From His Heart

Speaker 1

There was an earthquake that hit that resurrection morning. There was an earthquake that hit on Good Friday. When Jesus died on the cross, the earth shook. In the Old Testament, when God gave the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai, the earth shook.

When God is getting ready to do something big, something huge, the earth shakes. And when Jesus died on the cross, the earth shook. And when he rose from the dead, there was a severe earthquake.

And God wants to bring a big-time shaking in your life today, wants to rock your world with some truth, real truth, real love, real hope from his heart.

Speaker 2

Welcome to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, and Happy Easter. Today he'll ask an extremely timely and vital question for us all to seriously consider. What is Easter truly all about? And how can it change your life and my life forever? Have you truly experienced the Earthquake of Easter? That's the title of the lesson today.

Jesus suffered for us, died for our sins, and rose again to give us life eternal after our earthly death. And that is worth celebrating all year long. Get ready now as we examine the certainty that can really shake our world.

Although we'll begin in Luke chapter 24, our main text is taken from Matthew 28. Here's Pastor Jeff now with part two of the lesson we started last time called the Earthquake of Easter.

Speaker 1

So if we believe the truth that Jesus is risen, well, that's good news. But what are the ramifications of that? One of the biggest ramifications is the fact that you can be forgiven. Look what Jesus said to the disciples, the resurrected Christ, as he met the disciples in Luke chapter 24, verses 46 and 47. He said to them, "Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem." Repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The resurrection is all about the fact that your sins can be forgiven.

The word forgiveness here is a legal term. It means dismissed. It means pardoned. It means to give release. It's as if you are the defendant standing before the judge, and the judge says, "It's paid in full. You are pardoned; you are released. This case is dismissed." And that's what happens because of Easter Sunday. Good Friday and Easter Sunday, coupled together, create forgiveness for you and me. Forgiveness. Isn't that a good word? Forgiveness?

Maybe you're here today and as you think through forgiveness, you wish that could be true for you, Jeff. You might think, "I wish that could be true for me. But, Jeff, you have no idea the terrible things I've done in my life. I've had an abortion. God can't forgive me for that. I've committed so many terrible, horrible sexual sins. God can't forgive me for that. Jeff, I've done some things I can't even form the words to tell you because there's so much shame associated with what I've done. I wish God could forgive me, but I'm beyond redemption."

Listen, you write this down: the dirtiest of sinners can be made pure and clean. The dirtiest of sinners, the worst of sinners, as the song says, "The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives." You know what I love in the Gospels? You read every single Gospel account that tells of the resurrection, and you'll find the name Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene. She was the last to leave Calvary, the cross of Jesus. She was the first to come to the tomb along with those other women. Mary Magdalene was the first to encounter Jesus Christ as recorded in the Gospel of John. He appeared first to Mary Magdalene.

You might say, "Well, she must have been some kind of special, godly, pure woman." Well, that wasn't in her past. Look what it says about Mary Magdalene in Luke chapter eight: "And the 12 were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and sicknesses. Mary, who was called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out." Seven demons. Have you ever met anyone who was demon-possessed with seven demons? I mean, it's a scary thing to meet someone that you start thinking, "Man, I think that person's possessed. I think there's some kind of demon inside of them." Can you imagine meeting someone who had seven? Seven is the number of completeness in the Bible, and it speaks here of the fact that Mary Magdalene was completely demon-possessed before she met Jesus Christ.

Think about all the evil that a person who is completely demon-possessed would participate in, would commit, all the evil they would commit. You know, it says about her in Luke chapter 8. In Luke chapter 7, we have the story of the immoral woman who comes to Jesus and weeps at his feet. She's the prostitute who comes and breaks the party as Jesus is eating with Simon the Pharisee. She comes in, falls before him, weeps, and anoints his feet, wiping his feet with her hair as her tears flow on his feet. People in the early church said that the woman in Luke 7, who is unnamed, is Mary Magdalene. We don't know if it is; it might be her. At any rate, the person in Luke 7 was covered with the slimy fingerprints of sin.

