The Triumphant Message of the Resurrection – Dr. Charles Stanley

A man who’s simply studying the
scriptures to find out

if this is true or if
that’s true,

he can miss the whole point.

When a man is studying the Word
of God and being sustained by it

as a disciple, he moves to a
point of obedience.

A true disciple is searching the
Word of God for the principles

of God to make application in
His life that He might become

more like God.

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male announcer: In Touch,
the teaching ministry

of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Reaching the world
with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Next on “In Touch,”

“The Triumphant Message
of the Resurrection.”

Dr. Charles Stanley: All the
Gospel writers gave us great

detail about the
resurrection of Jesus–

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

And you would think
that after all of that,

that most anybody would believe
that Jesus Christ rose

from the dead.

In the book of Acts for example,
the book of Acts is the story of

those apostles going around
proclaiming that Jesus Christ

had risen from the dead,

that He ruled and
reigned in heaven.

If you read through the epistles
in the New Testament you’ll find

Jesus as Savior,
Lord, and Master,

the one we’re to follow,
to obey, to praise,

and to adore and to love and to
look for His return one

of these days.

And when you come to the
last book of the Bible,

the book of the Revelation,
you’ll find the Lord Jesus

Christ ruling and
reigning in heaven,

getting ready to
subdue His enemies,

coming back to take
us all home with Him.

Now, you would think that
anybody who looked at the Word

of God would believe that this
is what He’s teaching us–

that Jesus Christ has
risen from the dead.

But it was a very difficult
thing for even His disciples to

believe in the Resurrection.

In fact, if you will
examine the Scriptures,

you’ll discover that
nobody really believed it.

For example, Jesus tried to
tell His disciples several

times, “Here’s what’s
going to happen.

I’m going to be falsely accused;
Pharisees and the Sadducees.

And I’m going to suffer many
things at their hands

and I’m going to be crucified.

I’m going to die but
I’m going to rise again.”

They never got that.

He said it over and
over and over again.

They never got it.

Because it was so
foreign to them.

Because this is a man
who said, “You’ve seen Me,

you’ve seen the Father.

I and the Father are one.

My Father could send
down legions of angels.”

And none of that did they get.

It just didn’t fit
their expectation of Jesus.

So, they didn’t believe it.

So, Jesus was
crucified, they saw it,

they believed that part
and they went away, saddened,

broken-hearted,
hopeless, and helpless.

Now, the reason I know they
didn’t believe it is because

when the ladies
came to bring spices,

why did they come
to bring spices?

They came to bring spices
to deal with a dead body.

They did not expect
Jesus to be gone.

This is why they were so shocked
when the tombstone

was rolled away.

And then of course when they ran
back to tell the disciples that

Jesus was not there
that He had risen,

what was their reply?

They said, “Nonsense.”

That was their response.

Now, here are the people who
had walked with Jesus all those

years, those three years.

Watched all of these miracles,
believed the things

that He said.

But when it came to His dying,
they could accept that after

they saw it.

But to believe that He would
rise from the dead even though

He said it over and
over and over again,

they thought it was nonsense.

And then of course those
two disciples of His who were

walking along the road to Emmaus
and Jesus sided up with them.

And they began to talk.

And they made this statement,
they said–talking about all the

things that were
going on in Jerusalem.

Then they said, “We had hoped–”

that is, “You know we thought
it was going to be this way.”

And then of course you
remember that Thomas,

even after the other
apostles had said to him,

“We have seen Him,”

he said, “I’m not going to
believe it until I can see Him

and touch Him,”

which he had the
privilege of doing.

Isn’t it amazing that those
who walk so close with Him,

who believed so
much of what He said,

when it came to
His resurrection,

they just couldn’t
accept the idea?

Imagine the kind of hopelessness
they felt in those days before

they knew that He had
risen from the grave.

What kind of hopeless, helpless,

horrible feeling
they must have had?

But then when they
knew that He’d risen,

when they could accept the fact
that He had risen from the grave

it absolutely,
radically changed their life.

And then it was the same
message of the Resurrection

they wanted to
tell the whole world.

And Jesus said to them,
He said, “When I go away,

I’m going to send
the Holy Spirit.

And He’s going to be in
you, with you and upon you.

And when He comes, I want you to
go into all the world and preach

the gospel to all the creation.”

Everything about it changed when
they accepted the resurrection

of Jesus Christ as a
living reality in their life.

Well, when you accept the fact
that Jesus Christ is the Son of

God and that He died on the
cross and atoned for your sins

and that He rose from the grave.

He is seated at the
Father’s right hand.

