What Good News Do We Have in COVID-19?

JD Greer God in love was shaking our physical foundations, letting us experience really is a temporary tragedy in order to wake us up to a far more serious permanent tragedy and eternal tragedy. The tragedy of dying and not be right with God. After Jeannie tackles the difficult question. The question that perhaps we've all been asking for about 10 months now. What good news do we have covered 1912 spoiler alert. Our message hasn't changed at all this year. It's still that Christ has risen from the dead to save the world in these topsy-turvy times we had a unique opportunity to share and show the love of God to a watching world. Let's join Pastor JD in Matthew chapter 28 Christ is risen, but here's the question. Is that true is that your you are the problems in this pandemic has been the prevalence of what they call fake news. You probably heard contradictory reports about how long this is going to last. What precautions are the right wants to take her. What are the appropriate social distance measurements where the virus originated whether 5G is making it worse which medicines are gonna work.

How fragile our medical system is or for any number of things. Fake news can be disastrous when you make major life decisions based on, by the way, I learned that the first major scandal in our country involving fake news occurred in 1835 when the editor of the New York newspaper published a series of articles claiming that signs of life had been discovered on the moon. The articles were able to gain traction because they featured a series of quotes that were misleadingly attributed to us every celebrated astronomer named Sir John Herschel well because nobody knew were Prof. Herschel was at the time the editor figured that you would be difficult to track down and so the hoax would will be safe.

It became known as the great Moon hoax to many people, the resurrection of Jesus.

Sounds like fake news.

The summit sounds like little more than wishful thinking.

A fairytale ending delight for people who can't handle the fact were all alone in the universe and there's no suite by-and-by waiting for us in the sky when we die.

Others assume that the accounts of the resurrection were just rumors or made up by overexcited religious zealots to give themselves the trump card in in the religious controversies of their day and after all if your leader rose from the dead. The net gives you the final word on whatever you're talking about maybe inventing the resurrection was just their ploy to gain power, maybe even to raise money. I mean, tragically, we seen religious charlatans do this throughout history, and some people think maybe that's what was happening with the resurrection. But there's a phrase that's repeated over and over in the Gospels that challenges that interpretation of these events and that phrase is common. See, it's a phrase organist. He repeated throughout the life of Jesus. For example, in John one. Jesus reveals the fact that he is the Messiah were the first people he revisited was a man named Philip. He does so by revealing to Philip secrets about Philip and nobody could have no several runs home and tells his brother Nathaniel that that he's met the Messiah will Nathaniel just scoffs at him and said this is my younger brothers overactive imagination what was built. Response John 146 common C come and see for yourself John for a few chapters later, Jesus encounters a woman at the well, an outcast woman who was shunned by her society. Jesus is the same thing with her that it was Philip. He reveals to her secrets about herself that she thought nobody knew many shows her that he cares for her anyway and that and that she safe with him, so she runs into town saying everybody I've met the Messiah. I met the one who's been promised by all the prophets and people, look at night, rolled her eyes and there like seriously, just why would we listen to you. Her response. John 429 common C come and see for yourself without question the most important of these happens in Matthew 28 and I just want to read you the story. Matthew 28 verse one. At dawn the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb there was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on his appearance, the eaves appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and they became like dead men. The angel said to the women. Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus who was was crucified, but he is not here he is risen. Just as he said common C see the phrase come and see the place where he lay common C. Come see if this is made up. Come see if this is just wishful thinking. So the women went to the tomb and took a look for themselves and then they ran and got the rest of the disciples.

All the guys who were huddled together in a room, out of fear that the authorities were going to comfort them next. Women give the report and the men respond with with disbelief.

They dismiss it as the ravings of a of a woman who was overcome with grief. The women responded basically the same words.

Luke 2411 just common C come and see for yourself. So Peter does common C list you want to Matthew 28 does want to see how the rest the story unfolds. Verse 11 while the women were on their way. That is going to tell me the 11 disciples were huddled in the upper room about the empty tomb.

Some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priest everything that it happened when the chief priest had met with the elders and devised a plan they gave the soldiers a large sum of money telling them you are to say, his disciples came during the night and stole away while we were asleep there it is, by the way fake news right there to false report given.

Then they told him of this report gets to the governor. We will satisfy him. Will keep you out of trouble will make sure that you stay safe so the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed in this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. So there we have the first counterclaim to the resurrection deliberate fake news. The disciples stole the body in the middle of the story of the resurrection to gain some some political advantage. What you have to ask yourself is, does not claim make any sense to me first. How can a group of untrained fishermen and carpenters successfully sneak past the Roman garrison guarding the tomb.

