Matthew 2024

Matthew 27 starting from verse 57, and we're gonna go to chapter 28 verse 15.

As evening approached, there came a rich man from Arabothea, named Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to pilate, he asked for Jesus' body and Piler ordered that it be given to him. Joseph took the body wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away. Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary was sitting opposite the tomb.

The next day, the 1 after preparation day, the chief priests and the pharisees went to pilot, sir, they said. We remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said after 3 days, I will rise again. So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. Take a guard, pilot answered.

Go make the tumors secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. After the sabbath at dawn, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen 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 the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning and his clothes were whiter snow.

The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and 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 crucified. He is not here. He has risen just as he said.

Come and see the place where he lay. Then Go quickly and tell his disciples. He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into galilee. There you will see him. Now I have told you.

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy. And ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly, Jesus met them. Greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him.

Then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid Go and tell my brothers to go to galilee, there they will see me. While the woman were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests, everything that had happened, When the chief priests 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 him away while we were asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.

Yes. Welcome. My name's, Pete Woodcock. I'm 1 of the parts of the church. We're going through nearly finished.

Matthew's taken us some time to get through brilliant stuff in Matthew. And, we're here in chapter 28. So Keep that open. If you can, let me pray. Father, help us now as we look at this perhaps well known passage to some of us help us to see these great truths, are fresh and, revel in them we pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Now we we mark, graves and tombs, because we we wanna sort of visit and pay homage to to various people, don't we? So we'd like to know where they are, where someone last remains are and that sort of stuff. And we'll we'll travel hundreds of miles sometimes just to go and see the grave of someone famous or someone that we like or respect or admire or a family member. And and there's something very poignant, I think. So something very powerful about looking at a a a grave and seeing the earthly remains or or knowing that the earthly remains of that person are underneath here or in that tomb or something.

Carl Marx, anybody been to Karl Marx' his grave? Yep. Hands up your bin. Yeah. You can you can go to his grave in London.

Anybody been to see Mohammed? Nope. He's in a grave. Lennon, anyone seen Lennon? Anyone yep.

You seen Lennon. You go to his tomb, Elvis. I was interested in this 1. 0, no 1 been to Elvis's great. Oh, well, there we go.

Nelson, I guess a lot of us have of Benton Nelson's grave, but we don't quite know it. Anyone been to Nelson's grave? Anyone been to Saint Paul's Cathedral? Yeah. Well, it's under there.

Nelson Mandela. Anyone been there? Nope. Okay. Well, there's all these, all these graves, and you can name, and we could carry on naming them.

And, we we we know where their earthly re remains are. And we, as I say, we can go visit them, we can remember them, remember what they achieved, what they did, whether we liked them or not. But across the grave also says something else, doesn't it? However, great, they are. However, we've loved them.

However, we've been inspired by them, influenced by them or entertained by them. They're dead. They're extinguished. They've come to an end. And death truly is an enemy of everyone.

However, influential. And, of course, it's your enemy. Death is an enemy, and death is always hungry, always hungry for more, and will never be satisfied until every man and woman and Boy and girl has entered in. So death is an enemy. 1 of the reasons we visit graves is is we say, well, I wanna keep the memory of this person alive.

I wanna take flowers there. I want to remember them. But even if we do remember them, and we are still influenced by their their works, they're still dead, and we won't remember them that long. Anybody know the the name of their great grandad? Yeah.

You do. What about the great great grandad? It it's not long, is it until we forget? Unless there's a, you know, really, really famous people. It's 1 of the reasons why we want to be famous because we want our name to carry on.

But very few names do carry on when you think about it because graves marks the spot, tombs mark the spot where the earthly remains remain and decay. And turn to dust. But when it comes to the most famous person that's ever walked this world, Jesus Christ, Jesus the Messiah, We don't know where his tomb was. We actually don't know. And 1 of the reasons is because the early Christians didn't really bother to market, which is a strange thing, isn't it?

