Easter Sunday 2026 | Hope From The Empty Tomb

Hope is hard to find when life feels like a graveyard, and that’s exactly why Luke 24 is so disruptive. We start with the women walking to Jesus’ tomb carrying spices and heartbreak, expecting a sealed stone, a dead body, and one more day of grief. Instead, they find an open tomb, God’s messengers, and a question that cuts through every distraction: “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

From there, we get honest about what Christians mean when we say “Jesus died for our sins.” We talk about sin as self-rule, the reality of death, and why Scripture says we need saving not just from consequences but from God’s righteous wrath. Then we walk through the heart of the gospel: Jesus as our substitute, the One who pays a debt we cannot pay, satisfying justice through propitiation so forgiveness can be offered freely. The resurrection of Jesus is not a bonus detail, it is the proof the payment stands, death is conquered, and Christian hope is solid ground.

We also make room for skepticism. The first witnesses are confused, the apostles doubt, and even face-to-face encounters take time to process. We explore evidence for the resurrection, eyewitness testimony, and why the apostles’ willingness to suffer matters historically. Finally, we bring it home with a challenge about idolatry and modern “dead places” where we keep trying to locate meaning, echoing David Foster Wallace’s warning that what you worship will eventually eat you alive.

If you’ve been running on fumes, listen and weigh the claim of the empty tomb for yourself. Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find it. What’s the dead place you’re most tempted to trust for hope?

Transcript

Opening Story And A Lost Check

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Luke, chapter 24. Luke chapter 24. When you have it, say amen. Those of you on your phone, you should have it by now for sure. All right, Luke chapter 24. Have you ever lost something, given up looking for it, and then maybe months later find it in the most random place? Yeah? Listen, when Nikki and I were first married, this is years ago, my father sent her a check for her birthday. A few weeks later, he calls and says, Nikki, the check hasn't cashed. She swore she cashed it. She just knew she cashed it. But just in case, she tore the house apart looking for that check to no avail. Well, fast forward a few months later, and Nikki goes to pour a bowl of cereal and out pops that check from my father. I don't remember what time or what kind of cereal that was, but I have to think it was probably Lucky Charms. Come on, somebody. And I don't know what Nikki was smoking when she put that check in the cereal box, but I'll just leave that there. Well, in today's text, we find a group of women, including Mary Magdalene, who are on their way to visit Jesus' tomb. And these women are grieving over something much more devastating than a lost check. Namely, they're grieving over the Messiah, their friend, their Lord, who had passed on Friday, executed. They've lost hope by this point, owing to the death of Jesus. And yet, on this day, some two thousand years ago, hope was restored because of an empty tomb. They went to the most unlikely place to find hope. I mean, essentially a cemetery. You would not think you would find hope there, but that's exactly what they do. And you know what? That same hope is available to each of us today. The world is searching for hope, aren't they? To no avail? Amidst wars and political polarizations and polarization, moral decay, a bad economy. That hurts, doesn't it? And so many other things, the world's lost hope, haven't they? Maybe you've lost hope this morning. Let me just tell you up front that nothing the world offers to you will give you hope. Lasting hope, at least. But what we celebrate today on Easter, it will give you unbelievable, lasting, sustaining hope. Amen. So, Christians, I just want to remind you of that hope that's in Christ that is yours today. And listen, if you're here and you're a non-Christian, I just want you to know I am so glad you're here. And here's all I would ask of you today. Not going to ask you for money, not going to ask you for anything else, except that you would just consider the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the reality of that resurrection that the Bible talks about and that I am preaching about today. And you would just consider the claim that Jesus is risen. Imagine if you receive a letter from an attorney that uh, and it says that a deceased family member has passed away, somebody you've never met, never heard of. And the letter says they've left you a check for millions of dollars. They've left you an inheritance. Now, we all get scammed these days a lot, don't we? So how many would be a little bit skeptical? But let me ask you this would the claim not be at least worth looking into? You may be skeptical, skeptical, excuse me, um, about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but let me ask you this. If it is true, the implications are unbelievable. Would it not be this morning, at least considering? Because if the resurrection is true, you and I can move from hopelessness to having hope. And by the way, when I'm talking about hope, I'm not talking about wishful thinking, like hoping to win the lottery. If you do that, tithe off of it. But we can have a sure hope. We can go from hopeless to having eternal hope. You can move from darkness this morning. How many know this is a dark world? And you can move into God's marvelous light. You can move from the kingdom of this world into God's kingdom. You can move from being an enemy of God to being part of God's family, a son or