======================================================================== RESURRECTION REALITY by George Verwer ======================================================================== Summary: George Verwer's sermon emphasizes the transformative power of the resurrection and the call for believers to share this message of hope with the world. Duration: 47:05 Topics: "Gods Love", "Christian Living" Scripture References: John 11:1-8, Romans 10:8-11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DESCRIPTION ------------------------------------------------------------------------ In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the power of God's love to transform people's lives. He describes how God's love can change selfish and egocentric individuals into compassionate servants who desire to help others. The preacher also highlights the importance of grace, which is expressed through God's love for us and the sacrifice of Jesus. He acknowledges that the Christian life may not always be easy, but encourages listeners to persevere and not let disappointments or unrealistic expectations hinder their faith. The sermon concludes with a prayer and a responsive song, emphasizing the lordship of Jesus. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Romans chapter 10 says this, the word is near you, it is in your mouth and in your heart, that is the word of faith that we are proclaiming, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the scripture says, anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame. I'm going to lead us in prayer but we're going to do it in a responsive way and what the band are going to do is we're going to respond with song and I'll pray over the music then we'll sing and then I'll pray over the music and then we'll sing. So the song that we're going to sing is He is Lord, we're just going to sing that verse through once, again keeping in mind that scripture from Romans chapter 10 and I'll lead us in prayer in the interlude and lead us back into singing that as well. So you'll follow it, don't worry, you've been singing well today, I'm sure you'll do well. So let's sing this through once and then we'll pray together. Jesus, your death and your resurrection, you also will live. And we are so glad that you welcome us, even in prayer like this, just that we are alive with his life. He is Lord, he is Lord. He is the Son of the Father, he is Lord. Every nation, every tongue, by Jesus Christ be healed. And Lord, we pray that this glorious truth of yours, Lord, I pray that they would indeed know that even to pray the same prayer that you, Lord Jesus, use us and people like us and we have that access to you because you are alive. He is Lord, he is Lord. He is the Son of the Father, he is Lord. Every nation, every tongue, by Jesus Christ be healed. Yes Lord, we do indeed pray that you, being that victor over Satan, that you, in your position of infinite supremacy, that death in you is not death to die. He is Lord, he is Lord. He is the Son of the Father, he is Lord. Every nation, every tongue, by Jesus Christ be healed. Well what a joy it is, this Easter day, to welcome our friends from OM in particular, George Verwer, who will come and preach in a second. George Verwer is the founder and former International Director of Operation Mobilisation, Training, Church Planting and George has led Operation Mobilisation for over 40 years before stepping down in August 2003. And he of course, as we know, has a burning concern for vital in the lives of those he comes into contact with. Shortly after his conversion at the age of 16, George Verwer said to God, Only one thing I want in my life, I want to learn to pray, to love you, I want to know you and commune with you. And he has not moved from that principle. George shares this Christian idea of love and balance right around the world. He starts at home emphasising the need to worship God, to live in fellowship with one another by walking in the light and to live a disciplined life of victory as forgiven, repentant, cross-centred Christians. And today, OM reaches across the world through two ships, just now, and over 4,000 people working in so many different nations to make Christ known in the lives of all that they meet. And George, we are so glad to have you with us today, so come and preach. Thank you. Well, we brought our globe, in case we sometimes forget this. I also have my little jacket. And what an encouragement to be back in Scotland. I've often thought about moving here. I've lived in Great Britain for 46 years and haven't been able to learn the language yet. And I've visited Scotland over 100 times and have had the joy of seeing many thousands of Scottish people take steps of faith in connection with our Lord Jesus and His resurrection. Some of them actually joining OM or joining the ships. They've been a major part of the movement from the very, very beginning. And I think on this resurrection morning, and it's been a beautiful morning, we need to be more aware of just how many people are gathered in this way across the world at this time. We're not talking millions. We're not talking hundreds of millions. We're talking probably over 1 billion people are gathered and celebrating Easter. They may not all know the Lord Jesus in their heart. And I celebrated Easter long before I knew anything about real conversion and new life in Christ. And I guess our hearts would be grieved as we live here in Britain where quite a few now do not actually know what Easter is. Some of them mainly think of it in terms of some eggs and having an egg, you know, go hunting for eggs. It's snowing where I live in Bromley. And so my wife expressed concern if they were going to be looking for eggs, how they would find them in the snow. God has been doing