3 Experiences At The Same Place

Come on, let's give Him praise for just a moment. Wow! I think they should come back at the end and sing that song one more time. Let's... We'll do that at the... They're all sweaty, so they're saying thank you. Boy, how many have enjoyed that so far? What an absolute blessing. Right after, I want to just share just for a few minutes and right after I'm done, we'll close with that song. We'll scratch what we had and we'll close with that one. We want to welcome you. What a blessing. We want to welcome all those in our annex, all those in the lower rotunda, all the overflow. We couldn't fit everybody in in the first service. Every room was jam-packed. And so, what a blessing that we're here on Resurrection Sunday together. And not only you announcing on 51st and Broadway to all of Times Square that Jesus Christ is alive, but we want to welcome all those watching around the country and around the world. I'm not going to go through all the names, but if you look behind me, you'll see everybody that's watching with us live from around the world. Would you welcome all those that are watching all over the world? We also say hello to our university friends, Stony Brook University, Adelphi University, the Greek Bible College in Athens. We say hello to Temple University, Florida A&M University, and Summit International School of Ministry. Would you welcome all those that are watching? And finally, people ask if we don't take an offering because we keep on this service or any Good Friday because we want to keep the focus on everything that we do.

If you feel this compelling to give, there's a QR code, and that's all we'll say. God has something to do here today. Amen? Let's just pray. Holy Spirit, you are still speaking. You have spoken through music, you have spoken through the screen, you have spoken through the stage, and God, you have spoken these words, come alive. So God, I'm just going to ask you today in these next few moments, would you do something special in this place, in these next few moments, as we get ready to see lives changed today. In Jesus' name, and everybody said, Amen, you may be seated. Thank you. Thank you, worship team. Thank you. I was amazed to read this just a few days ago. I want to take you back just a few hundred years before we go back 2,000 years. It was King Louis XV, who was very anti-Christian and was upset that there was a section of the city near a cemetery where Christians were going, and somehow God was meeting them there, and he was very upset about all of these Christians. So King Louis XV posted a famous sign on a cemetery in Paris in 1732 at the Saint-Medard Cemetery right there in Paris. It says in French, for all those watching from France, it says these words, you're going to see it on the screen, and it says this, I will not begin to even give a shot at what that says, but let me read it to you in English. It says this, by order of the king, it is forbidden for God to perform miracles in this place. Pilate, who had just crucified, did not, Jesus did not post a sign with words, but instead, he put a stone and some Roman soldiers. A stone that historians say would take over 20 men to move, and not just a soldier, but 16 soldiers to guard the tomb of what they thought would be a dead man. This was a bigger statement than King Louis XV's sign. Pilate was saying, in a sense, this, by order of the emperor of Rome, it is forbidden for Jesus to perform miracles in this cemetery.

I was reading the story of a man who was driving through a city with his five-year-old son, and they were driving by a cemetery, and noticed a large pile of dirt next to a freshly dug grave. The cemetery was waiting for a hearse and a casket to arrive, and this child has never seen a cemetery before, so all he sees is an empty grave and a pile of dirt. And when the boy saw the hole and the dirt, but not understanding what a funeral was, he said these words, I have to tell you, there was a cemetery in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago where one got out. Not just anyone, the one Son of God got out. Hallelujah. Soldiers and executive order and posted signs that says, No miracles here, and Jesus got out. Let me read the story. It's in Mark 16. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe, and they were amazed. And he said to them, Do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who has been crucified. And then these three great words, He has risen. He is not here. Behold, here is the place where they laid him, past tense. But go, tell his disciples. And Peter, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. They went out and fled the tomb, for trembling and astonishment

had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. That one, that one that got out, that one that left that tomb was Jesus, the Son of God. He got out, despite men trying to stop that miracle, with a stone and with soldiers. And that morning at the tomb, there were three ladies. They did not realize that their funeral visit, their cemetery visit, would change their whole life. Their visit to a cemetery would give them a new start. In fact, you are going to see this, that there were three experiences at the same place with these women. Three moments they had at a tomb. And they teach us something so profound. You will see it. In verse 2 it says they came to the tomb. In verse 5 it says they entered the tomb. And in verse 8 it says they fled the tomb. It's right there in the scriptures. I mean, when you think about it, they came as mourners in verse 2. Verse 5 tells us that they got the news that gripped them from heaven. A heavenly angel gave them the news. And finally, number 3, verse 8, they ran out in victory. That was the journey of Avril. And that was the journey that Annie brought her through. She went from mourner to receiver of the good news. And then we end this day with a woman who sits on this stage off the church as an evangelist