When you’re willing to accept
that and you’re willing to ask

Him to forgive you of your sins
and you’re willing to surrender

your life to Him, your life is
going to be radically changed

just as much as theirs.

And the question is on this
Easter Sunday: What about your

relationship to Jesus Christ?

Do you see Him as a dead man
years and years and years ago?

Do you see Him as
a living Christ,

a living Lord?

Or maybe just some prophet?

Or do you see Him as your
personal Savior and Lord?

If you see Him that way,
you see Him the proper way.

But if you only see Him as a
biblical character or some

historical figure or someone
whom they say died and rose

again but that’s just sort of a
fable, then, my friend, you are

in desperate, spiritual,
hopeless condition until you

understand that it isn’t
something that comes and goes.

But that Jesus’s
resurrection became,

listen, one of the
two foundational truths

of the Word of God.

His vicarious, substitutionary,
atoning death at Calvary

followed by His awesome
resurrection are the two basic,

listen, the two basic
foundational principles of the

entire Word of God.

It all rests upon that.

The Scripture says He sat
down at the right hand of God to

intercede for you and for me.

The Scripture says in first John
the second chapter that He is

now our Advocate.

But John wrote, “These
things I write to you

that you sin not.

But if we sin we have an
Advocate with the Father,

Jesus Christ, the righteous;
The Living Son of God.

And oftentimes when people say,
“Well, I’ve sinned against God.

I know that I’ve been saved but
I have sinned against Him, what

do I do now?”

Here’s what he said: he
said we have an Advocate.

We have someone who
stands in our stead–

that is, the crucified Savior
upon whom’s the sins of the

whole world were placed.

That’s why you and I can
know that our salvation isn’t

temporary based upon how good
we are, but absolutely eternal.

He’s seated at the Father’s
right hand making intercession

for us, as he said.

And he says He’s
preparing a place for us.

You remember He says
in John chapter 14,

“I’m going to
prepare a place for you.

And if I go to
prepare a place for you,

I’m coming again to
receive you to Myself,

that where I am, there
you’re going to be also.”

And so now you and I can rejoice
because not only is He alive and

not only is He seated in the
Father’s right hand but He by

the presence of the Holy
Spirit is living His life in me.

Every single child of God
has been sealed

by the Spirit of God.

We have Him living
on the inside of us.

Every other religion can
talk about a prophet who died.

Only Christians can talk about
the Prophet who was the Son of

God, who is still alive and
still active and still working

in the hearts and lives
of people everywhere.

So, the wonderful message for us
on this Easter is the fact that

Jesus Christ is alive.

And not only that but that you
and I have been forgiven

of our sin.

Now, how would I know that?

When you got to Jerusalem and
you go to the place that Jesus

probably was laid in
that tomb, He’s not there.

I’ve been there.
He’s not there.

And nobody, only Jesus
rose from the grave.

God’s awesome testimony to
us–you can trust this man

because He is the Son of God.

And we can trust Him for
the forgiveness of our sins.

Now, one of the wonderful things
about about His resurrection is

this: you and I have the
promise that we’re going

to live forever.

And if you’ll think about what
is for example this passage of

Scripture that so many people
know, “For God so

loved the world, that He
gave His only begotten Son that

whosever believes in Him
should not perish

but have,” what?

Everlasting life.
Eternal life.

Now, how long is eternal life?

congregation: Forever.

Dr. Stanley: Isn’t it amazing
how we sort of hesitate

when we come to try to describe,
what’s eternal life?

It’s eternal.

It’s forever life.

Now, that being true, we
know that we’re going

to live forever.

Well, what kind of–what kind
of body are we going to have.

Now, if you turn to first
Corinthians fifteen which I

don’t have time to get into that
this morning because there’s a

lot of verses there about
resurrection and we could just

start right there.

But the important thing
is–let’s think about the kind

of body Jesus had for a moment.

When Jesus was here, He had
the normal body of a man.

He was God and sinless.

The only difference between Him
and anybody else walking around

was that He was the
sinless Son of God.

But He was a normal man.

He was both deity and human.

And so when He died on the
cross–think about this–

He’d been beaten
and beaten horribly.

He had a crown of thorns
shoved down on His brow.

He’d been through grief and
heartache in in the Garden of

Gethsemane, with a broken heart.

A man of grief and sorrows.

And so, when they saw Him
that’s the kind of shape,

He was in.

Then when He was resurrected is
it any wonder, for example, that

Mary and those women and those
who saw Him couldn’t–at first,

they didn’t quite recognize Him.

You know why?

Because all that sorrow and all
that grief and all that blood

and all that beating and all
that crucifixion was gone.

And now having resurrected,
He had a brand-new body.

