We're going to now ask Mr. Hel Reed to come and open the meeting in a word of prayer, and then he's going to read a portion of God's Word from John chapter 21. Thank you, Mr. Reed. Let us pray. Dear Father in heaven, Lord, we approach Thy throne of grace this evening, in the name that is above every name, even the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, we crave Thy presence here in this meeting tonight, Lord, and we want Thee, Lord, to be one of our number. O Father, The psalmist says, as the heart punteth after the water brook, so may we punt after thee tonight, Lord. May we be refreshed with that living water that only thou canst give. May we drink our fill and be satisfied with thee and in thee. Let us approach Thy mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayers, and may our prayers and worship this evening be as a sweet savor in Thy nostrils, O Holy God. Father, we have wreaths in this meetinghouse in remembrance of those who sacrificed themselves for men's lives during wars and conflicts, but we have one greater who sacrificed his life for men's souls, for our salvation, a lamb slain before the foundation of the world. O Lord God, Jesus is that lamb. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. As a sheep before his shearers, he was dumb. He bled, he suffered, he died, that he might bring us to God. O what a Saviour that he died for me! From calm damnation he has set me free. Then these lovely words we sang them as morn, up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph over his foes. O Father, we thank thee tonight that death could not hold him. How wonderful to hear the words of the angel, declaring that Christ is not here, but he is risen. O may the risen Christ be in us, and with us in this meeting tonight to bless us as children. Now, Lord, bless the reading of thy word. Bless the one who will testify. Bless the preaching and expounding of Thy holy word, O Father, safe souls. In Jesus' name we pray, Lord. Amen. If you have your Bibles with you, if you turn over to John chapter 21. John chapter 21. We're reading from the first verse, from verses 1 to verse 17. John 21. After these things, Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this way showed He Himself. There were together Simon Peter and Thomas, called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of His disciples. Simon Peter said unto them, I go a-fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee, They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but His disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus said unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it, for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, for he was naked, and did cast himself into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship, for they were not far from land, but as it were 200 cubits. dragging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon and bred. Jesus said unto them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty and three, and for all that There were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus said unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples, after that he was risen from the dead. So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my lambs. He said unto him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He said unto him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He said unto him, Feed my sheep. He said unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus said unto him, Feed my sheep. Amen. And we know that God will add his blessing to this reading from his holy and fallible word. Amen. Thank you, Mr. Reid, for both reading and opening our meeting in a word of prayer. Well, do please again take your copy of the Word of God. Can I invite you to turn to John 20. Brother Reid just read from chapter 21. We're going to the prior chapter, chapter 20, still dealing with the resurrection scene. So John 20 and the verse 26, we read as follows. And after eight days again, the disciples were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut. and stood in the midst and said, peace be on to you. Now remember I emphasized this morning that on the previous occasion also the doors were shut, yet he was able to enter in. Without opening the doors, we are told that he stood He wasn't levitating. This wasn't some kind of spiritual existence. This was a physical body, and we see that emphasized again, verse 27. Then saith he to Thomas, reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands. And reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my sides. Be not faithless, but believing. Verse 28, and Thomas answered and said unto him, my Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, blessed are they that have not seen. and yet have believed. And many other signs, truly, did Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life. through his name. Amen and amen. Now keep your finger in John's gospel and that chapter 20. Just turn over the page and read with me or text which is Acts chapter one and the verse number three. Referring to Christ, to whom also he That's the Lord, to whom also he showed himself alive after his suffering, after his death, after his passion. How? By many infallible proofs. What were those infallible proofs? Well, being seen of them 40 days on various occasions, being seen of them 40 days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. Many infallible proves. The Lord was pleased to die on the cross, and then he rose again from the dead. But it was not done in secret, but the Lord did it openly so that all could see. And there were many occasions when the Lord appeared to his disciples and his followers and to various