and walking in victory. That experience can happen to people today. You can come alive. Let me explain those experiences. Experience number 1, they came to the tomb. They were asking questions that have already been answered. Look at the scripture. It says in verse 2, Very early on the morning, the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. Now notice this. They were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Now look at verse 4. First in verse 3 they're looking at one another. Verse 4, they start looking up and they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. Think of that for a moment. Speaking to one another, who will roll away the stone? They're just looking this way. And the Bible says it wasn't until they looked up that they saw the stone had been rolled away. Can I just tell you this? You will not find answers to life looking at one another. You can look for people and look at people and what I began to realize is that you to find your answers, you can't look this way. You must look up. You must look up to God. That's where the answers come from. We're looking for answers from people who need answers themselves. I was reading an article called Saudi Arabia plans to spend $1 billion a year

discovering treatments to slow aging. I couldn't believe it. It was found in the MIT Technology Review. Let me be clear. I do not read the MIT Technology Review. I saw this somewhere else. Listen to what they said. Anyone who has more money than they know what to do with will eventually try to fix the aging issue. Google founder Larry Page has tried it. Jeff Bezos has tried it. The tech billionaires Larry Ellison, Peter Thiel they've all tried it but now it's the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's turn which has about as much money as all of those guys put together. The Saudi royal family has started a not-for-profit organization called the Hevolution Foundation and it plans to spend $1 billion a year of its oil wealth supporting the research of finding ways to slow aging and to extend your life. Now here's my favorite line of the whole article. The Saudi researchers are attempting to understand the underlying causes of aging. Okay, I'm going to answer it for all those watching from Saudi Arabia. Here's the question. The Saudi Arabia, how do you, what is the underlying causes of aging? Here it is, birthdays. Every time you have a birthday,

you get older. I just want you to know, when you have a birthday, you get old. So just understand, you don't have to spend a billion dollars, send it this way. We'll fix the whole thing right now and use it for the kingdom of God. Here's the thought, Saudi Arabia, stop looking at each other. Start looking up because really Jesus answered the question. While you're looking to try to solve it this way with billions of dollars, if you look up, Jesus said it like this, John 14, 19. Because I live, you will live also. They're trying to extend it by 10 and 20 years. I can extend it through Jesus for eternity. You can live forever. The first experience was you gotta stop looking this way. You have to look up. Experience number two, they entered the tomb. Verse five, listen to it. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe. Right at the right, wearing a white robe and they were amazed. He said to them, do not be amazed. You're looking for Jesus, the Nazarene who has been crucified. He is risen, he's not here.

Behold, here is the place where they laid him. When they were at the tomb, they were asking questions that have already been answered. Who will roll away the stone? It has been rolled away. But when they went into the tomb and they entered the tomb, they got answers from someone they never expected to be there. This is what's a miracle. They walk in and there's an angel. Heaven is speaking to them. And it was a quick meeting when they walked into that tomb because he wasn't gonna be there and he wasn't there. My favorite Sunday school story was about a fifth grade Sunday school class where the teacher was talking about Jesus being buried in a borrowed tomb. The tomb belonged, the Bible tells us, to Joseph of Arimathea. It's a borrowed tomb. And one student said she knew why Jesus used a borrowed tomb. Look at her answer. Jesus only needed it three days because he wasn't going to be there that long. That's why he borrowed just the tomb. Didn't need to be an owner at that time. The angel said the reason why he borrowed it, because he's not here, he has risen. That was the answer, that was the answer from heaven.

That was the answer they didn't even expect and the person they didn't even expect to meet. The conversation between Mary and the angel takes a twist, though, in the Gospel of John. Because while she is talking to this angel, John tells us that in the middle of talking, she turns around and she runs into another conversation that she didn't expect, both from heaven. She didn't know who this young man was and, in a sense, who this gardener was. Listen to what it says in John 20, 14. She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but did not know that it was Jesus. And then it says this. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener. She said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, and we saw this on the movie, Mary, she turned and said to him in Hebrew, rabboni, which means teacher. Mary heard her name from the lips of Jesus. She heard her name from Jesus. She knew his voice and, more so, she knew when that voice called her name. That's what makes the difference. You may be sitting here today and I have to tell you, he is calling your name today. He is calling you home.

