knocked on the door, and that servant Rhoda came by and saw Peter there. And you remember that, if you don't know the story, they were praying in the house, and they were praying that Peter would get out of jail. So then Peter, the angel comes by, lets Peter out of jail, and Peter comes and knocks on the door, and the servant opens the door, sees Peter there, and then shuts the door and goes and tells everybody else, hey, Peter's here, Peter's here, and leaves him standing outside. And I remember sitting in that chapel that morning and listening to somebody preach on that, and he preached on, hey, sometimes you're praying for things, and God answers it, And you totally ignore it. And you totally, you look at it and you totally just don't pay attention to how God answered that prayer. And I remember sitting there and thinking, you know, he told it in a funny way and everyone was laughing. And it's a funny, comical story in the Bible. And I'm kind of dumb, so I didn't even think of, you know, the correlation between I was praying just that morning for some finances. So that day went on. I went to our mailbox that we have at our college, and it's a box that has your name, and it's nothing great. But I remember going through and going to my name, and as I went into my box and I pulled out two envelopes that were in my mail, and both of them were checks. I had no clue about them, but they had been sitting there since last week. I just hadn't checked the mail. And it dawned on me, and a guy kind of smacked me over the head, and he said, I've been trying to tell you that you got mail, literally, and I didn't even notice. And I was praying and praying and praying and saying, God, I need you to provide financially. And God's like, check the mailbox. I'm saying, God, I don't know how you're going to pay for this. And God's like, check the mailbox. And I'm like, God, I really, I'm just struggling right now. And God's like, check the mailbox. And it's just there. And you know what that is to me? And maybe to anybody else, you would think, and that's just, all right, that's just a cool story. It's just coincidence. But to me, when I pulled out those two checks and saw them, Man, I thought God was just providing. And they weren't $1,000 checks. I wish they were. They weren't. But you know what they did? They paid those bills that week. And I can just remember standing there thinking, man, I'm such an idiot for doubting that God wouldn't provide. You know, I've been in college, and I'm finishing up this last semester, and I'm excited about it. And I've had some financially rough times through it all. But I can say that God has always, always provided for me. And there's been some ups and downs, and there's been some all arounds, but God has always been there for me. And God has always provided. And that's evidence of God in my life. And that always, every time that I sit down and I start to doubt and I start to question, you know, God, is this really what you want me to do? I just look back at those times where God has showed up in a special and a mighty way and said, Micah, I'm still here. Yes, yes, you can still have faith in me, Micah. Yes, yes, I still provide. Yes, I still have mercy. Yes, I'm still faithful. Yes, I'm still full of grace. Trust in God. Trust in the evidence of God in your life. Jesus didn't just rise from the dead. He also proved it to all those who had seen him die. Can I say this? Jesus always goes above and beyond what you ask. Always. Remember those names that we were mentioning earlier of the people who maybe they had reasonable reasons to doubt? Remember, you know, all of those names that I had mentioned, remember that Abraham and Sarah doubted God that they would have a child. God delivered. In Genesis 21.1, and the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. You know, God delivered. You know what that means? That's evidence of God in Sarah and Abraham's life. Where they say, you know, there was a time that I doubted God in my life, but he delivered. You know, Job doubted God for a little while when he was going through trials, but God blessed him. So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. You know, John the Baptist doubted God while in prison, but God sent a messenger back to him, and he said unto him, Jesus answered and said unto him, Go and show John again those things which ye do here and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear. The dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached unto them. You know what God's saying to him? You don't have to doubt. John sent messengers to Jesus saying, hey, do I really need to be trusting in you? Are you who I'm supposed to be preaching? And Jesus sent messengers back and saying, here's what I'm doing. I'm fixing lives. I'm fixing families. I'm helping people get back on the right path. And he kind of just let John answer the question himself. Jeremiah doubted God's word. Remember, he said, I'll not make mention of him again. He said, I'm through talking about God to other people. But he says, but his word was in my heart as a burning fire, shut up in my bones. And I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. You know what Jeremiah is saying? I wanted to doubt God. I really did. He said, I didn't want anything to do with it. He said, but I couldn't quit. He said His Word was in me and it was in my bones as a fire that could not be shut up. You know, Asaph doubted God because his focus was totally on the wrong thing. But if you look at the latter end of chapter number 73 in the Psalms, it says, Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. You know, every single one of those people that I had mentioned earlier who had doubted through some maybe persecution, through maybe different reasons in their life, every single one of them, Jesus came right back and settled any doubt that they had in their life. You know, the goodness of God came back and