Mary Magdalene, possessed with seven demons, was covered in the slimy fingerprints of sin. And Jesus forgave her. You're not worse than Mary Magdalene. You're here today and you say, "I've done such terrible, horrible things." You can't hold a candle to Mary Magdalene and her sins. And Jesus forgave her. The worst of sinners can be made pure and clean. I love what it says in Luke 7 when that woman weeps at Jesus' feet, whether it's Mary Magdalene or not, or some other immoral woman. He says to her, "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in peace."

You don't have to walk around carrying a big, heavy coat of guilt everywhere you go—guilt and shame. Because your sins are forgiven, your faith has saved you. Go in peace. Wow. The worst of sinners—that includes you, the worst of sinners, and everybody in between. The worst of sinners can be made pure.

Oh, but then you say, "Well, Jeff, I understand about that, and I believe that a terrible, horrible sinner can come to Jesus and be forgiven. I believe that. But what about me? Here I am. See, Jeff, I'm a Christian. I have put my faith and trust in Jesus Christ, and I receive forgiveness for all my terrible sins I did before I was a Christian. But now here I am as a Christian, and I've turned my back on God. He's in my rearview mirror. I'm moving on down the road. I was close to him at one time, but I'm not close to him anymore. I know better, and I've still turned my back on him. I find myself, if I'm not at the pigsty, I'm headed toward the pigsty. I feel like there's no way I can go back to the Lord because of the things I've done and the things that he showed me at one time, the relationship I once had. I spit on that, so to speak. So what is there for me?"

What is there for you is Mark chapter 16, verse 7: "But go tell his disciples, and Peter, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he said to you." That's what the angel told the ladies at the tomb in Mark's Gospel. "Go tell his disciples, and Peter." Listen, the worst of sinners can be made pure and clean, and the most derailed of saints can be restored. And that was Peter, derailed big time. He's the one that said at the Last Supper, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." And Jesus said to him, "Peter, before the cock crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me."

"Oh no, Jesus, that'll never happen. That may happen to these other guys, not me. I'm ready to go with you to prison or to death." And you know the story. When it got hot and the going got tough, Peter got put in a pressure cooker. People said, "You're one of his disciples." And there was Jesus arrested by the Jewish authorities. He got scared and said, "I don't know the man." They asked him again, "No, I don't know what you're talking about." They asked him a third time, and he cursed and swore and said, "I don't even know who he is." And the cock crowed, and the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Peter wept bitter tears, his heart shattered in a million pieces. Because in the Lord's hour of need, what did Peter do? He turned his back on the Lord Jesus Christ.

And maybe you've done that. You say, "There's no hope for me. I'm done. Stick a fork in me. I'm done. God will not take me back." Go tell his disciples, and Peter. Those two words, "and Peter," mean "and you." I don't care what you've done. Some Christians have done some terrible things in the history of Christianity. True blood-bought children of God have done some terrible things, and they say, "I can't go back." Yes, you can, because the Lord says, "and Peter." He is saying to you through his word, "and you." You can turn back to me, and I will restore you.

And Peter turned back to the Lord, and the Lord restored him. Peter said in his second sermon that he preached in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 3, verse 19, he told the people, "Repent, therefore, and return so that your sins may be forgiven, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Oh, wouldn't you love to receive that today? A time of refreshing. Do you remember, some of you that are older like me, the Nestea iced tea commercials where the person would be all hot and sweaty, and then they would take a sip of Nestea iced tea, and they'd go straight back and hit this beautiful crystal pool of water and just be... It was a time of refreshing.

"Repent, therefore, and return so that your sins may be washed away, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord." Hey, let this rock your world. You, no matter what you've done, can be forgiven and restored to the Lord Jesus Christ.

And truth number three: you can be changed. Changed. Hey, listen, it's wonderful to be forgiven, but aren't you sick and tired of just being the same you? I mean, you have a problem with anger, and you come before the Lord and ask him to forgive you, and he does forgive you, but then you do the same things over and over and over again. You have a problem with drugs, a problem with alcohol, a problem with pornography, and you just keep going back and back and back, and you just say, "I want to be changed."