such wonderful things for thousands of years, but especially since He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should never perish but have everlasting life. We hear that perhaps in China. There may be just in China 100 million worshipping Jesus. Some more conservative people say, well, it's only 70. What can we say of this part of Africa? We're, and OM chose as a relatively new mission agency only 50 years ago we were born. We chose mainly countries where not completely, and God changed things when He gave us the ships, and we ended up going everywhere. But our priority has still been those 1040 window countries through North Africa and the Middle East and Central Asia. But as we work in some of those hard places and we are seeing some response, which is encouraging, we want to rejoice in the nations where missions goes back long before 50 years and where the response has been so huge. Like this, all that part of Africa, tens of millions, Latin America, Brazil. I was just in Brazil about a year ago and just stunned, just stunned by what God is doing there. Praise be to the living God. Let's just give thanks. Lord, we give thanks for what You're doing around the globe. We give thanks that on this Resurrection Day, there are probably a billion people that are somehow gathered in Your name across the world. And we're just stunned by all that You've done in the nations and among the peoples of the world. Father, You know characters like me so easily. We just focus on what hasn't yet been done, and that is important. But on this Celebration Sunday, this Resurrection Sunday, we thank You for the resurrection reality that has penetrated almost every part of the world. And we give You all the praise and all the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. I know some of you have prayed for OM for years, and there's others here probably never heard of it before. We mainly spread the word by word of mouth, people who go and get a great experience and then share it with others. Of course, we do use books and DVDs and take meetings. I take about 300 meetings a year. Next Sunday, I'll be with a huge gathering of a couple thousand Koreans. Not in Korea, but in Washington, D.C. As the Koreans are the second largest sending nation in the world. Maybe with 10,000 or more missionaries, not mainly in Washington, but throughout the world. We've brought a lot of books with us, and we've discovered that selling books is a very slow process. And some people get offended selling books on Sundays. So there's no books for sale. We want everybody to take at least one book free, especially one of the ones that doesn't sell anyway. Like my own book, Out of the Comfort Zone. Also, about abortion and pro-life. Not many people. And we're in the process of distributing 40,000 copies of this, mainly by giving them away to the generosity of the author. So that's also free. And then even less people will ever buy a book about HIV-AIDS. We're very smug about this in Britain. Even though it's actually growing, and there are a lot of British people who have HIV and don't even know it. But that's an easy read book on HIV-AIDS. Something we're very much involved in around the world. Trying to prevent, also ministering to people who have this illness. It's affecting over 40 million people. And it's spreading very, very rapidly. So that's also a gift. And there's a book by a close friend of mine called Priority One. And just an amazing man. He's come to be with Jesus now, after serving him 50 years or more. But his book, one of the most widely distributed missions books in history, Priority One, is there available. So there's some of the books that are available free. The other books are just for a donation. My book of the year is Peter Maiden, the International Director of OM's book on Discipleship Absolute Dynamite. Even my own son Ben, who doesn't read that much, but he loves Jesus, was sharing with me what an impact this book made on him. And it's just a really great book. Resurrection Reality is my theme. And I'd like you to turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 11. It's just so exciting to be with you on Easter morning. Because people put us missionaries in boxes. They put us in a missionary box. You will not know, in my 46 years of ministry, how many doors are closed to me to speak in a church because I'm a missionary. And many churches will not have, of course, a missionary speaker on Sunday morning. We used to get in the Wednesday night service. And sometimes we'd sneak in the Sunday evening service. There are beautiful exceptions to this. And of course, Easter especially was a dead zone. We cannot have a missionary speaker on Easter. Because Easter has to be an Easter theme. And these missionaries are always going on about the same thing. You know, reaching the lost with the message of Jesus. Of course, nothing to do much with Easter. And so, it was just such a blessing to be invited to share in your church on Easter morning. One of my favorite themes in all of the Word of God, I've been preaching on it for 52 years, is the resurrection of Jesus. I remember shortly after my conversion, being asked in my home state of New Jersey to speak at an Easter sunrise service. Americans are very big on these Easter sunrise services. They get up real early. Some have only just gone to bed. And they have to get up early and go out. And as the sun comes, they have a big praise and thanksgiving service. I'm sure you've probably been to some of those. And they're great. And I remember, just as a baby Christian, being asked to speak at a sunrise service in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey. And how God ministered to me through studying and preparing and sharing that message so many years ago. I just had