settled any doubt. God's providence came back and settled any doubt. You know, and God continually just came back and settled any doubt that anybody had in their life. That's the evidence of God in your life. The simple answer is God always supplies ample evidence for you to have faith. God's always there and giving you more evidence and God's saying, hey, here's just some more of why you should trust in me. I don't know if you, and I think they sang this in the Sunday school this morning, sometimes this world brings troubles that I find so hard to bear. I know I could not make it without Jesus being there. It's so encouraging to know however deep we are in despair that Jesus never fails. So what can I do to prove to you? Tell me, how can you deny? No untold facts, no mysteries. It's all so cut and dry. On the witness stand of your life, I'll be the first to testify that Jesus never fails. And I just want everybody in here to know that you can believe in God. You can have faith in God. You don't have to doubt, number one, because of your eternal life, but number two, because of the evidence of God in your life. Look back in your life and look at those times where maybe you thought, maybe I'm not going to get through this, but God came through anyways. Look back at those times and you just thought, maybe I can't pay these bills, but God came through anyways. And just look at all those times, all those times where God showed up. He said, you might have doubted, you might have not believed in me, but I'm still here. That's the evidence of God in your life. I want to ask you this, has not God given you ample enough evidence to settle this case? Jesus has never failed. And that's reason enough just to have faith in God and say, hey man, I don't want to doubt God anymore. I just want to have faith in God. Lastly, number one is the eternal life that God has given you and then the evidence of God in your life. But lastly, I want you to look at the empowering presence of Christ in your life. And if you go to Matthew chapter number 28 and right after those verses, We've come to know them as the Great Commission. And Jesus came and spoke unto them, in verse 18 it says, saying, All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you all way, even unto the end of the world. Amen. You know, there's times in my life where I've doubted God. There's times in my life where I just thought, man, I don't know how I'm going to get through this. Is God real? Does God still answer prayers? Is God still full of faithfulness? Is God still full of mercy and grace? And there's times that I've thought that in my life, where is the goodness of God? But it just settles all my doubt and fears that I know that God is right with me. Everywhere I go, If you're walking near Christ, just remember He's nearer to you. That He's right next to you. He says, Lo, I am with you always. You know, always means always. And there's never a time that He's not with you. And when you're driving home after church and you're doubting God, remember, He's right in the seat next to you. Maybe you're at work and you're just doubting God, just remember, He's right next to you. If you're ever doubting God and maybe you're sitting in a church pew, hey, remember, He's sitting right next to you. Christ has given us a promise that He will always be with us. He might think, you know, how is God with us? And it's kind of vague, because you're like, you think maybe God, you know, it says the Bible that he's always with us, but, you know, he's not physically in this room. And you'd look around and none of these people are Jesus for sure. And so you're like, how is God always with us? And I thought of two ways that God is always with us. God is with us in prayer. I don't know about you, every time I've sat down, sometimes I've sat down and started praying and just thought, you know, this is a waste of my time. But there's been times that I've sat in some of my darkest times and started praying. And I don't know what it is. I couldn't explain it to you. And I'm sure some of you guys have had that experience where you're just maybe sitting by yourself and you just start praying. And it just feels as if God is in the same building that you're in. Maybe in the same room that you're in. There's been times where I've sat in my car and just, man, I don't know what I'm going to do. And I've just started praying, and it just seems like God's sitting in the chair next to me, in the seat next to me, and He's just there. And I don't know about you, but it's hard to doubt when you're praying to God, and God is just there, and there's just a spirit-filled moment. It's hard to doubt. And you just know that God is there, and there's not a physical answer, and I can't explain it. I wouldn't know how, but I can just tell you right now that I've had moments in my life where God has just been so surreal to me. We can pray to God. Just understand that if you ever have doubts, if you have anything that you just think, man, I don't know how I'm going to get through this, just remember that in Hebrews 4 and 15, it says, And the Bible says, let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That at any time that you feel as if you're doubting, and you feel, I just don't have the faith to go through what I'm going through, Just remember, you can always go to the throne of God, and you can just say, God, I don't know what I'm doing. And you know what the Bible calls it? The throne of grace. You can go there, and you can say, God, I need grace. God, I need mercy. God, I need to find something that'll help me. And every single time, you can go to God. You can go to the throne of grace, and you can say, God, I need something. I need some more faith. God, I need something. And you can go to God, and you can pray. Just remember you can always pray to God, but always remember that Jesus prays for us. There's a saying, and it says, if