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At Sandals Church, our vision is to be real with ourselves, God and others. This channel features sermons and teaching from Pastor Matt Brown and other members of the Sandals Church preaching team. You can find sermon notes, videos and more content at http://sandalschurch.com/watch
Thanks for tuning in to the Sandals Church podcast. Our vision as a church is to be real with ourselves, god, and others. We're glad you're here, and we hope you enjoy this message. Hey, everybody. Welcome to Sandals Church.
Morgan Teruel:My name is Morgan Terrell, and I'm so glad that you're here with us today on this Easter. You know, normally, we would start out the service going right into a message and worship and probably all of the things that, you know, a traditional church service to be. But we wanted to start out today with something a little bit different by asking you starting in this place of how are you feeling? We believe that Easter is a personal experience, and that's why we wanna start with that question today. So if you wouldn't mind, on YouTube, go click that info button that's popping up above or check out the description below.
Morgan Teruel:And if you're not on YouTube, you can go to sandalschurch.com/easteronline and check out what we have for you there and start by answering that question, how are you feeling? We'll begin our journey there on this Easter.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Hi, guys. Happy Easter, and thank you so much for coming to Sandals Church or watching online. My name is pastor Matt Brown, and I'm so excited that you are joining with us today. Easter is the most important day in human history. But one of the things about Easter that you need to know as we go on this journey is so many of us have already decided what Easter is all about, and we've missed so much detail that really inspires us and directs us to the importance of this day.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:My son came home for spring break, and we talked about watching a Tom Cruise movie. And at first, I was kinda like, I don't know if I wanna watch this movie, but I kinda wanted to watch it. And the reason for that is all Tom Cruise movies are kinda the same. I mean, just go with me on this. No matter what he's doing, whether it's a cocktail, making cocktails, or he's driving race cars, right?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:The story's all the same. Right? He's a pretty good cocktail maker and then he has a crisis of belief and then he can't make cocktails anymore, then he meets a woman who inspires him to make better cocktails. Right? You know, he's a race car driver, turns out he's a really good race car driver, then he has a crisis of belief.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But then a woman comes along and helps him become the very best, you know, race car driver of all time. You're like, wait a minute. I thought Tom Cruise was a Scientologist. Yeah. Right.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Turns out, pretty good Scientologist. And then he has a crisis of belief. No. I'm kidding. But but here's the thing is, whenever somebody's super famous like Tom Cruise or anybody, what we tend to do is blur the details and fill it in with our own story.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I think as Christians, we do this with Easter. And even if you've you've never been to church before, you have an idea of what Easter is all about. And so I wanna change that today as we kinda go through 3 different acts in the story of Easter. And so today, we're gonna start in the garden of Gethsemane. Gethsemane means olive press.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is one of Jesus' favorite places to go. He loved olive trees. He loved being around olive trees. He loved to come here. The bible said it was his habit to come here.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But yet a secret place, a place that only he and his disciples knew about. But this particular, occasion was different. And this is what made Easter so different. And I want you to notice this. Jesus scared his disciples.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They were terrified. Think about it. No matter where you went, Jesus said it's always gonna work out. It doesn't matter if there's a storm on the Sea of Galilee. It doesn't matter if they have food.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was always peaceful. He was never stressed. Listen, he was always in control. But in the garden, we see the humanity of Jesus. He's scared.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He knows what's going to happen. He knows what he's gonna face. And so here's what he says. He says, look, I've never told you to get money, I've never told you to get ready to flee. He said, I've never told you to buy swords, but right now you need to do all three things.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Think about God's only son saying, get a bag, get ready, get a sword. They're scared to death. And so then he brought them here to the Garden of Gethsemane. Now this isn't Gethsemane, this is Temecula. And I tell people all the time, I've been to Israel 5 times, and they say, what is Israel like?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Temecula. I mean, it's exactly the same thing. It's amazing. And so if you don't know where Temecula is, it's beautiful, come and join the wine. They'll appreciate it.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But here we are in a garden, in Temecula that's just like the Garden of Gethsemane. I mean, remarkably like the Garden of Gethsemane in Israel. And so he asked them to stay awake. He brought them here in the middle of the night. He asked them to stay awake, and he said, would you pray for me?