Happy Resurrection Day to all of you, and to all those who have connected online, we wish you a very happy Resurrection Sunday. Amen! It's a glorious day. Yes, as believers, we do live in this revelation each and every day. But historically, on this day, Jesus rose from the dead, and that makes this day a little extra special than all the other days. Even though we might all keep saying every day is the resurrection for us, every day is a Good Friday for us, we keep saying that, and yes, it makes sense, no doubt about it. But a little extra special was that a day in history Jesus rose from the dead. A day in history, you know, Jesus conquered sin and death, and this makes this day extra special. Amen! Hallelujah! A round of huge applause to Jesus one more time. Amen! Let's look to the Lord in prayer and just ask God to speak to us. Just for a moment, quieten your hearts, set your spirits, turn your attention to him. So, God, you speak to me this morning. Jesus, we believe that your presence is here, and we want to say with Peter, "Where can we go? You have the words of eternal life. Your word is life." Oh God, as your word comes, God, I pray there will be life in this place. Spirit of God, you take complete control over this time. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen!

As we celebrate today's Resurrection Sunday, I would like all of you to turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 12-22. I'll read it for you. I request you all to pay close attention as I read this text:

1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 12 following:

"But tell me this, since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead? For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, then all of preaching is useless and your faith is useless. And we apostles would all be lying about God, for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave. But that can't be true if there is no resurrection of the dead. And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you're still guilty of your sins. In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost. And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died. Amen! Hallelujah!"

From this text, it becomes very clear to all of us. Paul emphatically says that Resurrection is a foundation of our Christian faith. If there is no Resurrection, then all that we do is useless. Our faith is useless, our spirituality is useless, our ministry is useless, everything becomes useless if there is no Resurrection. What sets Jesus apart from all the other people born into this world? There have been many great people born into this world - great politicians, great emperors, great philanthropists, great philosophers. Now, lot of wonderful people have been born. Great scientists, great people have been born, great gurus of various faiths have been born. But what sets Jesus apart from all the other great people ever born into this world is this: there is only one person who rose from the dead, and it is Jesus. If this is not true, then everything that we do is baseless and faithless.

I like what this famous Christian preacher, author, respected theologian, and scholar, Timothy Keller, says: "If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said. If he didn't rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead." Can you understand the gravity of this statement here? If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then why should we ever believe everything that he said? But if he rose from the dead, then we are called, challenged to believe everything that Jesus has said. When we consider the life of Jesus, his teachings, his miracles, and all of that, we can only come to three conclusions about him. In the words of C.S. Lewis, a great Christian scholar, again: "Either you have to conclude that Jesus is a liar - he lied about what he said - or he is a lunatic - he didn't know what he was saying - or he is Lord." So, there are only three conclusions that we can come to: either he is a liar, or a lunatic, or a Lord. Another pastor puts it this way: "Either he is mad, bad, or God." We only have three conclusions that we can come to. But he has not left this option open to anybody that is a great man, a great religious person. He has not left that conclusion open to us because Resurrection sets him apart from any of these things.

I believe that most of us seated here have believed in Resurrection. We have accepted Jesus as the Lord and savior of our life. But sometimes, it is possible that we don't think too hard, and we might not think that it's an actual historical event that happened. It's not just a matter of faith. It's not just some story that was cooked up that Jesus rose again from the dead actually happened. So, some of the things that I would like to share today is it might help us to strengthen our faith. Also, it might help us to, you know, when we share about Jesus to other people, it'll help us to share with evidences. Christian faith is not a blind faith. Aren't you glad about it? It is not a blind faith. It's not about something to just believe, just close your eyes and believe. We have logical, rational, empirical evidences for what we believe in. Amen! Hallelujah!