I mean, these were elite Roman soldiers and they knew that that fallen asleep on guard duty was punishable by death. You're telling me that all well fell asleep at once while a group of untrained fishermen snuck past voice away a 2 ton rock that was covering the attunement and stole the body. Second, what what voted with the disciples of had to make the story up when you're when you make a story up until I do something you want to gain from it. What would they have gained from that lie.

One historian said it this way when what we teach we know to be false, what motivates us to do that is a desire to line our pockets with money not to get whipped and beaten and imprisoned and killed. Yet that is exactly what happened with the apostles testifying to this game them. No political power, no monetary windfall. Every one of the apostles was was hunted down, imprisoned and tortured most of them were were in fact executed try to make this more real.

This way if you were to say that they intentionally lied about the resurrection. That means that sometime between Friday when Jesus died on Sunday morning.

Linda will win when he was reported as resurrected something like this went down. That Saturday morning and all the disciples are out on early morning fishing trip in the pretty upset about Jesus being executed today before they start talking about how much they miss salmon's are reminiscing about how meaningful his teaching wasn't and Thomas. You know doubting Thomas is though that story about the good Samaritan. I love that story all the disciples like I was going and he says and remember the time that that there is a stone the woman for adultery and Jesus leaned down the road in the dirt. He looked up he said, let him who is without sin cast the first stone number that that was awesome.

All the sudden Peter jumps up in the in the boat. He says wait when I know I know the cause of Jesus didn't have to end here. Let's say that he resurrected.

In fact, let's say that that was the whole point of his life to diverse and to be resurrected will steal the body so that nobody knows where it is and suddenly Thaddeus jumps up. He says will will really get popular. By doing this is over.

No, probably not, will be aided will be cast out of our communities will spend our lives running from Jewish and Roman authorities and in Matthew, the former tax collector. He says will you get rich from this computer says no promenade middle probably confiscated property in gross imprisonment and Johnny is that you know the disciples as well, but we at least have the satisfaction that were pointing people to eternal salvation and Peter's is no, not really, because were telling them we know it isn't true.

We know it's not true. So if there is a God will be no heaven, and this for us men.

They all can look at each other and say sounds great. I'm in and out, they go one by one the Roman authorities and the Jewish authorities hunt them down and and as they and the people they love are being drug off to be killed.

So we get each other say hey you stick to the story is great.

It's gonna be awesome and honestly defined that explanation compelling. No, I mean the only thing I think the power to compel them to do this was to actually be convinced that they'd seen the empty tomb for themselves. Listen what transform Thomas who is famously called doubting Thomas what transform him from a doubter into somebody who was tied to the back of a cheery drug to the streets in modern-day India was not that he suddenly found his courage, reread a Tony Robbins book.

What turned him into a fearless witness was the simple fact that each seen the empty tomb or member Peter River, Peter, who out of fear denied Jesus three times on the night of his death at one of them to a middle school girl, by the way).

Ask yourself what transform to a fearful cowardly Peter into the bold leader of the early church, one who was willing to undergo crucifixion himself for this testimony well and what else could it have been, except that he saw the resurrection I mean do you think Peter who denied the living Jesus would have been willing to die for one he knew was that you have to agree here with Solana lacuna is one of England's Royal lawyers who presented this way. I spent more than 42 years as a defense trial lawyer appearing in many parts of the world and am still in active practice.

I've been fortunate to secure a number of successes in jury trials, and I say unequivocally that the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ is so overwhelming that it compels acceptance by proof which leaves absolutely no room for doubt, come and see. Come and see the evidence is clear for all who want to see it. That's the first meeting of the phrase come and see this actually happen.

It's backed up all the prophecies in the and will call the Old Testament, the Hebrew Bible dozens of places prophesied that the Messiah would come, suffer, die and be raised again.

Come and see for yourselves. But you know the presence of that phrase come and see in the story I think raises one other question for us and that question is why did everybody come and see me. The invitation was public. The empty tomb was there for all want to come and see it yet. Many of those who heard about the resurrection, like the soldiers like pilots. They treated it with what you best recall. Indifference is never to time to investigate it and probably just flat out said questions not really that concerning me right now it just seemed him like a religious curiosity. And he just wasn't that religious of a person.

Religion is not really my thing eyes and furthermore his life was consumed with with more pressing matters like how to run the government how to keep the peace how to collect taxes on it. I keep his boss happy. It's not that he went and investigated the evidence in and found it lacking is whatnot motivated to investigate, see, this is where I find most people still are today and honestly I don't find many people who really consider the evidence and leave unconvinced. Most is never press into the question because they just don't think of it is that pressing of a question for them right now.

But why did some wine and some like the disciples, why did they find it so pressing, while others did not. Why some risk their lives to run to the tomb to come and see for themselves. When when others did what will think about for the disciples.