daughter of God. You can be, you can move from being lost without hope of eternal life to having salvation in Jesus and having eternal life. If Jesus is really raised, there is no better news in the world. And listen, I don't want false hope. I don't want pie in the sky hope. But I want you to know today, straight away, I really believe that this hope is real, that Jesus is in fact risen. Let me begin breaking down this text in verse one. Now, here's what's happening. You've got Mary Magdalene again, and you've got these other women, and they're making their way to the tomb of Jesus. And I want to begin by talking about their expectations versus their experience. Luke 24, verse 1. But on the first day of the week at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. Now, let me just point out something as a side note. Which day of the week did they go? The first day, that's Sunday. Do you know why historically, from about 90 AD on, the church has met on Sundays? Because we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus every Sunday, and we ought to celebrate it every day. This is called the Lord's Day, and it commemorates as we as we gather together each week, it commemorates his resurrection. So here's what they do. What do they expect? Number one, they expect a sealed tomb. Mark 16, 3 says this, and they, the women, were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Now, traditionally in the ancient world, tombs would be sealed by a massively heavy stone that could not be moved by one or two people. Not only that, with Jesus' tomb, it was guarded heavily by Roman soldiers. So they're wondering, how in the world are we gonna open it? They expect an empty tomb. Secondly, they expect a dead body. Generally, what you find in a tomb. Verse 1 again. On the first day of the week at the early of dawn, they went to the tomb taking spices they would have prepared. These are not spices to cook with. What are they? They're spices to anoint Jesus' body. And you would anoint a body with these spices for two reasons. One, it was to show honor to the deceased. And number two, it was to cover up the odor of the decaying body. So they expect a dead body. Number three, they expect sorrow and despair. That's generally what we experience at a graveyard, isn't it? Some of you just this year have tragically lost loved ones, and you know what it is to grieve at a graveside. They are going to not just to anoint Jesus' body, but to grieve his death, to mourn. Mary Magdalene, maybe you've heard that name, she has particularly been close to Jesus. Before meeting Jesus, she was a demon-possessed, outcast woman. But how many know when you meet the risen Christ, when you meet Jesus, he changes everything. Amen. So you're here today and you think, well, you know what? I'm too messed up for Jesus to help. Don't be so sure. I doubt this morning you have seven demons. I mean, maybe, but hopefully not. And Jesus embraces her, others shun her. Jesus embraces her. And he casts the demons out, and she becomes one of his closest followers. What I want you to see today is this is not just casual grief. These women are in fact brokenhearted. They expect, as they make their way to the tomb, a sealed tomb, a dead body, and grief beyond belief. But I would argue today that their expectations are far different than their experience. Number one, what do they find? They find an open tomb. Verse 2, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They expected what? A heavy stone, but they experienced an open grave. Secondly, they experienced God's messengers. Look at verses three through five. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. It's like they think this is a grave robber, right? And while they were perplexed about this, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. These men wearing Gucci. Come on, somebody. And they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground. Think about this. They show up expecting a dead body, but instead they find two very alive messengers, angelic beings from God. Thirdly, they experience hope and joy. Look at verses 5b through 6a. And as they they were frightened. And by the way, this is the normal reaction. This is the normal reaction to angels. You know, you might not want to pray, Lord, let an angel visit me, because people tend to get freaked out in the Bible about that. Verse 24, or chapter 24, verse 5, as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground. The men said to them, Why do you seek the living among the dead? That's a great question. I'll come back to that. Here's the good news: the angels deliver. He is not here, but he is risen. Hallelujah. Here's what they expect. Remember, they expect sorrow and despair, but what do they get? They get hope and even joy. Matthew 28, verse 8 says this. So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear. That's reverence and what? Great joy. And they ran to tell Jesus' disciples. I'm telling you, if I don't know how you came in here today, you might be in great despair. All hell may be breaking loose in your life. But I want you to know if you are in count, you will encounter the risen Jesus today, your sorrow can be turned to joy. These women find hope in the most unexpected place. And it's all because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Let me read you 1 Peter 1, verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again. You don't make yourself a Christian. He's made us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Again, this hope, it's not wishful thinking. It is grounded in the historicity, or how would you say the historical reality of the resurrection of Jesus? Here's the thing, folks, look at me. I don't know why you came