my 53rd spiritual birthday. And I'm a testimony to the resurrection message of the Lord Jesus. I have a dream for this coming week. Hardly anybody knows this, but it's getting close enough so I can share it. But I'm hoping maybe at the end of this week, for the first time in my life, to sit down with my spiritual father, 89 years of age, Billy Graham, in his home and speak with him. I've sort of been assured that, unless he's not well. But I have heard that he is not well. And so my negative streak tells me, which is in constant conflict with my positive streak, that probably it will never happen. But anyway, I'll at least be in North Carolina. And his grandson is going to open and welcome us to his retreat center, Billy Graham Retreat Center in North Carolina. So whether we see him or not, we'll be enjoying something of the legacy of that tremendous ministry. And Billy Graham's long-term friend, Cliff Barrows, is going to be our honored guest. The main speaker is actually Peter Maiden, but the honored guest will be Cliff Barrows. You might pray for that. It starts on Thursday at a place called The Cove. And then I go from there to The Koreans. And then I go to a place that makes St. Andrews look like a pretty tropical area. I'm headed for Alaska. And they tell me that winter is still there and they're going to take me on a dog sled ride. I don't know what that will have to do with his missions conference, but no doubt that will work out. Turn with me in your Bibles to that great resurrection story in John chapter 11. A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick. But when Jesus heard about it, he said, Lazarus' sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God. So that the Son of God may receive glory from this. So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next few days. Finally, he said to the disciples, let's go back to Judea. But his disciples objected. Rabbi, they said, only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again? Jesus replied, there are 12 hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is a danger of stumbling because they have no light. Then he said, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But now I will go and wake him up. The disciples said, Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better. They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping. But Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sake I am glad I wasn't there. For now you will really believe. Come, let us go and see him. Thomas, nicknamed the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let's go too and die with Jesus. When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem. Many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus told her, your brother will rise again. Yes, Martha said, he will rise with everyone else at the last day. Jesus told him, I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live. Even after dying, everyone who believes in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha? Yes, Lord, she told him. I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the only one who has come into the world from God. Then she returned to Mary. She called Martha aside from the mourners and told her, the teacher is here and wants to see you. So Mary immediately went to him. And Jesus had stayed outside the village at the place where Martha met him. When the people were at the house consoling Mary, saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus' grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived, they saw Jesus. She fell at his feet and said, Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him and he was deeply troubled. Where have you put him, he asked. They told him, Lord, come and see. Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, see how much he loved him. But some said this man healed a blind man. Couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying? Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb. The cave with the stone rolled across its entrance. Roll the stone aside, Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, Lord, he's been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible. Jesus responded, didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believed? So they rolled the stone away. Jesus looked up to the heavens and said, Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of these people standing here so that they will believe that you sent me. Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus, come out. The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go. I remember seeing this in a film about the Lord Jesus, and we might be in prayer because a great film called The Passion, different from the movie The Passion of a couple years ago by Mel Gibson, has been on television during this past week. And the reviews of it, I think, are quite powerful. Even if people will not go to church so often in these days, somehow God has a way of getting into their homes. And many millions will be watching the resurrection of the Lord Jesus through that program. It's amazing how God's people have become more involved in the arts and the world of film. I've actually just come from a Christian film event in Hollywood where we had what we call the Christian Oscars and gave awards to actors and actresses of godly films or family value films. It was a tremendous time. The number one award went to that film Amazing Grace about the life of William Wilberforce, a must-see film even for non-film goers. And so I remember seeing a film, and when it came to this particular scene, where Lazarus, after all the mourning and all the confusion, came out of that tomb, I began to weep, and it was a deep emotional experience. This is resurrection reality. For some of