So, how do we prove that Jesus actually rose from the dead? If we had the living body of Jesus, we could have presented it to people and said, "Look, Jesus rose from the dead." So, do we have the living body of Jesus? The skeptics, if they had the dead body of Jesus, they would have proved to us, "Your Jesus is dead." So, they don't have a dead body. There's a problem. We don't have a living body. They don't have a dead body. Then how do we prove that actually Jesus rose from the dead? We have evidences. You know, we cannot produce a physical evidence. Neither can we give a scientific evidence for it. Science depends upon the every conclusion that they come to is based on their observation, research, or they reproduced in the laboratory before they come to a conclusion. So, nobody was there to observe the resurrected Jesus. Nobody was there. Neither can we reproduce in the laboratory the body of Jesus. So, we cannot come with scientific evidences nor physical evidences. But what we can do come about evidences to prove about

Jesus is a legal evidence or historical evidences. Okay? That's how this is how it works in every courts these days. When any case is brought before them, how do they come to a conclusion which is right and which is wrong? There are evidences that are produced before them, and most of it are historical evidences or legal evidences that we come across. So, I want to consider this morning all the evidences, historical evidences that we have to prove about the resurrected Jesus. The two kinds of legal evidences are very powerful for us to come to a conclusion: one is called the eyewitness accounts, second is called circumstantial evidences. Even today, in our court, if somebody comes to the eyewitness, for instance, just imagine, somewhere close by, we have a beautiful hill called Nandi Hills. Very few sightseeing places up in Bangalore is that, and imagine one day a body of a woman is found. Now, that case is brought before the jury, and anything happens to the wife who is the first person to be suspected? Her husband. So, he is brought into the court for examination. So, now, they have to come to a conclusion: was that an accident? Was she herself committed suicide? Or her husband pushed? What actually happened? So, the evidences are brought before the court for examination. So, if somebody were to say that actually I saw on the Cliff of the Hill her husband pushing her down, then that's a very powerful evidence because that's an eyewitness evidence. So in the absence of eyewitnesses, there are some circumstantial evidences that people consider. Suppose somebody comes and says, "I saw the husband and wife walking over the hill, but while coming back, I only saw the husband walking down." So that amounts to one circumstantial evidence. And secondly, as they further examine and they discover that a week before, the husband had bought one crore rupees of life insurance in his wife's name, that gives a second powerful evidence. Or a neighbor would come and say that while his wife was away many times, I've seen this man with another woman. That amounts to another powerful circumstantial evidence. And perhaps somebody would come and they would discover that just before this person's death happened, his husband had booked the flight ticket with another person to Hawaii. So that closes the case for him. All that I mentioned were not eyewitness accounts, but they were circumstantial evidences.

When we come to proving about the resurrection of Jesus, we have both. We have many eyewitness accounts and we have many circumstantial evidences to come to a conclusion that Jesus indeed rose from the dead. I don't know how many of us really understand how powerful this is to our faith. Jesus came in flesh; it was not just a mere human being. He is God in flesh who came to this earth, and he really rose from the dead. And there are powerful evidences than any evidences that can be produced before the court. We have powerful evidences.

All the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John - they were all eyewitness accounts of what they saw. And many others, it is said that I'll be coming to that as well. Five hundred people at one time saw risen Jesus; they were all eyewitnesses, powerful evidences for something to prove that actually happened. Okay? So sometimes when we talk about eyewitness accounts, there might be an objection coming. How come all these four people say four different things? One Gospel writer says he saw one angel, and the other Gospel writer says he saw two angels. And there are many variations when you read the resurrection accounts in all the four Gospels, there are slightly variations, so that can be raised up as an objection that probably what they might be saying is not true. But if you legally think, variations are good. Variations actually prove, you know why Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, they didn't sit for a coffee time and decide what is a story that should come. And all four did not come and talk about the same thing the same way. Actually, that will prove that they're telling a lie. But each one had their own perspective, and each one described what they saw. Let me give another illustration to help us.

Suppose a car went and hit a person. Okay, so one eyewitness comes and says, "I saw a dog trying to cross a road, and this man in the car trying to avoid the dog went and hit the person." That was one man's story. The another person will come and say, "Actually, there's another dog I saw, that dog was chasing this dog, and the driver, to avoid that dog, went and hit that person." So now, tell me, these two people, are they speaking truth or lie? Because they're saying two different things. Both are speaking truth. First person said what he saw, second person said what he saw. Both happened. So the variations in the Gospel accounts, the eyewitness accounts, there are variations not because they're contradicting, but actually it's complimenting. Each one of them are writing from their perspective, on their experiences. So one, we have powerful eyewitnesses that that itself should close the case. We have powerful eyewitnesses who saw Jesus rose from the dead.