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I want you to think about that. Some of you are afraid to ask for prayer. If God's one and only son needed prayer, then why can't you admit you need prayer? And so then he asked them to pray for him and he said, look, he came to God and he said, God, if there's any other way than the cross. He had seen people crucified.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Romans always crucified publicly. And so he was he was just so overwhelmed and so worked up, the bible says that he withdrew about a stone's throw away. Now I don't know how far he could throw a stone, but he wanted to be alone, he wanted to be with his dad, and he said father, listen to this, if you are willing to remove this cup from me, he says, I want you to do it. But nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. And there appeared to him, the Bible says, an angel from heaven.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Why? Because God said no. And the angel strengthened him. And listen to these words, and there being in agony, agony, he prayed all the more and his sweat became like great drops of blood, falling to the ground. I want you to think about this if you struggle with anxiety or depression or you're overwhelmed with thoughts you can't control.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Anxiety is not a sin. Jesus experienced anxiety before he went to the cross. You see, he was preparing mentally for what it might be like to die. He was afraid of it. And I want you to know that he understands your weaken, your weakness.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He understands your brokenness, and he loves you. He went through all the emotions that you and I do. He went through the very worst so you and I could become our very best. But the disciples, they couldn't stay awake. Listen, it's because of their grief.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus freaked him out. It freaked him out. And then all of a sudden he's attacked in the middle of this beautiful peaceful place by a mob with clubs and swords. I want you to hear this, if you've been betrayed by somebody that you loved, by somebody that you trusted, you see this was his secret spot and only the 12 knew where he liked to go and one of the 12, Judas, came and he brought soldiers. He he he brought he brought armed guards with clubs and swords and came up one of his own handpicked disciples and he kissed him on the cheek and that was the signal.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is the guy. This is the guy. Now the apostle Peter, man, freaks out. He doesn't want this to happen. He doesn't know what to do and so he panics and he grabs his sword and he cuts off this poor guy's ear, Malchus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And the only reason we know about him is because in the garden he got his ear cut off. And Jesus says, enough. Enough. So here's the thing, some of us judge Peter but Jesus told him to buy swords. And remember he went off and prayed alone?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He didn't tell him that God said no, so he's like Peter, put the sword down. Peter's like, lord I didn't know. I didn't know. And then he just goes up to Malchus and he grabs the ear. He's like my bad.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he puts it back on. Now you can arrest me. Can you imagine arresting a guy that just picked your ear off the ground and put it back? I don't know about you, but I would have been gone. And then Jesus said to the chief priest officers and the temple elders who had come out against him, listen to what he says.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He says, have you come out against me as a robber with swords and clubs? He says, when I was with you every day in the temple, every single day, you did not lay hands on me. Listen to this. He says, but this is your hour. Here's one of the details.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You could have been a Christian your entire life and missed what Jesus says. But this is your hour and the power of darkness. Now in the Greek language, it says this is the domain of darkness. So many of you don't believe in God because you're like, if God is good, why is there so much evil? That's what Jesus came to slay.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's what Jesus came to kill. You think your life is bad? Look at the life of Jesus. He says, this is the hour of darkness. I'm innocent.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I'm perfect. I've never sinned. I've loved everyone. And yet, darkness had to have its hour. Darkness had to have its moment so you could have yours.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, there was only one way to save you from an enemy you can't even see. Revelation 138 says this, that the lamb was slain from the creation of the world. I know as a parent I worry about the world I'm sending my kids out into. It scares me to death what the world believes, what the world teaches and I feel like they don't even have a chance. And listen to me if you're a parent, your kids don't have a chance without God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Before you were ever born, God as a good father knew what you would face. He knew what you were wrestling against and he killed he crucified his son before you were ever born so that you could be saved. You see that's what a loving father does, he protects his children. Ephesians 612 says this, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. All this stuff you see on the news, the Russians, the Chinese, right, the racial issues that we have in America, man, that's just a smokescreen.