to church today. I don't know what you were expecting. Maybe you don't normally come on a Sunday morning. And again, I'm super glad you're here, no matter the reason. Maybe you expected a predictable service with songs and prayers and a message. And perhaps you thought you'd just hear a sermon that's not relevant to you. Maybe you expected church people dressed in their Easter best. By the way, y'all look marvelous this morning. Maybe you thought you'd just be pressured to give money. Jerry, you didn't pressure them, did you? Alright, fair enough. Maybe you thought you just hear, you just be made to feel guilty. Maybe you expected this morning to leave the same way you came in. Maybe the last thing you expected to experience today is to find hope. But this is where it's at, and not because of me, not because of the church. It's because of whom I'm preaching. The risen Lord Jesus. Like these women, you might be surprised by hope today. Why does the resurrection give us hope? Like that's a question worth asking. Let me start by talking quickly about the death of Jesus. You know, most of us in the Western world, we have heard uh the phrase, Jesus died for our sins. Children know those words. Jesus died for our sins. But how many people really understand what that means and the weight of that truth? What's it mean? Well, number one, you have to understand this. You have to realize that we've all sinned, including this preacher, this week. Anybody in here not sinned? We've all sinned. Romans 3 23. For all, everybody say, all, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What is sin? It's disobedience to God, right? It's breaking God's law, which we've all done. But not only that, we talked last week, I love this. Sin is ultimately putting yourself in the place of God. If you go back to the very beginning of your Bible, God creates Adam and Eve in this beautiful garden, and they're made vice regents, uh governors of God's good creation. They're to rule the land, but they're to do so under the headship of God. But what do they do? That's page one and two of your Bible. On page three, they already messed it up. That's what we do, right? They disobey the Lord. They disobey his command, and in that moment, what they're saying is this God, we don't want you to be our king. We'd rather sit on the throne of our own lives. That's what sin is. It's running your own life, doing whatever you want, not obeying the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of us have done it. We all stand guilty before a holy God. Do you understand that? What's the penalty for sin? Well, number one, it's death. Romans 6 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ. This death, by the way, it's not just physical death, but it is eternal death. And we know that because if you go back to verse 23, Paul contrasts this death with eternal life. What it really is, is an eternal separation from the God we were created to worship. Jesus came to heal us from that. That's the penalty. It's death. But there's a second penalty that we don't often talk about. You know what it is? It's to face the wrath of God. Some of you came to church this morning because your mama asked you to, and you don't want to face the wrath of your mama. I get that. But I would just argue that pales in comparison to facing the wrath of God. See, in our world today, people think of God as cute and cuddly. But I, yes, he's a God that's loving, but if you read the Bible, here's what you get: He is a force to be reckoned with. Like you don't want to be on his bad side, FYI. Right? Verse uh Romans chapter 5, verse 9. Since therefore we have now been justified by Jesus' blood, much more, here's what I want you to get. Shall we be saved by him from what? The wrath of God. You know, a question worth asking when we save, hey, do you want to be saved? The question is, saved from what? You know what you need to be saved from? God Himself. You need to be saved from God because of sin, you and I are destined to see his wrath poured out upon us. That's the bad news there. But I've got great news for you this Easter. You ready? Jesus bore our sins at Calvary on the cross. You might ask the question, well, you know, if God's loving and he wants to be merciful to us and doesn't want to pour out his wrath on us, why doesn't he just turn his head and overlook our sin? Well, there's a reason for that, because God is not just loving, but he is just. Let me read you Romans 3, 25 and 26. Talking about Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, watch this, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. If you have a debt that you cannot pay, let's say you lose your job and you can't pay your mortgage, God forbid. You know, you can't just call the lender and say, you know what, lost my job, not gonna be able to pay, you know, the the mortgage, but it's all right. You know, um, just want to let you know, they're not gonna go, they're not gonna be too sympathetic. They they might say, I'm sorry you lost your job, but then they're gonna say, you better figure out a way, or we're gonna come take it. In order for you to keep that house, What has to happen if you have no money? Somebody else has to come in and incur the debt. Pay that debt for you. So, because of our sin, we cannot, we cannot pay for the debt ourselves. You can't do enough good works to undo the sin that you've done. We're not saved by works. We can't be. Do you know every day without Christ, we go more and more into sin. That debt just racks up every day. But I've got great news for you again today. The debt's been paid. Jesus Christ at Calvary paid your debt. 1 Corinthians 15, 3, for I delivered to you, Paul writes, as of first importance what I receive, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures. What does that mean? He died for our sins. 2 Corinthians 5.21, for our sake he made him, Jesus, watch this, to be sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Jesus left heaven, came to earth, lived a perfect life, the only one to ever walk this earth and be tempted in every way, yet not sin. Jesus did not deserve death. Can we agree with that? But here's what he did at the cross, and this is why he came. As a matter of fact, the Bible says he came, this is why, to save his people from their sins. So at the cross, he took our punishment because the debt had to be paid. He faced hell itself. He took our shame, he bore our grief. And you know what he did? He bore the wrath of God. You remember when he was on the cross? What did he say? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? You know why Jesus was willing to be forsaken by God? So that we don't have to be. It's the best news in the world. Here's what happened. In Jesus' death, he became our substitute. He stepped in to pay the mortgage, as it were. He incurred the debt that you and I could not pay in a million lifetimes. Here's what happened at the cross. God's love in mercy was actualized and his judgment was satisfied. You're quiet this morning. That's good news. I'm gonna say it again. At least act like you're happy about it. At the cross, God's love for us was actualized and his judgment was satisfied. You might ask, well, why do Christians still die if Jesus took the punishment of death? Well, we still live in a fallen world, but here's the difference when a Christian dies versus a non-believer. For the Christian, death is not a punishment, it is a doorway. For the Christian, death is not a punishment, it's a doorway. Paul said, to live is Christ and to die is gain. So that's why the cross is necessary, and thank God for the cross. But why then is the resurrection necessary? Like, why is this the you know the most celebrated day in the Christian calendar? Well, Paul writes this in 1 Corinthians 15, 17. He says, Listen, if Christ is not raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Watch this. If Jesus died on the cross, yet he is not risen, we have no hope. We're still in our sins. What did the resurrection prove? Number one, it proved that Jesus conquered death. That's good news. Number two, it's proof that he paid our debt. Remember, he said, it is finished. And the reason we know it is finished is because God raised him to life. Here's what else it is, though. It's proof that he appeased God's wrath so that we don't have to face it as believers. You say, well, how do you know that? Well, you heard a word that I read in Romans called propitiation. Anyone want to define it this morning? Here's what propitiation is. In the Greek world, ancient Greek world, you know, very mystical, they had all these gods that they worshiped. Well, propitiation was a term used to describe satisfying a God's wrath. Here's what would happen. Like if things were really going bad for a city or community, they would assume the gods are really mad at us. So they would just sacrifice things and sometimes even people. And then when things got better, they think, okay, God's wrath is appeased. Jesus became a propitiation. When he died and was forsaken by God and he bore our sin, and when he raised from the dead, God's wrath against us was satisfied. And you know, without Christ's resurrection, there would be no future resurrection for us. I just want to, as another aside note, um, here's something to think about. You you hear Christians talk about heaven all the time, right? Heaven, and we sing songs about heaven when we all get to heaven. Remember that one? What a day of rejoicing that would be. So, yeah, I believe in heaven. You're like, that's a good thing. I do. But the greatest hope for the Christian is not heaven. That heaven, what happens when a Christian passes, we know very little about that intermediate state, but that is temporary. It was not the hope of the Jews, and it's not the hope of us. And I don't know how we've missed this because all you have to do, isn't this right, Dr. Busky, is go to the last page of your Bible. The story starts, right, with God's creation. You go to Genesis 1, God's creation, beautiful earth, free of sin. And God is with man, right? God is in the garden with Adam and Eve. Well, the story ends because of sin. You know, the the world has been tainted and we've been separated from God. The story ends in the book of Revelation, not with us going to heaven, but what? With heaven coming to us, and we're not gonna be little souls floating around on clouds. We're not even gonna be bodies floating around on clouds playing harp. Saw the Farside commercial once. A guy was sitting on a cloud and he says, uh, a little caption, I wish I would have brought another magazine. Beloved, that's not the end of the story. The end of the story is that God is going to renew the earth. There will be no more natural disasters, no more sin, no more evil. The devil and his angels will be abolished, cast away. Creation will be like it was in Genesis 1, and there will be a new and better, Revelation says, garden, garden of Eden, and it will cover the earth, and we shall forever be with the Lord. We will be raised bodily. That's the best news in the world. That's the hope we hang on to. Well, how do you know, Pastor, that's gonna happen? Because the same Bible, the same God who promised that Jesus would be raised for the dead from the dead, is the same God who promised that Jesus will come back again. It's the best hope in the world. Without the resurrection, we would be doomed without hope. Now you may say this morning, all right, Pastor, I