Now, moving on, I want to talk about all the circumstantial evidences. Eyewitness account itself is very powerful. Above that, to top it up, we have many circumstantial evidences. Now, some of the young people who would like to think might enjoy what I'm sharing today, others it might go over the head. That's okay. While I was growing up in my college days, I was a skeptic, exposed to all the science and laboratory and the research, that many times I wondered, does God really exist? Is God really true? So I was more rational, and sometimes yeah, I used to go to church and all of that, but really doubted in my heart, does God really exist? Does it all make sense that just because it's all some Blind Faith I just simply have to believe in? In the initial days, I used to ask a lot of questions to the text, I had a lot of questions in my mind, and I used to ask people, search, people read. But over the years, now my faith has gotten so strong I don't think about it. But I should be thinking because it might help people, you know, what thinking? Okay, not blinking but were thinking. So I would like to help those people who are thinking this man this morning.

So I eyewitness already shared then look let's look at the circumstantial evidences. The first circumstantial evidence that I would like to present to you this morning is about an empty tomb of Jesus. There is only one tomb that is open in the entire world; all the other tombs are closed. There are people there, probably some bones and some something will be left of the bodies. But there's only one tomb that is completely empty, that is the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. This itself is so powerful. Those people who have examined this evidence, many Skeptics, many atheists, there are many people who actually wanted to disprove Resurrection therefore disprove Christianity. There are some people I would like to name like people like Lee Strobel, people like Frank Morrison, people like Josh McDowell, they have written books. All these authors wanted to disprove resurrection and write books about it. But as they examined the evidences, they were blown away. They were so convinced that Resurrection indeed happened, and they became Believers, and they wrote books proving Resurrection. They wanted to disprove Resurrection but went about proving Resurrection.

Now, coming to the empty tomb, there are many theories that people come up with to explain the empty tomb. One is called the "Swoon Theory." What they say is Jesus didn't really die on the cross; he just fainted. And then later on, he woke up in the tomb, he rolled the stone, and he came out, and he appeared to the disciples, and then later on he died. But if you examine this theory closely, it doesn't hold water. Because Jesus was beaten so much before he was crucified, he was whipped, he was pierced with a spear, he was crowned with thorns, he was nailed to the cross. There's no way that he could have survived all that, let alone being in the tomb for three days and then coming out. So the Swoon Theory doesn't hold water.

Another theory is called the "Stolen Body Theory." What they say is the disciples stole the body of Jesus from the tomb, and then they went around saying he rose from the dead. But if you examine this theory closely, it doesn't make sense

either. Because the disciples were not brave enough to steal the body of Jesus, especially when there were guards guarding the tomb. And even if they did steal the body, why would they go around saying he rose from the dead, knowing that they could be persecuted and killed for it? It doesn't make sense. So the Stolen Body Theory doesn't hold water.

Another theory is called the "Hallucination Theory." What they say is the disciples hallucinated seeing Jesus after he died, and that's why they went around saying he rose from the dead. But if you examine this theory closely, it doesn't make sense either. Because hallucinations are individual experiences, they're not shared experiences. But the disciples saw Jesus multiple times, and not just one or two of them, but all of them. And not just in one place, but in different places. And not just for a brief moment, but for extended periods of time. So the Hallucination Theory doesn't hold water.

So when you examine all the theories that people come up with to explain the empty tomb, none of them hold water. The only explanation that makes sense is that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And the empty tomb is a powerful evidence of that.

Now, moving on to another circumstantial evidence, I want to talk about the transformation of the disciples. Before Jesus was crucified, the disciples were afraid, they were confused, they were scattered. But after Jesus rose from the dead, they were bold, they were courageous, they were united. They went around preaching the Gospel, they went around performing miracles, they went around risking their lives for the sake of Jesus. What could have caused such a drastic transformation in them? The only explanation that makes sense is that they really saw Jesus alive after he died, just like they said they did. And that changed everything for them.

Now, moving on to another circumstantial evidence, I want to talk about the growth of the early church. After Jesus rose from the dead, the early church exploded in growth. Thousands of people became believers, despite facing persecution and opposition. What could have caused such a rapid growth in the early church? The only explanation that makes sense is that they really believed that Jesus rose from the dead, and they were willing to risk everything for the sake of that belief.

Now, moving on to another circumstantial evidence, I want to talk about the conversion of skeptics. There were many skeptics who didn't believe in Jesus before he died, but after he rose from the dead, they became believers. People like James, the brother of Jesus, and Paul, who was a persecutor of the church. What could have caused such a dramatic change in them? The only explanation that makes sense is that they really saw Jesus alive after he died, just like they said they did. And that changed everything for them.