us, it's not so hard to understand how the son of a living God rose from the dead. Though some would struggle with that as well. Doubting Thomas is, and perhaps I was among them. But to see an ordinary man in this kind of situation somehow brought back from the dead is really something quite awesome. Resurrection reality. And this is what our prayer is, and we would appreciate your prayers for this very large meeting in Dundee tonight, where I'll be sharing in fear and trembling, especially attempting to share about the resurrection and about Jesus with people who may not know him, people who may have some Christian religion, as I did as a young person, but not know that resurrection, salvation reality. Perhaps I could insert briefly my own story, and maybe it'll be an encouragement to someone, especially since back in the 60s, people would say, well, these Billy Graham converts, which is not really a proper way to say it, not Billy Graham convert. I'm a convert of the Lord Jesus, and a work done by the Holy Spirit in a Billy Graham meeting. But you have to go back a little before that. My grandfather was from the Netherlands, a Dutchman. He was an atheist. My own father knew not Jesus, and even when he sent me off to Sunday school, he immigrated to near New York City. In those days, he didn't even go to church. My other grandfather was Scottish, Irish, and English blood mixed, which is probably basically toxic. I was just preaching in Portadown, where my great grandfather was married around 1875, actually in a church that had been born out of a revival. But they soon moved to Glasgow, and then over to New York. And that grandfather, sorry to say, was an alcoholic, and died an alcoholic. And when I think of what alcoholism has done to America, and to Scotland, it's almost beyond description. It's funny, we don't talk about it so much in the church. In the old total anti-drinking days, we used to speak about these things. Now in our Grace Awakened days, supposedly so-called, we don't want to overplay this issue, and I believe that's right. When it comes to salvation, when it comes to the basics of the gospel, whether you have a glass of wine or don't have a glass of wine, that to me is not a major issue. But I think the pendulum has now gone too far, and we're not even speaking out about the extreme binge drinking, which non-Christians say will destroy hundreds of thousands of great British young people, including some of the best university students, within the next 10 or 20 years. Actually, non-Christians are speaking out on some of the issues, including smoking, which is really we don't talk about in the church anymore, even though it kills millions of people throughout Europe. But things have changed, and that's not my message this morning, but it was a horrible childhood experience to meet my grandfather. My grandmother, of course, divorced him, and to realize as a young person that's what could happen to me. At 16, I moved into the world of addiction to pornography, and the whole world of sex. I was young, so I'd actually never had sex, and engaged in fantasy and pornography, and as Chris Rea, the pop singer, once said, one of my favorite songs, that I was on the highway to hell. When a little old praying resurrection woman put my name on her Holy Ghost hit list, she was of Scottish background as well, and she started to pray for me. She not only prayed that I'd become a Christian, and I was going to the high school near our house, I was about to become the most popular student, called Mr. Ramsey High School. I was arrogant, I was raising money to buy a new football field, I was elected president of the student council. She knew I was really an egocentric, lost New Jersey kid. And so she not only prayed for my salvation, can you imagine? She prayed that I'd become a missionary. She even talked about it with me, you know. I like to talk about my own life. And she sent me a Gospel of John through the post, and as I began to read that little book, and sometimes one day it would be pornography, and the next day it would be the Gospel of John. The battle was going on in my life, and the Word of God teaches that. And then this character, Billy Grant, came to New York City. Now that was not my scene. I was in a community of very proud, arrogant, mainly Dutch people. You know, we were interested in Yale and Harvard. We weren't thinking about wild evangelists or Bible-thumping nutcases. So that was not our scene. And in that particular culture, everybody had just a little enough religion to look at least somewhat respectable. Is not that the greatest, still one of the greatest problems in Scotland today? Just enough Christianity, just enough religion to look respectable. Of course, some are the other end of the spectrum. They don't want to look respectable, but I'm speaking in general terms. And so Billy Graham rolled into New York City. It's only a miracle I ever went to that meeting. Somebody said he was a hypnotist, so be careful. Then a godly business person, and all the books have never written the stories of godly business people who put their businesses on the altar, put their professions on the altar, and used it for the kingdom. For me, they are just as important as missionaries and preachers who have all the books written about them now for over a hundred years. So this businessman who was very burdened for my hometown, and he knew about me, gave me a free seat on a coach in New York City to hear Billy Graham. Not a crusade, that was to be two years later. This was a one night meeting. And I heard, I sat by the way as far as I could, brought one of the girls I was interested in, I thought maybe she could do some of this, and I brought my binoculars and I'm watching Billy Graham in a crowd of 20,000 people. And