groups of people. Now, as I said this morning, you have three words in the English, many infallible proves. In the Greek, you only have two words, but the word proof is not adequately translated just as proof. There has to be a qualifying word. That's why you have the word infallible, or unquestionable, or certain proofs. evidences that leave beyond any shadow of doubt that Christ rose from the dead. And we looked at the first few this morning in order. Let me run through very quickly the progress that we made earlier today. We observed firstly, well from Mark and Corinthians, those two summaries of the resurrection events. But we looked first of all at the women, that group of women who came to the tomb and as they were approaching the tomb, Mary Magdalene, of whom the Lord cast out demons. She saw the tomb was empty, rather the tomb was open. And as soon as she saw the stone rolled away, she turned on her heels and she darted towards the apostles, Peter, John, and company. But the other women, at least four other women, they remained there. and they walked forward to the tomb. And when they were at the tomb, an angel spoke to them and said, fear not, he is risen, go and tell the disciples. Remember what the angel said, come and see, and then go and tell. And that's what happened. When they saw the resurrected Christ, they were no longer discouraged, but they were filled with delight, and they went to proclaim the truth to others, the disciples primarily. So, those women, having met the angel, not Jesus Christ, having met the angel, they left the tomb. Meanwhile, Mary was coming along with Peter and John. And they arrived at the tomb. Peter and John went on in. They saw the folded grave closed, and they were mystified as to what happened. And they walked home again. But Mary lingered. And as Mary lingered, here we have now the first appearance of Christ. Because the Lord saw Mary. She thought he was the gardener. And Mary asked him, where is his body? She had, like I said this morning, her doctrine was miles off, but her devotion was right. She just wanted the Lord. And then the Lord sent Mary, and she knew instantly who he was. In time then, Mary spoke with the Lord, and she left the tomb. As soon as she left the tomb, the Lord left. Remember, the special and unique abilities now this body of Christ has, he can appear any instant. And so he left the tomb and he went to intercept the original group of women. And he revealed himself to them and they laid their hands upon him and they worshipped God. That same day, Peter saw the Lord. Cleopas and whoever that was with him, whether it was Peter or somebody else, as they were walking to a mess, they saw the Lord. And remember what happened? In the midst of their conversation, the Lord gave thanks for the food, their eyes were opened, they recognized Christ, and immediately the Lord vanished. Those two men, although it was a long commute, they put their running shoes on, they sprinted back to the other disciples, and they said, we too have seen the Lord. What Mary and the other women said is true. He's risen again. And at that very moment, they had all gathered together. This was late, late in the evening, from early in the morning till late in the evening. Here we are, late in the evening. They closed the doors for fear of persecution. And yet in the midst of that gathering, Christ appeared. And what did the Bible say? We saw it this morning, that they were afraid because they thought it was a spirit they saw. And so that is why the Lord said, touch me. Handle me, for a spirit hath not flesh and bone. And they would have laid hand upon his limbs, and they would have felt a real body. And then remember that what I think is so significant, he ate food, indicating this was a real body, like layers, esophagus, stomach, full digestive system. This was a resurrected body. The marvelous scene. But remember the one problem in that encounter with Christ when the Lord met them all. There was one man missing. So if you would, go back to John 20 and the verse 24. We consider this morning the first five appearances of Christ. The first five happened on the Lord's day. And that was it. There was no more until the following Lord's Day. And just by the way, this is what forms the New Testament day of worship. We meet on the resurrection day, because the Lord first appeared to the disciples when they met that day. He didn't appear again until the following Lord's Day. And so already in their hearts and minds, this pattern was set that the Lord would meet with them on the first day of the week. And that's only part of the reason why we meet. We find elsewhere that we ought to meet in the Lord's day. It's very clearly commanded. So the whole idea of meeting on Saturday or any day of the week is not biblical. It is not biblical. Anyway, verse 24 of John 20. But Thomas, one of the 12 called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. Let me pause there just for a little moment. The Bible specifically mentions that Thomas wasn't there. Why? Because the Lord took note that one of his followers was not present. He noticed and the Lord was interested. and Thomas who wasn't present. So read then verse 25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, they brought their report, we have seen the Lord, but he, now note the hardness of his heart here. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the neels, and put my finger into the print of the neels, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. He refused the testimony of his faithful brethren. He would not for a minute consider this to be a reality. And then verse 26, and after eight days again, his disciples were within, and this time Thomas was with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and stood with a human flesh, the real body, stood in the midst and said, peace be on to you. And note what the Lord said to Thomas. He's using Thomas' words, because the Lord heard Thomas' doubting. The Lord heard every syllable of Thomas' hard-hearted words, and he takes Thomas' words and he repeats them to him. He says, Then said he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, as you said, and behold my hand, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it. into my sight, and be not faithless, but believing." The Lord took Thomas' very words and increased his faith. So like I said, the last time Christ appeared was eight days prior, and here he is now with the assembly of the disciples. The Lord came on this occasion for a very specific purpose, and it was to deal with a severe skeptic. Because that's what Thomas was. Not just any skeptic, not a general skeptic, but a severe, stubborn-hearted skeptic. The disciples were evidently concerned for their brother Thomas. Because we read in the previous verse there that they left what they were doing. And they went to tell Thomas why. Why did the disciples go and talk to Thomas? Because they loved him. And they wanted their brother to come out of despair, out of discouragement, and to enjoy the resurrected Savior and the truth and the doctrines contained therein. Thomas was hard-hearted. And here's what really strikes me about this man. I've preached on Thomas on several occasions. In general, the New Testament church is very, very hard on Thomas. Because Thomas, I know here, he is doubting, hence the name Doubting Thomas. But this is the same Thomas who spoke with incredible boldness, who was willing to die with Christ when the rest of the disciples were all cowards. Just go back a few chapters here to John chapter 11. And you can see how the mighty in some sense had went back. So in John chapter 11, this is the passage where Lazarus had died. And the Lord had departed out of that area because there was threat, there was persecution. All right. Now, if you read with me in John chapter 11, And the verse 14, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, John 11, 14, Lazarus is dead. Verse 15, And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe. Nevertheless, let us go unto him. Now, the problem was the disciples didn't want to go there. We can read back in verse 8. Here's what his disciples said. Verse 8. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee, and goest thou thither again. They're saying, Lord, we were almost stoned. Let's not go back to where Lazarus is. But the Lord said, let's go. And there wasn't a word. Nobody was jumping on the bandwagon now to go back to an area of persecution except one man. Verse 16. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. There's Thomas, years prior. Not wavering one iota willing to die with Christ. He counted his life as nothing. He was willing to be a martyr for the Savior. But here we are later, he's so discouraged that he's left the disciples. He wants nothing to do with them, won't listen to them. But in Providence, the Lord had him there, that second Lord's Day, and the Lord came and strengthened his servant. Thomas. This is a very, very important passage. As we try and work through all of these encounters with Christ, I just find it remarkable that the Lord came specifically to speak to Thomas. He was a doubter. And I wonder today, are you a doubter? Maybe you're a Christian. You believe in Christ. But there's Something wrong with your head and your heart, they're not marrying up. In your heart you believe this is right, but in your head you struggle with it, you doubt. And the devil's there to cause those doubts to flourish and grow. Well let me tell you on the authority of God's word, the Lord is concerned about the doubter. And he comes and he speaks, and he shows Thomas. Now it took time. The Lord could have spoke to Thomas on the first Lord's Day. He could have went to Thomas as he went to Peter, as he went to James, but he didn't. The Lord waited a whole week. You see, he was waiting for Thomas to be assembled in the house of God. And men and women, we have our duty. We have our duties to walk with God, to pursue the Lord, to open our Bible, to pray, and that's how you will find your doubts being relieved. You walk with God and you'll find the Lord will speak to you. So he had a doubter that was convinced. But furthermore, I find this most remarkable because this shows us again that the Bible isn't made up or the witnesses to the resurrection is not made up of people who would believe anything they were told. These are not individuals who had little wisdom and little sense. No. These were men and women who didn't expect the Lord to return. Indeed, they doubted. So I didn't expect the Lord to rise again. And even when the Lord did rise again, they doubted. But within one encounter, one by one, they were all convinced. So the Lord came on this occasion to give Strength to a doubter. The doubter was convinced. But if you go with me to verse 30 here, still in John 20, look at verse 30. After this meeting with Thomas, we are told, and many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. And when we read Acts, it spoke about the many infallible proofs. Well, there's some of them there. Many of the proofs were not recorded for us. But we have what's sufficient in the word of God. But it's not like Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were trying to grapple and they were scraping the bottom of the barrel to try and get every scrape and every shred of evidence they could. No, they just gave us some of the evidence because there was so much. Listen, the resurrection of Jesus Christ was absolutely unquestionable. Nobody, nobody questioned it. Even Christ's enemies didn't question the resurrection. Rather, they lied about it. They tried to deceive, but never did they deny it. Let's look at our next encounter with Christ. This is the passage that our brother read with us. This is the seventh appearance. And we find it now in John 21. Now, we're well away from the first resurrection appearance. It was eight days until he met with Thomas, and now we're further down the road again. But look with me at chapter 21 and the verse 1. After these things, Jesus showed himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and on this wise showed he himself. Our brother read the names of the disciples, and there were seven of them. And these seven disciples, well, what were they doing? Well, read verse three. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a what? Fishing. I go fishing. That's a little bit concerning. These were the disciples, the men who would lead the New Testament church. So look with me just for a moment at verse one for a moment here, okay? Let's not miss the wee word of encouragement at the beginning of this chapter. After these things, Jesus showed himself again. Now, if there's one thing I would like you to take away from the meetings today is this, that the Lord showed himself again and again and again to brokenhearted Mary, whose doctrine wasn't right, But our devotion certainly was. The Lord revealed himself to the women who were in need of seeing the Lord. The Lord revealed himself to the disciples, and then to the disciples again, and now to the disciples for the third time. He showed himself to Doubting Thomas, and the point I want you to see is again and again and again and again and again, the Lord revealed himself to his people. And is that not what you and I need tonight? And for the rest of our life, for the Lord to come again with freshness every Lord's Day, every time you open the book, Lord, you pray it, Lord, show yourself to me again. We need to see more and more of the Lord. This is, like I said, the third time the Lord showed himself to the disciples, and that ties in very well with what we have been saying as a timeline. Go to verse 14 here, verse 14. This is now the third time that Jesus showed himself to his disciples. And we know that because, remember, the Lord showed himself to his disciples on the first resurrection day. when they were meeting together on the Lord's Day evening. And then he came again eight days later, the following Lord's Day. And here he is the third time now, showing himself onto his disciples. And he comes on this occasion to strengthen them. Three observations here. First of all, these men were lost for direction. That's the reality. The disciples were lost for direction. What are they doing? They're fishing. Peter, obviously, having witnessed the resurrection with his company, well, they don't know what to do with themselves. They hadn't fished in over three years. Now I have no doubt for a moment, these men were thrilled. They were glad to no end that Christ had risen again from the dead. And they were rejoicing in the work of the Savior. And they were rejoicing that the work of God is continuing. But they clearly could not see what part they were supposed to play in the work of Christ now. They had been following the Lord for three years. They had been the disciples, following their master, their rabbi, being taught by him. And now things have changed. Their rabbi has gone, and they don't know what to do with themselves. So, they went back to what they were doing when the Lord first found them. Fishing. But here's the problem. Look at verse three. Read it all. Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, we also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing. They caught nothing. You see, going back to what the Lord called them from wasn't working. It didn't satisfy them. They came away after that fishing experience empty-handed, as it were. It wasn't working. But read on, because although they were lost for direction, look at the load of fish the Lord did give them. Because in verse number five, Read as follows, actually, sorry, verse number four, but when the morning was now come, so they went fishing in darkness because that was the best way to do it then, and it was a dark period in their life, but when the morning was now come, the dawn came, the moment came, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. They didn't recognize him. Verse five, then Jesus saith unto them, children, I just, I find that heartening. These men were lost. They probably felt like little children. But the Lord didn't disown them. The Lord addressed them as his own. He asked them, have ye any meat? That's a bit of a sore question, to be honest. If you can imagine fishing, I have fished on several occasions. Well, Mike and I have fished on several occasions. If someone come up and said to me, have you any meat? Well, nine times out of 10, that would have been a very sore point because usually we were empty handed. That's the way the disciples were here. Then Jesus saith unto them, children, have ye any meat? They answered him, no. Verse six. And he said unto them, ye rebels and rascals. No, no, no, no, not at all. And he said unto them, cast the net on the right side. of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast their fore, and now they were not able to draw it from the multitude of fishes. They were successful. The Lord was with them. These men were simply doing what they could, and the Lord blessed them in it. You see, for these men and for every one of us, very often success is only on the other side of the boat. It's not too far