The Evidence

When they nailed him to that cross on Friday afternoon, they figured their problems were over. When his head dropped down, hanging there with the blood running down over his face, it seemed as though this guy wasn't going to give them any problem anymore. There may have been the slight fear that this man, who worked such notable signs, might still pull a fast winner before the end.

But when he finally breathed his last, and when the spear wound drained what was left of his blood out of his body, it seemed pretty safe that he was never going to give them any problems anymore. And it's true. They didn't see Jesus anymore.

But very, very soon, the high priest, the religious establishment in Jerusalem, which had worked so hard to get him out of the way, found themselves having to deal with evidence, very troubling evidence, that this Jesus, in fact, did not stay in his tomb, that he really was alive. And the evidence they saw was the remarkable change which took place in his followers. The people of Jerusalem as a whole, the religious structures of Israel as a whole, never saw Jesus with their eyes again.

But what they did see, and what they had to deal with, was this group of followers who not only insisted that Jesus was alive from the dead, that he was Lord, King of Kings, Messiah, but they said these things in such a way that you had to be convinced. This movement, which should have fallen apart when Jesus died, this movement which should have ended with the death of its leader, was now exploding all over the city. At first it was just rumor.

They would see these followers of Jesus coming and going to and from the temple. With the bewilderment gone, purpose written all over their faces, joy, confidence, love, burning from their eyes. But within two months of the time they nailed him to that cross, these people, these followers of Jesus, were literally taking over the city with the message of his resurrection.

Everywhere you turned, you bumped into these men preaching resurrection, resurrection, resurrection. For example, we read in Acts 2.22, Peter is preaching on Pentecost. Men of Israel, hear these words.

Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs which God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know, this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. But God raised him up, having loosed the pangs of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Resurrection, rumpet in their faces.

And when you listen to this man, Peter, and you see what's going on before your eyes, you must listen. Brethren, I may say to you confidently, the patriarch David both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants upon his throne, he foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption.

This Jesus, God raised up, and of this we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear. There it is in front of you.

What are you going to do with it? Look at these people. The Spirit is moving upon them. Have you ever seen anything like this? Seeing that, these people are convinced.

And as we know, that day, 3,000 people enter the kingdom of God because they're convinced that what Peter says is true. The evidence of the truth of what he says is these people they're looking at, and Peter himself. A short time later, Peter and John are on their way up to the temple, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the hour of prayer.

A man, lame from birth, who's always there, is begging. And you remember how it goes. Peter says, look at us.

We don't have any silver or gold, but what we have, we give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk! Reaches down, takes him by the hand, lifts him up, and to his amazement, the man finds himself now able to walk. And then he jumps and leaps, and hysterical with joy, is jumping all over the temple.

Seeing this, everybody draws together. They know who this man is. They've seen him before.

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the portico. And when Peter saw it, he addressed the people. Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this? Or why do you stare at us as though by our own power or piety we made him walk? The God of Abraham and of Isaac and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate when he had decided to release him.

But you denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted you and killed the author of life whom God raised up. To this we are all witnesses. And his name, by faith in his name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know.

And the faith which is through Jesus has given this man perfect health in the presence of you all. And again, looking at this, and looking at Peter and seeing what's going on with this man, and Peter, the transformation in him, what can you do? You have to take it in. Peter and John and the man who was healed are arrested.

But not before another 5,000 enter in to the kingdom. The next day they're brought out of prison and hauled before the authorities and challenged, By what name, by what authority did you heal this man? So they open themselves up for another clobbering. Peter again hits them with the same message of resurrection.

Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him, this man is standing before you well. So resurrection, resurrection, and seeing the man healed and listening to this man, Peter, who has no formal training of any kind, speaking with such power, people have to be convinced. And so the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus began to fill the city of Jerusalem.

And that evidence was people who not only said Jesus is alive, but who manifested his life. They manifested the resurrection of Jesus clearly in four ways. First, they manifested the life of Jesus.

I am the resurrection and the life, says the Lord. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die.

Now this starts to happen. And these people have life. You know, how many times, you know, we experience this, a person can walk in a room, and they can just fill it with death.

You know, or they can walk in a room and everybody gets nervous. Or they can walk in a room and everybody gets on edge and angry. Or somebody can walk in a room and just spread light.

They walk in the room and there's light. They open their mouth, light comes out. They stretch forth their hands, light flows.

Light, everywhere they go, light. And it's evidence. You know, so often religious people have the opposite effect.

You know, oh man, here they come again. But in this case, it's the opposite. You know, nobody even worries about, you know, all the cards.

They don't have to, they leave it there. They manifested Jesus' love. A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another.

As I have loved you, that you love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. And this began to happen.

