This sermon focuses on the events surrounding Jesus' resurrection, highlighting the importance of surrendering to God, overcoming doubts and fears, and renewing the mind through worship, prayer, and focusing on God's truth. It emphasizes the need to see the death in sin to resist temptation and the significance of making disciples, baptizing believers, and teaching God's commands.

If you have your Bibles, turn to the last chapter in Matthew. Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. If you're wondering what we're going to be teaching on next, then you'll have to show up to find out. How's that? Dangle the carrot. Matthew 28 verse 28. And some of you haven't been here much, or you weren't here the last few weeks, but we've been talking about Jesus' crucifixion. We've been talking about Him being in front of Pontius Pilate, and what that involved in. So I would encourage you, if you want, go back and listen to the last three or four messages that will really put this in context. Verse 28. Now after the Sabbath, on the first day of the week, as the first day of the week began to dawn, that being Sunday. Now, quick thing here. This is one reason why many people worship on Sunday. The early church met on Sundays. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn on Sunday, it's when the Lord rose again. That's why they celebrate it. And if you go online, you can find some really weird things that, you know, Roman Catholicism perverted the Sabbath, and those who worship on Sunday are going to hell, and all that good stuff. So if you don't know that, that's good. I'll just spare you the searching on Google right now. And people used to come here when we first started, and they would think that we were Saturday only, Sabbath only. That's a whole other message. I do believe in keeping a Sabbath as far as taking a day of rest, honoring what God has said, but I don't believe we're obligated to holding that one day, and it has to be on that day or God is not pleased. Because as we know, the underground church in China worships on Tuesday morning at 4 a.m. or Friday evening. I've talked about that before, and it's not just Sunday, or not just Saturday. However, people are passionate about that, so I will let them be passionate, but that's one of the reasons the church worships on Sunday, and I don't think God's real concerned on what day we worship as long as we worship. And I would encourage you not to have it be one day a week. You know, as many times as you can worship God, that changes the heart. And I just even felt that tonight, coming in with a heavy load and a long week, and many of you have been through the same thing, and once worship starts, and it takes a few songs to get engaged, the heart's changing. Now I don't want the worship to hurry up. Can we do that old hymn again? I haven't heard that in a while. Can we do that again? How about No Longer Slaves? And the heart starts to change because of worship, so that's why we encourage worship. And if you don't like worship, I would just ask you to ask God what's wrong with the heart, because the heart should want to worship God. There's a disconnect there when we don't want to worship, and I remember that disconnect when I was in my 20s. I would sit in the back row, I would time it just right where the last song was finishing, and I would get up and leave before the pastor said, Hey, how's it going? I just want to pop in and pop out, and check church off this week, and that's not worshiping. The heart's got to be engaged. So back to the 28. Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone from the door and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow, and the guards shook for fear of him. I bet they did. Can you imagine? They're guarding Jesus in this whole, the earthquakes, and there's this angel that rolls back the stone, a stone that probably took a dozen men or six, seven men with sticks and pry bars. They didn't have pry bars back then. Sticks, you know, well, maybe steel things that would pry that stone back, and they just see this, and they're like dead men. They're as dead, but the angel answered and said to the women, not the soldiers, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen as he said. He is risen as he said. And I found it interesting this week, after three and a half years of Matthew, after 28 chapters, after dozens and dozens of verses and dozens of cross-referencing, as he said always comes to pass. Never once were you, oh, Jesus, you were wrong there. You were wrong. Everything he says from beginning to end comes to pass. Everything. You can trust the word of God. There's nothing in there that you can show me where God's word fails. We might not completely understand it, but it doesn't fail. That's why it's called absolute truth, and that's why it ticks people off, because it's true. That's why they get mad. It makes them mad because it is true. What Jesus said, what God says, will come to pass. And there's so many different directions. We could have talked about angels. We could have talked about different things in this. But I want to shift gears and talk about resting in what Jesus said and who he is will calm the storm. When you rest in what Jesus said and who he is, it will calm your storm. Here's the difficult thing. It's very easy to say that, and we can go, yes, that's true. But practically, I mean, we can sing. I was singing, what was that? No longer slaves, right? Fear doesn't have me bound. I'm no longer a slave. Well, why do I fear things sometimes? Why do I feel like I am a slave sometimes? Why does that old master pull me back? So we sing songs that we want so bad to be set free, and on this side of heaven we will not be completely set free in many areas. We will struggle with fear. We will struggle with anxiety. We will struggle with depression. But the message is overcoming fear, renewing the mind. You can overcome fear and renew your mind. I truly believe that because God's word teaches it. And guess what? Now science is starting to confirm it. There's something now, I believe I talked about a while back, neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity. They used to think that the brain has a certain amount of neurons, and once they're gone, they're gone, and you're out of luck, and that's it. Now they're understanding the brain can actually conform and transform and redevelop and reshape itself and create different pathways. It had this pathway to anxiety or lust or addiction, but now the pathway is changing because of the plasticity and the complexity of the mind. Huh. Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The Bible said it 2,000 years ago. But science is just now catching up. So you can renew your thinking. You can renew your mind. A lot of it we've talked about many times, so I won't go down this road, even though I'd love to. It's where we focus, where we focus our mind. If a person has a problem with fear, get off the news. If you have a problem with anger, you might want to get off the news. If you have a problem with addiction, you don't head to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. You just don't do these. But see, that's what we do. We feed this giant animal, and then we say, oh, why is this giant animal winning? Because you're feeding it and you're feeding it and you're feeding it. And I have friends on Facebook. They don't go here, a lot of them. And I know who they are, and I know they struggle with anxiety and fear, and they've opened up before and years ago and past. And I'm looking at their Facebook posts going, no wonder you struggle with. I would. I would if I was reading the Illuminati and the chemtrails that they're spraying, and we're all going to die by 20 years, and the world is being taken over by this and all these things, and I would be scared to death. I would be fearful if that's all I focused on. So as the man thinketh, so he becomes. Out of your heart, what you're putting in, that's why it's so important. Finally, brethren, whatever things are pure and noble and honest and upright, the next time you click that news story or that link or you want to do some reading and research, is it true? Is it noble? Is it trustworthy? Will it build you up or pull you down? This is so simple. A 10-year-old could do it. And they do, many times better than parents. I mean, my kids even say, Daddy, we shouldn't be watching this. That's true. I mean, it was okay. I mean, you know, they'll catch things. They'll just catch little things. And we just sometimes are so absorbed in our own life that we don't see these things. So don't be afraid. When he says, do not be afraid, he's telling the people here, do not be afraid. It's actually a command to reprogram our thoughts. When Jesus says, don't be afraid, that tells me I can adjust my thinking to not be afraid. Either it means that or it means that Jesus is out of his mind. He doesn't know what he's talking about because I'm afraid. I can't just stop that. But he's saying redirect your thoughts, reprogram your thoughts. Now, on this note, it's interesting. Why does positive thinking get a bad reputation? Right? All these positive thinking guys, you know, or positive thinking in the church, and just positive thinking, positive thinking, positive thinking. Turn on Sunday morning TV, you'll hear it. Positive thinking. Now, it's funny because it's biblical. It's absolutely biblical to think about things that are positive and true and noble. But here's why it can be wrong. Positive thinking often replaces obedience to the Word of God. Positive thinking says I can have whatever I want. If you just think it, you can have it. I remember when I was in my 20s, I used to have a Lamborghini up, right, and an 8,000-square-foot house, and, like, that's what I'm going to have. That's what I'm going to have someday. That's what I'm going to have someday. It's positive thinking, positive thinking. That's what I'm going to have someday. That's how they teach it, Anthony Robbins, right, and those guys, Zig Ziglar. He's a Christian, though, and Anthony's not. And it's all this positive thinking and positive thinking. That's why, biblically, it's good if you direct it in the right direction. Think positive things about God. Be joyful. Be enthused in the right areas. Positive thinking, though, often leads. Oh, positive thinking is often sold as the answer. You just need to think positive, brother. You don't have enough faith. You just need to think positive. People take this biblical concept, which is a very biblical concept, because should we think negative or should we think positive? It's like saying, should I eat an apple or a Snickers bar? We know it, and God's Word says, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, renewing your mind on things that are pure and honest and noble and upright. So it's very good, very healthy to be a positive thinker and joyful, not a pushover, not just gullible, but be uplifting and positive and get back on that. That's biblical. But it has gained a lot of bad reputation over the years because of, in the church, they'll say you're just miserable because you're not positive or you're sick because you're not positive. And you can have whatever you want if you're just positive. The positive thinking has to align with God's will, first and foremost. That's why Romans goes on to say, Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so you can prove, you can know what is that acceptable and perfect will of God. So one of the best ways to know God's will is to reprogram your mind in His Word. We don't just read to read. We read to study, we read to get God's counsel, but you also read to reprogram that mind. Because you read all the news and then you read Psalms. You turn there, I am the Lord thy God. There is no other gods before me. I create the heavens and the earth. No army shall stand before me. No king shall conquer me. All these scriptures are reinforced. Oh, it gets my brain back on the right track. When you're full of God's Word, you're a lot less scared