get what you're saying. Maybe you've heard this before, but you you're skeptical and you say, you know, you really expect me to believe in some fairy tale like this. You might say, well, I'm even considering, but considering this happened, but man, people just don't rise from the dead, and fair enough. Especially when they've been raised or dead three days. Why believe in the resurrection? Well, let me start by this, friend. If you're skeptical of Christ's resurrection, you're in really good company. You're in really good company. Um, you know, people think, well, those first century people, they're just so naive, they believe anything. It's like, don't be so sure. If you read the gospel accounts, you'll see this. Um, Jesus predicted his death time and time again. But you know what? His closest followers, even after his resurrection, they're still skeptical. It's unbelievable. That the women see the empty tomb tomb and they're perplexed, thinking somebody stole the body. It's like, do you not remember what Jesus just told you last week? I mean, I know we have bad memories, but come on. Then the apostles, the one who've been with those who have been with Jesus for some three and a half years. Luke 24, verses 9 through 11, it says, returning from the tomb, these women told all these things to the eleven apostles and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But watch this. But these words seemed to them an idle tell. The apostles. They're going, come on, you're making this up. And they did not believe them. They, this is crazy. They hear from people whom they trust. Jesus is risen. We don't believe you. Though Jesus predicted it himself. If you're a skeptic and you're in really good company, and then there's in the story, there's two other disciples on the road to Emmaus. They're walking with Jesus and they don't believe it. They don't even recognize him, they're telling Jesus. They asked Jesus, Pastor Ben preached this this morning. Hey, have you not heard what happened? It's Jesus. Of course he heard he was there. But here's what I love. Eventually, the women at the tomb, the apostles, and Jesus' others' followers believe. They bank their life on the resurrection, and they'll be changed forever. So why should you believe like them? Well, very quickly, we have eyewitness accounts. And I won't take time to read this, but in verses 36 through 39, Jesus comes and he stands amongst the disciples. He eats with them. They're able to, they think it's a ghost at first, right? They're still skeptical. Sounds like us, doesn't it? They get to see the wounds in his hands and his feet, and they see him in this glorified state. We have eyewitness accounts. Do you know in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 6, Paul is writing to the church in Corinth and he says, You know what? Christ is risen. You don't believe me? Go talk to eyewitnesses. He said, He appeared not just to me, but over 500 people at once. And you may say, Oh, it was just an LSD trip, a hallucination. But here's the thing it would be very rare that two people had the same exact hallucination, much less 500 people. So we have eyewitnesses. Isn't that we how we know about any and believe any ancient historical fact? Yes. The apostles, secondly, not only do we have eyewitnesses, but the apostles were willing to die. Because they really believe Jesus is risen. Now, they didn't just die. They died, most of them, horrendous death. And church, the Bible doesn't tell us exactly how they died, but church history agrees on how they died. It's a consistent consistent record throughout church history. Peter, let me just name a couple. Peter, he was crucified upside down. James was beheaded. Andrew was crucified on an X-shaped cross. Bartholomew, listen to this, he was flayed alive. It's wild, isn't it? Why in the world would they all they had to do was renounce Christ and say, hey guys, it was a hoax. That's what people have accused them of. Well, okay, I'm a prankster. I get it. But if I'm about to be crucified upside down, that's the time I'm gonna say, okay, guys, I was just joking. I mean, I'm pretty committed to going through with pranks, but that's the point where I'm confessing, right? Why would they do it? There's only one plausible reason. They really believed it. The late B.F. Westcott, a brilliant scholar and theologian, said this quote, indeed, taking all the evidence together, it is not too much to say, listen, that there is no historic incident better or more variously supported than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now let me quote an atheist. Ready? Anthony Flew, a well-known and respected atheist, atheistic philosopher, stated that, quote, the evidence, listen, an atheist is saying this. The evidence for the resurrection is better than for claimed miracles in any other religion. It's outstandingly different in quality and quantity from the evidence offered for the occurrence of most other supposedly uh miraculous events. It's wild. So much evidence. I mean, when you look up at night in the clear skies and you see the goodness, just a touch of the vast universe. Do you not feel so small? How many saw this? Wendy, do we have a picture? Uh look at this. How many saw this picture taken just days ago from NASA's Artemis II mission? Isn't that unbelievable? What? It's what? Photoshop. Photoshop. Jerry thinks the Casey thinks the work earth is flat, so she's. But look at this. When you look at the beauty and the precision, I'm serious about this, of the earth. And you consider the vastness and complexity of the universe. Let me ask you this. How can you not believe in God? I mean, seriously. There's a pastor that I used to listen to. He's past now, and uh, he said