Because we always mark the tombs and the graves of those that we follow, and that we like to visit them. But not with Jesus. They didn't bother to market. Now there are a number of, sort of, places where people think it might be, where the 2 might be, and they've come sort of hundred years, hundreds of years after. And you can spend thousands of pounds, perhaps not right at this moment, to go to the place and try and see 1 of these tombs, and perhaps 1 of them is the right tomb.

I mean, they can't be both right, but perhaps 1 of them is the right tomb, but it is largely a waste of money to spend thousands of pounds ago to see see the tomb because his remains aren't there because he is not there. And that brings us to this passage that we read. These 2 Marys, we're told in verse 5, were looking for Jesus at the tomb. And then when they arrive, there's the strangest and scariest tour guide. Now some of the tombs you go to, if you go, like, to to the pyramids, you're gonna have a tour guide that's going to tell you who was in here and and but this tour guide is quite scary.

And in verse 6, second half of verse 6, says, come and see the place where he lays. Now this is 1 of the last times, that the tomb of of of Jesus was actually there was a tour of it. It's true that the disciples are gonna come later, but they don't have a tour guide. This tour guide says, come, let us go and see where he was laid. Verse 6 again.

He is not here. He has risen. Just as he said, come and see the place where he is laid. That's the last tour guide. Here's my first point, and it's a ridiculous thing to say.

Really? First point is he has risen. How can you actually how can you actually even just sort of have a point as dull as that? Because it's unbelievable what I'm saying here, isn't it? It's extraordinary.

He is risen. How do you sum that up? He is risen? The trouble is we've heard this message, but just it's staggering. He is risen.

Karl Marx hasn't. Mohammed hasn't. Even Elvis hasn't. Lennon hasn't. Nelson hasn't.

Nelson Mandela hasn't. And so we could go on. He is risen verse 6. He is not here. Don't worry about this too.

This is the last tour guide. You don't need another tour of it. He is not here. He has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he was he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples. He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into galilee There you will see him. Now I have told you, Jesus has risen from the dead. This is describing resurrection morning. It's extraordinary.

It's extraordinary. Jesus isn't just resuscitated. It's not that his heart stopped and they started it going again. This is amazing, amazing news that he's come through death. He has risen again with an altogether new life, not a resuscitated life.

This is a new life. He's like a seed that dies and then grows into a mighty oak. The mighty oak is so different to the seed, but the seed when it dies grows into this. This is a new life. This is resurrection life.

There's a company right at this moment in Germany, called tomorrow bio. And they freeze you. They offer to freeze you for a 165000 pounds immediately you die. And they'll freeze you so in the hope that in the future, they might have medicine to be able to bring you to life again, and then they'll unfreeze you and bring you to life again. Yeah.

You can have your head done. I think it's, like, 60000 pounds or something for your head if you can't afford the whole body. Now the thing about that company, which is going at the moment, you can have your body frozen just at the immediate point of death for a future resuscitation. But the thing about that is what I would worry about it is that it was another company a few years ago that did the same thing, and they went bankrupt and had to turn the freezers off. But even if even if, to more and of course, no 1 can really sue them, can they?

But even if, tomorrow's bio doesn't do that, and even if it really works and they defrost you and unable to bring you back to life, you only come back to life in the same body that you had, and that body will die. Are you gonna get frozen again? I mean, how many times are you allowed to freeze a lump of meat? It's extraordinary, isn't it that people are paying this? Jesus is alive, not like that.

And it's hard for us to imagine, but he is definitely not an unfrozen lamb chop of a man. He's not that He's truly risen. He has gone through death, and he has a resurrection body, not a resuscitated body. It truly is good news. And so just to have a point saying he is risen, it's just it it's just ridiculous.