It was a body that was suited
for His life in those forty days

that He was going to be on earth
following His resurrection.

He was resurrected with a body.

First of all, that
could be seen, tangible.

They felt of Him.

Thomas put his hand there,
saw the scars in His hand.

He ate fish.

He ate bread.

Listen, it was a
human body glorified,

not human like ours now,

but human as a human
being glorified,

and a body that was not all that
it was going to be when He when

He got to heaven,

but one that people could
see and touch and feel.

That’s the kind of body He had.

And He says when we see
Him, we will like Him.

Now, what does that mean?

That means that our body is
going to be like His glorified

body when He gets to heaven.

Going to be like His body.

Now, our bodies, our glorified
bodies are going to be the kind

of body that is perfectly fitted
for this new, purified creation

so that we will have an eternal
body that perfectly fits where

we’re going to live.

So our bodies will be perfect.

And we will all look the
best God can make us look.

Perfectly suited.

When we think about
heaven being our home.

And Jesus said, “I’m going
to prepare a place for you.”

So that means that heaven’s–is
going to be also wherever He’s

preparing it for us now.

And it’s also gonna be this
transformed earth

that He speaks of.

He told them He was
coming to get them.

And so Jesus didn’t
just disappear, remember.

So look if you will in Acts
chapter one for a moment and

you’ll recall that
He said to them–

He said, “I’m going to
send you someone else–

that is, the Holy Spirit.

He’ll be in you,
with you, and upon you.”

And He’s the one that enables us
to understand the Word of God.

He’s the one who equips us with
spiritual gifts to do what He

wants us to do.

And He’s the one who enables you
and me to accomplish and achieve

in life.

Here’s what He said–when you
come to the book of Acts in this

first chapter,

and Jesus has just told
His disciples what

was going to happen,

the Scripture says that He
said to them in verse seven–

He said to them, “It is not for
you to know the times and the

seasons which the Father has
fixed by His own authority,”

Because they were asking Him
when all these things were going

to happen.

“But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon

you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem,

and in all Judea and Samaria,
and even to the remotest part of

the earth.”

One of the last things He said
before He left this earth–

He gave them a commission.

He said, “Here’s the way
I want you to spend

the rest of your life.

I want you to share the truth
of my atoning crucifixion and my

resurrection to the
world of your day.

And I want it to go on and
on until it reaches the other

uttermost parts of the earth.”

Now, when He had finished saying
that the Scripture says: “And

after He had said these things,
He was lifted up while they were

looking on, and a cloud
received Him out of their sight.

And as they were gazing intently
into the sky while He was going,

behold, two men in white
clothing stood by them.

They also said, ‘Men of Galilee,
why do you stand looking into

the sky?

This Jesus, who has been
taken up from you into heaven,

will come in just the same way
as you have watched Him

go into heaven.'”

So somebody says,
“Well now, that being true

what can we expect?

Well, here’s what He said:

He said, “You see how He left?

That’s the way
He’s coming back.”

If, for example, Jesus
were to come back today,

how would He come back?

The way He left.

Would He be recognized?
Absolutely.

And so when you think
about the promises He’s made,

the clear explanation in the
Word of God about what’s going

to happen and how
it’s going to happen,

and when we get to heaven,
what heaven’s going to be like,

we can’t possibly imagine all
that it’s going to be like.

But He says in the twenty–
the last chapter

of the book of the Revelation.

Listen to what He said.

He said here’s one thing you and
I can expect and anticipate when

we get to heaven,

and that is we are
going to do certain things.

He says beginning in verse three
of that twenty-second chapter:

“There’ll be no longer
any curse there;

for the throne of God
and of the Lamb will be in it,

and His bond-servants
will serve Him.”

Now, listen to
what He–people say,

“Well, what are we going to
do when we get to heaven?

We going to sort of
float around like angels?”

No.

He says–first of all
we’re going to serve God.

He says we’re
going to see His face.

And He says and His name is
going to be on our foreheads.

And He says we’re going
to reign with Him forever.

All of those things say to me
that we’re going to have the

kind of body that is
perfectly suited for heaven.

We’re going to be
people who are active.

We’re going, listen, we’re going
to be sealed as His children,

His name in our forehead.

Heaven is going to be the
perfection of Almighty God.

We are going to be
serving Him, loving Him,

worshipping Him, praising Him.

But, listen, we are going to be
active in the Kingdom of God.

And when we get to heaven are
we going to know our loved ones?

Yes.

He says we will know
even as we are known.

All of us have some loved ones
more than likely who are there.

And naturally want we
want to see Jesus first.

