Easter

Well, happy Easter. Turn to your neighbor and say, happy Easter. Now turn to your other neighbor, the one that was your second choice, the one that you didn't want to talk to, and say the nicest thing you can say to them on Easter. Say, it looks like you lost some weight. Well, happy, happy Easter. So growing up in church, my pastor used to always stand on the platform every Sunday at the beginning of his message that was an Easter Sunday, and he would say, he is risen. And then we would say, he is risen indeed. So come on, let's do that together. I'll say he is risen, and you say, he is risen indeed. Ready? One, two, three, he is risen. Come on, 930. The 8 a.m. had less sleep, and they were louder than you, alright? So come on, that's my challenge to you. He is risen. Come on, one more time, like you actually believe it, like you actually mean it today. He is risen. And I just got to be honest with you today, I'm a little emotional this weekend. Not only are we doing seven services as a church, and thousands of people will gather here at Calvary Church, we're literally gathering with billions of people all around the world to celebrate the greatest event in history, the event in which our faith is built on, that the tomb is empty, that God sent his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, and he is risen, and he is risen indeed. And again, I just want to say this one more time, I know I already said it, but for those that are guests with us today, this is a big deal. You need to know this. There have literally been people from our church who've been praying for you for weeks, for you to get to be here at this moment today. And there have literally been dream teamers that showed up here at 6 a.m. this morning, and hundreds of people that are serving this weekend to prepare this service for you. So Calvary Church, one more time, can we just show our guests how honored and grateful we are with us today? Hey, you don't know this, but you put a miracle in motion by being here today, all right? Hey, this is probably going to be unlike any Easter message you've ever heard before. I'm preaching from the book of Revelation today, all right? Typically, if you heard an Easter message, you'd probably be preached on the resurrection text in the Gospels. Today, I'm going to preach the resurrected Jesus's words to a church at Laodicea, a church that I would say is very similar to our cultural context today, a church that's very similar to what's going on in our nation today.

The Gospels tell the story of Jesus's humble incarnation, but then after Jesus dies and is raised from the dead, what we're not only seeing is Jesus in His humble incarnation, we're now seeing Jesus in His glorious exaltation. Because Jesus did come to earth, and He was born of a woman, born under the law to redeem us from the law, that we might be called sons and daughters of the Most High. And He did live a sinless, perfect, spotless life. And He did go to the cross and pay the price for your sin and my sin once and for all. And then He did die, and then He was in the tomb, but three days later, He did rise again. And now He's seated at the right hand of the Father. But the Bible says one day Jesus will return again. And so the book of Revelation, what we're studying today's message, is the Apostle John's words through Jesus to a church. The church today that we're looking at is the church at Laodicea. But before we get there, let me share a little bit of a story with you. So there's a pastor by the name of John Piper. And he tells the story in one of his most famous messages about these two women in their 80s. And these women in their 80s were faithful to his church. They served, they gave, they were totally committed, totally all in. But somewhere along the way, they felt the call of God impressed upon their hearts to leave everything, sell everything, even in the age of 80, and go to the mission field, go to an unreached people group who had never heard the name of Jesus before. And they felt that call in their life to go and to give themselves. And one day they were serving, they were going up to a remote village up in the mountains, and as they were driving their vehicle around a corner, their brakes went out, and the vehicle cascaded off of the mountains, and the two women died in the vehicle that day. And he stands up in this message, and he proclaims loudly in front of his congregation that day. Upon sharing the story, he says, is that a tragedy? Nothing was said in the room that day. Then he holds up a copy of a Reader's Digest.

And for those that don't know what a Reader's Digest is, that's basically the original TikTok, but for your grandparents. And instead of 30-second videos, it's like short stories and life tips and jokes. And so he tells another story from a Reader's Digest about this couple that retires early, and they spent their lives traveling and playing games, and the passion of their life, as defined by the article, was collecting seashells. And he says that right there is a tragedy. Why? What's he saying? Is he saying it's wrong to retire early? Is he saying it's wrong to have a bunch of money? No, that's not at all what he's saying. He's saying don't waste your life. He's saying, it's possible for you to look like you're winning on the outside, but you to be wasting your life on the inside. It's possible for you to look prosperous out there, but to be impoverished in here. As the writer says in scripture, what good would it be for man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Now the church we're talking about today is the church at Laodicea, and this church was a bougie church. They're located right along the Silk Road, the main thoroughfares of the Roman Empire. And so all travel came through them, and this was a place of high fashion and high money. They had this little black dye that you couldn't get anywhere else in the Roman Empire. And so again, this was a bougie fashion industry. Everyone's wearing their Prada, their Gucci, ain't no Sheen or Timu up at the church at Laodicea. Okay. And Jesus looks out at this church in Revelation 3, 17, and here's what he says. He says, I know your works. I know your works. He says these words, you're neither cold nor hot. Would you be either cold or hot?