This is an utter and complete historical change. This is a wow moment. This is a hope moment. This is a moment where death has been dealt with, the very enemy that you and I have, the very enemy that we pretend that we haven't got, the very enemy we never liked talking about, the subject that we'd like to get out of our heads. This has been dealt with.

This is extraordinary. He's he's the first fruit we're told. He's the first fruit of a a harvest that is coming in. And if we're in him, we follow him. It's extraordinary stuff.

This He is alive. He is risen. How do I put it? I don't know how to do it because it's so amazing. He's killed the cause of death by his death.

He's offered us the cure for death, a guaranteed physical resurrection body. This body that we care so much about and worry so much about and look in the mirror and think, oh my goodness. Is a dying shriving little seed? You are nothing but a walnut. Yes?

And you look like 1. And but when you plant it, you'll grow into a love lovely walnut tree. This is resurrection It's so much more substantial than what other people talk about. People say, well, look, eternal life is keeping the memory going, but we don't even remember our great, great grandfather's name. It's just ridiculous.

And others seem to think that, you know, the re this this is like real, real life. And and when we die, we have this sort of ghostly spiritual experience, and that's that's that's not what the Bible says. This is Shadow lands, as c s Louis says. This is the shadow. The reality is to come, the substance.

The beauty The life. Jesus, the Bible is talking about resurrection life, and Jesus is the first. So we're told these 2 marys go to the grave of their dear friend. That's what people do with graves why you have a grave. That's a very normal natural thing to do, and they go with a very heavy heart.

Well, of course, you do when you go to a grave. Death is on their mind. The death of a loved 1. This is very, very, very difficult to situation they're going into, but everything changes. They go with a sad heart, and they come with a joyful heart.

But so let's just follow the process then. Let's go back a bit. Here's my second point then, the situation, sadness, and fear. Think about their sadness. Jesus whom they loved, and they absolutely loved these marys.

Jesus whom whom they loved. They'd just been seen executed by professional executioners in a really cruel execution. This is really cruel stuff. You know that stuff by the Romans. And then he's died on the cross, and then Joseph of Arabothea comes and asks for the dead body from pilot, the Roman governor.

Joseph then wraps the body in burial clothes and and places the body in his own brand new tomb. This is cut out of a rock. You know, he's he's gotta just hold in a rock. Then they've rolled a great big stone in front of the rock. So he's actually incaved in a rock, sealed in a rock.

And then the chief priests, they're all suddenly worked up. Because they recall a saying, and it's very interesting because the sayings they record in the past, they twist around. But they seem to remember this 1, and they seem to remember it correctly. They're saying, Oh, well, you know, he said he'd rise again. Now, obviously, they knew that couldn't possibly happen, but they were scared that the disciples would come and nicked the body and say it happened, and Hirei, look, he's he's risen.

And so they go to pilot. I mean, pilot, I it must have been furious because they keep coming back to him. And this is what happens in verse, chapter 27 verse 63. Sir, they said. We remember that while he was still alive, that deceiver said, after 3 days, I will rise again.

Well, he is a deceiver if he didn't, isn't he? So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. Take a guard, pilot answered.

Go make the tomb as secure as you know how. So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting a guard. So now we have a dead body in a solid rock tomb, with a large stone in front of it, in front of the entrance. And now we have a Roman guard guarding it, and a Roman seal on it To say if anyone touches that, all the power of the Roman authority will be against you. All the judgment of the superpower will be against you.

So you can get their sadness, can't you? Because they're going to see their friend, and they're never gonna see him. How could they see him? And if you think about it, every grave is a bit like that, isn't it? Death keeps the loved 1 in a tomb.

You can't really see them. There's a power in death, isn't there? That stops even us. Seeing our loved ones. In fact, you don't wanna see them.

In fact, there comes a point where they so smell that you'd be repulsed by your loved 1. That's what death does. It's powerful, isn't it? And it holds people to this decaying world. So the 2 mayors come to the tomb.