You're hearing that voice calling you. I have to do something that I normally don't do because we understand who we're talking to around the country and around the world, but we're right here in New York City and sometimes us New Yorkers think that the whole world revolves around us. So let me just ask, how many here are from New York? Would you just raise your hand, hold your. Okay, so let me talk to New Yorkers for a second. Excuse me, those watching around the world. Okay, how many remember the old New York City department stores? Anybody remember those? How many remember A&S? Anybody remember A&S? Mays, Clines, how many remember Corvettes? Or my favorite, Alexander's. Anybody remember Alexander's? I got lost in Alexander's. My mom left me. I was in Alexandria, but it wasn't her fault. It was my fault. We were shopping on Long Island in Alexandria, and while we were in there, I was playing around while she was shopping in the women's section. And they had all of these round islands of women's clothes that you'd walk to. But they made it where kids can go underneath and pop up in the middle. Anybody remember those? And sure enough, I hid from my mom, popped up in the middle, and when I didn't see her anymore, I came back out, and she was gone. Left me. And so here I am amongst hundreds of people, hundreds of shoppers, who are not worried about me, but I'm lost. And I have to tell you, out of those hundreds of people, I remember my mom calling my name. She would call me Timmy. She'd say, Timmy! And what's amazing was, she wasn't louder than those voices, but I knew that voice. And found her there. Because that voice represented home. That voice represented family.

And today, you're hearing, whether in a whisper or inside of your heart, God is calling your name to come home today. He's calling you back. That's what Mary heard when she went into the tomb. When she took one more step. From the outside, it was just questions that God was already answering. When she stepped in, heaven came and began to speak to her. She came to the tomb. She entered the tomb. And let me finish with this. And it's experience number three. The Bible says they fled the tomb, in verse eight, as the instruments begin just to come. It was the atheist who turned Christian professor from Oxford, C.S. Lewis, that talked about his salvation experience. He talked about when he decided to go from experience one and begin to take just an extra step, in a sense, to hear from heaven. And this is what he said. This atheist turned Christian. This Oxford Don. I love his words. He says, looking for God is like fishing for a giant shark. You throw the line over the side, and then the strike. And now you have more than you can handle on the line. Folks, the problem with the modern day church today is people are experiencing church, but not experiencing God. Because when you encounter God, listen to me, you have more than you can handle. When God begins to strike, something happens. That's what it says in verse seven of chapter sixteen of Mark. He says, but go tell his disciples, and Peter, he's going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see him just as he told you. Here it comes, verse eight. They went out and fled from the tomb. The ones that came to it, entered it, are now fleeing from it, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. This is amazing. Something gripped them. Someone gripped them. Took hold of them. The three ladies who came with heads down to put spices and oil on a dead body are now running to tell the good news. This is amazing. The resurrection made them run. The resurrection made them want to tell others. That's what happens when you have been gripped by Jesus. That's what happens when you have had an encounter and an experience with Jesus. Not church, but Jesus. That's what happens. Religion will just ask you to come back every other week. Religion will say, it's okay, show up a couple times a year. A relationship is something that changes you completely. I love the way the message says that verse. It says they got out as fast as they could. They were beside themselves. Their heads were swimming and they were stunned. Jesus is alive. If the greatest event in human history doesn't make us run, shout, or change anything in our lives,

then we live a life of being in the vicinity of Jesus or Christ, but not in Christ. What we have done is we've heard Easter stuff. We've sang words off a screen. But there's something different when that Jesus who has been resurrected, that comes off the pages of this book and comes into our life. He'll take mourners and make them run. He'll take the sad and make them celebrate. He'll take the people with their heads down and then make them lift their hands straight up. He'll change your walk. When they came, they walked as mourners. But when they met Jesus, they ran as fast as they can because He changes the pace. The greatest event in human history, and for some of you, all it's done is make you show up twice a year, the greatest event in human history, and we're still yelling at cars in the Lincoln Tunnel. It's the greatest event in human history, and we're still screaming at gas prices. We still fight hard to stay alive for a few more years, but never think of eternity. The greatest event in human history, and we're still cursing. He hasn't changed our language. We're still living with our girlfriend and our boyfriend. The greatest event, the resurrection, has occurred, and we're still looking to people for answers. He has risen, and we're still yelling at our spouse. He has risen, and we're still trying to find a way to rip off the government or to get Donald Trump out of office. He has risen, and we're still criticizing the church of why we don't go because they always ask for money. The resurrection hasn't changed our lives because we're still hanging around the tomb, but never going in and hearing from heaven and hearing what God has to say. Here's what's incredible. It is C.S. Lewis finished telling about his experience, and he says this. History is the long, terrible story of man trying to find something other than God to make him happy. And it's a dead end every single time. Stand with me. I read a story not too long ago of a family that was watching one of the great movies about the life of Christ all the way from the crucifixion to the resurrection. And they were watching the Easter story on television, The King of Kings. And although the entire family has seen the movie, their youngest girl was too young that they wouldn't let her watch when it got to the crucifixion scene. They felt last year she was too young, but they were going to take a chance that this year she'd get it.