He says, so because of that, you're lukewarm. And then he says these words, I know your works. He says, you would have thought that Jesus would have said to this church, you're rich, you're prosperous, you need nothing. Not realizing, watch this, Jesus pulls no punches. Jesus always speaks the truth, because you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free. He says this, not realizing that you're wretched, you're pitiable, you're poor, you're blind, and you're naked. Jesus gives a couple of warnings to this church. Number one, he tells this church that they're poor. And that's very interesting, because I just told you that this church was very prosperous. His point is this, you can be prospering out there, but impoverished in here, because you don't have the thing that you actually were designed to live with in this life. Now here's why some of you have walked into this service today or are sitting in our second auditorium today or are online today with us, and you're crushing it everywhere in life, in your job, in your family, in your community, in your relationships, you're crushing it everywhere in life. But inwardly, there's this ache that you can't seem to shake. I say it this way, until Jesus is all that you have, you'll never realize that Jesus is all that you need. So I want to take you through a tour of the Bible over these next couple of moments in this message. We go back all the way to our first parents, Adam and Eve. God creates Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. And it says when He created them, He knelt down, and it says that He fashioned them out of the dust of the earth, like He literally got His hands dirty creating them. Scripture tells us that the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth created Adam and Eve, the first parents in His image. That means you and I today, regardless of our background, regardless of how old we are,

regardless of what we look like, how we act like, what disabilities we have that we've walked in today, you were made by God, like God, and you were made for God. But it also says that after forming Adam from the dust, God leaned down and He breathed the breath of life into them. Think about that. Adam's first breath, his first moment of awareness was face-to-face with his Maker, face-to-face with his Creator. And that's how you and I were designed to live, in this intimate, face-to-face relationship with God. You were made by God, you were made for God, and nothing in this world will ever satisfy you apart from Him. And that's why some of you, you look prosperous on the outside, but on the inside, you're struggling. And Jesus looks at this church that is much like many of you that have walked into this place today, and He says, you look good on the outside, but your actions are wretched. You're wretched. You're wretched. And He's talking about their actions morally, of course. He's saying, you're wretched. Now, we struggle if somebody were to say that you and I are wretched, we struggle with that because in our culture, everybody just wants to be called awesome all the time, right? Everybody wants to be a rainbow or a snowflake or a puppy's breath, like everybody just wants to hear that they're awesome all the time. And that's great and fine and all to encourage one another, but we also need to know the truth that the Bible says if we've sinned but once, we're a wretched person. Now the reason we struggle with that is because we go through our whole life and we think that we're good people. And so we find somebody who's worse than us and we go, well, I haven't done what they've done and so because I haven't done what they've done, I'm kind of a good person. Here I'll illustrate it to you this way.

They got a little diagram that they're going to throw on the screen for you. If you and I were to sit down for coffee and you would say, hey, tell me, tell me, tell me the most important thing that I could know for my life. This right here will be the biblical principle to show you how you are a sinner in need of a Savior. And so I'm going to show you this little diagram that's on here. On the scale, you'll see a scale of zero to a hundred, zero to a hundred. And this scale is based on how good you've been in your life. So like zero is like the worst person that's ever lived. And then a hundred is like moral perfection. That's God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Spirit. All right. you in the next couple moments, as we go through this illustration together, I want you to figure out where you land on the scale. Here, let me tell you this, right up front, you ain't a hundred. Let's start right there. That's all of us. Every single one of us have messed up. We've cheated, we've gossiped, we've lied, we've lost our temper, said things that we regret. Some of you, that happened today on your way to church. You were trying to get the kids ready. They were creating such a havoc. You got them in the car, they're still fussing, they're fighting with one another, and finally they're like, shut up! Shut up, kids! We're gonna go worship Jesus for Easter and then take the family photo! And then you get in here and you're smiling. It's so good to see you in church today. Put that smile right on. You get right in here, you lift your hands up, you're like, holy! And you walked in here and you're smiling, but you just had a fight in the car. So let's be honest, all of us, we ain't a hundred. But we tend to also then kind of justify it and be like, well, I know I'm not a hundred, at least I'm not a zero. Like, let's define what zero is today. Zero is like ax murderer, that's like Hitler, terrorist, like we would never kill somebody. So we're not a zero, we're not a hundred, like Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, they're like low 90s, high 80s. And so I'm like somewhere in the middle. I'm like a 60, I'm like a 70, I'm a good person. I mean, let's just be honest, Philadelphia Eagle fans, they're like a 10 on that scale, right? I mean, that's, and that's generous as a Cowboys