With great sadness, but there's also an atmosphere of fear going on. Of course, there is. You know, a big stone and a a seal on the stone and guards are watching the the tomb, and there's the whole memory of the crucifixion. I mean, I doubt if they slept, They're shaking, they're going to see their friend, and now they realize that they're actually going into territory where there's a Roman guard. And if they touch that seal, they're in big trouble.

This is a scary, scary event they're walking into now. But there's something else that brought even bigger fear. Because these 2 marys are suddenly caught up into an event that cuts right across all earthly possibilities. Suddenly, the natural world has changed. Look at it.

First 28. First, chapter 28, verse 1. After the sabbath, at dawn, on 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 it.

His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards these are Roman guards. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and become like dead men. Their sadness, but now there's fear. I don't know which 1 is bigger now.

All a memory of the crucifixion, all of the sadness of losing their la their lover, the the 1 they love. Now there's this supernatural stuff going on. And even Roman guards, you know, are like dead men. They're so scared. And so they're taken up into this this supernatural thing.

It did that Nate has been sort of broken into and and supernatural. It's sort of broken out. It's an amazing thing. And notice this, it was at dawn that these things were happening as the sun rose on the first day of the weak. Do you see what's happening here?

Into this natural decaying world of death, there's a new creation beginning. Yeah. The seed is busting through the ground. It's turning into a mighty oak. It's amazing, isn't it?

A new day, just as god commanded the light to shine on the very first day of creation. Then here's the first day of the new creation. In the darkness and the horror and the decay, something is happening that is irresistible and the darkness cannot extinguish it. Verse 2, there was a violent earthquake for an angel of the lord came down from heaven. I love this.

I love this bit. You just gotta just take yourself there. The just just the simple presence of the angel from heaven was enough to shape the entire world. Yeah. And the angel came down from heaven, walked over the tube.

This is what it says. Look, He walked over to the tomb, rolled away the stone, and then I love this bit. What did he do? He sits on the tomb. He's sitting on the on the on the on the stone.

It's great big stone. Right? He's just moved it out and then sat on it. And I I just think this is amazing. It's a it there's this lightning angel we're told.

What whatever that was like to look at. This lightning angel, and it seems like the lightning angel wants to sort of boast about the resurrection by sitting on this massive stone, but to him, it's like a a feeble little deck chair. He's just pushed it aside, and he's sitting on it. Extraordinary, isn't it? The stone that's supposed to keep Jesus in the grave The lord of heaven and earth was supposed to be kept in this grave by this mighty big stone, and an angel has moved it away, and he's sitting on it like his stool.

Watching the sunrise. And what what about the Roman guards? The world superpower was supposed to keep Jesus in the tomb. I mean, you'd think that was a pretty easy job. I don't know what those guards were like when they were being told.

What's your job, Lads? You know, well, we're going off to fight the, you know, the the barbarians. Wow. That's that's good. You know, we're gonna go and kill a load of barbarians.

We're going there as a legion. What are you doing? Well, I'm gonna keep a dead bloke in a grave. What? It's just ridiculous.

It's such a pretty easy job, isn't it? We put a seal on. We just guard it there, but then the lightning angel turns up and doesn't even bother to talk to the the Roman god And, and, actually, just even I don't know whether the the lightning angel even knows the guards are there. The guards know he's there, moves to stone away, and they're almost like dead. All the plotting and planning and killing and stone rolled over, and guards and seal and Roman authority.

There's an earthquake and an angel from heaven, and he rolls the stone away, and he sits on it. And that's just a mere creature from heaven. If a mere creature can do that stuff, then what about the power and authority of the lord of heaven and earth? Death is an unmovable barrier for us, isn't it? It's the great stone that shuts us in the grave and keeps us in a decaying world.

But Jesus rolls death away. The angel rolled the stone away, not to let Jesus out, but to let the mares in for the tour guide. Death is not the final word here. Jesus is extraordinary. So they were afraid.