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:That's just camouflage for an enemy you cannot see but is very real. He says we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against, listen to this, the cosmic powers over this present darkness. You wanna know why life is bad? Because you live in this present darkness. But it doesn't have to be this way forever.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:It's why Jesus died. So you don't have to live in this mess forever. Against the spiritual forces of evil places of evil, excuse me, in the heavenly places. Your enemy is so good at camouflage. Some of you don't even believe he's real.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:For some of you, it's hard to tell what's your desire and what's his desire. You see, Satan moved in the heart of Judas. Judas knew that Jesus was good. Judas knew that Jesus was beautiful and amazing, and yet Satan moved into his heart. And Judas sold him out for a few coins.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And that's what evil does. Evil robs us of the joy and beauty of Jesus. But here's what I want you to know. Here's why you need to know about today. Today happened and the garden happened because there was only one way.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And some of you say, today, well, I don't understand. All religions lead to the same place. Listen to me. All religions except for 1 do lead to the same place. You wanna know why there's not another way?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jesus wanted to know the very same thing. Father, is there another way? Is there another religion? Can people just be good? Can people just try really hard?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:God said no. There is no other way. You can't work your way to heaven. Jesus had to work for you on the cross. There was always only one way.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So the second scene I wanna talk to you about on Easter is where Jesus died. So the last time we talked about there was only one way. Jesus said, father, if there's any other way, and God said no. But I want you to know there was only one place for Jesus to die. In Matthew 16/21, Jesus says, from that time on, he began to show the disciples listen to this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He must go to Jerusalem. I want you to hear that. He had to go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and on the 3rd day be raised. You see, it was always about Jerusalem, the city of peace. It was only at the city of peace that you could have peace with God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:So he came to Jerusalem, and these are the most religious people. These are the people who knew the most about the bible, but they falsely accused him. And here's the thing is, he was sent to his own king, King Herod, the king of the Jews. He was dressed in a purple robe and he had a crown of thorns placed on his head. He was repeatedly beaten and mocked and made fun of.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He ultimately was sentenced to death by a corrupt government by Pontius Pilate. Here's the thing that's so amazing. In the city of peace, and if you've ever been to Jerusalem, it's not peaceful yet, but it will be because Christ came to bring us peace there. And so he was so weak, he needed help leaving the city of Jerusalem, and he was carried out to a place called Golgotha. He was so weak, and think about all the the tension we have in the world, all the wars, everything in going on.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:In America, we have this tension between blacks and whites, and and just for the sins of America's past. Some of you never knew this. As he came to the place of the skull, and we're gonna talk about that in a second, there was a man named Simon of Cyrene. He was most likely a black man who was singled out because he looked differently to carry the cross of Jesus. Isn't that interesting?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Even with all the tensions that we face right here on Golgotha, Christ is bringing us together. Out of 2, he's making 1. And so he is brought here to Golgotha. And this is the thing that's gonna blow your mind. The name Golgotha or it's translated into English Calvary means skull.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But it might just it might not just mean skull, it might mean the skull. Which skull? Listen to this. The skull of Goliath from Gath. It might be the place where the devil's champion's head was placed, and that's where God's champion died for you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Not just a skull, but the skull. Isn't that crazy? So Jesus Christ, he was crucified. He was crucified and they put above his head, this is Jesus, the king of the Jews. Now they didn't want it placed there, but they put it in Latin, they put it in Hebrew, and they put it in Greek.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They wanted the world to know why he was dying. But here's the thing is, he didn't die alone. He had a thief on his left and he had a thief on his right. And they mocked him and they made fun of him and they cussed at him. Here he is dying for your sin.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here he is dying for my sin, and 2 sinners are making fun of him. But as they mocked him, one man changed. And he just said these words. He said, remember me when you come in to your kingdom. And Jesus said, today you will be with me in paradise.