fan, that's what I would say right there. All right, so now everybody has got that number in their head and their heart. I want you to say what your number is of yourself on the count of three. What are you, one, two, three? All right, don't do that, I don't want any divorces today, okay? Now watch this. This is a universal truth that leads to a universal question, and the universal truth that we all just agreed on, everybody just agreed on in this room today, is if God is a hundred, and God's standard of perfection is a hundred, and God never sinned, and that is the prerequisite to relationship with God and to be in heaven with Him, then none of us meet what God's standard is. All of us fall short of the standard. The Bible says it this way, it's Romans 3.23, it says, for everybody has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Now, I believe that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God, and so here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna actually ask you to say this verse again out loud with me, and they're gonna throw a blank up on the screen, and I want you just to insert your name in there where there is that blank, so I'll illustrate it for you. For Dan has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all right? So everybody say their name with me when I count to three. One, two, three, four, has sinned and fallen short in the glory of God. Now, that's a universal truth that if you're paying attention, it leads to the universal question, then how then can I be made right with God? Let's jump back to the text, questions answered there. Roman, Revelation chapter three, verse 18. Here's what he says, Jesus' words to this church at Laodicea. He says, I counsel you to buy from me white garments. Lord, help me preach this. I counsel you to buy from me white garments so you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. What does Jesus mean in these words to this church at Laodicea when he says, I counsel you to get some white robes and cover the shame of your nakedness? Let's jump all the way back to the beginning of our Bibles, to that creation account. You remember, we just talked about it. Adam and Eve were created in God's image for God, for relationship with God, and that is going great for about one page of the Bible. And then when they sin, immediately they feel shame. They run from God, and the Bible says that they hide, and they begin to make fig leaves to cover the shame of their nakedness. But because our God is so rich in love and kind in mercy, he doesn't abandon them, he pursues them.

Tell me you're here right now, and you're a son or a daughter who once grew up even in a church like this, and you heard the gospel, but you've ran from God for years and years and years, but you made it back to Calvary Church this morning, and I'm just here to tell you this, the Father is still pursuing you. His arms are still open wide. He's a God who leaves the 99 to come after the one, and as long as there's still breath in your lungs, he's still gonna keep chasing you and pursuing you. And when God finds Adam and Eve, the Bible says that he slays an innocent animal, likely a lamb, and he makes garments to cover their shame. First picture in the Bible, sin brings shame, but God covers it through a sacrifice. Now fast forward to Exodus 12. There's plagues that are going on with the people of Egypt, and the final plague is coming. The angel of judgment will pass through, and what was said would happen is the firstborn will die for the sins of the house. Now Jesus is the firstborn of the household that dies for the house, but God makes And so he says, here's how you can protect from the judgment to come. He says, take a spotless lamb, there's a lamb again, take a lamb, kill it, place the blood on the doorposts of the house, up the lentil, across the doorposts. And if you were there that night, what you would have seen is blood forming the shape of the cross across every door as the blood was spread across the doorposts of the house. And whenever there was a bloody cross, the angel of judgment passed over that house and spared that house from the consequences of sin wherever there was a bloody cross. Now fast forward again to scripture in the gospel, John the Baptist says these words, behold of Jesus, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Then even at the last supper, the Passover meal, everything is on the table. There's bitters, there's wine, there's bread, there's vegetables, everything is there. But one thing is missing, there's no lamb on the table, why? Because the lamb isn't on the table, he's sitting at the table with his disciples. And just a few hours later, he would go to the cross and whenever that cross is applied, judgment passed over that life because the punishment was placed on the lamb of God instead of you. That's what Jesus is saying in this text, I counsel you to get white garments. He's saying, I am the lamb who was slain, I was stripped of my righteousness so you