I heard the gospel. I heard the message of the resurrection, the death and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And Billy Graham at the end of the meeting called people to believe and to come out of their seat and come forward and profess faith in Jesus. I'd hardly ever seen anything like this in my life. And initially I didn't move. Because I think because I'd become president of the youth fellowship, I'd become the assistant to the pastor in a very, very liberal kind of social club church, and was about to receive the highest religious award in the Boy Scout movement, that I was okay. What a twisted, twisted idea. But somehow, because people were praying, because God's word is sharper than a two inch sword, I got out of my seat, I went forward in that meeting, and I believed on the Lord Jesus. I didn't understand it all. I know I began to weep. I know somebody gave me a Gospel of John, which I already had. And suddenly it was all over. And we were out in the streets. My first experience as a Christian, and I'm not exaggerating, was that there were some really tough people outside this fight arena in New York City, and they were saying really horrendous things. And I had this very attractive girl with me, and so they made some comment about her. So this is my chance to stand for righteousness. I'm born again for 20 minutes, into battle. And I said something like, you can't say that. Wham! I was laying on the pavement, and to be honest, I've had 53 years of laying on the pavement, even in my Christian life. But I keep getting up and getting back into the battle. Fortunately, the leader of the gang came along, and I looked pretty skinny in those days. I still don't look too much. That's why this jacket doesn't look good on global people. And it's amazing how many triple X's of these that I've been able to sell. But anyway, the leader of this gang came along, and he said, you know, leave this kid alone. And somehow God spared me. But I'm reminded of the fact that in our Christian life, God has never promised an easy time. God has never said we'll never be knocked down, we'll never fail, we'll never have disappointments and heartaches. And maybe there's someone here this morning that's holding back, in terms of Jesus, in terms of the Gospel, maybe because of disappointment. Maybe because when you tried to live for Jesus in your own way, you got knocked over too many times. And maybe sometimes even by people who knew the Lord. I often try to speak on the subject of unrealistic expectation. Have you ever heard a sermon on that? Unrealistic expectation. Because it's one of Satan's most subtle strategies to discourage people. Young people with totally unrealistic expectation about their parents. Just because their parents go to church, just because their parents sing hymns or love Jesus, they're now supposed to be sort of perfect, and they won't make any mistakes, they'll never say anything stupid around the house, they'll never make any wrong decisions. So you have young people leaving their homes, holding things against their parents, because of unrealistic expectation. The Bible says all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible also teaches that after we become believers, which is what happened to me that night, we have to grow in our faith. It indicates that it's a pilgrimage. That's why we have famous books like Pilgrim's Progress. That's why we have so many of these other great Christian books. Because we have to grow in grace. We have to become stronger in God. The enemy will be attacking us every step of the way. And so Satan attacks Christian homes. He attacked my own home with my own three children, in ways that I couldn't even describe in a public meeting. The Bible says the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty unto God to the pulling down of strongholds. And yet today we find often this prayerlessness among God's people. I've interviewed Christian leaders even in my own movement that acknowledged they had no prayer life when I was introduced it was mentioned that somehow as a teenager I prayed this prayer. Lord, I only want one thing in life. I want to know how to pray. I'm sure at that time I had unrealistic expectations. But thanks to men and women of God, thanks to His Word, thanks to Christian books, thanks to a lot of things I don't understand, I learned somehow to find biblical balance. I know some people don't like that word, but in my life one of the most important words as a natural extremist, as someone who almost completely lost my faith at university, as someone who struggles a great deal even when I read the Bible, and these days wading through Leviticus and Deuteronomy has not been my favorite Bible study period. I've discovered God's grace. And I've discovered I'm still growing. Now I've got this grandchildren thing. I have a little grandchild, Emily. She's a little complex to relate to. But I managed to get a little time with her. She lived down the road in London. Then her dad and her mother moved to Idaho, USA. Don't ask me to explain that. She's just come back to visit. Guess what? She just had her 19th birthday. Did any of you have grandchildren? Raise your hand. We've got a few older people here. What about the younger ones? Are any of you younger people? Are any of you grandchildren? Are any of you grandchildren? Some of you are a little tired this morning. Tony Campala says grandchildren are wonderful. They're God's prize to you for not killing your own kids. Anyway, I had a wonderful day in London with my 19-year-old granddaughter and took her on London Eye, then for a Mexican meal, and then the aquarium. That's a bit fishy. Then we went to see a London play. I'm just stunned at how quickly life is going. To me, that's also another reason