It would not scar her, but they wanted her to see what Jesus went through on that Good Friday on the cross. And their littlest girl was now allowed to watch this intense crucifixion scene. And they said as Jesus was being crucified, they looked at their little girl and they watched tears coming down her face. She was watching Jesus being crucified. As the nails were being hammered into his feet and his wrists, she remained completely silent. Until they took him down and placed him in a tomb. And all of a sudden the dad said, through the tears, her watery eyes, a grin came on. And then she said this, now comes the good part. Can I tell you today, Easter is the good part. The resurrection is the good part. Can I help you just for a moment? Church isn't the good part. Sundays isn't the good part. This isn't the good part. It's when you come alive. It's when God does something inside of you. And some of you who are here today, you've experienced the Easter Sunday service, but you've never experienced the good part. That's when the resurrected Christ comes and makes you come alive. Many of you believe in a Jesus in heaven, but you've never experienced him as the savior of your heart. And that can change today. Jesus said this, he said, there's a term he uses about being born again. He says, in fact, no man can see the kingdom of heaven unless they're born again. What he was saying was, that's the good part. The born again part is that the first time you were born physically, you're breathing. But the second time that Jesus is talking about that spiritual birth, the second birth, that's the come alive part. I don't want to just breathe on the outside, I want to come alive on the inside. I want that part inside of me. That's what he's talking about. And Jesus says, no man can see the kingdom of heaven unless they've experienced the come alive part. That's the come alive. That's when he comes in and changes us. Not just when we come to church. It's when Christ comes inside of our lives. How does that happen? That's when we invite him in.

That's what Avril did in the hallway of her apartment building. That's what many people in this building and those watching around the world have done. Without Christ in you. The Bible tells us without that born again part, that come alive part, that's not how we get to heaven. We don't get to heaven unless we have been born again. That's what Jesus said. Not me. That's what Jesus said. No man shall see the kingdom of heaven unless they're born again. I mean, think of it for just a moment. With the thousands that are watching and the thousands that are here present today, here's the question. Here's the comment I have. If I was to ask everyone in this room, how do you get to heaven? There could be 500 different answers. Think about it for just a moment. How do you get to heaven? Well, you've got to be a good person. I take care of my family. I had communion one time. I go to the mosque. I go to the temple. I've never hurt anybody. I had one guy tell me, I haven't killed anybody. I said, well, that's good. And I would encourage you to continue on. I'm not doing that. But can I, can I just look at this just for a moment, just practically? Here's what's incredible.

If I was to ask you how do you get to heaven, and you have 500 different answers, isn't it remarkable that you're so sure on how to get there? Here it comes. You're going to get angry with me. Here it comes. And you've never been there. But somehow you know the directions. Somehow you're going, no, I've got to get there because I've been a good person. Where did you come with those directions? I made it up. Okay. I can take that. You made it up. Wouldn't it be better to listen to someone who that's his home and he knows how to get to his own home? I hate to tell you, I think I'm going to go with Jesus's directions. Some of you are going like, I've got a PhD. Okay. Listen to me carefully. You can have a PhD. You can have your MBA and still be DUMB because you have to understand that he knows how to get to his own home. And Jesus said, you must be born again. Just as you had a first birth physically, you need a second birth spiritually. How does that happen, Pastor Tim? This is how it happens. It's as simple as ABC. What we would tell a child growing up in a school, A, admit that we're sinners. Admit that we're broken on the inside. Some of you don't even know this about me.