of ISIS. And even this week I was studying this. I don't know if somebody sent it or I found it. Now ISIS has a 15,000 name hit list of those in America who they want sleeper cells to rise up and go after. Guess who's going to be at the top of those lists? Loudmouth pastors who just preach the truth. They're going to get those guys that speak the truth. I'm like, uh-oh. But then you read what God says, and you can counterbalance that. So the brain can be renewed. I think this is probably one of the biggest things that a person can realize, because they think they're trapped. Why am I thinking this way? Why? I'll never break out of this. I was born that way. I have these thoughts come in, and welcome to the world of Christianity. But stop blaming yourself all the time. These thoughts are darts, fiery darts of the enemy. Do you ever have a thought? You're like, where did that come from? Where did that come from? I'm sitting in church, and this happens. And the enemy's coming in and trying to, but temptation's not wrong. It's what we do with that temptation. Do you take that thought captive and say, that's not right, and redirect the thought? So the mind is powerful. I've seen people overcome depression, because a lot of times when we get depressed, it's because we're thinking about depressing issues. Now, you can't just tell people they're depressed, oh, just get over it. Come on. That's like telling somebody who has a cut in their arm, just get over it. It doesn't hurt. You've got to work through many times and seek God, but it doesn't discount the fact that our mind controls a lot of what goes on in our heart. Isaiah 26.3, you will keep him, God here, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Do you ever tell your kids, have you ever told your kids before, stay here? Same exact thing. Whose mind is stayed on him, stay here. Stay here. Stay here. I know that new movie is out, but stay here. You're going to have bad dreams for a week. I know you want to do it, but stay here. Put your mind on this. Turn on the news. And the reason I bring up media a lot is because we are being inundated by it. It's everywhere. It's on everything. It's from Facebook. And we're so polarized by what's going on. This and that and the stock and everything in the world is falling apart. And that's not focusing in the right direction. You will not renew your mind. You will not overcome fear by feeding it the very thing that's making you fearful. That's like telling my kid before I put them to bed, pray with them. You know, close the door, turn off the lights. You know, scratch your back window. Is that going to help them go to sleep? No, they're going to beeline out of there. 20 minutes go by, I go do the same thing. Daddy, what's going on? If I do that every hour, are they going to sleep that night? That's exactly what many of you are doing to your mind. No wonder you're fearful. No wonder you're anxious. You just keep unleashing that monster. And thinking, oh, a little Bible study for 30 minutes a week is going to cut it? Or a worship on Saturday night, well, that'll fix it. No, your whole mind has to be renewed. Your whole mind has to be renewed. It doesn't happen with just one verse or 30 minutes sometimes. Sometimes God just does a healing work and people are set free for many times. It's a battle. John 14, 27, peace, I leave you. Jesus said that. Peace, I leave you. My peace, I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you, but let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. And it's interesting. Not as the world gives you do I give you. So the world gives you a phony, misleading peace that's built on many variables and what you want to hear. How that works is you get this, oh, the stock market's plummeting, and then tomorrow you hear this thing on the news or something. Oh, it's going to rebound. It was just this little blip in the monitor. Whew. Wow, that was a close call. And then back to this. Remember when gas prices were going to hit $5 a gallon? I remember people saying it's going to be $10 a gallon by this time this summer. A year ago, I'm like, oh, my goodness. And then you hear something, oh, no, no, the trading this way. Whew. And see how it's phony? It's fake. It's misleading peace. You can't trust in that peace because it's temporary. The only one you can run to and trust is God and say, I rest my heart, I rest my mind in you. That's where true peace comes from. And you've got to get your mind. See, the mind's going. No, no, no, stay here. No, it's going. Stay here. Stay here. And you do start to, your mind starts to wander. I remember last year, I think it was, somebody said, Shane, you're in big trouble. I'm like, what do you mean? They said, you don't have retirement. I'm like, I never really thought about that, do you? Because you guys are aware, right, if you retire from a church, you don't keep getting a paycheck for 20 years. It doesn't work like Lockheed, Boeing, and Rockwell, or law enforcement, or fire department. When you say retiring, bye-bye, that's it. I'm like, I never thought about that. I need to, like, oh, you're not, what are you going to do? I'm like, I don't know. Hold on, let me go to God. Luckily, I've been putting some away, don't worry. But this person made me think, made me really think, and actually they advised a financial counselor just to look at it. I met with this person. He goes, at your age, you need to put $2,000 a month away to be able to retire. Really? Well, that's not going to happen. What's a backup plan? Well, you know, and here's your house, and try to get it paid off, an extra payment a year, an extra payment each month, and it will be paid off seven years sooner. So there's a plan there because you can't just, but I was fearful. I asked my wife, what am I supposed to do? Why did God do this? He knew I was in 24-hour fitness. I gave up stock options, gave up 401K, had to start over. What is God thinking? How could he do this to me? Well, who's in control? Who's going to eventually, you