could be clothed and covered. I took your sin, I took your shame, I took your guilt so you could receive my righteousness. So when you place your faith in Jesus, listen, God no longer sees your sin, he sees you clothed in the righteousness and the perfection of God. Listen, if that didn't make any sense today, that is totally okay. Just hang with me, I'm going to give you the best illustration of the gospel in this next word, all right? So once upon a time, in a far off country, there was an ancient king who was known to be simultaneously the most loving and just king who ever existed. Eventually it was discovered that somebody was stealing from the king's treasury and because the king was just, he issued a decree. When it was discovered that someone was stealing, that a sentence of 10 lashes in front of the entire kingdom would be visited upon that person as a penalty for their disobedience. So the thievery continued, so he issued another decree. Now it was 20 lashes instead of 10. The thievery continued again and so he issued another decree and now it became 30 lashes. The thefts continued and eventually he issued a final decree, 40 lashes will be visited upon the person who is stealing from the king's treasury. Watch this, 40 lashes was a death sentence. So he issued a death sentence. If somebody steals from the king's treasury again, they will receive a death sentence. As weeks went by, it was eventually discovered that none other than the daughter of the king was the one who was stealing from the treasury. When that was discovered, a question began to ripple through the kingdom. How could the most loving king who's ever existed kill his own daughter? Some people thought that he would pardon her, but then how would he be just? Some people thought that he would punish her, but then how would he be loving? What would the king do? Well, eventually the king examined it and he said, hey, the law is clear. Sin has taken place.

Justice must fall. The sentence must be passed. And so once upon a time in a far off kingdom, the entire kingdom was gathered before the courtyard of the king and the king's own daughter was brought in front of the entire kingdom and she walked silently down the aisle in front of all the people. And when she got to the front, she was laid over the executioner's table. She was tied to the table. The executioner ripped open the back of her shirt and stepped back. But just as the executioner lifted his whip to issue the first laugh, the king stood up from his throne and he yelled, stop. Everyone was in dismay. Silently, the king walked forward, bent over his daughter, wrapped his body around his daughter on the stump, ripped the shirt off his own back, looked back at the executioner and said, now hit her. The executioner objected, king, I can't hit her without hitting you. He said, now hits her. 40 lashes fell upon the back of the king as he was laid over his daughter that day and the king died, but the girl went free. Listen to me. That is what Jesus did when he went to the cross for you and me. When he was crucified, he was not just crucified for you. He was crucified instead of you. The Bible says these words, that he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastisements that brought us peace was laid up upon him and by his stripes, we are healed. Because God is just, punishment for sin had to be made, but because God is love, he chose to make that payment himself. And here's the good news. Here's the gospel.

Here's what. What you have to understand today is that Jesus, as he hung up on that cross with nails pierced in his hands and feet, and Jesus, as he's literally placed in a crown of thorns upon his head and choking on his own blood, Jesus' final words that he issues on the cross are this, it is finished. He did not say, I am finished. He said, it is finished. And listen, if Jesus is not finished, then you're not finished as well. There's still time for you. Listen, it doesn't matter how much you failed. It doesn't matter how much you ruined in life. It doesn't matter how much you've fallen short. It doesn't matter how many marriages have ended in divorce in your life. There is nothing that you cannot do that the Lord cannot redeem. This is who he is, and this is what he does, and this is the good news of the gospel. But listen to me, though. It does demand a response from us. It demands a response from us. Look at Revelation 3, verse 20. Here's Jesus' words to the church. Behold, I stand at the door, singular door, one door, and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. Listen, listen, not the words of Dan McCarthy today. Listen to the words of Jesus. He did not say, I am a way, a truth, and a life, and some come to the Father through me. He said, no, no, no. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life, and no man comes to the Father except through me.