I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. Yet the distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. And I want you to remember that Jesus Christ, remember He was born of a virgin. He went to the cross and He died on Calvary. He raised again and He conquered death, hell, and the grave. And where is He now? He's at the right hand of God the Father. And the Bible says that He's always making intercession for us. That He's always next to the Father, and He's always praying for us. And I don't know about you, but every time somebody comes up to me and says, hey, I'm praying for you, that is the most encouraging thing to me sometimes. But for me to know that Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, my Savior, the Lord of lords, the King of kings, that He is standing next to God the Father, the Creator of this universe, and He is making intercession for me, and He is talking to God, and He is saying, have grace on Him. He is just a fallen sinner, but I've paid for Him. And every time I can think that Jesus is standing next to God, and He's making intercession for me, man, that encourages me. Why? Because I don't deserve it truly. But I'm nothing but a hell-deserving sinner, as I said earlier. But Jesus Christ, a sinless man, came and died on a cross to go and stand next to God the Father and to say, have mercy on Him. And man, we're so undeserving of the goodness of God. And man, that just fills me with... Man, how can I doubt when I know that Jesus Christ is interceding for me. In that saying, if I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million of enemies. But the distance makes no difference. He is praying for me. We're talking about the empowering presence of Christ and how we can understand that Christ is with us. How do we know that Christ is near to us? Is that we can pray to Him and we know that He's praying for us. But I want you to understand that also that God is not just with us in prayer, but God is with us in His Word. You know the Bible says in John 1 that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. If you look at Revelations chapter number 19, the Bible says, And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse. And he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True. And in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. He had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood. And his name is called the Word of God. What does that mean, that although we might doubt, and sometimes prayer just doesn't cut it? Because I've had times where I went and prayed to God, and I just felt, man, that just didn't get past the ceiling. But I can remind you that at every time that Jesus Christ said, Lo, I am with you always. And there's times that you might say, hey, prayer just doesn't cut it. Can I revert you back to some physical evidence that right in your hand, right in the pew, right in your lap, right in front of you, where your eyes are looking at, it is the pure Word of God that He gave to you. And He inspired, He preserved it for you to read and for you to know that Jesus Christ lives again. and that Jesus Christ is coming again, and that you have no reason to doubt Him, that the Word of God stands right here in front of you as ample evidence for you to know that Jesus Christ is living again. My friend, here's your evidence. In the beginning was the Word. This is the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Here's your ample evidence, my friend, written in black and white. Why should you doubt? Maybe you doubt God because you haven't been in the Word of God recently. I know there's times in my life where I think, man, I just can't have faith in God. And it's almost like God hits me over the head. When was the last time you were in the Word? When was the last time you spent time with me? You want to increase your faith? Spend some time reading the Word of God. You know, there's story after story after story in the Bible where God comes through. And it's all right here sitting on your coffee table, sitting on your nightstand, sitting on your dinner table, collecting dust. And you come home every day and you're just saying, man, I don't know how God's going to come through. And God is sitting here with a book. And he's saying, I've done it before. I've done it before. I've done it before. Just open my book and see. You know, I heard a quote the other day, and I don't know exactly how it went, but it said that God condescended himself to become an author and to write a book, and we neglect it. You know, God wrote this book through inspiration, through men of God, through farmers, through kings, through shepherds, through preachers. God worked through thousands of years, over 66 books, multiple authors, people who lived way back then and people who lived through a period of time spanning over 3,000 years. And God compiled all these words together for us and preserved them. You know the men who have died to even have this book sitting right now with us? Now, I was just reading the other day of William Tyndale and the things that he did for us to even get this book. And if you don't know the name William Tyndale, I would encourage you, get a book and read about him. There's people who say, surely this book is a bloody book. The amount of blood that's been spilt for us to have a copy of the Word of God sitting in front of us. You know, there's people who would be burned alive in the 15th century and the 16th century for quoting the Lord's Prayer. I was just reading about how William Tyndale would send copies of the Word of God to England. And they weren't any bigger than this. They were maybe the size of a pocketbook. Maybe they were four inches tall and six inches wide. And they would only sell them for just pennies because they wanted people to have them. And people would buy them as they came off the ship. And they would hide them. And they would read them whenever they have the chance. And they