The message of Easter, the earthquake of Easter—not only can you be forgiven, but you can be changed. Mary Magdalene was changed. She was a brand new creation in Jesus Christ. The one who had seven demons changed. One of the ladies that I like to read about and follow, I followed her life some years ago because I was so intrigued by her, was a murderess named Carla Faye Tucker. Do you remember Carla Faye Tucker? She was executed in Texas in 1998 for a crime she committed—a terrible, gruesome, horrible crime where she killed a defenseless woman in 1983 in her bed.

This woman was awakened. Carla Faye Tucker and her accomplice killed the boyfriend in the bed with a hammer, and she grabbed a pickaxe and killed the woman who was lying in bed as she hit her repeatedly with a pickaxe. That was Carla Faye Tucker. She bragged about the killing and said, "It was such a thrill; I got tingles and chills." She was bragging about it. Well, she went to prison, and then she was put on death row. Her time in prison caused her to read the Bible. As she read the Bible, she saw her need for Jesus and cried out for mercy. She got down on her knees and asked Christ to come into her life. The Lord came in, forgave her, and changed her.

There was a movie made about her life, about the change in her life. If you go online, you can see interviews that were done with Carla Faye Tucker once she received Christ—a brand new person. A brand new person. Such a transformation, such a change. How did that happen? The Lord came in, forgave her of her sins, and changed her life. He did that to Mary Magdalene. He can do that for you.

Now, what can be changed in you? First of all, that's seen here in our passage: you can live without fear. Isn't it interesting that the angel that came down, the mighty angel that rolled away the stone—some people say, "Why did he roll away the stone?" He didn't roll away the stone so Jesus could get out. Jesus was already out. He rolled away the stone so people could come in and see that the tomb was empty. And this is a big angel. One commentator I read said he was sitting on the stone. Now, he might have just been sitting on the stone with his feet still on the ground, just kind of leaning on the stone. Well, the stone would have come up to here. Can you imagine how big that angel was if he could sit on something that tall and his feet still touch the ground, just kind of propping himself up on it?

Wow. The guards, the mighty Roman soldiers, shook for fear of him and fell as dead men. They were paralyzed with fear. This isn't some Johnny-come-lately angel who has a bent halo. This is some mighty angel scaring folks to death. The first thing he says to the women is, "Don't be afraid." And then they see Jesus. What does Jesus say to them? "Don't be afraid."

Now, it's terrifying to see an angel, and it was terrifying in one sense to see the resurrected Christ. It just blew your mind. That's why I keep saying, "Behold, behold, behold." Can you believe it? And you know what that speaks to me? It says, in the most terrifying of situations where tough Roman soldiers are shaking in their boots, you don't need to be afraid. You don't need to be afraid. The angel of the Lord says, "Don't be afraid." The Lord himself says, "Don't be afraid" over and over and over again. In the Bible, it says, "Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid."

Some of you are facing some serious situations. Some of you are facing surgery; some of you are facing cancer. Some of you are facing financial collapse or marital collapse or whatever it is, and you're so afraid. Listen, we live in a world today that is like a house of cards. At any moment, it can just collapse. I'm going to talk about that next week. I hope you'll come back. I'm going to talk about how long before the end. What does the Bible have to say? Because, man, you look at the news and you just think, at any moment, financially we could collapse and everything could fall apart. And so there's fear. And the Lord says, "Don't be afraid. You keep your eyes on me. Don't be afraid."

One of my favorite verses, Psalm 23, verse 4, says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid because you're with me." You're with me, Lord. You never leave me; you never forsake me. And your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Isaiah 26, verse 3 says, "And you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you." You can live without fear.

You can live with great purpose. In verse 7, he says, "Go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead." People, I know so many of them who are so bored with life. They don't have any purpose. They draw their breath, draw their salary, go through the motions of life. You know, go to work, go to school. You come home, you piddle till you fall asleep. You do it all again. You just live for the weekend and for the two weeks of vacation you get. And that's life for you. There's no purpose in life.

Listen, when the Lord invades your life and comes into your life and rocks your world, man, he brings purpose. He takes away the fear and brings purpose. You have something great to share. Just think how you would live your life today, even today, if you had the cure for cancer. You. I mean, you have the cure for cancer. Wouldn't you take the time to go to St. Michael to talk to anybody at that hospital that had cancer? To go to Wadley, talk to anybody that had cancer? To get in your car and drive to Houston to MD Anderson to talk to all those people that had cancer? Because you have the cure.