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Isn't that interesting? I was talking with a good friend of mine last week, she's Muslim, and she just struggles with this idea of our sins just being vaporized, our sins just just being gone. And I want you to know, I'm gonna tell you the same thing I told her, your sins don't evaporate. Your sins were placed on the body of Jesus. They were nailed to him on the cross.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You and your sins were paid for by Jesus. You had to have someone die for you so that you could be right with him. And I want you to know, when that thief died on the cross, his legs were broken not too long after this. When he went to heaven, then the same way you're gonna go to heaven, there's gonna be pearly gates and they're gonna wanna know why you think you can come in. Here's what's so amazing, the only reason that thief on the cross got in, he said because there was some dude that I was crucified next to and he said, I get in.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, the reason he got in is not because he was righteous, but because Christ was perfect and his sins were paid in full on the cross by Jesus. In Matthew 1534, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, listen to his words, Eloi Eloi, lama sabachthani, which means my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You see, God turned his back on Jesus, listen to this, so he could turn his love to you. That's why it's the city of peace. Because it was in Jerusalem, on a hill called Golgotha, with Jesus on the cross, where God gave you one last opportunity to have peace with God.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You wanna know why your life's a mess? You're not at peace. You wanna know why you don't feel right? You're not at peace. Jesus Christ came to give you peace.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was crucified for you. He lived the life you can't live. He lived the life I can't live, and he died the death you and I can't die. Paul writes a letter to Timothy and he says this, there's only one God. The bible says there's only one God, and there's only one mediator between God and men, and that's the man Christ Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, Jesus was broken so your relationship with God could be healed. That's what Easter is all about. That's what it's all about. And then Jesus with a loud shout, he gave up his spirit. You see, Jesus chose to die.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He was in control the whole time. He could have said no at any moment, but he said yes to death so you would have a chance to say yes to life. Now I can't do this right now because I'm not Jesus, but when Jesus died the sky went dark. It's incredibly bright. But when he died, the earth went dark.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Jerusalem went dark. And here's the thing, those watching him, those mocking him, those making fun of him, they went home, the bible says, beating their chests. Because they knew something terrible just happened. And there was a Roman officer who was overseeing the entire event, making sure that the 3 men were crucified correctly. But the bible says upon his death, watching the way Jesus died.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, here's the thing. As a pastor, I've seen people die and not everyone dies the same. He watched this man die and in his death and think about a soldier, he'd see a lot of men die. He said, this man truly was the son of God. Isn't that incredible?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, Jesus died for every human being who ever lived. And Jesus died on the cross for you and for me. Think about this, he died for everyone who ever lives. But upon his death, there was only one man who came for his body. His name was Joseph of Arimathea.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Joseph of Arimathea went to Pilate and got permission to take the body of our Lord Jesus Christ down from the cross. He buried him in a garden tomb at his own expense, out of his love for you and out of his love for me. Isn't that amazing? Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council of the Sanhedrin, was so moved by the life of Christ, he was willing to give up everything to bury him appropriately. And so what we're gonna do right now is we're gonna have the Lord's supper.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Some of you, you've never been to church, but this is so important for us as Christians. Because there is no Easter Sunday morning without Good Friday. If Jesus doesn't die, you and I can't live. And he asked us to remember his death. And so what we're gonna do right now is we're gonna partake of some bread and some grape juice.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And the bread symbolizes the broken body of Jesus. He hung on that cross for you. He hung on that cross for me so that we could be at peace with God. And then, in just a moment, you're gonna have an opportunity to drink the juice and the juice represents a new covenant, an agreement between you and God. And what it means is this, you don't go to heaven because you're good.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You get to go to heaven because the blood that Jesus shed was perfect. Perfect for you. Perfect for me. You see, all religions are fake in this. We think if we're just good enough, God will be pleased.