Now, moving on to another circumstantial evidence, I want to talk about the celebration of Easter. Every year, Christians around the world celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus. What could have caused such a widespread celebration of an event that happened over two thousand years ago? The only explanation that makes sense is that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

So when you examine all the circumstantial evidences that point to the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the implications of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus has many implications for us today. One implication is that Jesus is who he said he was. He is the Son of God, he is the Savior of the world, he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Another implication is that Jesus has power over death. He conquered death once and for all, and he offers eternal life to all who believe in him. Another implication is that Jesus has power to transform lives. Just like he transformed the lives of the disciples, he can transform our lives too. He can take us from death to life, from darkness to light, from despair to hope. Another implication is that Jesus has power to change the world. Just like he changed the world two thousand years ago, he can change the world today. He can bring peace to the nations, he can bring justice to the oppressed, he can bring healing to the broken. Another implication is that Jesus has power to give us a new identity. Just like he gave the disciples a new identity as his followers, he can give us a new identity too. He can make us sons and daughters of God, he can make us citizens of his kingdom, he can make us members of his body. Another implication is that Jesus has power to give us a new purpose. Just like he gave the disciples a new purpose to go and make disciples of all nations, he can give us a new purpose too. He can give us a purpose to love God and love others, he can give us a purpose to serve God and serve others, he can give us a purpose to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

So when you consider all the implications of the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the response to the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus demands a response from us. It demands a response of faith, it demands a response of repentance, it demands a response of obedience. Faith to believe that Jesus really rose from the dead, repentance to turn away from our sins and turn to God, obedience to follow Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The resurrection of Jesus also demands a response of worship, it demands a response of gratitude, it demands a response of praise. Worship to honor Jesus as the Son of God, gratitude to thank Jesus for his sacrifice on the cross, praise to exalt Jesus as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

So when you consider all the responses to the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the significance of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus has many significance for us today. One significance is that it gives us hope. Hope that death is not the end, hope that there is life after death, hope that we will be reunited with our loved ones in heaven. Another significance is that it gives us joy. Joy that Jesus has conquered sin and death, joy that Jesus has overcome the world, joy that Jesus has given us victory over our enemies. Another significance is that it gives us peace. Peace that Jesus has reconciled us to God, peace that Jesus has forgiven us of our sins, peace that Jesus has restored us to wholeness. Another significance is that it gives us purpose. Purpose to live for the glory of God, purpose to serve others in love, purpose to make disciples of all nations.

So when you consider all the significance of the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth celebrating. It's worth celebrating

because it's the foundation of our faith, it's the foundation of our hope, it's the foundation of our salvation. It's worth celebrating because it's the greatest miracle in history, it's the greatest victory over sin and death, it's the greatest demonstration of God's love for us. It's worth celebrating because it's the source of our joy, it's the source of our peace, it's the source of our purpose. It's worth celebrating because it's the reason we have eternal life, it's the reason we have forgiveness of sins, it's the reason we have new life in Christ.

So when you consider all the reasons to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth proclaiming. It's worth proclaiming because it's the good news of salvation, it's the good news of forgiveness, it's the good news of new life. It's worth proclaiming because it's the power of God, it's the wisdom of God, it's the love of God. It's worth proclaiming because it's the message of hope, it's the message of joy, it's the message of peace. It's worth proclaiming because it's the truth that sets us free, it's the truth that transforms lives, it's the truth that changes the world.

So when you consider all the reasons to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth responding to. It's worth responding to with faith, it's worth responding to with repentance, it's worth responding to with obedience. It's worth responding to with worship, it's worth responding to with gratitude, it's worth responding to with praise. It's worth responding to with hope, it's worth responding to with joy, it's worth responding to with peace. It's worth responding to with purpose, it's worth responding to with love, it's worth responding to with service.

So when you consider all the reasons to respond to the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the transformation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus has the power to transform lives. It has the power to transform our hearts, our minds, our souls. It has the power to transform our relationships, our communities, our world. It has the power to transform our past, our present, our future. It has the power to transform our pain into joy, our sorrow into hope, our despair into peace.

So when you consider all the reasons to be transformed by the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is an invitation to new life, to forgiveness, to salvation. It's an invitation to hope, to joy, to peace. It's an invitation to purpose, to meaning, to fulfillment. It's an invitation to relationship, to intimacy, to communion with God.