know, you've got to use wisdom. You've got to make, you've got to set for the future and use wisdom. But ultimately, who are you trusting in? Because those of you who are trusting in Social Security, you might have a rude wake-up call at about 20 years when the government says, you know what, we missed, kind of misshot that one, no Social Security. Medicaid and Medi-Cal and all this. Are you aware of the billions at this rate? You can't keep paying for itself. It's impossible. So they might say someday, you know, we thought we were going to be able to provide this, and you're on your own. This is very feasible stuff, folks. The things we're trusting in can be gone. The 401K, when it collapsed in 2000, what was that, 2008, 2009, I knew friends in construction who got back into business who had retired because they lost over a million dollars in a month. How's that happen? False peace. False peace. What is your peace? Who is your peace in? I give you my peace, not what the world gives you, what is temporary and it's phony and it's misleading. So let not your heart be troubled. Don't be afraid. I'll give you my peace. I will lead you through the storm. This whole issue of retirement now for me has been, I've worked it out with God. Say, okay, I'm going to start planning for 20, 25 years, 30 years, whatever it is, but God, you see me through, you get me through this, and I'm trusting in you. Now, there are very spiritual people I look up to, and I've got to know over the years, and one of those, I recommend his book and his website a while back, K.P. O'Hannon, Gospel for Asians. Sometimes I email him every couple times a year, and just real quick emails, but I think reading one of his books, I remember, I think he gave up, he sold his house, he gave up his retirement, he gave up his insurance, medical, retirement, everything just for the work of the Lord. I'm like, wow, okay. But he said, I'm just trusting in God. So people say, well, that's foolish. Well, he'd say, I'm trusting in God. I'm not worried about those things. So you've got to give people a little bit of latitude because you can't question his faith. His faith is very solid, very godly person who feels that the Lord's going to provide. And I wonder how many of us trust in things that really hinder our walk with God. I mean, if you don't have medical insurance, you're going to pray a little bit harder when your kid has a strep throat. You might even fast. You might even get on your knees. You might even worship. But when you go to the medical center down the street and you have amoxicillin with two hours, you just fix the problem, didn't even ask God. I just wonder how much of that we take for granted. Washing machine and dryer, same week, it's out. Well, MasterCard, here we come. We're not going to pray God doesn't answer those kind of prayers. We tend to rely on ourselves. John 16.33, these things I've spoken to you that in me, in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. I don't like that scripture. I wish it said as Christians you will avoid tribulation. When you follow me, tribulation will run the other way. It will flee. But it's like a magnet. Tribulation just comes to you. That in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. And I'm just reminded that as we're going through tribulation, to be in good cheer. As we're going through difficult things, cheerful. Foreclosure, cheerful. Loss of job, cheerful. God's looking at the attitude. And it struck me this week. Why are Christians the most grumpiest people on the planet? Let's just be honest. Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. Just about everything. Just grumpy. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Is that funny, Shaylee? It is, huh? You're never grumpy. How's she never grumpy? Everybody else is grumpy. Get up grumpy. Go to bed grumpy. My job's not doing good. I only get 95% of my pay take home when I retire for 25 years. I wish I got 95% of my pay for the next 25 years when I retire. See, we get grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. It's not going the way I thought. Not going the way I thought. So that should be an inspiration. We should not be grumpy. But when he says be of good cheer, another encouraging word here, you have to do it. Not how you feel. When he says be of good cheer, that tells me I'm going to have the tendency not to be of good cheer. So we have to apply these scriptures. Apply them. Not just know them. I'm tired of people knowing them and not applying them. I'm tired of myself knowing them often and not applying them. Grumpy, grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. About everything. Man, you guys are going to remember that part of the sermon. Philippians 4. Philippians 4, 6-7. One of my favorite verses. You should memorize this. Be anxious for nothing. Anxious for nothing. Boy, that's hard right there. Be anxious for nothing. Nothing? Nothing, Lord? I can give you a list of six things right now. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. I'll tell you one thing I've been anxious about. Me and my wife are praying about it. Don't worry, we're not moving. But a lot of people ask about the Saturday night service. Hope Chapel. Hope Chapel even asks about the Saturday night service. Like, what are you guys going to do? Do we get our building back? I don't know. What are we going to do? What should we do? What do you think we should do? What do you think we should do? What are we going to do? What are you going to do every other day? What are you going to do Saturday? Oh, gosh, I don't know. I'm anxious, Lord. Now do we have to make a decision? So what's it say here? Be anxious for nothing. I don't know. I have no clue. You don't like that answer? Well, I'm going to tell you the same thing next week. I have no clue. But in everything by prayer and supplication, supplication is you're requesting, you're making it known to God. With thanksgiving, Lord, thank you for even having a church here. Thank you for these people. Thank you for what