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's what the Bible says. He was only truly pleased with the sacrifice of 1 person, and his name was Jesus. And here's the thing I want you to know, maybe you've been invited to Easter services, and you're not sure if you believe in Jesus. As we partake of the Lord's supper, as we remember his broken body, as we remember the blood he shed, whether you believe in him or not, I want you to know he believed in you, and he gave himself for you. You see, God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And I know it's hard to look at the world around us and to always feel his love or experience his love. There's a lot of evil in this world. But here's what Jesus said, greater love hath no one than this, than someone who lays down a life for his friend. Jesus laid his life down for you, and here's what I want you to know, because he loves you. He loves you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You may feel worthless right now, God in heaven thought you were worth Christ on the cross. And so that body, that bread, that blood, that juice, represents what God thought you were worth. And so we remember him because he died for us. So we've been on this Easter journey together. And if you remember from act 1, Jesus Christ died on the cross because there was only one way.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:His entire life pointed to Jerusalem, the city of peace, because there was only one place for him to die, to bring you peace with God. And then here's why we're celebrating today because there's only one person who could rise. There's only one person that could defeat death. You can't, I can't, but he did. And you need to think about this.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Like, I don't know if you know this, but you have an appointment with death. Whether you think about it or not, it's on your calendar. Sorry to be a bummer, but that's why we celebrate Easter. Because he had an appointment with death, but he had an appointment with life. And some of you today have an appointment with Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so on that Easter morning, I want you to know, we do not worship a dead Jesus, we worship a living Jesus. On that Easter morning, there was a violent earthquake. Amen, SoCal? A stone that had been placed in front of the tomb had been rolled away. Angels from heaven came from heaven and sat beside him.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Here's one of my favorite details, man. I always struggle with laundry. But the lord Jesus, before he ascends, right, he folds his clothes neatly and all the moms said, amen. He folded his clothes. There were 2 angels who asked the women who had come to the tomb because they wanted to make sure that Jesus was taken care of.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He asked the women. He said, why are you crying? Today is not a day to cry. Today's a day to celebrate. Easter's not a day of sorrow but a day of hope.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And they said, oh oh, where is Jesus? Where is he? You see, they thought somebody had stolen him. But here's the thing. They didn't know as they were looking for Jesus, Jesus was standing right next to them.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And some of you today, you're you're not sure if Jesus is risen. You're not sure if you believe. And I want you to know that Jesus is right next to you right now, looking at you, waiting for you, calling you. But they didn't they didn't recognize him, they saw him. They said well maybe you can help us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Maybe you can help us and then Jesus said the very same thing he's gonna say to you the moment you believe. He called Mary's name. Mary he said. Mary. And in that instant she knew he's not a gardener, he's Jesus.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And she grabbed on to him and Jesus said, Mary, don't cling to me. Don't cling to me. But go and tell the disciples, I am risen. I'm risen. And so she went and announced, and this is the thing you need to know, that all 4 gospels record its women who preach the first gospel.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:They're afraid. They don't wanna preach. They're scared to death, but they announce that Jesus is risen. And here's the thing you need to know dudes, none of the disciples believed it. They didn't believe.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so Peter and John run to the tomb trying to figure this out. What what what could we have possibly missed? And the answer is everything. And so then Jesus appeared to Peter, and Jesus appeared to John, And then Jesus appears to the 12. And then he appears to doubting Thomas who said, I will not believe unless I see him, touch him, and experience him.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You see, it's so hard for us to believe. And then Jesus appears to 2 disciples on the road to Emmaus. He appears to them and talks with them and eats with them. And then all of a sudden, literally, Christians go from doubting to believing and Easter changes the world because we do not worship a dead Jesus on a cross, but a living Jesus who walked out of his own tomb. 2nd Corinthians 134 says this, for he was crucified in weakness, but he lives by the power of god.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Let me ask you. Are you tired of living in weakness? Are you ready to live by the power of god? Jesus said this, if anyone would follow me, let him pick up his own cross and follow me. Listen to me.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:You wanna know what's wrong with your life? Life is not worth living until you know what's worth dying. So many of you are miserable because you've never understood the secret of life. The secret of life is understanding what is worth death. Jesus said this, what good is the whole world if you forfeit your soul?