And we liked to see our
mothers or our fathers next,

if possible.

We don’t know how all
that’s going to be.

But one thing for certain: we’re
going to know each other.

Because remember what
Jesus’s body was like.

Jesus’s body was like a human
body in all of its perfection

with a capacity to do all that
He as the Sovereign God can do.

We will have bodies
that are recognizable.

And we can have relationships.

The depth of that
relationship, I don’t know.

Some people say, “Well, the
Bible says they’ll not be given

marriage and given in marriage.”

I understand that.

Well, does that mean there’ll
be no relationship at all?

You can’t answer that question.
You know why?

Here’s the reason why: because
we don’t know all the power God

has to do what He chooses to do.

We can only limit it to–
what I see: here’s a person and

here’s a person,
either you’re married,

you’re not married and
relationships, friendships.

But there may be something that
you and I have no earthly idea.

Don’t underestimate the awesome
power and the love

of Almighty God.

Will we know each other?
Yes.

Recognize each other?
Yes, we will.

Love one another?
Absolutely.

How deep that loving
relationship will be,

only God knows that.

Now, watch this, the One
who brought all of this book

together is the Son of God.

He conquered death.

That’s all the proof that I
need that I can trust my whole

eternity to one who conquered
death and who kept every single

promise He made.

So therefore, because you and I
are His children, the Bible says

He’s gifted us all.

Given us gifts and talents
and skills and abilities

and all the rest.

He has a work for us to
do, every single one of us.

Has a purpose and
plan for our life.

I would ask you this simple
question: Till he comes for you,

either in death, or
he comes in the sky,

what are you gonna be doing?

He didn’t create you to
sit around do nothing.

He didn’t create you
just to satisfy yourself.

He created every single
one of use to serve him

in some fashion.

It’s not for anybody else to
tell you how to serve God.

I may try to motivate you the
best I know how to serve him,

to be busy working in the
Lord’s work in some fashion,

some way, small or
great in your eyes.

But He gave us all tasks and has
a will and a purpose and a plan

for our life.

And He desires that you
and I live out our life

being fruitful,

and having the kind of life
for which there is evident

fruit: loving one another,
serving one another which we’re

going to do in heaven,
making our lives count

for the kingdom of God.

Otherwise, how are you
going to live your life?

Since He’s the source of
every heartbeat we have,

He’s the source of
every day we live,

He’s the source of every
talent, skill and ability,

and He’s the whole
source of our eternal home,

don’t you think it would be a
wise idea for you to accept the

Lord Jesus Christ as
your personal Savior?

Surrender your life to Him and
let Him, through the power of

the Holy Spirit within you,

enable you to live
out your life

so that when you come to that
point to die you have no fears.

You know that you may not have
been perfect in life.

No one is.

Know that you fail many
times–we all have.

But you’ve been sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise.

You are already a part of
God’s awesome inheritance.

You are heaven bound and you
don’t want to go empty handed.

But a life lived out as best
as you know how in a way that

brings Him honor and glory.

And live it out till
the moment when, one day,

somewhere, sometime,
morning, noon, or night,

when He calls your name.

There’s an old gospel hymn that
goes something like this:

When He calls me I will answer.

When He calls me I will answer.

I’ll be somewhere
a-working for my Lord.

Somewhere, somehow that’s the
way you and I ought to come to

the end of our life: being ready
to meet our Master and bring Him

glory and live for Him and
with Him for all eternity.

That is the promise
of every child of God.

And, Father, how grateful we are
for Your awesome love for us,

and that we don’t have to work
and plead and hope and pray and

beg for You to forgive us of
our sins or to keep us saved.

You’ve already settled all that.

We come this morning to worship
You and adore You and praise You

and thank You.

And commit ourselves
afresh and anew to You,

that every day of our life
will count in some fashion,

in some way, for somebody
for the kingdom of God.

And we pray this
in Jesus’s name, amen.

Well, I trust that you have
trusted Him as your Savior.

If you have not, you could
do it right now.

No matter where you are and
what’s going on,

if you’re willing to acknowledge
that you’ve sinned

against Almighty God and that
you need Him as a personal

Savior, and you’re willing to
ask Him to forgive you of your

sins, and you’re willing to
surrender your life to Him,

in the moment you’re willing to
tell Him that and you mean it

sincerely, your sins are atoned
for, the Spirit of God comes

into your life, you’re forgiven
of your sins, you’re sealed

as a child of God, and you’ve
become the inheritance of God,

and your name is written in the
Lamb’s Book of Life, and forever

and ever and ever, you’ll be a
child of God.

It’s yours for the asking, and
it’s the wisest decision any

person ever makes.

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