Can you get that? They're sad. They're afraid. I mean, those holding the son of god as a prisoner to the grave, well, they're like dead men, so that doesn't work. And so they're afraid.

This is the this is the superpower. Remember, this is the Roman army, and so they're a little afraid. Now wonder the first words are then to these marys, do not be afraid. That's my third point. Do not be afraid.

Verse 6 again, verse 5 rather. The angel said to the women, do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified, he is not here. He has risen just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell the disciples. He has risen from the dead, and he's going ahead of you into galilee. There you will see him. I have told you. So the guards, the Roman guards, they really seriously do need to be afraid.

Of what's going on here. But the 2 Marys, they needed comfort. And so the angel sort of ignores the the Roman guards and says to them do not be afraid. Now why not be afraid? This is the presence of a sort of lightning angel.

It's a scary moment. You know, why should why should they feel safe here? Well, look what he says to the angel. Do not be afraid for I know you are looking for Jesus. So they have something really in common here.

The angel from heaven meets the 2 mares from earth, and they're united in their interest of serving Jesus. So the angels, we're told in the Bible, even though they're powerful lightning angels, they are to serve the followers of Jesus. That's what they're there for. And so the rightly angel is actually no threat to these women. He's a threat to the gods, but he's not a threat to the women.

And he only wants to tell him about Jesus because he wants to show off that Jesus isn't in the tomb. Look at it again. Look. Verse 5, the angel said to the women, do not be afraid. For I know that you are looking for Jesus, who is crucified.

He's not here. He was risen. Just as he said. Come and see the place where he's laid. Come and see the place where he's laid.

I love that. He's he's it seems to me the angel is pretty excited in showing the mayor is what has happened. Coming in to pick the entity too? Come to have a look. I rolled the stone away so that you could have a look.

I'm here for you to serve you. I didn't need to roll the stone away to get Jesus out. He's the rod. We wondered what was going on when we were in heaven as angels. We were looking down and thinking what nurse going on, but he's risen again.

We've come down to serve you on rolling the stone away so that you can have the last tour of this tomb, because no 1 else needs to know where the tomb is. Who cares? He's risen again. It's an extraordinary event here. It's as if here is the Mary's full of fear and sadness and doubts about who Jesus is.

But here are the angels in heaven, you know, having the champagne bottles open and they're all cheering, and there's no doubt, and there's no fear, and they're all excited. It's as if the angels are celebrating in heaven, and 1 of them looks down and sees the mare is all sad and afraid and thinks, hey, well, I'll just pop out from the party, and I'll go down, and I'll show them that he's risen. Well, cheer him up. And so this lightning angel comes and sits so happily on the tombstone and says it's all fulfilled. He's not here.

He's risen. Just as he said. Yeah? Just as he said. His promises are true and his word is powerful.

This really is the most wonderful thing in history, isn't it? Isn't it? Is there anything better than this? So go and tell verse 7. Then go quickly and tell his disciples he has risen from the dead.

And it's going ahead of you into galilee. There you will see him. Now I've told you, so the women women hurried away from the tomb. Afraid yet filled with joy. And ran to tell his disciples.

This risen Jesus says the angel wants to meet you in galilee. And so they they're running. Go and tell the disciples meet them in galilee. Yeah? Go and spread the news.

And they don't need to be told twice. But do you see the beginning of change that's going on here? Remember they came sad, they came with fear, and the truth now of this tomb where Jesus is not, that he's not here. He is alive. He is arisen.

This truth now is beginning to dawn on them on this new new creation, day of dawning. Verse 8 again. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid and yet filled with joy and ran to tell the disciples. You see the mixture intriguing mixture of emotions there? It's it's an it's an amazing thing that's going on here.

Joy is beginning to appear where there was sadness and fear. And and it's beginning to dawn on them, like a new day. There's a new creation. Someone's bust out of the grave. Someone's beaten the grave.