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And then he would go on to say, well, what good is it if if you gain everything but you lose that which matters most? You see, Jesus calls us to consider what we're living for. He calls us to consider what's worth dying for. And so this gospel, it all started with one person being murdered by a Roman governor, and it just kept growing and kept changing lives and it kept moving. And no matter what Rome did to try to kill Christianity, it kept living because Jesus is alive.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:One of my favorite stories that comes to us, there are so many countless stories of people hearing about this resurrected Jesus, and it changes their lives. And eventually, it made us all the way to the Roman emperor's very closest friends. And there was a Roman emperor, and you may never heard of him, but his name is Nero and he hated Christians. He couldn't stand Christians. He murdered us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He literally set us on fire and burned us as torches torches. He fed us to lions in the Colosseum and he allowed us to die as a spectate so spectators could watch us be killed. He hated Christianity. So word reached Nero that some of those closest to him had converted to Christianity, and he couldn't stand this. He hated the idea of Christ.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He hated the idea of a lord that people would worship and that people would die for. And then he heard that some of his most famous people closest to him had converted. They were known as the 40 wrestlers. These were celebrities. I want you to imagine if LeBron James was not just the athlete that he is, but I want you to imagine he's a navy seal.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:This is what the 40 wrestlers were. They were the the primo athletes and the primo warriors, and they celebrated the power of Rome in the Colosseum. They were known as the 40 wrestlers, and before they fought anyone, they would say this, we wrestle for thee, oh emperor, and for thy glory. Think about that. They worshiped Nero as lord, but it had come to him that one of them or maybe some of them had decided to worship Christ.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And so he sent word to Vespion, his commander. He had sent these wrestlers to fight for him in France. It was known as Gaul. And Gaul was rebelling against the Roman Empire and so he sent his celebrity warriors to fight for him there, and it was winter. And he sent word to Vespion.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he said, I have heard that those who fight closest for me have turned against me and turned for Christ. And he said that is absolutely unacceptable. And so he gave a command to his commander, Vespian. He said, I want you to find out if any of these wrestlers have given their lives to Christ, if they follow Christ, and I want you to murder them. And so Vespian went to his 40 wrestlers and he knew them to be faithful.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He knew them to be loyal and he thought there's no way they would convert to Christianity. This ridiculous faith that believed in a dead guy who rose. And so he said, and he aligned all 40 wrestlers up, and he said it's come to the attention of Nero that one of you or some of you have converted to following Christ as your lord. He said, I want you to stand forward. I want you to stand forward if you've converted.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And to his shock, to a man, all 40 wrestlers came forward. And he said, you guys don't know what you're doing. You don't understand. Nero is going to murder you, so he gave him 24 hours to think about it. He said, I'm gonna give you 24 hours to recant your faith in Christ because Nero has commanded me to murder you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he loved these men. He had fought with these men. He had wrestled with these men. He had trained these men. These were his brothers.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He begged them, please please renounce your faith in Christ. And so the next day, he called them forward again and to a man, they all stood for Jesus ready to die. He couldn't handle this. Like I said, it was winter and they were in France and they were just outside of a frozen lake. He had the men strip of their armor, strip of their swords, and he marched them out to the center of the lake and had them stand on the ice.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He said, I'm gonna put a fire a fire over on the shore. And he said, you're gonna stand out here and you're gonna suffer and you're gonna die. All you have to do is come stand by the fire and I know that you will have recanted your faith in Christ. And so he left the men there standing together naked, huddled together, assuming that the elements would cause them to renounce their faith in Christ. To his astonishment as he stood by the fire, none of the men came to warm their freezing bodies.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:But they chanted together, inspiring one another to stand for Christ and here's what he heard out on the lake. Forty men wrestling for thee, oh Christ, wrestling for thine glory. It blew him away. He couldn't believe this that men would be willing to suffer and die for something so silly as religion. And so he stood there all night hearing the chants, 40 men wrestling for thee, oh Christ, wrestling for thy glory.