Everything in the world had been turned upside down with the death of Jesus, this guy that they had invested three years of their life with and been following for three years was dead, and if he really was that it meant that all their hopes for the future will work all they wasted their lives, but if he was resurrected well. I changed everything. It meant that they had a reason to live.

After all, even more.

He was the only thing worth living for. If you resurrected. That means at his death on the cross really was the payment for their sins, like he had said it meant that they didn't have to be afraid of death. Earthly things need no longer be their primary concern. What mattered was where they stood with him and what they were doing for his eternal kingdom.

Like I said, for most people the story of the resurrection is met with a shrug of the shoulders or look of indifference, it never really pressed into it because it's just not that pressing of the question to them right now they get so many other things that think about bills to pay and bosses to keep Appian kids to raise, but now she now with the coronavirus for many of us life looks different.

Many of us are realizing how fragile life actually is how near enclosed death can be just like the disciples had their world turned upside down our worlds been turned upside down and if our only hope is the medical system or our physical health are our jobs or we got stored up in the bank or our national security or the quality of our leaders then were on shaky ground in a time like this makes us realize that the can I say it, brazen stupidity of living as of the 70 or 80 years of earthly life for all that matters with no thoughts about death of the judgment or what comes next. But let me ask you where is your hope for the future in a time like this.

What's the basis of your optimism of your hope for the future is a just and the odds are you like well and only 3% die or maybe it's 10%. But I'm young I'm healthy and where I live in a rural environment around practicing good social distancing. So I think I'm probably okay.

I'm not in at 3% or 10% or whatever and maybe that's true or maybe it's not playing the odds, is just not a firm place to stand because they give you another statistic even more reliable 100%. It is appointed to every single man and woman 100% of us once to die. Hebrew says, and after this the judgment, the eventual death rate of every person on earth hold steady at 100% as John Piper says this is a time when the fragile form of this world is felt the seemingly solid foundations are shaking the question we should be asking is, do we have a rock under our feet. A rock that cannot be shaken ever see from the man she does what if God in love was shaking our physical foundations, letting us experience really is a temporary tragedy in order to wake us up to a far more serious permanent tragedy and eternal tragedy. The tragedy of dying and not being right with God.

Maybe you're having a hard time seeing how some like this could be an expression of God's love in one sense is not me diseases like this are or are part of the curse. The curse from our sin that curse that brings tsunamis in cancer and car wrecks in the coronavirus that curses part of God's righteous judgment on sin, judgment, the breaks his heart, but but judgment that we, the human race have brought on ourselves. It even though it's part of the curse Scripture teaches us that God can still use something like this in love.

He can use the temporary affliction of the body to wake us up to the internal needs of the soul.

I heard it described like this recently was was a lumberjack who was going to cut down several trees right next to this rockface and before you cut on the first tree. Notice that the Robin had built a really pretty messed up in the top one of the trees of the was about to cut down he anyone.

It unit destroy the nest of the eggs in the Robin Zoe thick sledgehammer to go to resource a knock on the tree until the bird I guess gets annoyed enough that he he he just flies off the tree and begins to build his master and another tree hook up hours later EE notices that this is Robbins builders and estimates of the tree that is got a cut down suite does the same thing to sledgehammer nonsymmetric for a while until the bird moves in on the birds moved to another tree. He does this five or six times, until eventually the Robin goes over to the side of the rockface and begins to establish its nest and that in the side of that rock. Now you can just imagine how annoyed the Robin was at the lumberjack thinking. What does the lumberjack have against me why you keep attacking where I'm going to build my nest but but you can see the bigger picture that it was compassionate with love that was motivating lumberjack to do this. It wasn't just trying to destroy that the nest he was trying to get this this Robin to build its nest in a place that would not be cut down to see the world we live in. No part of it is a place for us to build a life and you might think what's going to be in a good career it's good to be good families go to be in helping others places are are sufficient as a foundation. All worlds under the judgment of sin. No foundation that we look for here is is going to last only in the resurrection of Christ only, and in that or we can find that rock that eternal hope that were looking for is a that's her message at the end of Matthew 28. After the disciples of common seen for themselves. Jesus changes his command from cumin seed to go and tell every person in every nation needs to hear this message about forgiveness of sins and hope beyond the grave. So he says, go and tell them whenever I'm preaching.