away. It's when the Lord comes in. It's when the Lord intervenes, all changes. And when this happens, it's a blessing. And you'll notice here that as soon as they pulled in the fish, in verse seven, John. John never uses his own name in this gospel. He uses various other titles for himself. In verse 7, it says, therefore, that disciple whom Jesus loved, that's a reference to John. That's how he talks about himself. Saith unto Peter, it is the Lord. Now, when Simon heard that, he took off his fisher's coat and jumped in to swim the shore to meet the Lord, because Peter still loved the Lord. And John still loved the Lord. And so did Thomas, and Nathanael, and Zebedee, and the sons of John, and the other two disciples that were here. They all loved the Lord. There's no doubt about that. And the Lord came and blessed them. But if you also look with me in this passage, how the Lord fed them. All right? They were lost. They had a load of fish. And look how the Lord fed, and it's a beautiful, beautiful passage. Turn with me in this chapter to the verse, let me see, it's the verse 13. Yeah, verse 13. Peter and company have brought the boat to shore. Verse 13, Jesus then cometh. and taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. Now it's that wee phrase there, and fish likewise. What were those men doing? They're in the boat. And what were they doing in the boat? They were trying to catch fish. But the point is Christ already had what they were trying to get. Christ already had the fish. In fact, it was prepared for them to eat and enjoy. And I wonder tonight, you could be living in the world and you've spent your existence looking for things out there. Maybe it's finance. Maybe it's fame. It's probably not fame, but maybe there's something you're trying to get. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's that person who will just make your life perfect. And you're looking for something out there to satisfy you. And in reality, Christ already has what you're looking for. He offers it to you. Christ has it all for you to receive. And no doubt these men were thrilled to sit down with Christ at this resurrection scene. The Lord fed them. Not only physically, but spiritually. Look what the Lord said to these disciples who were lost for direction. Verse 15. So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, specifically Simon. Didn't say it to them all, but he said it to Simon. And he asked them, lovest thou me? And you know how it goes. Lovest thou me more than these? And the question has always been asked, What's the these referring to? Is it the other disciples? Is it the fish in the net? I think the more important point is what follows. Because the Lord said to Peter, well, Peter said to the Lord, he saith unto him, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Christ saith unto Peter, feed my lambs. These men didn't know what to do. They went fishing, but the Lord said, no, I have called you to feed my lambs, feed my sheep. But why did the Lord only say that to Peter? I'll tell you why. Because Peter earlier was the one who denied the Lord three times. And perhaps it may well have been in Peter's heart and in the mind of others, this question, is Peter now disqualified From the work of being a servant of God, and the Lord comes to verify it specifically to Peter. No, Peter, I have called you. Yeah, you failed. Every disciple has failed. In fact, every believer fails. But your calling, Peter, and child of God, doesn't depend upon your ability. It depends upon the Lord's choice and his will for you. Don't be discouraged, dear men and women, tonight when we make our mistakes. When the Lord calls, we fulfill what the Lord commands us to do. So here you have this seventh appearance of Christ, and it was to give direction and strength to these disciples who had lost their way, we could say. There's more appearances of Christ here. Although time has gone, let me just run them past you very quickly. The eighth appearance is when the disciples and the large gathering met. We read in 1 Corinthians, remember we read it this morning, that the order there was Cephas saw the Lord, then the disciples saw the Lord, and then a gathering of about 500 saw the Lord. clearly told in the gospel narratives what happened when the 500 were gathered. We're not told. We assume it may have been in Matthew 28, where the Great Commission is. That's only a suggestion. The Great Commission was when there was a great gathering on the Mount, and they all knew that's where the resurrected Christ was going to speak to them. So it's logical to conclude, if it was well known and well broadcast, that the Lord was going to meet with his disciples on the hill there at Galilee, there would have been more than just the 11 disciples. There would have been a great company. And so it's highly likely that's the occasion when the 500 gathered. And on that occasion, that's in Matthew 28, wouldn't it turn to, because you know it well, it's the word of the Great Commission, where the Lord said, if you're with us on Friday night at the Easter convention, The chairman of the mission board preached it powerfully, and he made the observation of the four alls. The Lord said, all power belongs to me. That's Christ's ability. All nations were they to go to. That was their congregation. All things, that was the content that they were supposed to preach. All things the Bible teaches. And then the Lord said he'll be with them all the time. That's the continuum. The Lord was not going to leave his disciples, but would go with them into all the world as they preached the gospel. Then we're told in Corinthians that the Lord, after that, revealed himself to James. In 1 Corinthians 15, 7, we're told that