These people, who are just like we are, began to manifest toward each other a love that was commitment. You know, they opened up their pockets and shared with each other. They gave to each other.

They spent time helping one another. They were just, it was new, something wonderful. And it didn't stop with the fellowship.

Then they began to go out and love their neighbor. And then they took it to the ultimate, to where they were called to go with the Lord. They began to love their oppressor.

Remember, they were under the heel of the Roman government. And Jesus had commanded that they have to love. And now they begin to do this.

And as they manifest this love so unusual, these people who insist that Jesus is risen from the dead begin to convince. Then they manifested his power. Reading on in that same fourth chapter of Acts.

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

They spoke with boldness, and the things that they said were wonderfully confirmed with signs followed. Things happened. And so now they become the extension of their Lord.

They become his body, and through them the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor, the poor, the forgotten poor have the good news. And this power that goes out is again evidence to the people. When these people say Jesus is alive, risen from the dead, you can't just shrug it off.

Finally, these disciples, these followers of Jesus, manifested his holiness. From Matthew 5, Sermon on the Mount. Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets.

I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law till all is accomplished. Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven.

But he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Now these people begin to take this seriously.

They begin to clean up their acts and conform their lives to the Sermon on the Mount. For instance, they begin now to clean up their relationships with each other. If one of them brings his gift to the altar and there remembers that a brother or a sister has something against them, leaves the gift, goes and gets reconciled with his brother, and then comes back and offers it.

They're beginning to clean up their eyes, their vision, their thinking. If they catch themselves lusting, looking on a woman in lust, or a man, they begin now to realize that this is more harmful than they thought. No longer do they shrug it off and say, well, it's one of the few pleasures I have left.

What am I going to do? You know, everybody does this. But now they begin to see that this is undermining their vision of God and the power of the Lord moving in their lives and this has to go. So now they root out the offending eye and cut off the offending hand that reaches for what it doesn't own.

They're beginning to clean up their speech. Now when they find themselves exaggerating, just leaving something out, twisting the truth, so help me God! They remember that Jesus said, let your conversation be yes or no. Anything more than this comes from the evil one.

They begin now to clean up their attitude toward their enemies. Before it seemed okay to walk around burning with bitterness all the time, feigning the flames of bitterness. But Jesus says to them, love your enemies.

Pray for those who persecute you. Now they have no choice. They see that this, you don't overcome evil with evil.

The only way you overcome evil is with good and they begin to work on this. They begin to clean up their walk with God. No longer is giving alms a big production, but it's done quietly.

And prayer is no longer something that you simply do out there to get everybody's attention and impress people, but it's something you do first of all and foremost when you go into your room and shut the door. And when they fast now, it's no longer walking around looking like you're half dead. You've been fasting for 50 weeks.

But you wash your face and comb your hair and let it be a secret between you. They begin to clean up their faith so that it's no longer faith in God and money, but God. And they begin to see that what Jesus says must be true and must be practiced.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. And they begin to live this way. And finally they begin to clean up the channels so that the grace and mercy of God can flow out of them.

They take that law of judging and resentment and bitterness and cynicism out of their own eyes so that they can be of help to their brother and sister. And they begin to live and practice. Twenty centuries have passed.

We're gathered here today and this is gorgeous. A nice crowd of brothers and sisters and seekers or whoever we are coming together to remember and celebrate the day when our Lord broke out of his tomb. The firstborn of the new creation pioneering the way for us.

But the question we have to ask ourselves today is what kind of evidence do we provide to the world out there that Jesus is risen from the dead? Oh, we tell them the tomb is empty. That's not going to convince anybody. Oh, we tell them it's in the Bible.

That's not going to convince. Please don't, I'm not quoting the Bible down. Don't get mad at me.

The Bible is the record but not the evidence. The only evidence on this earth right now that Jesus is risen from the dead is people who manifest his life and his love and his power and his holiness. When they see such people they will be convinced.

You are the light of the world. The evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead. A city set on a hill cannot be hid nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel but on a stand and it gives light to all in the house.

Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works know that Jesus is risen from the dead and glorify your Father who is in heaven. We need to get that bushel off and start to shine with Jesus' light. I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me, though he were dead yet shall he live. And he who lives and believes in me shall never die. That resurrection life is meant to be ours now.

What do we convey when we walk into the room? Do we convey life? Or is it, uh oh, here they come. Turn the lights off. What do we convey? Do we convey that life? We can.

The life that will bring hope and joy and transformation to other people and convince them that Jesus is risen from the dead is in our midst. If the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you he that raised Christ from the dead shall also put in your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you he's here. If we open our hearts and then we become we can receive it and we can convey life by walking into the room we can convey life by opening our mouths laying our hands in the sand.

We need to get that bushel off and start shining with his love. A new commandment I give to you that you love one another. As I have loved you that you love one another.