This is is basically what I'm trying to get across right number one every idle every other foundations besides Christ is going to fail one day all of them ultimately are going to do the let you down to come crashing down in the in the chainsaws of judgment. Of course this is true of of us at all times, but in a time like this with the coronavirus, we feel it more Richard Baxter who was 1/17 century British pastor used to pray before he preached he would you pray before woke up in the pulpit. Lord help me to preach like a dying man to dying men. That's what what I want to do. Sure, you and I may not have the virus of some of us may have it but but all of us are dying. Whether it's seven months or 70 years is going to come for all of us eventually it was said that in the in the sinking of the Titanic. There was one pastor who was among those who were floating in the water after the ship a goal down on the pastor quickly realized that that help would never get there in time and that because of hypothermia that most people were going to be dead in about 20 minutes. When the survivor said that he last he was seeing was frantically swimming around from passenger to passenger pleading with them to turn from their sins and trust Christ. That's what I'm doing like a dime into dying men pleading with you to turn to Christ. Here's a second that Jesus is our only hope for salvation. That's her message. Our world stands condemned Jesus offer salvation if some of you might be new to it to the Bible, always tell people when the new Christianity that that that I can summarize the entire Bible in just four statements bad news, worse news, good news, better news, bad news, bad news is you and I are condemned because of our sin.

We each chosen her own way because we thought we knew better than God. We've rather live with us and charging him in charge and because of that were eternally condemned to separation from God in a place called hell. Worse news is there's nothing that we can do about religion can't fix it.

Good intentions can't fix it. The loss salmon rebellion is written deep into our souls was the good news. The good news is is that what we couldn't do God and love did for us, Jesus, God son live the life we should have lived right and then he died the death that we were condemned to die in our place. He paid it all. He's conquered death. One day we know he's gonna re-create this world and he'll wipe it free of all the coronavirus and suffering and doubt. That's the good news is there, what is good news. What could be better news. Even better news is it's a gift that you only have to receive gift John 112 as many as received Jesus was, to them he gave that the right to privilege the power to become the sons of God, to those who believe on his name right. Number three number three third part of our message. The last part the same God, the conquered death process can take care of us in life. We know that if God did not abandon us of the cross in the moment of his death. There is no circumstance in our lives in which he will abandon us either. There was never you understand more hopeless time, humanly speaking, when the son of God was in the great the disciples themselves were despairing. But Jesus is risen, and it sure as he walked out of the grave. He promises life to those of us who were still living in the shadow of death, the same care he shows for us of the cross is a sink. Here he holds us in all the days of our lives to let me say something is a close year to to those of you were not yet believers are you ready to acknowledge in this that you need God in each of us has to primary problems are first problem is that is a life without God.

Just ultimately won't work because nothing can protect us. Nothing can deliver us from death. Right. Problem number two is that we stand condemned under God's judgment. It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment you need to understand that in this God is seeking you. He's using a temporary tragedy to wake you up to an eternal, eternal, eternal need of yours. God is like the father in the prodigal son story you who stands looking for you, even in this to come back to him.

It's shaking your foundations because he wants to be reunited to you and you need to receive Christ, you need to receive Christ. You could do so right now we just bow our heads together and if you have never received Christ or if you're not sure that you have.

You could do so with a prayer like this, Lord Jesus, I realize that when you came to diverse and you came to die for me.

I believe that you died for my sin. I receive you as my Savior and I give you my life take charge of my life for Jesus, thank you Jesus for saving me payment listening to those of you who are believers.

My challenge is to let this shake you to show you the one place that you should trust and that is Jesus who is the rock and I wanted to renew your commitment to go and tell everybody that you can about this message. He is risen so dark days like the ones were in we can hold on to this rock that is never shaken and I'm there, let us down. Christ is risen, listening to the Bible you're not there in theologians career you learn more about Pastor Janie's nonprofit ministry online Janie Greer.com Katie if you take a minute to talk about the challenges of 20/20 global pandemic racial strife political divisiveness and general uncertainty have impacted us all in ways that we can predict or imagine.

Here's what he had to say what I felt like this year is maybe been the most trying year of our lives are ministry.

We felt several times were just a buckle under the pressure of struggling to church a time and were not meeting as is normal to have the risk tough talks around around what's going on politically and of what's going on racially and I know that we could not have made it through this year this far without the support and encouragement of her family in Christ our church in an and folks like you your very important part of our lives and ministry were grateful for you.

I want to invite you to prayerfully consider investing in in our ministries here as we continue to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Would love to have you as one of her gospel partners that enables us to be on the air times like this, sharing the gospel with people so if you go to Janie Greer.com you can find out how you can become a part of this ministry thing.

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When you do things by sending you an exclusive resource for copy of the 2021 Senate light and you donate today by calling 552 28 335 20 the planet. When you give online G fear that I'm only inviting you to join us again Morrow Katie addressed. I think that God is doing during the pandemic part of our series called the world I down here right here Thursday Senate light Janie Greer 19