would almost live a double life where they, I don't want people to know that I have the Word of God. Why? Because it would cost them their life. You know, we live like that now, but it doesn't cost us our life. And we say we don't want people to know that we have the Word of God. You know, people have died for us to have this very book that's leather bound right in front of you. And it would do you some good to maybe just sit down sometime and open it up and just start reading. That's your ample evidence, my friend. You're doubting. And I don't want to minimize your doubt. And I've been there. I know what it's like. And maybe I don't know as much as you do. I'm still young. I'm not saying I've been through. Some of you guys have been through some hard stuff. And I understand that. And I don't even pretend to know what hardships life has. But I speak from evidence in my life. And I'm sure there's people that sit in these pews that could attest to the fact that in their darkest hour, they opened up this book. You remember what Jeremiah said? I don't even want to speak about him. But his word was in my bones as a fire. And that darkest hour, my friend, that God says, lo, I am with you always. How? He's not here physically. but he's here and he's interwoven in this book. Through every page, through every chapter, through every word, through every minute letter, God is in this book, and he wants you to know him. I would encourage you, if you're doubting, get in the word of God. Know God. You want to build your faith? Diligently seek him through his word. The Bible says in Hebrews 11 chapter 11 and verse number 6, You know why we might not have faith? It's because we don't diligently seek Him. You know we might seek Him and we might wake up and you know when things go bad say, God I need your help. But that's not diligence. No, diligently seeking God is knowing that every waking hour of your life, you have God in your mind and you're saying, God, I just need something from you today. God, I can't go a day without you. That is diligently seeking God. Allow the presence of God to rest any seed of doubt that is growing inside your head. Again, we started off with there's some, you know, there's some acceptable times that you might doubt. And then there's some times where it's unexplainable. Why would I doubt at this hour? You know, doubt can cripple our walk with God. I mean, you start doubting, you just start not wanting, you just start thinking, man, God can't do it. Job said, I know that thou canst do everything. Job was a man that, although at one point in his life he doubted God, but I'm glad that in chapter number 38 of Job it says, and the Lord answered Job. You know, while that time in his life where it seemed like all was lost, God finally answered him. And Job said, I know that thou canst do everything. His faith was restored. I want you to notice that in that verse, in verse 17, and we really didn't hit on it, it says, and they worshipped him. but some doubted. You know, those who doubted didn't worship. You know, doubt in your life can cause you to stop worshiping. You can start thinking, man, I just don't want to sing the songs that are in my heart. I just don't feel as if God is as big as I think he is, which, by the way, that's a feeling. It's a lie. God is as big as you think he is. He's bigger than you'll ever think he is. But we'll start thinking that, and our heart will start telling us, which our heart is wicked and deceitful, and it'll start telling us lies. Maybe God's not as big as I thought He was. We want to be Christians who worship God. We don't doubt Him. There's another verse, chapter, and story that I want to look at, and it's in Matthew chapter number 13. And you know the story, and I won't go there But it says in Matthew chapter number 13 that He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. You know what happened? There was a town that Jesus wanted to go through and do some miracles in. And they said, no, we don't want you. We don't want you here. You know what happened? They doubted. They stopped believing that God was God. They stopped believing that Jesus could do works. And the Bible says He did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. My friend, don't let that be Anchor Baptist Church. Don't let that be where the Word of God says about Anchor Baptist Church that he can't do many mighty works here because of our unbelief. But let's be full of faith that God can do a mighty work. Let's pray, God, I thank you for today. And I thank you, Lord, just for the ample evidence that you've given us to have faith in you, God. I pray that you would just help us to be full of faith. Help us to be Christians who are full of faith. God, I pray, Lord, that you would just help us. Help us to love you, help us to diligently seek you. And I pray all these things in your name, amen. So we stand our feet with our heads bowed and our eyes closed and the piano begins to play. In reality, probably most people at some point in their life or others struggle with doubt. Praise the Lord for the eternal life that we have, the evidence in our life. I know if you're saved this evening and you look back over your life, I know and you know you can find places where God has worked in your life. If you're saved, he's been there, he's done some things, and you've recognized that's God. That ought to help us, knowing that he's been there, done those things, and he will do them again. But if that's not enough, maybe You're saved, but maybe you don't have that much experience to draw from in your life. The Word of God is full, full of evidences of Jesus Christ, of God. His presence with us on a regular basis. As the piano plays and these are at the altar praying, I want to encourage you to, that if you're doubting, ask God to help you. He'll be there faithfully with you. A song that's plain great is thy faithfulness, a way so faithful to us to be honest.