he spoke to James. And James very clearly plays the role of a moderator in the New Testament. He chairs the meetings and acts. He summarizes. He gives out the rulings. He's very clearly that moderator position. And the Lord spoke. The Lord revealed himself to James. And then the Lord revealed himself again in Luke 24 to the disciples. And maybe we could go to Luke 24 for a moment. This is where we began actually this morning. Because in Luke 24 in verse 50, it says, and he led them out as far as Bethany. And he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. And then go to Acts 1, because Acts 1 continues from where Luke left off. Acts chapter one, the verse number three. Luke said already, I've written on two before Theophilus of all that Jesus began to do. Verse three, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs. And we looked at some of them tonight. And this morning, how the Lord proved that it was a physical resurrection, how he ate and they touched him, and repeatedly the Lord came. There was no doubt in Thomas' mind, any disciple, any of his fathers, of the 500 of the enemies of Christ. And I say to you this morning, remember the enemies of Christ, how they lied? They never denied it. It is really interesting, you know, I know I'm maybe jumping off topic here, but remember how the Roman soldiers, they went to their superiors and said, We saw the angel and the tomb is empty, and they were basically recording the resurrection. And their Jewish, well, their superiors that they were under, it would have been both Jewish rabbis and Roman centurions, they told them to go and lie about it. Go and tell the people lies. And go and tell the people, listen, that you fell asleep. And while you slept, the disciples came and stole the body of Jesus. But that makes no sense, because you know full well, if a Roman soldier allowed their prisoner to escape, what happened? They were killed there and then for failing in their duty. That's why we think in the book of Acts there where the Philippian jailer was about to take his own life because he thought all the prisoners had escaped. That was Roman law. If you're responsible for the life of a prisoner and anything happens to that prisoner, you die for them. So if those men did sleep and the disciples stole them, well then those Roman soldiers would have been beheaded on the spot. But they weren't. As one man said, those Roman soldiers rolled up the next day in their BMWs because they had so much money. They were enriched with wealth instead of losing their life. So it's very clear they were telling lies. Anyway, like I said, many infallible proofs the Lord demonstrated that he had risen again from the dead. And so, in conclusion, The Lord arrived in Luke 24, Acts 1, and then he ascended up into heaven. What a great scene that would have been. And the disciples went their ways, praising and rejoicing God. And then came the day of Pentecost. And there was one more appearance, actually, that I haven't dealt with. And I'm going to let you look through the Word of God. You can find that appearance yourself. But there's one more man who saw the resurrected Lord way after the day of Pentecost. You might know, but I'll let you search that throughout the rest of the year. But for our purposes here tonight, these appearances of Christ, coupled with the claims and the miracles of Christ, and also with the Old Testament prophecies, those are all heavy, Weedy evidences to say that this man, Jesus, was indeed the Son of God. He was prophesied to be born of a virgin, walk perfectly before men. He performed miracles, raised the dead, spoke with incredible theology. The devils obeyed him. He rose again from the dead. showed himself on multiple occasions. He ascended to heaven. You and I, therefore, must take this man seriously. And we cannot simply say tonight that, well, it's all intellectually interesting, but doesn't have any bearing in me. Why did the Lord do all of this? He did it to save you. You see, it's like this. It is okay and it's good to be able to intellectually say tonight, yes, the Lord Jesus Christ lives. The man crucified on Calvary, he lives today. It's good to be able to say that, but that's not enough. You need to be able to say, the Lord lives. In me, he's in me. I'm saved and I'm going to be with him someday. I don't want you to simply be persuaded intellectually of the resurrection today, but I want you to receive the Lord and to walk with him. The Lord has called you to be his child. You can go into the world and fish for all the satisfaction you want, you'll not get it. But you come and receive the Lord. and you will have joy forevermore. Our Lord and our God, we worship, as we said this morning, not a dead saviour, but a living saviour. Not only one who has spiritually risen again, but physically has risen again as the firstfruits of our salvation and as the firstfruits we will therefore fall after. We're thankful for the resurrection and for the hope that we have, that sure confidence that we have of life hereafter, that death Death, but Lord, cannot fear us, for death cannot hold us, for it could not hold Christ in whom we are. As Christ is, so are we, and we too will be victorious. And so we rejoice today in the resurrection of the head and the body, we the body, the saints, Lord, therefore, we endeavor to live with thee, and, Lord, to die knowing full well that we will rise again. The devil is a defeated foe. Lord, help us to live in the knowledge of that and rejoice with our Savior. Send us, Lord, into this week, rejoicing in a world full of gloom and sadness and sorrow. We, on the other hand, are the triumphant servants of God, marching home to glory. Be with us now, we pray. Amen and amen.