Listen, everyone in this world is born with spiritual cancer. It's called sin. And if it is left untreated, it will kill and send you to hell forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. And the cure for the spiritual cancer is Jesus Christ—his death on the cross, his resurrection from the dead. And listen, "Come and see," as the angel said, "and go quickly and tell." Because you have what people need: the message that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead, that he really can forgive your sins, that he really can change your life. Whether people accept it or not doesn't change the fact that you have the message to share. And it gives you purpose. That's why you're here. Why has God left you here? To share the good news with people—friends, neighbors, loved ones, and people you run into in your walk of life. You can live with great purpose.

And you can live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Speaker 2

Do you want to discover how to live your life today with purpose in the light of your future? It's easy to drift through life with no real focus. So many people, including many Christians, draw their breath and draw their salary, all the while failing to see that their lives have eternal significance. Surely a purposeless life is not the life God intends for you. Instead, he wants you and me to know the joy and the victory that come by living every day in the light of eternity.

Many people, however, are blinded by the lies of the devil and the deceitfulness of many aspects of our culture. Have those distortions in truth blinded you from truly living in the light of Christ? To help you better understand what that means and how it works and how to escape the devil's trap, Pastor Jeff would like to send you his three-message series, *Nothing but the Truth*, that will bring clarity to your walk with God and His purpose for your life and our world. That series is yours for a gift of any amount from his heart this month.

With it, we'll also send you the booklet *Sticks and What to Do When the Going Gets Tough*. For your gift today, simply call 886-640-Bible (866-640-2425) and make your gift today while requesting the series *Nothing but the Truth*. Or you can easily go online to fromhisheart.org to make a secure gift. Thank you. Thank you so very, very much for listening today and for your desire to want to know the truth that really matters with purpose.

Now let's conclude this timeless message: The Earthquake of Easter. On this special Easter weekend, here's Pastor Jeff.

Speaker 1

Jesus said this in John chapter 16. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

Some people think, well, man, I wish I could have lived at the time of Jesus. I mean, that would have been the coolest. That would have been awesome. I'd have been such a follower of Christ. I just followed him everywhere he went. I would have seen him do all the miracles and feed the 5,000. I'd have been there and that would have really helped me. That would have been the best time to live. Jesus said, no, it's better to live now.

See, when Jesus was walking the earth, if you were with Jesus, you were in the presence of God. But if Jesus went somewhere else and you weren't with Jesus, you weren't in his presence. He says, it's better that I go away so that I can send the Helper, the Holy Spirit, who will come and live inside of you. And he'll be with you forever. Forever. God inside of you.

See, in the Old Testament, God had a temple for his people. But in the New Testament, and because of the cross and because of the empty tomb, God has a people for his temple. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. That thick, heavy veil, 60ft high, 30ft across, as thick as a man's hand. That veil was torn and the holy of holies was open. And God says, I don't dwell in a temple anymore. I dwell in hearts. And I want to dwell in your heart. And I want you to become the holy of holies.

What do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God? And you are not your own. You can live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Hey. The earthquake of Easter. Jesus is risen. The earthquake of Easter. You can be forgiven and you can be restored. The earthquake of Easter. You can be changed if you'll receive him.

Speaker 2

You can be forgiven and changed. And it's all because of a Savior. Let me strongly encourage you to visit our website. Click on the why Jesus icon and there you can find out what God's will is for your life, why he came, how you can know that you know him, and so much more. Again, go to fromhishheart.org, click the why Jesus link right there on our homepage.

Well, we're out of time for today's lesson. I'm Larry Nobles and we pray that you'll have a wonderful worship and thankful Easter.

And remind you to join Pastor Jeff Shreve next time as we again open up the word of God and share real truth, real love, and real hope from God's heart. Here on from his heart.

Speaker 1

There is tremendous truth. There is hope that you always dream Love. He can heal every scar.

Speaker 2

From his heart is the listener supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember, no matter what, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more at fromhisheart.org.