So when you consider all the reasons to respond to the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth celebrating. It's worth celebrating because it's the victory of life over death, of light over darkness, of good over evil. It's worth celebrating because it's the promise of hope, of joy, of peace. It's worth celebrating because it's the assurance of salvation, of forgiveness, of eternal life.

So when you consider all the reasons to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth proclaiming. It's worth proclaiming because it's the good news of salvation, of forgiveness, of new life. It's worth proclaiming because it's the power of God, the wisdom of God, the love of God. It's worth proclaiming because it's the message of hope, of joy, of peace.

So when you consider all the reasons to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

Now, I want to talk about the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus is something worth responding to. It's worth responding to with faith, with repentance, with obedience. It's worth responding to with worship, with gratitude, with praise. It's worth responding to with hope, with joy, with peace. It's worth responding to with purpose, with love, with service.

So when you consider all the reasons to respond to the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus, they all point to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them. Jesus and became a believer. So Jesus appeared not only to believers but also to skeptics, which further strengthens the credibility of the eyewitness testimonies.

Lastly, I want to talk about the impact of the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection is not just a historical event that happened over two thousand years ago. It is a reality that continues to impact our lives today. The resurrection gives us hope in the midst of despair, it gives us strength in the midst of weakness, it gives us joy in the midst of sorrow. The resurrection assures us that death is not the end, but the beginning of eternal life. It assures us that sin and death have been defeated, and we have victory in Christ. The resurrection empowers us to live lives of purpose and meaning, knowing that our labor is not in vain. It empowers us to love one another as Christ loved us, to forgive one another as Christ forgave us, to serve one another as Christ served us. The resurrection transforms us from death to life, from darkness to light, from despair to hope. It transforms our hearts, our minds, our souls. It transforms our relationships, our communities, our world.

So when you consider all the impact of the resurrection of Jesus, it points to the same conclusion: that Jesus really rose from the dead, just like he said he would. And that changed everything for them.

In conclusion, the resurrection of Jesus is the most significant event in human history. It is the foundation of our faith, the source of our hope, the assurance of our salvation. It is a reality that demands a response from us, a response of faith, repentance, obedience, worship, gratitude, praise. It is a reality that continues to impact our lives today, giving us hope, joy, peace, purpose, meaning. It is a reality that transforms us from death to life, from darkness to light, from despair to hope. It is a reality that changes everything for us.

So as we celebrate Resurrection Sunday today, let us remember the significance of the resurrection of Jesus, let us respond to the invitation of the resurrection of Jesus, let us proclaim the truth of the resurrection of Jesus, let us live in the power of the resurrection of Jesus. For he is risen indeed, and that changes everything for us. Amen.

hallucinating or dreaming. Let's consider that for a moment. If it was just one or two people claiming to have seen Jesus, it might be possible to dismiss it as hallucination or a dream. But we have multiple eyewitnesses, including groups of people, who claimed to have seen Jesus alive after his crucifixion. It's highly improbable that so many people would have the same hallucination or dream. And not only did they see Jesus, but they also interacted with him, touched him, ate with him. Hallucinations don't typically involve such vivid and shared experiences.

Another objection might be that Jesus didn't actually die on the cross, but merely swooned or fainted, and later revived in the tomb. However, this theory doesn't hold up under scrutiny. Jesus endured a brutal crucifixion, including being pierced with a spear to confirm his death. The Roman soldiers were experts in execution, and they would not have mistaken a living person for a dead one. Furthermore, even if Jesus had somehow survived the crucifixion, it's highly unlikely that he would have been able to move the heavy stone blocking the tomb, appear to his disciples in a resurrected state, and then go on to preach and teach as he did.

Lastly, some skeptics might argue that the disciples stole the body of Jesus in order to fabricate the resurrection story. But this theory doesn't align with the facts. The Roman guards stationed at the tomb would have been heavily armed and vigilant, making it nearly impossible for the disciples to overpower them and steal the body. Additionally, the transformation of the disciples from fearful and disillusioned followers to bold and courageous proclaimers of the gospel is difficult to explain if they were perpetrating a hoax. People don't willingly endure persecution, imprisonment, and death for something they know to be false.