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:All night long he heard this out on the lake. And finally until the morning, one of the men couldn't take it anymore. And so he slithered on the ice, freezing, and he came and sat by the fire and renounced his faith in Christ. And Vespian thought, yes, now they'll all come. Because one has been broken, they'll all come.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And then he heard out in the darkness, out into the fog, he heard these words. 39, wrestling for Theo Christ. Wrestling for thine glory. Now here's the thing. In that moment, the risen Jesus touched Vespian's heart Just like he's gonna touch some of your hearts today.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he realized in that moment he was a fool. He realized in that moment that Jesus was real. And in that moment, he no longer became a doubter. He no longer became a persecutor but he became a believer. He took off his armor, he dropped his sword and he said one more wrestler for thee, oh Christ, one more wrestler for thine glory.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:And he left the man who had abandoned his faith in Christ and he walked out onto the ice to die with his brothers. And their last words were 40 wrestlers wrestling for thee, o Christ, wrestling for thy glory. Listen to me. If we wanna live forever with Jesus, then we must be willing to die to ourselves. Galatians 220 says this, the apostle Paul, who once hunted Christians and then ultimately wrote half of what you call your Christian bible, said these words.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He said, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Listen to this. And the life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the son of god who loved me and gave himself for me. Look, 2000 years later, Jesus is still the best story.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:He's still the best savior. He's still the only one who came for you. If you're ready to stop wrestling against God, and you're ready to start wrestling for him, here's what I want you to ask you to do. I don't want you to walk out onto a frozen lake. I don't wanna ask you to die today.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:I just want you to stand. I just want you to be willing to stand and point your finger to heaven and say this, one more wrestler for you, Jesus. That's it. Jesus stood for you and he asks us to stand for him. Look, if you'll stand, we'll cheer, we'll celebrate.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We'll cheer you on, but we can't stand for you. Jesus died for you, but listen to me, he won't stand for you. You've gotta do that on your own. You've got to be willing to say, I'm ready to believe. If God's touched your heart like he touched Thespian's heart, I want you to stand right now.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Even if you stand alone, even if you came with friends, even if you came with family, this is your moment. This is your time. This is your place to believe. So stand now if you're ready right now and I'm just gonna pray for you. All you have to do is stand and point and we're gonna cheer you on, we're gonna celebrate you.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:Is there anybody here who would stand? Just stand and point. Remain standing as I pray over you. Let's pray together. Jesus, we're so thankful that there was only one way to save us, and you chose to die on that cross for us.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We're so thankful that there was only one place, Jerusalem, for you to make peace with us, and you went there willingly. And we thank you, Lord Jesus, that there was only one who could rise so that we could live forever. Thank you, Jesus, for living for us, for dying for us, and raising yourself from the dead for us. Father, I pray right now that you would send your holy spirit on everyone who's standing, everyone whose whose hand is raised and finger is pointed. I pray that your holy spirit would fall upon them and you would teach them how to live, how to love, and how to change and follow your son, Jesus Christ.
Pastor Matthew Stephen Brown:We thank you for this, Lord, and we ask that you bless them and change them forever. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:If you are ready to follow Jesus, I'd love for you to text follow Jesus at 77411, and our team will be able to follow-up with you. And also, Easter is just the beginning. New life in Jesus is just the beginning. And I would love for you to partner with us and the work that God is doing in and through Sandals Church by going to give dot sc. And as pastor Matt mentioned in the sermon today, all of our campuses took communion together as part of Easter.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:But listen, we have communion for you too, our online campus. You can go to sandalschurch.com/easteronline, or if you are watching on YouTube, you can click that info button for communion. And I also wanna encourage you that Easter just doesn't have to be a service. It can be a way of you celebrating. And so if you wanna continue to worship beyond the service today, our team has curated a playlist for you to listen to that you can also find at our website or by clicking the info button.
Pastor Fredo Ramos:Thank you guys so much for joining us for Easter today.