And they don't walk. They run, but they don't get very far. And here's my fourth point, greetings. Look at verse 8. So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy and ran to tell the disciples.

Suddenly, Jesus met them. Well, hold it. He wasn't supposed to meet them there. Suddenly, Jesus met them, greetings, he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worship them, then Jesus said to them, do not be afraid.

Go tell my brothers to go to galilee. There they will see me. So the angel seemed to say what the plan was, and I I I can't think the angel made up the plan. The angels seem to say the plan. I guess it must be Jesus' plan.

Look, go go to Galile Lee. Yeah? And I'm you'll you'll see Jesus there, but it seems that the resurrected Jesus is so cited to meet his people that he can't wait for galilee, so he suddenly comes and and what does he say? What's the first word of the first man in the new creation? Greetings.

It's strange, isn't it? I mean, it's almost British, isn't it? Yeah? He doesn't kiss them 3 times like the French or whatever. He sort of almost holds his hands out.

Hello? You know, this is amazing, isn't it? It's it is so British. I I guess heaven is like, you know, England particularly, you know. Greetings.

The first word of the man who's bust through the grave and brought the new creation on the first day is greetings. Hello? And what do they do? They come it they come to him and they clasp his feet and worship him. He's a living god.

He's not only the creator of all things. He's the recreator. He's the redeemer. He's real flesh and blood. He has a resurrection body.

He's worthy of all our worship. We will bow down to him. He's just punched the biggest hole, that the, and, that the world's thrown at him, the biggest thing that they could possibly throw at him, death keep him in the grave. The world, that's that's his strongest power. Everything dies, entropy.

Everybody dies. Everybody dies. Everybody's going to the grave. Such a powerful This man's punched a hole in it. He's risen again.

He's burst out of the grave. So they worship him. And I went, why asking you do if you know that? Then Jesus said to him, said to them, do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galloway.

They'll see me there. Go and tell. Go and tell. They're urged to believe just what he's said has come true. They're urged to rejoice and they're urged to share.

So let's just finish then. There's a choice now for us, isn't there? So this passage presents us really with 2 ways to live. I mean, it's an amazing event. We can live for this old world as much as we like.

We can sap out as much life from this old world. We can hold on and gasp for breath to our last breath. We can hold on to this old world as much as we like, but actually we will go to the grave. We're going to go to the grave. Yeah.

And you know that. I know that. We pretend we don't you're gonna go to the grave. That's the old world. And the world that that death is so strong.

It's gonna hold you. It's gonna hold you in. Yeah. You don't really need a Roman army to keep you in the grave. Death will do its job.

So that's 1 way you live for that, and try and suck out as much breath from this world, as much life as you can get from this world, yeah, or you can live for this man who has another world in his hands, the resurrection man, the man that can take you through the grave, the man that will come to you at your death day and lead you like the good shepherd he is through the valley of the shadow of death into the new creation. So there you stand then. We're all standing at the edge of our grave. We just don't quite know when we're gonna slip in, do we? Right there, aren't we?

On the edge? Well, you might think we're a long way away, but we're not. We might think we're on solid ground. Yeah. You'll stay on solid ground.

You'll become solid ground. You'll stay in the grave. What are you gonna do? Do we silence the insistent tug of the grave by the noise of life. Do we laugh and joke in our impotent powerless fear?

Do we rage at the dying of the light. What do we do? Or you like the the atheist, Terry Preatchett, remember the discworld, Bloker wrote discworld. He said that, he will shake hands with death. He's looking forward to shaking hands with their wiz already on it.

Or will you hear greetings greetings. A new world order, a new world. You'll die like a seed and you'll grow into the new world. There's only 1 who's stepped into the darkness and walked the other side. There's only 1 that can greet us.

So you have a stone, you have a seal, you have, no 1 is allowed to enter or, or, or come out of that grave. And yet Jesus bursts through and does it, he pays the cause of death. He pays for the wages of soon. So what are you gonna do? There's a really wonderful sentence.