By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Spirit that has been given to us. And we receive it today again.

But if we let it as Mickey said this morning lie there and rot what do we got? This gift this awesome and wonderful gift of the love of God has to be given exercise we gotta practice it in the place where we learn is here first. This is why God threw us together. We're not you know we're not the kind of people we would have chosen for our Protestant system.

We're the kind of people God threw us in with to teach us how to love. And we begin to practice this love toward one another. And as we learn to do this then we can go out and begin to practice some love toward our neighbor.

And then we go beyond that and we start practicing love toward our enemy. Overcoming evil with good. And when they see love practiced by us not just those days when we were in a good mood our ship came in and now we can love people for a week.

But day in and day out in season and out of season on our jobs in our homes in our neighborhoods among our cantankerous relatives whatever. Love. When they see that they will be convinced that Jesus is alive and he is Lord.

We need to take off that bushel and start shining with Jesus' power. Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men they wondered and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them they had nothing to say in opposition.

When we live with that life practice his life practice his love and then open our mouths and begin to speak the words that we speak absolutely will be confirmed with signs following. Things will happen. The work he who believes in me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go to the Father and I will pour out my Spirit.

You know and before we start diagnosing everybody else's weakness or why that you know if only those other people believe we'd be alright we start with number one and we realize that if we do this and if we are faithful the power of the Lord won't be jammed up it will flow. And we now are the ones who manifest the kingdom of God so that the blind receive their sight and the lame walk the lepers are claimed the deaf hear the dead are arrayed and the poor the poor the poor have the gospel preached by people who aren't standing above them as the social worker over the client but as peers. And when they see that kind of power flowing finally we gotta get that bushel off and start shining with his holiness.

And this is the word we all get scared of we love the power we don't find the love so much and the life is great but holiness for I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. We also need to take the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5, 6, and 7 and soak those chapters up eat them drink them sleep them think them until those words become our second nature. We need to begin cleaning up our relationships with each other.

If we bring our gift to the altar and there remember that our brother has something against us leave the gift alone go get reconciled then come and offer the gift. You know the things that we tolerate in ourselves God is calling for much more he doesn't tolerate you want to walk with me get right get that attitude out go talk to this person get this thing right stop walking around with that burden of irritation and bitterness against your brother. We need to clean up our vision.

So we catch ourselves looking upon a woman in lust or a man no longer to say well it's one of the few pleasures I have left but to see that this indulgence of our flesh is absolute deceit you know it's a promise that is never fulfilled that leads to nowhere at all but trouble and it undervines and drains the life of God right out of us and to take the eye that is offending and pull it out and the hand and cut it off and get right. We need to start cleaning up our speech. We live in an age and in a world where lies have never been more abundant and words have never been cheaper and we you know this is just accepted practice but we are called if we catch ourselves exaggerating leaving bits of the truth out somehow we know very well misleading by what we're saying and to realize the Lord is calling us to let our to let our yes be yes and our no be no anything more than this comes from the Father of life.

We need to start cleaning up our attitude toward our enemies to the people who wronged us and keep wronging us and this is easier said than done. The early Christians were all Jews and they had to live under Roman oppression and they it was not pleasant and many of us have tasted oppression of one kind or another you know and it's very very easy to walk around building up a whole thick layer and thinking that we can go through life like that sometimes we even find that we function better when we're mad that works for a while that's the same as alcohol you know it loosens you up for a while then you're in trouble and if you get yourself drunk with anger that works good for a while works fine then you're in trouble we're called to something more we're called to love our enemies to pray for those who persecute us you know and even if we have to start by saying Lord God I can't pray for him not after what he did to me I can't pray for those people not after what they did to me but I'm willing to be made willing help me Lord help me help me because we need to clean up our walk with God when we're giving alms to do it as simply and matter of factly as we can no production our prayers if our prayers even in the fellowship are twice as long as our prayers alone we need to spend time alone in prayer and the more time we spend alone the more to the point we will be our prayers when we're with each other go in your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret and our fasting and we fast and many of us are going to do fasting more than we've ever dreamed but let it be between us and God wash your face comb your hair carry a few shirts in your pocket if your breath gets too bad and pretend everything's alright was that a bad taste sorry about that we need to clean up our faith so that our faith is not in God and money but in the father seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and he'll provide the money and if he provides only a bit of it it'll be enough and if you for whatever reason he pours down gobs of it you'll have enough to live on and the rest you're a steward before him but seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and don't Lord God deliver us and all of us are guilty we still think of money as the basic security and the basic source of power in our lives and what are the things we worry about if we get taken or if we get a bill we hadn't expected or somehow our income is threatened you know this throws us really throws us seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and this money will come and finally we need to clean up and clear out the channel so that the mercy of God can flow out