In conclusion, when we examine the evidence for and against the resurrection of Jesus, it becomes clear that the weight of evidence strongly supports the truth of the resurrection. The empty tomb, the transformed lives of the disciples, the eyewitness testimonies, the continued existence and growth of the church—all point to the reality of Jesus' resurrection. And when we consider the significance of the resurrection for our faith, our hope, and our lives, we can confidently declare, as countless believers have throughout history, that Christ is risen indeed.Here's the corrected version:

Jesus was right, but when you talk to psychiatrists and psychologists, there are certain classes of people who can have hallucinations. These hallucinations can only be experienced by people who are paranoid and schizophrenic. But all these people they witnessed were normal people. None of them were paranoid people, none of them were cop people. Another thing is, these hallucinations can happen to people whose experiences are very subjective and related to things in their lives. It's very personal. I mean, not everybody can be having the same kind of hallucination. That's what I mean. All the 500-plus people cannot be having the same kind of hallucination, but people who have hallucinations, it's very personal and subjective. That's something I want you to consider.

Then psychiatrists say the hallucination happens to people who are anticipating something to happen or expecting something to happen. You know, some old lady is expecting a son to come back, she might hallucinate about it. Or somebody, you know, whose loved one has died, that person might wish that person could be alive, probably would be hallucinating. But when you look at this woman who went to the tomb on Sunday morning, they did not go expecting to meet a risen Jesus. In fact, they took the spices and the perfumes to embalm the body of Jesus. What they anticipated to see was a dead body. In fact, I'm amazed every time I think about Mary Magdalene. Devotion to Jesus today, for many Christian faiths, is about what I can get from Jesus: healings, miracles, prosperity, deliverance, job, marriage, car, promotion, blessing. This is what many people are seeking Christianity for. But when you look at Mary Magdalene, why did she come to Jesus? Not for any of these reasons. It's a pure love, devotion, and commitment to Jesus Christ, whom she had understood as her savior. She came not for a living body, but she came for a dead body. What would she get out of a dead body? Can a dead body give you healing? Can a dead body give you prosperity? Can a dead body give you success? Can a dead body give you marriages? Can a dead body give you children? Can a dead body do miracles for you? She came for a dead body. That was the extent of the love that she had for Jesus. I pray that all of us who raise to such love for Jesus, when we know what he has done for us, to die for our sins, to give us eternal life, to write our names in the Book of Life, that our love would grow up to such a level. Yes, I believe God does miracles. Yes, I believe God heals. Yes, I believe in the supernatural. But my faith should be so much that, in spite of all those things, despite all those things, my love still stands for Jesus, growing every day in an increasing measure. When I consider the love, there's nothing that can beat the salvation experience that Jesus has given to each one of us. Hallelujah! Are you rejoicing in your salvation experience? Are you rejoicing in the miracle of salvation that has happened to you? Or are there times that you wonder something better, you wish something better would happen to you than salvation? Friends, brothers, sisters, there's nothing better than salvation, so that we can be ever grateful to Jesus and indebted to Jesus. Why did I say all that? Where am I? Okay, so those are all the hallucination stories. Also, another thing about hallucinations is that when a person gets the disease of hallucination, it won't stop abruptly. It generally lasts for an entire lifetime or a long time. But when they consider all the people hallucinating abruptly, suddenly after 40 days, everything stops. They stop hallucinating and they had food with the body. So they were not having food with the hallucination. They drank, they spoke, they touched. So nobody can do all this when they're hallucinating with somebody. So this is again such a foolish argument. You can just imagine one person comes and arguing, saying that no, what they saw was the hallucination. You can just imagine everybody laughing about this argument.