you're doing. You show us, God. You show us. Thank you, Jim. You show us what you want to do. And God will show. He will honor those. Instead of being anxious and being anxious and being anxious. Should we do this? Should we do that? Just rest in him. Now there's a time and a place to do something, right? Don't get me wrong. You're not going to sell your house by sitting watching TV. At some point you've got to call the realtor. You've got to make that decision. You're not going to move across country through osmosis. You're going to have to make those decisions and those choices and start going in that direction. But to not be anxious about it. Let your requests be known to God and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. This, when the peace of God comes in, some of you will know what I'm talking about, it surpasses all understanding. Like, why am I so peaceful? It doesn't make sense. And I've talked to recently, in the last year or two, some parents who have lost their kids. One of the ladies came to a one-up in Leona Valley and another a couple years ago. She was in her 20s and she died. But the parents would say to me throughout the week or getting ready for the memorial, I just have tremendous peace. Tremendous peace. Now there's ups and downs and there's tons of tears and regret and pain, but then there's a day where I have tremendous peace. I'm just, where does that come from? It's the peace that surpasses all, because it makes no sense. No sense. How can someone being tortured for their faith or in prison camps or wherever, tremendous peace comes in that room. How is that possible? Because their minds are set on God. It will guard your heart and mind, this peace will guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ. So the quick answer to overcoming fear, renewing the mind, is stay. Stay where God says stay here. Stay here. Don't go check the stories. Don't go check the news tonight. Get into the word of God. Don't turn on Hannity, Bill Reilly, Sean Hannity, Bill Reilly, all these things. Get into Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I don't care what Ann Coulter says. I want to know what God's word says. I'm not concerned with Trump saying, I'm concerned with this. Get into the word of God. Renew that mind. You have to stay there, because my mind wants to go scare me. Why are people drawn? See, I never was, so I can't relate. Maybe other things when I was younger, but they're just drawn to Exorcist and all these horror movies. I just watched the trailer, and I go, no way. Like half the trailer. I'm like, never again. They're floating. They're levitating. All these ghosts. You're like, I've got to see that. How? How do you have to see that? That's like me getting on a roller coaster. It's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Brent, you said you went to Magic Mountain. Tell me about the roller coaster. I'm like, no, no. I'll go on the kid ones. They're like 20 miles an hour. But anything that starts to take my breath away, and like, I just can't. I don't want to be scared. But the mind wants to take me there, doesn't it? I mean, why are the news stories so like they just draw you in? Like the kid who was decapitated on a water slide this week. Like, why do I even need to click that? I just read that that should have been enough. But, of course, how did that happen? I'm not going on water slides now either. Or ISIS. All these things that they're doing, it's beyond description. It's horrific. It's horrific what they're doing. And do I need to know more about Benghazi? Benghazi, the whole thing there with what Hillary's all debacle. Do inquiring minds want to know? Yeah, but fearful minds want to keep being afraid. Anxious minds want to keep being anxious. And all these things. What about this person comes present? I'm moving here, and I'm moving there. And it's just all, we're just feeding and feeding this stuff. So it says stay. Stay in God's Word. Get away from that junk. Be joyful. Be joyful. And then relax, pray, and peace will guard your heart. That works. Because fear and anxiety can't dwell in a thankful heart very easily. When I'm not thankful, those things can come in. Bitterness. Anger about certain things. They come in, but they can't come into a joyful heart when you're like, praise God. Praise God. I'm just so, and don't be fake about it though. Be real. And then the next verse in Matthew. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. I know that was a little bit of a rabbit trail, but I think it was an important one. Because fear is paralyzing. I've read some articles, different things too. It's almost, it's getting to where it's equivalent with World War II in America. You see, there's times in our nation where the fear level really increases. When Russia was putting missiles in Cuba. Younger might not know, but the Cuban Missile Crisis was very scary. I can still remember what it would look like when a nuclear bomb hit L.A. And as a little kid, Mom, what would that, what would that, what would happen? You see how we can go back and remember our programming in the mind? It's so powerful. I still remember, I thought of it this morning. I had two posters on my wall. Roger Starbuck and Tony Dorsett. You guys, who are those guys? Well, if you're older, you know. Very good players in football. And I still remember that. The mind programmed up there in my room, seeing it enough. But it also, the fear comes and programs your mind as well. So you have to renew your mind. Renew your mind. Don't keep feeding it the garbage. You will not renew your mind. It will keep going back into that garbage. That's a whole hold right now of pornography where it's out on everything. It gets the mind. And then guess what? It keeps you locked in that. The mind has to be set free and renewed in God's word. And renewed and renewed and set free. Verse 6, come see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risen from the dead. And indeed, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I have