when somebody told them they didn't believe in him, that they did not believe in God, the first thing he would do is congratulate them for their faith. It takes more faith to not believe in a God than it does to believe in God. And you say, fair enough, but how do we know that the Christian God, that Jesus is the real God in the way to the Father? Well, let me just say this. There's a lot of religions out there, and their founders are dead. I'm going with the guy who's raised from the dead. Come on, somebody, right? So all of that, that's the evidence, but let me give one other point here. In order for you to believe in the resurrection, you must know, you know what must happen? I can't argue you in with logic. God must open your eyes. Verse 44. Jesus said to his disciples, listen, they've just seen him and they're still skeptical. They've touched him, they're still having trouble believing. Here's what he says to them These are my words that I've spoken to you while I was still with you. That everything written about me in the law and the prophets, that's the Old Testament and the Psalms, must be fulfilled. Now, watch this. Then he what opened their minds to understand the scripture. Maybe you feel that tug today. Listen, if if maybe you're here and you're a Christian, there's somebody that's not a Christian in your family, you know what you ought to do? I mean, you can talk to them, you should talk to them about the gospel, and you can talk about them to them about the the logic behind believing in the resurrection, but mostly you ought to pray for them because God has to do a work in their hearts. And here's the great news. Um, here's the great news. This hope is not just for me, it's not just for the women at the tomb and the apostles, it's for you. And we see this in verses 48 and 49. Listen, I'm almost done here. It says, You are witnesses of these things, that Christ should suffer on the third day, rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed to all the nations. Jesus' death and his resurrection was not just to give hope to a few. It's God's will that none should perish. It is his desire that every nation, that every man, every woman, and child hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. Notice what he says here, though. He says, this is what should be preached repentance for the forgiveness of sins. This gift of hope and life and salvation, it is not for everybody. It's not appropriated, let me say it this way, to everybody. It's offered to everybody. Whosoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. But it's only for those not who just intellectually believe the gospel. I mean, everybody around here, yeah, of course I'm a Christian, right? We're in the Bible belt. My granddaddy was a preacher. Your granddaddy can't get you into heaven. Your granddaddy can't get you salvation. You claiming to be a Christian will save you. Jesus says, repent. This is what you preach, repent, which means you're getting off the throne of your life. You're turning from your sin, and you are turning to Christ, not just as Savior, but as Lord. That's what it is to be a Christian. And when you make that decision, here's what happens: you are given the hope that I'm talking about today. That means your debt has then been paid, your sin debt. Listen, listen to me. You will not find hope in anywhere other than the empty tomb in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what the angels asked, the women at the beginning of this text? Why do you seek the living among the dead? Can I just talk to somebody today? You're looking for hope in satisfaction, in joy in dead things. I'll just ask you, why are you searching for living hope, salvation, life, satisfaction? Why are you asking for looking for those things in dead places? You're not gonna find hope in money or possessions. Not gonna find hope in that PhD degree, you're not gonna find it. You know, people are waiting for the right politician to get voted in. If this man or woman gets in office, then everything's gonna change, we're gonna have hope. No, you won't. Quit looking for the living amongst the dead. Do you know wherever you look for your ultimate hope, that's what you worship? Everybody worships. Wherever you look for for ultimate satisfaction, that's what you worship. And if you worship anything other than Jesus or anybody other than Jesus, it will crush you. Because you can't. Not find hope, health, satisfaction in dead things. I've used this quote so many times, but it just gets to me every single time. The novelist David Foster Wallace. Please listen. The novelist David Foster Wallace spoke these words to the 2005 graduating class at Kenyon College. Here's what he says. Listen, everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for many, for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual type thing to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you'll never have enough. Never feel you have enough. You worship your body and beauty and sexual allure, and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. Worship power, and you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need even more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship intellect, being seen as smart, and you will end up feeling stupid, afraud, and always on the verge of being found out. Now, David Foster Wallace really believed those words that he was saying. He was living them out. He was an atheist. And shortly after this commencement speech, I don't know how long after, you know what he did? At the height of his career as a successful novelist, he took his own life. Because success could not satisfy his heart, and he was hopeless. Do not look for the living among the dead.