So let me just help you. I have a very serious condition that God had to fix. It's called sin. I have a sinful condition. And some of you are going like, how can you say that? Everyone who asks me that, I'm going like, you've never had a baby before, have you? Isn't it interesting you never have to teach your kid how to be selfish or how to say... They learn immediately, right? The next name after mama is no. That's exactly it. And you're going like, where did that come from? I didn't even teach you no. They just get it. Because inside of everyone, even that cute little pink kid, there's a selfish nature. There's a broken part of us. And we can't fix it with a promise, a prescription, a program. You can't fix it with a priest, a pastor. This church can't fix it. The only one that can fix it is Jesus. We're not mistakers in need of correction. We're sinners in need of a savior. I don't need a second chance. I need a second birth. That's how it changes. Well, how does that happen? That's B, believe. Believe that God sent his son 2,000 years ago to fix my sinful condition that I couldn't fix on my own. He would become my sin bearer. He would die the death that I was supposed to die.

Live the life that I couldn't live and give me a reward I don't deserve called heaven and forgiveness. Isn't it remarkable that we have people that would think that if God sent his son to die on that cross, go through that pain, resurrect, and then look at humanity and say, if you want to come be where I'm at, you've got to be good people. It's incredible. Then why would he have to come and die? It would be the worst case of parental, of father abuse in human history. Go get beat up. Go to Calvary and rise again. But I'm going to tell them that means nothing. It doesn't make any sense. Why would he have to come and do this? He came to set us free. He came to deliver us. He came to fix the broken parts. And C, confess him as Lord. A, admit we're sinners. B, believe that God sent his son to fix my sinful condition. And C, confess him as Lord. That's the big one. What does that mean, Pastor Tim? That changes it from a religion to a relationship. Religion says show up on Sundays every week and then just come in here and you give God a couple hours. But if you begin to have a relationship with him, God doesn't want Sundays. God wants every day. The word Lord means he's the boss. The word Lord means he'll change our sorrow into a run. He'll change it.

That the resurrection will mean something. That's what happens when you make Jesus. Jesus, Lord of your life. Here's the newsflash for you. The newsflash is this. Jesus did not come, die on a cross, and resurrect to get you to church on Sundays. That wasn't his plan. His plan was to get you to heaven forever. That was his plan. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? I wanna pray a prayer just before we sing this last song. And before we sing this last song, with every head bowed and every eye closed, those that are watching around the country and around the world, I want you to listen. I'm going to pray a born-again prayer, a prayer that says, I wanna come alive. I want that. I want what happened to Avril. Maybe God's using me as Annie was used to talk to Avril. And on this day, no better day to come alive and say, I wanna be born again. I want Christ to come into my life. Here's the biggest question, the most important question anyone can ever ask you. Have you been born again? I'm gonna take these next few moments, those watching in the annex and all of our overflow rooms, those watching around the country and around the world,

if you're here today, in about 60 seconds, I'm gonna ask you to do something. It's gonna be simple, but I believe it's RSVPing. Though he died and rose again, he needs an RSVP to say, I wanna be part. I want in. I want you in my life. I don't wanna just be in church. I want Jesus in me. I want to come alive. What's the RSVP, Pastor Tim? In about 30 seconds, I'm gonna say, if you wanna be included in that prayer, in just a moment, I'm gonna ask you just to raise your hand. That's it. To raise your hand and say, man, I'm RSVPing. I wanna come alive. I want Christ in me. With no hesitation, annex, overflow, around the world, if you're here today, in this building, balcony, main floor, without any hesitation, you'd say, Pastor Tim, when you pray that born-again prayer, I wanna come alive today. I want God in my life. Would you just lift your hand and say, put me in that prayer today. Hold it up as high as you can. I wanna see it. I wanna start at this section.

Keep them up. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, and back there, 39. Keep them up. 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50. Keep them up. I wanna make sure I see it. 51, 52, 53, 54, 55. Balcony, hold them up high so I can see it. 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73. All right, it's about, the middle's gonna kill me. Here we go. 64, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 127. Come on, let's give God praise. Hallelujah! Everybody, pray this with me right now. Dear Lord Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe on the cross you took my sin, my shame, and my guilt, and you died for it. You faced hell for me so I wouldn't have to go. You rose from the dead to give me a place in heaven, a purpose on earth, and a relationship with your Father.

Today, Lord Jesus, I turn from my sin to be born again. Come on now, let's get loud on this part. God is my Father. Jesus is my Savior. The Holy Spirit is my Helper. And heaven is my home. In Jesus' name, and everybody said amen, and amen, and amen. Hallelujah!