I know some of you are going, I get it, I get it, Pastor Dan. That's good stuff. But there's many, many different religions out there. There's many other worldviews out there. There's many other philosophies out there. Which way is the right way? I think there's many doors to get to God. Well, Acts 17 tells us very clearly, God has given us proof of this. Which door is the right door? God has given us proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead. In other words, if you're asking which door is the right door, it's the one with the guy that actually walked out of the grave. That while all other gods are still in the tomb, we're thankful and celebrating our risen king that there is no body in the grave now, that our king is alive and well and he's seated at the right hand of the Father. Jesus is alive and if the tomb is empty today, anything is possible. It's the door to a relationship with God, the forgiveness of sins and the power for change and nobody comes to the Father except by him. But anybody that comes to him will get to the Father. Now I'm trying to emphasize this to you today because I know some of you have walked into this place today and you say, hey, here's the door of life and God is on the front and you're on the back of the door where I am and you say, if you ever open that door and God actually took a look at you and saw you, you'd be, he took one look at you, you'd be, ah! Too ugly, they've messed up way too much, you're too old, too many failures in life, too far, too broken, too hurt, and God looks at you today and he says, no, no, no, he says these words, he says, anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. So the question is this, how do you open the door? How do you open the door? John 3, 16, it's the gospel.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. God loves, so he gave, and if you believe, you'll receive. Some of you during this message today, you've been feeling the knock in a little bit, been feeling him knocking on that door, and it's just a soft, it's just a soft little knock. And now is the time to open the door and to let him in. Others of you, the knocking is stronger today. You feel in your heart, it's like an electric shock, you feel it, like from the moment you've pulled on the parking lot today, you feel like something is different and the Lord is knocking on your heart, it's time to come home. Other people today are here and you don't feel anything. Well, I am so thankful that your faith is not based on your feelings. But we choose anyways to say, God, you are the way, you are the truth, you're the life, and I thank you that I'm not right with God, but you sent your son Jesus to make a way. And so I receive you as Lord today. Now would you do this with me as we close? I know this is probably the most awkward transition out of this message, but would you pull that card back again that you started filling out at the beginning of the announcements today? And even if you're not going to actually fill it out, would you just please grab it and make it look like you're filling it out? Just humor me in this moment, okay? Come on, we worked hard. I worked hard to make this happen. So just fill that card out as you already have, and just go to the back of the card. Now you see four boxes there, box A, B, C, and D. Box A, B, C, and D. I want to explain what those boxes are. You owe it to yourself at least once in your life to self-identify where you stand in your relationship with Jesus. And so again. Why don't you just identify where are you at today on this spiritual journey?

Box a You mark if you're already a christian You already have a real active living relationship with jesus Don't don't mark box a if you're just saying well i'm not a muslim and i'm not an atheist So I guess i'm kind of a christian like like that's that's not what box a is for box A is like you are already actively in relationship with the lord You have a church that you're planted in you're faithfully serving the lord You're walking with him. You're reading your bible as imperfectly executed as it will be you're not perfect But you're you're living and abiding with jesus. You're already a christian box b You say you know what? I'm, not fully sure what this all means yet But I want to begin a relationship today Or maybe maybe you're here today and you once had a relationship with god But there's just been years where you've walked away and you know, you know You might even say i'm a christian, but you're really not living for god You're really not following god you check box b if that's for you Box c if something's stirring inside of you, but you're not right ready at this moment to make a decision You just need some time to consider it some more I just need some time to consider it some more And I would say you calvary church or sunday services are designed in a way that you can belong before you can become And so we just have to you just keep coming back. Come on back next sunday preaching on relationships The naked truth is going to be great chick-fil-a Sunday, we're the only place that's going to have chick-fil-a on a sunday. Come on back You just need some time to just consider it consider it some more and then box d box d is this I never intend to make that decision. I never intend to make that decision and listen. I just truly respect Honestly, i'd rather you be real about where you're at than to pretend to be something that you're not But here's my prayer for you I am going to take those box d cards and I am going to pray that the lord takes those box d cards and turns Them into box b Because I believe that you're never too far gone. Even if that's where you're at right now Come on, why don't you take 10 seconds and just fill that out today?

Where are you at box a box b box c box d it's not multiple choice. It's just one one area Where are you at in this journey right now? All right. Now, let me speak to those that marked box b If you're thinking I want to begin a relationship with jesus, I want to show you how in this moment Go ahead. Let's bow every head. Let's close every eye in this moment. Come on if that's you today And you just say god, I know that i'm a sinner But I believe you made a way pray something like this with me come on Let's everybody pray so that no one prays alone say jesus I come to you today Just as I am Say god, I know That i've sinned I've missed the mark I've fallen short But I ask you to forgive me Change me Make me new Say and then from this day forward come on like you actually mean it say from this day forward I'll follow you My life is not my own But I exist for you In jesus name we pray