why what we are talking about here this morning, what we are worshipping about, is the most important thing in life. I beg of you, do not have a once-a-year Easter. But experience by God's grace, by God's power, resurrection reality every single day. And I can honestly say this without exaggeration, that from that moment of my conversion in New York City 53 years ago, March 3rd or 4th, I've experienced something of this resurrection reality every single day. Not in the absence, as one great Scottish theologian said, not in the absence of doubt, but often in the midst of tremendous struggles and doubt. I wrote down, just very quickly, some words that come to my mind when I think of the resurrection and I'll close by just giving you these words. First of all, forgiveness. It's all about forgiveness. Realizing that when we come to Jesus and believe on Him, the reality of what He did on the cross becomes our personal reality and we are forgiven. We, in a sense, come back from the dead. It speaks in the epistles about being dead in trespasses and sin. The Lazarus Syndrome. And now we're back alive in Jesus. The second aspect of this reality is love. We experience God's love. We realize He loves us. That's why He sent His Son. His only begotten Son. Some people find all of this quite easy to believe and understand. I'm not in that league. If any of you are in the Doubting Thomas League, I more can understand where you're coming from. It just seems so awesome. The God of the galaxies, the God of the universe, coming here, taking on this human form, then allowing Himself to be crucified as the Son of God. He could have been delivered. He could have called giant armies. It could have been the most spectacular thing. It would have made Indiana Jones look like he was playing in a sandbox. I believe his new film came back this week. I haven't got to see it yet. Love. God's love for us. Producing within us the greatest revolution the world has ever known. A revolution of love. So that people who were once selfish and egocentric become compassionate. And all they want to do, and I can say this is true of my own life, all they want to do is serve others and give to others and see other people experience this grace. Then spread this message around and help the poor and the lonely and the suffering. That's what many of these books are about. And we hope you'll pick some of them up this morning. And then thirdly, resurrection reality speaks of grace. For me, one of the greatest words in the Bible, we find it so often. God's grace, first of all, expressing His love for us and sending His Son Jesus so those who believe on Him can have eternal life. And then what Swindoll in his amazing book Grace Awakening talks about. This grace that now flows out of us so that we're forgiving. We're being hearted. We're no longer judgmental. We're no longer critical. We're no longer negative. We're no longer among the crowd who are always murmuring and complaining about this and about that. We're resurrected people filled with the Holy Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness. Again, such does no law. And I say as a skeptic, I have seen so many thousands of transformed lives in the 90 nations that I have visited non-stop for 53 years that it's impossible, it's impossibly for me to deny the testimony of God's transforming grace. My skeptic friend, my doubting Thomas, this is the truth of God. As Dr. Schaeffer, one of O.N.'s leading mentors for many years, I just finished reading his manuscript, his biography. If you were at the cross and ran your finger down, you'd get a splinter. It happened in time and space and history. And the resurrection, which some people are trying to say is not important whether it happened or not. It's an existential philosophical experience that can help you along the way whether it happened or not. May God have mercy. It happened. He has risen. And this grace explodes in our lives, taking us into vision, taking us into greater action, giving us greater love for people and the desire to die to self and live for Christ. And that has enormous, enormous, eternal impact, including the fact that each one of us will be resurrected in that end day and will be with Him for eternity. Some Christians I talk to, including my friend Randy Alcorn, they just seem to have so much faith about that. He's written a book about heaven so thick that just looking at it makes me feel nervous. What could he be saying in a book that thick about this place that I cannot comprehend? Obviously, I need to read the book. Praise the Lord, He's just come out with a children's edition just for me. You're looking at a doubting Thomas, but I put my faith in him 53 years ago and by His grace, because of His word, I'm still running the race. I don't really understand fully what's ahead, but I lay hold of it by faith. Let's pray. Living God, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for resurrection reality. I thank You, Lord, for so many years ago, saving me and starting me on this great road of resurrection and transformation. And that somehow here I am now, as a grandfather, still growing, still learning, still realizing what grace is all about. And Lord, I pray especially for anyone that may be here this morning that's never really taken that step of faith. Somehow they're still stuck in the tomb. Lord, I pray the stone would roll away today and they would come forth believing on You and receiving the gift of eternal life. In Jesus' name, Amen. ======================================================================== Audio: https://sermonindex1.b-cdn.net/16/SID16952.mp3 Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/george-verwer/resurrection-reality/ ========================================================================