I just wanna end with this, and I think we're gonna take the lord's supper. So just turn to to 2 timothy. It won't come up, but just turn So let's turn to 2 Timothy. And just see how 1 man lives in the light of this. It's quite amazing, I think.

2 Timothy in chapter 1. And verse 9. Says this. 2 Timothy 1 verse 9. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

But verse 10, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our of our savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Gospel means good news. He's destroyed death, and he's brought life an everlasting life. Everlasting life through this good news. That's amazing.

But then look at how it goes on, boy, it's 11. And this gospel, this good news, this is so good news. It's just crazy. Just to talk about it in sort of nice terms that I've done. I don't know how to do it because it's so good news.

And of this gospel, this good news, I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. That is why I'm suffering as I am. Yet, this is no cause for shame because I know whom I have believed, and I'm convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day, till the day I die. What extraordinary sentence? I can live now.

Really live. Even though the world is attacking me, Even the world is ashamed of my message, it thinks it's a stupid message. I'm not ashamed of it because it's life. It's life. And so I'll share it.

I'll share it. I'll live for it. I'll give my life to it. I'm convinced. He's guarding that place.

It's it's new life. It's what it's all about. I've been reading a book this weekend. After oh, gosh. There's so many stories.

I better be careful. Bloat goes to Patton New Guinea. He's told by, anthropologists that you do get people that are headhunters, and you do get cannibals. But they're never the same. The ones who headhun don't eat you.

The ones who eat you don't sort of play with your head. Yeah? Amazing. Bloat goes to a place in Papurnew Guinea. 22 feet of rain they have.

It's swampland a year. 22 feet of rain a year. It's swampland. Every disease is in this. This bloke goes there.

Why would anyone go there? Because he wants to reach the tribe. And unlike what the anthropologist said, they're either headhunters or their cannibals, these are both These are both. They both headhun and they eat you. Yeah.

And it's a swan plant. Why would anyone go there? Because he wants to bring new life to them. He wants to bring new life to them. It's extraordinary, isn't it?

There's another missionary I was reading about. He goes again to Papenugini. He tries to teach them the gospel. Their highest praise is for traitors. They love traitors, not the not the program.

They haven't even seen a telly. They love a traitor. When he read the gospel, and he read about Judith, they all clapped way, Judith. They thought Jesus was the hero. They thought Jesus was the weakling.

Why did he go there? Then a tribe comes. And there's gonna be a tribe warfare, but I won't go into all the story of what happens. Why would you go to a place like that? Because He wants to bring the gospel, by the way, those tribes all became Christians.

He brought the gospel to those people. They changed their life. The only the only blood they took was at the lord's supper, juice that represented the blood of the 1 that died for them. The body was laid down for them, and they feasted on Jesus who saved them and changed them. Amazing, isn't it?

You see, you can do something like that. You could really live, can't you? You could really live a dangerous life. You could really go for it because you're gonna die anyway. You know?

But you're gonna live anyway if you're in Christ. How exciting. How exciting to be a follower of the 1 that's broken through death. We could boring little lives, don't we? Sometimes.

We should be proud of the good news of Christ. We should speak at the gospel out. We should go and tell if we've met the risen Christ. Let's bow our heads and pray. Finally, we we haven't got time to be careful.

For there's a lost world that we need to get this message out to. But please help us to to go about our lives not being careful. Help us to give our lives. Lord, please help us. We we we know that we might be like these women.

We we might be afraid. We might be afraid of work tomorrow or school or, the operation or, the week ahead, just just the monotony of it, lord, but the that maybe we're that we're wandering around not knowing what we're doing with our lives. And there might be fear in that, but lord, please help us that that there might be joy in that fear as well. Afraid yet filled with joy and filled with hope and filled with the good news. Please help us to live in the light of this in Jesus' name, amen.