The third argument that they bring against resurrection is actually Jesus did not die, he fainted on the cross. So then they put him in the tomb. After three days, he got revived, he got his strength back, and he pushed open the tombstone and he walked off. Nobody knows where he walked off. Okay, that's the story. Can you imagine the foolishness in this argument? And even greater amazement to this, people believe it. There was a soldier who actually thrust his body with the spear right to his heart, blood and water came out, actually telling that Jesus died of a heart attack. Okay, so that was the death he had. Now to think that that kind of body would get revived and walk out of the tomb, you can think how credible that is. And again, the fourth argument that they bring against resurrection is his body was stolen. Who stole it? Did the Jewish people steal it? Stole it or Romans, they not have any reason why they should steal? If the disciples have stolen it, we know the condition they were in. They were behind closed doors, they were thinking they were next, they were all shivering, trembling. What's going to happen next to their lives? You think they would go and steal the body, overcoming all these Roman soldiers there, pushing all this tomb in the traumatic experience they were in? Would they have done that? Who would have stolen this? Again, all for you all to think about. So now, I presented you the cases, the evidence for resurrection, evidence against resurrection. Now, I believe most of you believe in resurrection. But even if you would just consider logically, rationally and think, we should be, this should deepen our faith. The God whom we worship is risen from the dead. It is backed up by convincing evidence. It is not a fiction, it's a fact. So what does it mean to us? What resurrection proved was, resurrection proved that Jesus was not just another human being, but he was divine, he was God. That's why we have to consider the statements of Jesus when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one can come to the Father except through me." Even if there's anyone in this place who has not given your hearts, really accepted Jesus as the Lord and Savior of your life, this can be your moment when you consider this evidence. It's what do you think about anybody in the world does not actually matter. What do you think about? I don't want to bring any names, okay? What do you think about me? Doesn't matter. Okay, what do you think about some great personality, some historian, some prime minister, some president? Doesn't matter. But what do you think about Jesus? Matters. It's a matter of life and death. So do not postpone your decision to get saved.

The second thing the resurrection does, it proves that Jesus is able to forgive

our sins. Amen. Because sin could not hold him. He overcame sin. He is a holy God and is able to forgive our sins. So today, we can have the assurance that our sins are forgiven. Nobody has to live in guilt and condemnation. We can have faith that our sins are forgiven and also have faith that going forward, we can receive the forgiveness of our sins from Jesus Christ by repenting and confessing our sins.

The third thing resurrection does is it proves Christ's power over death. Hallelujah. Nobody has to fear death again. Is anybody here with fear of death? Anybody fear disease, sickness in your body? We don't have to be afraid of cancers, we don't have to be afraid of tuberculosis, liver, and other diseases. If you do not have fear of death, you'll not have fear of sickness. When fear strikes you, what is the first thing that will happen to you? Am I going to die? Am I going to die? Okay, so when you don't have fear of death, now you cannot have fear of sickness as well. You're not going to die. As believers, we don't have to fear about that. Fear is just a moment of transition to be absent with the body here is to be present with Christ himself. We don't have to fear anything, fear any sickness, fear any person, fear any enemy, fear anything. We don't have to fear witchcraft. So many things people keep bringing up, "Pastor, you know what? People are jealous about us, my relatives, those people did witchcraft." You know, if you have believed in Jesus Christ, if you understand the power of Jesus Christ, you know those powers can have no authority over you. You do not have to have fear. If you have fear, it will catch you. Even if they have not done, you think it, they have done it, it'll catch you. But when you live in faith, all those things prove that you don't have faith. If you don't have faith, go to the word, pray, and you will see that none of those things will have any effect on you.

The final thing resurrection proves is that Jesus defeated our enemy Satan. Amen. We don't have to be afraid of any demonic powers, any Satan. We don't have to be afraid. Many people have more fear of Satan and the devil than fear of God. If you fear God, you don't have to fear anything. If you don't fear God, you'll fear anything and anybody. I would encourage you to fear God, walk in his ways, and you will not have reason to fear anybody.

And the last thing I'd like to share is what this resurrection tells us is that God is at work again. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." So resurrection tells us that God is back to work in new creation. He's doing a new creation. In Genesis chapter 1, we talk about the first creation. In the first creation, God created the heavens and the earth, then he created the man. In the second creation, the new creation that has begun, God is first making new people, first, and then he's going to make new heavens and the new earth. The resurrection talks about a new creation that has begun. You and I are a new creation. All those of us who are in Christ Jesus have become a new creation in Christ Jesus, and we are on the way to inherit new heaven and new earth that God is preparing for each one of us.

So this resurrection day, we have a glorious day, glorious reasons to celebrate that we are part of such powerful truth. That's why Jesus said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free." Let's be people of truth and really walk in that experience that Jesus is God, Jesus is my savior, Jesus is my Lord. My life belongs to him. I want to walk in ways surrendered to him and see the difference that can make in your life. I pray that as we consider all these evidences, it's not just a matter of some concepts and some data that are thrown up to you. It's all real facts that have happened, and we can know for certain that Jesus is risen and is coming back soon. Shall we arise in God's presence?