told you. So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy. And ran to bring his disciples' word. Quick note on this. If the Bible was written by men, they would have never, never, never said that Jesus appeared to women first. We would now. I mean, we've gotten over the whole thing that men and women aren't equal and different things. But back in Jesus' time, I mean, women were not considered or not where they are now. It wasn't even playing field. It wasn't created equal in God's eyes. We see different roles for men and women. But they would have never, if the Bible was made up, the men would have saw Jesus first. So you see all these things. There's just a little caveat there of extra truth when people try to dissuade you away from the word of God. Verse 9, and they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus. And when they went to tell the disciples, behold, Jesus meant them, saying rejoice. Can you imagine Jesus showing up saying rejoice? So they came and they held him by the feet and they worshipped him. Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Again, do not be afraid. It tells me I can be afraid. So Jesus is saying, listen, don't be afraid. Bring your mind back to me. It's all programming that mind, getting it back on track. Do you know how this works, right? Don't you do this sometimes? Oh, God, please. And you get that thought back. Like when I'm getting a root canal at the dentist. It is always, God, please. I know you're there. I know he's not going to kill me. I'm not going to die in this chair. Oh, it's just, you know, and you've got to get your mind. See, I don't like dentists, roller coasters, or now water slides. What was the other thing? Scary movies. No desire to see any of those things. This sermon took on a whole new life of its own. There's too much transparency tonight. Verse 10, then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me. They worshiped him. They worshiped him. The church today has a worship problem, and we're trying to correct that. That's one of the reasons for Wednesday nights that we want to start is a night of worship where we're not in a hurry. We're not going to be looking at songs at a PowerPoint. We're there to wait on God and worship and pray and get the heart back focused on him. If you are not saved, you are not worshiping God. Is your mind being renewed by the truth? If not, you're not worshiping God. Is your mind in a state of being teachable and humble? If not, you're not worshiping God. It's all about getting the mind in a humble, teachable state, renewing it with the truth, and worship becomes a lifestyle. Do you realize the worship service started at 520, and it ends afterwards, even while we're still here? It's a worship service where we're putting God at the forefront. We also see here a glimpse of the resurrected body. Jesus had a resurrected body. It was in a perfect state, and it's interesting because it was normal but extremely extraordinary. It was normal. Jesus looked like Jesus. He wanted some fish later. He ate. He talked. Everything was normal, but then he can walk through walls. He can just appear. He was resurrected. So it's a glimpse of what our resurrected bodies could look like, and that would be a whole other sermon, maybe someday. But we're going to be in this perfect state. Can we eat? Again, sermon series someday, maybe. But the Bible has a lot to say about we'll be perfected. We'll know who we are. We won't know in part. We'll know as we're known. Then the soldiers are bribed. Verse 11, Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priest all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers. Now, I talked about this last week. The soldiers come into town. They grab the religious leaders, and they say, You're not going to believe this. The Roman soldiers aren't going to lie because if that was a lie, they could die for this lie. Jesus is gone. They're not going to come in and, Oh, we fell asleep. There's an angel up here. This happened. And they paid them off, saying, If this comes to the governor's ear, that we'll say that the disciples came at night and stole him while we slept. And if this comes to the governor's ear, we will appease him and make you secure. And this is interesting because the soldiers, these men trained for war, trained for battle, the highest elite force there, told the religious leaders what happened. Instead of the religious leaders falling on their face before God and repenting, they just paid off the soldiers. It's almost like, Okay, maybe that did happen. Just don't say it happened. And they're so hard and callous. How can you be so hard and callous in this area? Here's why. Sin distorts your thinking. And it did their thinking. Sin distorts their thinking. Your thinking and their thinking and my thinking. Here's why. I don't know quite how it works. I mean, we could teach on this as well for a whole sermon. But once there's a sin, and it's a besetting sin, it's an unrepentant sin, it's a sin you're not going to do anything about, well, it doesn't just grow. It doesn't just stay there. It grows. And it begins to distort your thinking. You'll begin to make excuses. You'll turn into a person. People will say, They changed. And it's interesting because if a year or a month or a week, and the person repents, and they're back in fire for God, and they're filled with the Holy Spirit, then people say, Oh, they're back to who they used to be. Where did they go for a year? Where did they go for six months? They were caught in this sin. It distorts. It distorts your thinking. The addict hides and minimizes their addiction. They just say, I don't do this very often, and they continue in it. The person caught in sexual sin justifies it. Oh, we love each other. Or it's no big deal. God knows my needs. And we just keep justifying it. The prideful man excuses his pride. He says, I love the truth. I know you're prideful. I love the truth. Darn it all anyway. I love the truth. Leave me alone. I'm not mean and angry and arrogant. I love the truth. Well, you don't have the truth in you. And see, that's why they'll never change because that sin of pride distorts. What about the judgmental woman who defends her attitude? She's always judgmental. I'm just passionate. If I have another judgmental person tell me that, I might slap them easy. Oh, my God, you're so judgmental. I'm just passionate about the truth. So be careful. Right? I've said that before. We've all done these things. But don't hide behind that. The gossip. Oh, I love this one. The gossip says people need to know so they can pray for them. And loose-lipped Sally goes around, right, telling everybody. And when she's confronted, no, no, just prayer needs. See, we don't want to change. We don't want to change. That's what sin does. It distorts. So when somebody's caught in sin, they excuse it. They excuse it and they put up this mask. They put up this shield so they can excuse their sin and continue in it. And God has to break that. That's what happened with these Pharisees. You saw the miracles by Jesus. You saw blazers being raised from the dead. You saw laymen walking. You saw demons being cast out. Now you see this man, even soldiers say on the cross, surely this was the Son of God. The earth shook. The veil was rent. The soldier said, Oh, my God, OMG, that was the first OMG back there. The angel appeared. And he rolled back the stone and still, still they have the audacity to buy off the soldiers and not repent of their sin. That's pride at the spiritual height of arrogance. And it drives me crazy because that's in all of us, that ability. I mean, at the end of this whole study, I cannot believe these guys. I cannot believe how they saw everything. Not even that. They knew Scripture. They knew Scripture. They knew Psalm. They knew Jeremiah, the prophet, speaking about no bone being broken, hung between two thieves. As a lamb is led to the slaughter, he opened not his mouth. They knew the cast lots for his clothing. They knew the Scripture. They saw this unfold. Spiritual pride. And people take it to their grave and they die and go to hell because of spiritual pride, because of pride. It's sad because sin distorts. One thing that will help you, I'm going to see if, I don't know if Luke's in here, but he's going to try to make an MP3 copy for me. I came across a message, a series of message by a man, a pastor named Steve Shell, many years ago. And I'm borrowing his story. He says a lot of people, you know, we go back into these sinful lifestyles because we don't see the death in it. The addict doesn't see eventually leading to an overdose or death or loss of a family. An angry person doesn't see the death of how they're killing the spirit of their children and of their spouse. Pornography, they don't see the death of how it's destroying their marriage. You don't see the death in it, that's why you keep partaking. And his analogy was this, it's like having a big chocolate cake in your refrigerator. I'm not going to eat chocolate cake, right? It's in my refrigerator. Nope, not going to do it. A couple hours go by. I had good willpower after breakfast, but now I'm hungry. I'm not going to have that chocolate cake. Isn't sin doing this, right? Here come the thoughts. Here come the thoughts. Just one little piece won't hurt. I went on a two-hour walk this morning with some men. I've got to burn some calories. That sugar's not even going to hit this body. One piece, just one little piece. Isn't that what that whispers? Come on. Open that. No, no, no. I'm holding fast. God, I'm holding fast. I'm not going to do this. You get a text, your spouse makes you mad. Oh, I'm getting that cake. I don't care anymore. See, the enemy will use those traps. He'll pull you back with anger. A lot of people go back into sin because they're mad. So the cake's pulling. The cake's, I'm not going to have that cake. And you get it out, and you put it on the sink, and you say, I'm just going to look at it. I'm just going to look at that chocolate cake, and hopefully that will be enough. And that's a bad idea. That's how sin actually pulls you back, conceived. And there's no way in heck you're putting the cake back now. It's impossible. So as you're getting ready to get that cake, you forgot that you left yourself a note that said, don't eat. It was made with rat poison. Well, you just went from wanting that cake to now the cake's going in the trash. What was the difference? What's the difference? How can you just change like that? Oh, the temptation's so strong. No, it's not now. It's not now. The temptation you just had that you could not stop, now you just stopped it. How? Rat poison, exactly. You saw the death in it. You saw the death in it. So the next time you have to click on something, see the death in it. The next time you have to do something that you know is out of God's will, I just can't help myself. I just can't. I just can't. I deserve it. I deserve it. See the death in it. Because you can change just like that. Who's going to have the cake now? Anybody, right? Nobody. So you have to see the death in that sin in order for it to really stop in your life. Because as we all know, once the enemy gets an anchor in there, whatever it is, I don't have to go down a long list. We know what that thing is. Once he gets the hook in you, that's where he's going. That's where he's going. So it's my one little weakness. Yep, that's where he's going. It's my one little weakness. Yep, that's where he's going. He's going to keep getting you in the last place that you fell, and he's going to use that. For you, for someone else it might not, for Vicodin, oh, don't give me any painkillers, people might say. Don't give me painkillers. You can give me Vicodin, it's going to sit in the cabinet for two years. It'll go into the trash when it expires. I mean, last time I got a root canal, remember? They gave me a Vicodin for a month. I'm like, a Vicodin for a month? It's not that bad. It was still there. It's probably going in the trash soon. Actually, somebody told me be careful where you put this stuff because now if it gets into our water system and the water's getting harder to clean because of all these chemicals now going into the drains and into the plumbing. Somebody who works in a water district. That's a big side note. But my point is watch for those weak areas because that's where he's going. That's where he's going to get you. And it's always the same spot. He'll try and he'll use those weak areas. And then Jesus gives the great commission, verse 16. Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him. Oh my goodness. Just seeing Him and worshipping Him. Isn't this interesting? We think of worship as hallelujah, hallelujah and all these songs we're worshipping and that is worship. But true worship is when the heart is engaged. These guys weren't pulling out Jesus' songs. They weren't sitting there going, no longer slaves. They saw the Prince of Freedom. They saw Christ Himself worshipping God. We glorify You. We magnify You. Thank You for who You are. And that's a form of worship is the heart is focused on Him. When they saw Him, they worshipped Him. But some doubted. Some doubted. And I'm glad the Bible puts that in there. Because don't you have doubts sometimes? And God always says, take those doubts to Me. Let's reason together. It's part of human nature in our sin to doubt the promises, the things of God. And we doubt those things. But God says, bring them to Me. Bring those doubts. How do I know the Bible is real? Bring those doubts. How do I know that God did? Bring those doubts. How do I know that He? Bring those doubts to Him. Say, Lord, show me. If you're humble and teachable, He'll show you. Or if He doesn't, you can rest in knowing that He's God and I'm not. I don't understand quantum physics and I'm probably not going to. I mean, we get mad why we don't know God, right? I can't know. And I don't even know how I put a narrow plastic key into a little thing I turn in. Some power starts in the engine. I put it in reverse in an R. It engages the transmission. It engages the axles. It engages the tires. I don't even know how that works. But I'm fine with that. But if I don't understand how God works, I'm going to have a problem. Jesus came to them saying, all authority has been given to Me on heaven and on earth. I have all authority. So you go to Christ. You go to the person who has all authority. And see, as Christians, we know this intellectually. Nobody's leaving here going, I never thought about that. Did God have all authority? Wow, Shane, thank you for telling me that. I did not know that. Some people might. They might think the devil and God are on equal playing fields, but they're not. But it doesn't matter what we know. It's what we apply into our hearts. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Even to the end of the age. Now, this whole section could have been a sermon, but let's just focus on a few things. Go therefore and make disciples. What is making disciples? You lead by example. You lead by example, and I would throw this out there, you teach people the Word of God, show them how to study, you encourage them to pray, and you promote worship. Those three areas that you want to focus on as you're making disciples. And then baptizing them. Baptizing them. So Jesus said, when they believe on me, you baptize them. You baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Baptize. Now, isn't it interesting how he puts this on the list? Because on one side of the church, we say it doesn't matter. I'm baptized next year. Well, the Bible's pretty clear. When you believe, get baptized. When you believe, get baptized. Show people you're serious about your faith. The other side of the church over here is unless you get baptized, you're not saved. So even though I know you're crying, I know that God's changed your heart, I know you're filled with the Holy Spirit, but you're not saved until you get baptized. And that's not biblical either, in my opinion. This side's called baptismal regeneration. Even early church fathers taught it. It's still taught in churches today that a person's not actually baptized. And if I had time, I could take you through some verses, but I believe if you don't have it, I know we're handing it out tomorrow morning, or I know the ushers can get it to you. It's just a two or three page thing on baptism. Do infants go to heaven if they die? What is baptism? How does that work? It's just three pages. I put it all together. And I think we have it here. Mike would know. Mike Thomas would know if you want to ask him. If not, I know we can get them to you, but ask him for one of those. And with that said, we're actually gonna do baptisms tonight. We have three people getting baptized, and the theme throughout the New Testament is clear. Believers get baptized. Not unbelievers. Believers get baptized. So a person who professes and says, I know Jesus. He saved me. I want to get baptized. I want to obey him. Something miraculous happens in that obedience. It's kind of concerning when people don't want to get baptized. It doesn't make sense. There's something not quite right in the heart there. So just throwing this out there. If you have never been baptized, and you want to be baptized, I would just throw that out there. You can do it tonight. I don't care if you go home wet. It doesn't matter. I will baptize you. So pray about that. Think about that. All you have to do is publicly acknowledge, I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. And then we baptize you. Based on your profession of faith, we baptize you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You see, I haven't been baptized or I was 12. I don't know what it meant. Let's do it tonight. We'll get some towels. We'll find something, and let's baptize people. That's what Jesus said. He ends the whole book of Matthew saying, Go make disciples, baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and I am with you always, even until the end of the age. Amen. Thank God for that.